Daily Thought: There are perhaps many ways to interpret today's
Gospel; one way that I have often used is to ask the questions, "What is
your image of God? And are you afraid of God?" In the story the man gives
his servants gold coins and says go out and trade with them. Some of the
servants go and trade and make more coins. One servant hides the coin in a
handkerchief so he has it ready when the master wants it back. The servants who
traded are rewarded and servant who stored the coin in the handkerchief has
even the coin taken away. The servants who trade took a risk, they could have
lost. The third servant took no risk, why? As the story tells us because he was
afraid of the master!
We are given many gifts from God and all we are asked to do
is use them as we live out our life. I have come to the conclusion that our
image of God makes all the difference in how we use the gifts.
If we are afraid of God, afraid of making a mistake then we
probably will not take any risks with God's gifts. We will hang on to them,
hide them away. If we see God as a friend, a companion, someone who takes
risks, who wants us to take risks then we will probably invest God’s gifts. For
example, if we see Jesus as someone who took one risk after another; if we see
him as someone who invested his life every day then we hopefully will do the
same. So I believe that it comes down to how we envision, understand and live
out our relationship with God.
Another question I often ask is, "What if the first two
servants had traded with the coins and lost them?" I cannot answer the
question for sure but my guess is the master says the exact same thing,
"Well done, good servant!" Why because no investment is ever lost it
is always out there working in some way.
Thus perhaps a challenge for today is to ask ourselves the question,
"Are we willing to take a risk and bring God to the world today or are we
going to hide God safely away?"
Have a great day everyone!
Daily Prayer:
Loving God help us to be grateful today. Help us to
recognize your love in everything you have given us, because we know, we
believe that you have has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift
of your love, every moment of existence is a grace, because it brings with it
immense graces from you.
Gracious God, in gratitude we must never take anything for
granted. We must never be unresponsive to your love. We must constantly be
awakening to new wonder and giving praise for you awesome goodness. We want to
be grateful people because we know that a grateful person knows that God is
good, not by hearsay but by experience. And this is what makes all the
difference. Amen! (Adapted from words by Thomas Merton)
A Runner’s Thoughts: “Running, much like life, [faith and the
spiritual life], has its hills and valleys. On any given run, and particularly
in most marathons, we come across easy stretches and seemingly impossible
challenges. I have learned to just keep going. The tough moments never last,
and the easy stretches are always a joy. The same is clearly true in life [in
faith and the spiritual life], if we just keep going we'll get to that finish
line with water, massages, and bananas! [And friendship with God!] (Main part of quote by Will Starr – I add
what is in the brackets)
Daily Blessing: Wednesday blessings and greetings to everyone!
I hope your day has started off well? Not sure what kind of weather day we are
in for here in Germantown, New York as the sun has not risen just yet, though
first light is making its way across the sky and there looks to be many clouds
today! Perhaps we might be in for a little rain.
My retreat with the Carmelite Sisters continues to go well
at least from my perspective and I hope from their perspective. Though the
sister in charge of bring me here for the retreat came to me yesterday and said
my Monday after conference was a little long and could I make the next ones a
little shorter. Image me a little long I guess I got carried away. Anyway my
Tuesday afternoon conference was a little shorter! Please continue to keep the
sisters on retreat in your prayers and also pray that they have a shorter
conference from their preacher today!
My prayer of blessing for all of us today... Loving God
bless us – Bless us and keep us safe. Let your face shine upon us and show us
your compassion especially in those moments when we may struggle. May your love
and peace embrace us, all whom we meet and especially those whom we love. May
our journeys be safe and may we find our way home tonight to enjoy your gift
family and rest. Amen! Blessings to all and enjoy your day! Peace in Christ’s
Passion…Fr. Paul
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