Daily Thoughts: A friend of
mind often says, “It is hard when you are the smartest man in the room!” His
point is that people with smarts often have a hard time with those of us who
don’t. They believe they know it all or at least they know more than everyone
around them and they find it frustrating when things don’t go their way or at
least the way they think things should go.
I thought of this today in terms of our
Gospel (Matthew 11: 25-27). Jesus says, "I give praise to you, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the
wise and the learned you have revealed them to the child like.” In other words,
sometimes the smartest, the wisest, the most learned among us have no clue!
We are all aware of just how open
children are. They want to learn. They want to experience new things and they
haven’t yet decided what the right way to do things is. They are open to trying
new ways, learning new things and exploring life around them. I think the point
that Jesus is getting at in our Gospel today is that if we are open to the
word, the experience and the presence of God in our lives just like children
are then we will have a better chance of hearing, encountering and recognized
God in our life.
Intelligence, smartest, knowledge and
wisdom are wonderful gifts however they can often get in the way of God’s
presence in our life. It is often better to be like a child rather than the
smartest person in the room.
Today is the feast of St. Bonaventure, a
doctor of the Church, a Franciscan, a philosopher, theologian and a mystic. He
was a biographer of St. Francis, a contemporary of St. Thomas Aquinas, a
teacher and a bishop. We might say Bonaventure was one of the smartest men in
the room and a man of many gifts and talents. I would guess at times his smarts
got in the way but what made him great was that he used these many gifts and
talents to proclaim the kingdom. We might say that St. Bonaventure was a man
who didn’t let his smarts get in the way of God’s grace and that is why he is a
saint today.
Perhaps in the spirit of St. Bonaventure
we might take on the challenge of the Gospel today. Let us live, let us embrace
today in a childlike way so that we don’t miss any of what God sends our way. Have
a great Wednesday everyone.
Daily Prayer: Loving God, create in us an ever-growing
faith, with hearts open and centered in you. Awaken within us the fire of your
Spirit, so that your love may fill us more fully, and flow throughout our lives.
Increase within us a desire to reach out,
to invite and to share, to welcome and accept. Awaken the faith of all your
people, especially those who have grown distant from you, those ready to hear
an invitation to the love you alone can bring.
Awaken us, loving God, to see the
fullness of your grace and peace. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. (Awakening Faith is a ministry of Paulist
Evangelization Ministries)
A Runner’s Thoughts: Mother Teresa
saw Christ in the face of everyone she met; it is possible to conduct a run
that models her behavior. So as we run, let’s place a smile on our face and
thus offer a blessing to everyone we meet on our run today!
Daily Blessing: Hump Day and
Wednesday blessings and greetings to all! I trust wherever you are you are
staying dry and cool for the most part. There were period of intense rain yesterday
and it was rather humid all day. It appears today will bring more of the same
here in Pelham as it is overcast this morning.
Today is my last day home for a couple
of weeks so I will be trying to clean off my desk and get things in order. I
found out yesterday that my car was totaled so once I return at the end of the
month I will be searching for a new car but right now my focus is getting ready
to head to Scranton.
My blessing prayer this morning is that
each of you will encounter the richness of God’s blessings today! That you all will
find today rich in the presence, joy, hope and love of God. That each encounter
you have and journey you make will add another piece of the mystery of God to
your life. And that you all may be alive with the joyful grace of God’s
presence that will become the gift of you to the world today!
Have a great day everyone! Stay cool and
dry may this day be one of many blessings for you and those who are important
in your life! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul
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