Daily Thoughts - 02/21/2014

Daily Thoughts: "Repairer of the breach...Restorer of ruined homesteads." Do we not have a picture of these titles in the Gospel today? Jesus invites Levi (Matthew) to follow him. Jesus invites a tax collector a profession that made the people involved hateful to society. Yet, Jesus brings them into the community of faith. Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners and the religious leaders are taken back, Jesus brings those who are thought to be outside the community into the community. Yes, Jesus in the true "repairer of the breach and restorer of ruined homesteads.

However, these words and this story are not just about Jesus. Isaiah is speaking to us. Jesus is laying down an example for us. We are to be the repairers of the breach and restorers of the ruined homesteads. It is our job as members of the faith community to reach out and make those on outside welcome within the community.

So often we find within the faith community people who find it much easier to judge, to exclude, to criticize, to question the actions of people then to reach out and help. So often we find people within the faith community who create the breach and ruin the homesteads.

As people of faith we live with the hope that the words of Isaiah are fulfilled in the person of Jesus but we also live with the challenge that as a disciple of Jesus we need to keep that hope alive. It has been said that through what God "does" we come to know who God "is." I think this can also be said about us. Though what we do for others as a people of faith people will come to know who we are.

As we continue this journey of Lent let us respond to Jesus' invitation to follow and give life and hope to life as repairers and restorers!

Have a blessed Saturday everyone!

Daily Prayer: Almighty and ever-loving God, look with compassion on our humanness, on all our struggles and weaknesses. Strengthen us for the journey ahead. Give us the wisdom to follow your call. Enliven us with the grace to be repairers and restorers of your love. Help us to be people of hope and to bring that hope to all we meet. Amen!

A Runner's Thoughts: As we run today let us find the grace and strength to choose the narrow road, the steep uphill climb, the rocky trail, the muddy path because these choices are made by few and these choice can at times make all the difference!

Daily Blessing: Saturday greetings and blessings to everyone! I hope you are having a restful and peaceful Saturday. If it happens to be a busy one may you find a little time in the midst of today to at least take a little breather.

I head out this afternoon for Waterbury, CT where I begin a mission this evening at Our Lady of Loreto Parish. I will be preaching all the masses today and tomorrow and then the mission with be from Monday to Wednesday at 8:00 am and 7:00 pm. If you are in the area come and join us.

My prayer of blessing for us today is that no matter what we are doing today, whether it be resting or busy about many things that God will bless us with the wisdom and grace to recognize the present of God within us and in the people around us. Blessings to all and again, enjoy your day; enjoy your weekend. Do not forget to give God a little time this weekend! Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 02/20/2015

Daily Thoughts: Who shall know the mind of God? No one really, God's thoughts are not our thoughts; God's ways are not our ways. I find the reading from Isaiah rather interesting today. It confirms for me something about my faith that I have struggled with for many years, the idea of doing things to be seen rather than doing things to make a difference.

In recent years there has been a movement among some to kneel down or bow profoundly when receiving communion. There are those in high places who commend this practice and there are others who think all should be doing this. However, if we apply Isaiah's words to the situation it might sound something like this, "Do you call receiving communion in this way what I want? This rather, is the receiving communion that I want, I want you to receive and then take me into the world, help others, be the presence of God everywhere you go!

However we receive communion is not the point or the importance it is what we do once we receive the Lord. It is how we treat people that makes all the difference. God does not put a lot of importance in the "show" of things, in the "how" we do it, in the "what" we look like when doing it, in how many people see it, in the how reverent it is. God puts value in the way we live our faith, the way we interact with the world, the way we treat others, the way in which we bring God's compassion to the world.

In The Gospel, the religious leaders are once again hung up on the rules, regulations and rituals but Jesus in about the living of life. Jesus is about recognizing God in our midst. Lent keeps reminding us that our thoughts are not God's thoughts and our ways are not God's way, yet we have the opportunity to recognize the presence of God in our life and change the way we think and the way we act so that we are about God and not ourselves.

Have a blessed Friday everyone!

Daily Prayer: O God, help us to walk in your ways. May our lives be about the gifts of your love and may our words, actions and works bring life to others and ourselves. May we never do anything for show but for the honor and glory of the kingdom. May what we do always reflect a concern for others. Be with us always and when we struggle may we always hear your voice say "Do not fear, here I am!" Amen!

A Runner's Thoughts: As we run today let us think of our breathing as inhaling God and exhaling extraneous thoughts, ideas and struggles. Let us allow all those thoughts that are buzzing about in our heads to move through our bodies and be expelled through our breath so that God has more space to be within us!

Daily Blessing: Friday greetings and blessings to everyone! Are you cold enough? And to think just a week ago I was enjoying 80 degree weather. All we can hope for is that spring will come soon.

I hope you have had a good week. I hope you have had a good beginning of Lent, because like winter it is going to be a long journey. In a few minutes I will be heading into Manhattan for a day of taping of the Sunday Mass at St. Francis de Sales Parish. It will be a long day as we will be taping seven masses today. Then it will be back home so that I can get ready to head out tomorrow as I begin my Lenten journey of parish mission. My first mission is in Waterbury, CT so it will not be a long journey. I am looking forward to this mission and all of my missions during Lent.

I pray today for God’s blessings on all of you who stop to journey with me through this life and through Lent may today be a good end to the work week and may it be the beginning of a restful and relaxing weekend. Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul

PS I ask your prayers for me and the many faith communities I will visit as I head out on the road into the Easter Season. I will be in places like, Waterbury, CT, Mahopac, NY, Long Beach, NY, Hainsport, NJ, Peterborough, NH, Oceanside, NY, Enola, PA and Pelham, NY, so if you are near one of these places come and join in the faith journey. As I mentioned above this weekend I begin a mission at Our Lady of Loretto Parish in Waterbury, CT. If you want to know where I am just check in at my web site preacherman.org and you can track my journey through Lent and Easter!

Daily Thoughts - 02/19/2015

Daily Thoughts: "Today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and doom...I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life..." Moses in the Book of Deuteronomy presents to the people, presents to us two roads for the taking and suggests to us that we choose the road of life.

Many years ago as I was entering religious life my sister gave me a gift; I think it was for Christmas. It was a picture of a road sign, with an arrow pointing in two directions. It is the kind of sign that you find as a road comes to an end and as a driver you have to make a choice to go either right or left. Beneath the picture were the last three lines of Robert Frost's poem The Road Not Taken.

"Two roads diverged in the woods, and I -

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference."

The picture has hung on my wall wherever I have lived over the years and has been an inspiration; it has been a reminder that the journey that I have traveled even though difficult at times has been the right journey.

We might say that Moses is presenting to us two roads that diverge in the living of life. That we stand before those two roads that Moses calls Life and Death, blessing and curse, prosperity and doom. There are no signs just the choice of two roads, two ways to live life and we have to choose. Moses suggests that we choose life. In many ways this suggestion is the road less traveled because it is not always comfortable, it is not always self-gratifying, it is not always easy and it is not always the road everyone else is traveling. The road of life can be filled with crosses, struggles, challenges, steep hills and selfless responses.

The road of life has none of the allurements that you often find on the other road, power, wealth, instant gratification, self-importance, status and greatness in the eyes of the world. Yet, on the road of life you also do not find loneliness, judgmentalness, selfishness, greed, anger and death. On the road of life you will find a community. It is a community ready to help, ready to walk with you. It is a community with a vision, a purpose beyond this life. It is a community of faith, of hope and of love. On the road of life faith will be strengthened, hope will be enlivened and love will be the order of the day!

Yes, as we begin Lent we are presented with two roads diverging in front of us. There is a great crowd walking down the one, no so many on the other. Which road are we going to choose? My hope is that we choose the road less traveled, my hope is we choose life because that will make all the difference!

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Daily Prayer: O God of Life, as we stand before the roads that this day presents to us, enliven us with the wisdom to choose the road of life. As we walk this road less travel keep us ever mindful that we are not alone that you walk with us. Strengthen us for the crosses, the challenges of this road. Grace us with the hope that we will always find your presence, your forgiveness, your mercy, your truth and your love as we make this journey. May we choose the road of life today and let it make all the difference in our life and in the lives of all we meet! Amen!

A Runner's Thoughts: Perhaps as we run today we too should choose the road less traveled: the road of awareness as we run, the road of revelation as we run, the road of intention as we run, the road of mindfulness as we run, the road of imagination as we run, the road of prayer as we run. Today let's pick a road we have not traveled lately and let it make a difference in our life today!

Daily Blessing: Happy Thursday everyone! I trust you made it through Ash Wednesday and are now ready to set sail through Lent. The sun is out here in Pelham but the temps are still very cold! We live in the hopefulness that spring is not far away.

My prayer of blessing for today is that God will bless us with the energy to be joyful people today. That we will see the gift of the road that we have chosen and celebrate that gift with all we meet. May we choose life and blessing all day today, through the strength of our faith, the energy of our hope and the richness of our love! Blessing to all today. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Ash Wednesday Thoughts - 2015

Daily Thoughts: Ash Wednesday 2015 – There is always a bit of tension went it comes to the scriptures at mass on Ash Wednesday, especially the Gospel. Jesus' words all point to a quiet, non-public, personal and hidden commitment to fasting, alms giving and prayer. Yet, right after the Gospel we parade up and get a large cross of ashes that we can wear throughout the day for everyone to see. It doesn't seem right but that is what we do!

I got a little clarity to my struggle with the readings today one Ash  Wednesday when a Passionist who was celebrating this morning community mass articulated my struggle but then said perhaps it is important for us as a faith community to do this as we begin Lent. Ashes are a sign of unity, a sign of belonging and often for us that is important. I had never considered it that way. The ashes we Christians receive today connect us, they bring us together for a common purpose. Now we will each live out that common purpose differently, some more involved than others but we are together, we are connected!

Now I still struggle with the fact that churches are full to overflowing today because people want the ashes and we will take them anyway we can get them, often wishing to avoid the mass or service, just give us the ashes. However, each and every Sunday when we have the opportunity to receive the Body and Blood of Christ often we are nowhere to be found and there is plenty of room in the church. I do not think I will ever understand how ashes became more important than Eucharist! Perhaps it is wearing the badge, the outward sign of ashes for all to see that makes us feel closer to God. I don't know!

On to more positive thoughts..."Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold now is the day of salvation. [So] a clean heart create for me O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me," words from St. Paul and Psalm 51 that help us to begin this journey of Lent.

St. Paul was one for always putting things in the moment not caught in the past or look too far ahead, St. Paul in the here and now. Now was always the time, today this moment is what we should be concerned about. Somehow, some way God will be present to us today, God's Spirit will be alive for us today and we dare not miss it! The journey begins today and every day. The end of the journey is today and every day. The time is now!

I have always found the Psalms to be a wonderful book of prayer and if I could make a suggestion for your journey of Lent go to the Psalms and use them as part of your prayer. In fact I would suggest using Psalms 51 and 139. Alternate them during Lent spending some time with each. In Psalm 51 we seek forgiveness, joy, hope and God's love. In Psalm 139 we are reminded of God great love for us and the intimacy a relationship with God can bring.

During Lent, we can live each day in the hope that now is the time and go to prayer in our inner room knowing that we are not perfect, that we struggle but that God is right there with us!

Blessing on this Ash Wednesday to all!

Ash Wednesday Prayer: O God, with ashes on our forehead we begin Lent knowing that the rest of the journey will not be pubic like today but perhaps more personal, more one on one with you. We will give up things or perhaps do things to hopefully focus our lives on what is most important. We will pray to draw strength for the journey. We will give of ourselves as your ambassadors so that it is not just about "me" but about "us" about You! And so as we journey we ask you to create in us a clean heart and renew in us a steadfast spirit. Help us to remember that now, today is the right time, the acceptable time to encounter and know your love. Fill us with the hope that by your grace we are journeying together in your love. Amen!

A Runner's Thoughts: "Run in the present moment, not from something and not to something. Strive for a grace-filled as well as a graceful run." ...Roger Joslin

Daily Blessing: Greetings on this Holy and Blessed Ash Wednesday – welcome to Lent! I hope you will find the time today to say a little prayer and to be signed by the cross of ashes that will send you on your own journey of Lent.

My prayer of blessing today comes from the liturgy itself – I pray that God blesses us all with the wisdom to know just how fragile we are that we came from dust and it is to dust that our bodies will return. I pray for God’s blessing of strength that we can turn away from the things that lead us away from God and that we can be faithful to the Gospel. May today be truly a blessed one and may it be the beginning of a wonderful, faith filled journey through Lent. May it be a journey that renews you, strengthens you and enlivens you with the gifts of God's Faith, Hope and Love! Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul