Daily
Thoughts:
My friends today I offer you two reflections one on our Gospel for today and
the other remembering the events of September 11, 2001…
“No
one can grow if he [or she] does not accept his [or her] smallness.” (Pope
Francis) With this thought Pope Francis seems to get at the heart of what Jesus
is saying in the Gospel today. If we don’t deal with our own faults and
failings, if we cannot see our own humanness how are we ever going to be able
to grow into the person God has created us to be and help others.
We
cannot just look at others faults and failings we need to start with our own.
If we do we will have a better, more compassionate understanding and view of
the world. We will truly be able to help not hurt others. The starting point
for looking at and dealing with the problems, struggles and sinfulness of the
world is always ourselves. When we can proclaim our faults, failings and our need
for help, our need for forgiveness we are on our way to being able to help and
forgive others.
St.
Augustine perhaps put the focus of our Gospel today a little differently when
he said, “God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too
full to receive them.” So let’s put down what fills up our hands in this world,
anger, resentment, the faults and failings of others and receive the grace that
God offers us and live in the joy and love of God today!
Remembering
the 14th Anniversary of the tragic events of September 11, 2001
“There
is nothing that can replace the absence of someone dear to us, and one should
not even attempt to do so. One must simply hold out and endure it. At first
that sounds very hard, but at the same time it is also a great comfort. For to
the extent the emptiness truly remains unfilled one remains connected to the
other person through it. It is wrong to say that God fills the emptiness. God
in no way fills it but much more leaves it precisely unfilled and thus helps us
preserve -- even in pain -- the authentic relationship. Furthermore, the more
beautiful and full the remembrances, the more difficult the separation. But
gratitude transforms the torment of memory into silent joy. One bears what was
lovely in the past not as a thorn but as a precious gift deep within, a hidden
treasure of which one can always be certain.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
As
Dietrich Bonhoeffer says above there is nothing that can be said or done that
replaces the loss of someone dear to us. But hopefully Bonhoeffer’s words can
help to give comfort to all who lost loved ones fourteen years ago in Lower
Manhattan, Washington, DC and Pennsylvania.
Perhaps,
Bonhoeffer’s words can help all of us deal with what we as a city, a country
and a world lost thirteen years ago. May his words give us pause to be grateful
for the silent joy that all who gave their lives continue to give us. May those
who lost their lives continue to be a hidden treasure for all of us, a treasure
that we can always count on.
“In
normal life we hardly realize how much more we receive than we give, and life
cannot be rich without such gratitude. It is so easy to overestimate the
importance of our own achievements compared with what we owe to the help of
others.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
To
the people who gave their lives, to the families who gave their loved ones we
say thank you!
Have
a blessed Friday everyone and may the Passion of Jesus Christ be always in your
heart!
Daily
Prayer:
God
of all peace and conciliation,
For
those who went into danger, we give thanks.
For
those who remained behind with the infirm and injured, we give thanks.
For
those who thought of others first, we give thanks.
For
those who offered comfort to others, we give thanks.
For
moments of unknown, grant us courage.
In
times of fear, grant us courage.
When
called upon to stand for the rights of others, grant us courage.
When
others call for our destruction, grant us courage.
When
the enemies of freedom lash out, bless us with your peace
When
the darkness of hatred descends, bless us with your peace
When
we feel the urge to trample and destroy, bless us with your peace
When
we look to the future of your universe, bless us with your peace
Through
the living of life, let us be your peace
Amen!
(Adapted from a prayer by Rabbi Matt Friedman)
A
Runner’s Thoughts: “I run because if I didn’t, I’d be sluggish and glum
and spend too much time on the couch. I run to breathe the fresh air. I run to
explore. I run to escape the ordinary. I run…to savor the trip along the way.
Life becomes a little more vibrant, a little more intense. I like that.” (Dean Karnazes)
On
this day when so many lost their lives some of whom were runners let us run to
breathe fresh air. Let us run to explore. Let’s us run to experience more than
the ordinary. Let us run to savor the trip along the way. Let us run to
remember and in remembering make our run a prayer for peace. Let us run to
bring God’s presence to the world!
Daily
Blessings:
Friday greetings and blessings to all! May we pause this morning to remember
what happened that Tuesday fourteen years ago and how it changed our lives.
Perhaps you will think about where you were and what you felt as the tragic
events of that day unfolded. Yet, here we are thirteen years later still
searching for peace!
My
thoughts and prayers today go out to all affected by the events of that day
especially to the children who lost mothers and fathers. Nothing can fill the
void of their loss. May what remains unfilled always keep them connected to the
gift of the person, the treasure they lost!
I
cannot help but reflect upon where we find ourselves today with the reality of
so many wars, so many violence acts, so much anger, so little tolerance, so
much need to blame, so much finger pointing, so much yelling, so much hate, so
much condemnation, so much arrogance, so much self-centeredness, so little
compassion, so little caring, so little chance for peace it seems – so my
prayer of blessing for all of you all
today is - to ask God’s blessing upon you, may it be a solemn blessing rich in
peace, strong in courage and graced by love. And may it be a blessing that you
will bring it to those you love and to the piece of the world that you will
touch today. May God bless you with the insight to see the gift, the treasure
that you are and that you will share it with the world! Peace in Christ’s
Passion…Fr. Paul
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