Daily Thoughts: “So that my joy
might be in you and your joy might be complete,” the closing words of the
Gospel today. Have you ever noticed that Jesus always seems to be thinking
about others? He always seems to want the best for the people around him. All
he asks is that we believe in the value of love; the love of God for us, the
love of Jesus for us and our ability to love others in the same way.
The communities of faith that we hear
about in the Acts of the Apostles are challenged over and over by Jesus’
commandment to love. They value God’s love, they value Jesus’ love thus how
they live, grow and change as a community of faith demands that they extend
this love to others. The laws, the rules, the regulations change because the
community tries to be inclusive and loving. The community tries to look beyond
its small world to a larger world. It is not easy. It takes openness, dialog,
discussion and sometimes change.
I read an article a couple of years ago
in which a member of our Church leadership used an example from his childhood
about having to wash his dirty hands before eating. It was a rule in his family
and even if there were guests they had to wash their dirty hands before eating.
A simple story and one that many can relate to I certainly can as hand washing
before meals was a rule in my house too.
However, to use the washing of dirty
hands to address the complex struggles inclusion in the church today seems a
bit simplistic and invalid. Imaging people dealing with weighty issues like
sexuality, sexual orientation, birth control, marriage, divorce, just to name a
few, as people with dirty hands seems a bit simplistic. Equating the washing of
dirty hands with some profound struggles in life seems disrespectful to people
created in the image and likeness of God.
Yes, we have many challenges to the
community of faith today. Yes, there are no easy answers which makes the job of
leadership and faith difficult but to say all people have to do is wash their
hands make no sense to me!
God’s love, Jesus’ love is a gift and
yes there is a condition, the condition is our love for God, for others and for
ourselves. This condition is not easy within the our human nature and it is
certainly not as simple as washing our hands. The early church knew this and I
think so do we!
Have a blessed Tuesday everyone!
Daily Prayer: O God of Great
Love, open our hearts to the gift of your love this day and always. Help us to
see your image and likeness in ourselves and in everyone we meet. Grace us with
the wisdom to learn, to listen, to discuss, to discern and to grow. Enable us
to move beyond what stifles growth so that your joy will always be within us
and that our joy will always be complete through the hope of a world made new.
Amen!
A Runner’s Thoughts: When we run
today let us remember that our breath comes from God. At the moment of creation
God breathed life into us. That breath started our heart. So as we take the
first steps of our run today and everyday let us once again breathe in the
breath of God. Let us make God part of our run, let us make God part of our
life!
Daily Blessing: Thursday
greetings and blessings to all! I hope this finds you well and having a good
day. For the first time since Lent began I am home and I have a day to relax
and rest. I don’t have work that needs to get down. I don’t have to prepare for
another mission, retreat or confirmation day. I don’t have to pack my suitcase
and hit the road again. It is a nice felling but it will not last long so I am
going to enjoy my day!
I ran across a little saying the other
day, “Prayer may not change things for you, but it for sure changes you for
things.” So I will say a little prayer for all of you today! May God bless your
day with warmth, sun, good people, smiling face, kind words, safe travels, easy
decisions, productive meetings and much love. May God enliven your day with his
loving presence, grace and joy. Peace in Christ’s Passion and Hope in the Risen
Lord…Fr. Paul
No comments:
Post a Comment