Daily Thoughts - 10/04/2015

Daily Thoughts: “All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of one single candle.” (St. Francis of Assisi) – Children are our candles… (Note a special prayer today for the four wonderful candles in my family - Emilia, Kristina, Natalie Ann and Michael!)

I have always liked the Gospel reading for today, Jesus’ welcoming of little children.  It is imagery that can speak to us even when we are not little anymore. It seems to make things a lot less complicated and it reminds us of the gifts that children and childhood to us.

When I think of what we as a culture, a society and as a church have done to children and childhood down through the centuries I feel a profound sadness. I know that my childhood was very instrumental in helping me be the man of faith that I have become. I am profoundly grateful that I had wonderful people in my life as a child who showed me the Kingdom of God even thought I probably didn’t understand at the time.

My prayer each day is that all children can and will experience the wonder and joy that should be part of growing up. My hope is that all children get a chance to live in the moment. That they experience the joy of playing baseball or flying a kite or jumping into the deep and making it to the side. I hope and pray they feel the joy of swinging on a swing or running down a hill or eating the biggest ice cream cone ever.  Children are special. They make God ever so real and anyone who take away a child’s joy, wonder and innocents does not deserve the Kingdom.

As we listen to the words of Jesus remind us of the value of children today and as we remember the gift of St. Francis, perhaps one of the best examples of what it means to be childlike. Let us remember that each new day holds a surprise for us if we approach it with the wonder and awe of a child and if we do so God just might be around every corner!

God invites us to experience joy and wonder in our lives, to be in the present moment, and to find his presence around every corner. God always offers us unconditional love and acceptance perhaps something we first felt as a child, but it is available every day and every moment of our life.

Let us embrace the child in us and get ready for God’s blessings. Perhaps St. Francis says it best – “We should seek not so much to pray but to become prayer.” Isn’t that what children do!

Have a wonderful Sunday everyone!

Daily Prayer:

Lord, make us an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let us sow love,

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that we may not so much seek

 to be consoled as to console,

 to be understood as to understand,

 to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

(Adapted from the prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi)

A Runner’s Thoughts: “Running is a thing worth doing not because of the future rewards it bestows, but because of how it feeds our bodies and minds and souls in the present.” (Kevin Nelson) Feed your soul today!

Daily Blessing: Sunday greetings and blessings to all and happy Feast of St. Francis of Assisi! Sorry for not posting yesterday but I had some computer problems my last day in Nova Scotia and I did not get them worked out until earlier this morning. It was a long day of waiting and travel yesterday but I am back home with great memories of my time north of the border.

It was good to finally get home about 10 pm last night and this morning I have been working on my computer and just trying to settle back in at home after a couple of weeks on the road. I hope your Sunday has started off well. It is chilly and cloudy here in Pelham sort of a carryover from my last few days in Nova Scotia. Hopefully things will clear out sometime in the coming week after the hurricane passes.

I hold in my prayers this morning once again all those who died or were wounded in the Roseburg, Oregon shooting, their families and all who mourn the loss of a loved one or friend. I also hold in my prayers today the Synod of Bishops on the family beginning in Rome today. I pray that compassionate, merciful and loving reflection will take place so that we might move forward in a life giving way as a church and a world.

My prayer of blessing this morning is that the gentle, loving and peaceful spirit of St. Francis will be with you today and always. That the richness and beauty of God’s creation which St. Francis so loved, will touch you as you walk through this day. That the grace of God’s loving presence that St. Francis so lived will be present to you as you live through this day. And that the gentleness of God’s peace that St. Francis gave to the world, will guide you through this day and always.

Have a wonderful Sunday everyone! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul