Daily Thoughts: It is always
interesting to me to hear the stories of the early Church as they are presented
in the Acts of the Apostles. We hear about the struggles and the joyous moments
of the early Church. We meet the people who made up the early Church and helped
it to move forward. We hear about the wonderful faith filled moments and the
dark moments of persecution and challenge.
Each time I hear the stories of the
early Church I am reminded that as much as things change they also remain the
same. The characters are different, the events are different but the struggles
and joys are the same. Today we face many if not all of the same challenges of
the early Church. We have communities of great faith; we have preachers on fire
with the Good News. We have challenges inside and outside the Church and at
time we have persecutions.
Our faith is constantly in question,
challenges, under attack. We are faced with change, differences within and a
changing, struggling world around us. Like the early Church we are a community
of believers listening for the voice of the Good Shepherd. Sometimes we hear it
and sometimes the noise of the world around us tries to out shout it.
Our challenge is to hear the Good
Shepherd’s voice, to recognize it in the midst of all the other voices and to
have faith, to trust and to believe that the Good Shepherd will always be with
us and will never leave us to face our perils alone!
Have a great Tuesday everyone!
Daily Prayer: Good Shepherd,
speak to us words that will comfort and strengthen us today. Grace us with your
loving and hope filled presence. Help us to always hear and recognize your
voice among the many voices of the world. Guide us to the right path of life.
Enliven us with your Spirit to be people who always bring joy and hope to the
world around us. Love us with your everlasting love. Amen!
A Runner’s Thoughts: Remember when
running as a pilgrim, as a friend God, we do not just log miles, witnessing the
run as it happens. Our run becomes an act of devotion, a spiritual renewing.
Our pilgrim run is not mere sightseeing or getting from one point to another,
it is the development of the capacity to see what is sacred, what is of God and
to hear the Good Shepherd!
Daily Blessing: Tuesday
greetings and blessings to everyone! I hope your day has started off well. The
sun is out here in St. Louis and it looks like it is going to be another
beautiful day. I hope that same is true where you are!
My retreat for priests here in St. Louis
opened last night. There are 28 priests from the Diocese of Jefferson City, MO on
retreat and they seem like a very fine group of men. There is a good spirit and
I am looking forward to the rest of the week with them. I would ask that you
keep these men in your prayers and if you have a chance to add an extra prayer
for the preacher it would be greatly appreciated.
As I journey on retreat with these men
my prayer is for them that they will have a great retreat but I am also praying
for you. I pray today that God will bless all of you. I pray that God will bless
your endeavors and your encounters with others. I pray that God will bless you
with safe travel if you are out and about. I pray that if you are struggling you
will feel God’s presence in the midst of the struggles and know that you are
not alone. Most of all as you journey through this day I pray that you may encounter
God’s love especially when you don’t think it is there! Peace in Christ’s
Passion and Hope in the Risen Lord…Fr. Paul
No comments:
Post a Comment