Daily Thoughts II - 04/10/2015

Daily Thoughts II: Periodically you hear people asked the question, “If you could meet, have dinner with, spend time with anyone in history who would you chose?” I am sure there is a different answer for every person asked. As we listen to our Gospel today we might ask the question, “If you could have breakfast with anyone from history who would it be?”

I know what my answer would be – Jesus! First of all, I would choose Jesus because he brings and prepares breakfast which is always a plus in my book. But more importantly I would choose Jesus because having breakfast with him means my day could not start any better!

Even though they have encountered the Risen Christ a few times since Easter Sunday the disciples find themselves back in Galilee trying figure out what to do next. Peter believes getting back to his usual routine is the best way to put life and the events of Jesus’ Passion, Death and Resurrection into perspective. So off he goes, with the others tagging along, to do some fishing.

However, the night doesn’t go as planned. No fish after a long hard night’s work. Enter Jesus. “Have you caught anything to eat?” “No!” is the rather tired answer. “Well then try dropping your nets again but do it on the other side of the boat.” What do you think went through the disciples’ minds? Probably some resistant thoughts to what the man on the shore proposed or a few choice words muttered under their breath toward the man on the shore. Perhaps they were just too tired and said what have we got to loose. Whatever they felt or thought they at least went with the flow and cast their nets one last time and the rest is history. They encountered a catch so big that it was now a struggle of joy to get it to the shore. They encountered a catch so big that it could only be one person, “The Lord!”

Yes, if I could have breakfast with one person from history it would be Jesus because when he enters our life whether it is breakfast, lunch, dinner or anytime in between good things have a chance to happen. The struggling disciples learn that the Risen Christ will enter their lives at any moment and is always willing to nourish them for the journey; they just have to be willing to have faith and trust that all things are possible.

As an Easter people this story is a good reminder to us that in the midst of our struggles, our unsteadiness in life, at those times when we feel our nets are empty all it takes is for us to recognize the presence of God to steady us, fill our nets and make all things possible on this journey through life.

Perhaps as we begin this day or any day, for that matter, we should consider inviting Jesus to breakfast. And as we enjoy his company we might ask his advice as to where we should cast out nets.  Because as our Gospel story reminds us great things are possible especially when Jesus makes breakfast!

Have a great day everyone and may the Passion of Jesus Christ be always in your heart!

Daily Thoughts - 04/10/2015

Daily Thoughts: Today is a travel day for me and it will be a long one. I will be leaving Mandeville, Jamaica for the airport in Kingston in about a half hour at 4:00 am and I will not be getting home until around 8:00 pm tonight so I am just going to offer you a few thoughts from some other people to reflect on as you journey through your day…

"We must restore hope to young people, help the old, be open to the future, spread love. Be poor among the poor. We need to include the excluded and preach peace." (Pope Francis)

“Everywhere I looked, hope existed - but only as some kind of green shoot in the midst of struggle. It was a theological concept, not a spiritual practice. Hope, I began to realize, was not a state of life. It was at best a gift of life.” (Sr. Joan D. Chittister, O.S.B.)

"To maintain a joyful family requires much from both the parents and the children. Each member of the family has to become, in a special way, the servant of the others." (St. John Paul II)

“Totally love Him who gave Himself totally out of love for you.” (St. Clare of Assisi)

"Stupidity is also a gift of God, but one mustn't misuse it." (St. John Paul II)

“My strength returns to me with my cup of coffee and the reading of the psalms.”

(Dorothy Day)

"Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do." (St. John XXIII)

“Without love, deeds, even the most brilliant ones, count as nothing.” (St. Thérèse de Lisieux)

"See everything, overlook a great deal, correct a little." (St. John XXIII)

Have a great Friday everyone!

Daily Prayer: Loving God, It is your desire that all should be saved. Great is your compassion and mercy because you gave us your only Son and Christ died for us all. Teach us to recognize you in all things and love you as you love us. Our prayer of deep faith today is that through the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ you will send workers into the vineyards of life to proclaim the Good Word. That through your Holy Spirit of hope you will enkindle in our hearts an ardent love that can help us to do all things, to be all things and to live in your love. Be for us the Good Shepherd today and guide along the right road to your tender love! Amen!

A Runner’s Thoughts: We need to always remember that there are different forms of prayer, of communication with God and that they are possible in everything we do, even when we run. So as I have often said let us allow our run today to be a prayer of thanksgiving, or a prayer of petition or intercession, or a prayer of praise, or a prayer of struggle, or a prayer seeking help or perhaps just a prayer that says, “Hello God how are you today?”

Daily Blessing: Friday greetings and blessings to all! I am posting this as I wait to leave for the airport around 4:00 am. It is about a two hour drive from Mandeville to Kingston. My flight out to Miami is at 8:00 am. I will not be seeing home until about 8 or 8:30 pm this evening that is if all goes well. So whenever this gets posted I hope your day is starting out or going well and that you will be enjoying this Friday in the Octave of Easter in some life giving ways.

I pray for all of you today that you will once again be touch by the joy of Easter. May you be gifted with many life giving experiences, with many encounters with God through the people you meet. May you have safe travels if you are traveling and may you be gifts with much joy and peace as you journey through this day! God's Easter blessings to all today! Peace in Christ's Passion and the Joy of the Risen Lord...Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 04/09/2015

Daily Thoughts: Pope Francis in an address on April 1, 2013 said the following: "The grace contained in the sacraments of Easter is an enormous potential for the renewal of our personal existence, of family life, of social relations. However, everything passes through the human heart: if I let myself be touched by the grace of the Risen Christ, if I let him change me in that aspect of mine which is not good, which can hurt me and others, I allow the victory of Christ to be affirmed in my life."

In our first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles Peter and John challenge the people about not begin open to the presence of God in their lives, about not being open to the Easter mystery, the Easter sacraments as Pope Francis put it. They ask those gather to open their hearts to the grace of the Risen Lord, to let it pass through their hearts and change them.

In the Gospel the disciples at first are afraid of the presence of the Risen Lord but Jesus offers them peace and the assurance that he is really with them so that by the end of his visit they have opened their hearts to the grace and the spirit of the ultimate Easter sacrament, Jesus. Their transformation has begun. They have become the witnesses of this great sacrament and the power that it can be in a person’s, a community’s life.

Our readings and Pope Francis ask us to be open to the awesomeness of  Easter, to be open to the countless ways in which God becomes present in our lives each and every day. Openness to the grace of the sacraments of Easter, openness to the presence of the Risen Lord, openness to the awesome potential that God’s presence and grace offers us can make all the difference in our journey through life.

Thus perhaps the question or the challenge at the beginning of this new day is – Are we open to the grace of the Easter sacraments? Will we allow that grace to change us?

A blessed Thursday everyone!

Daily Prayer: Be with us today O God, be with us as we wake, be with us as we watch and live this day, be with us if we weep and morn, give your angels and saints charge over us when we sleep. Tend to us, O Lord, if we are sick today, help us if we are weary to find rest today, journey with us through the last steps of life today if you are calling us. Comfort us if we are suffering today, give compassion to us if we are afflicted today and celebrate with us as we live today in your joy, We ask all of this in the grace of your love and live this day for the sake of your love for us! Amen (Adapted from a prayer by St. Augustine of Hippo)

A Runner’s Thoughts: As we run today let us look at our run this way that everywhere we put our foot today we will feel the presence of God. God is our friend and our closeness to our friend God is in the placement of our foot with each stride we take during our run. We run today knowing that God is underneath us, beside us, within us!

Daily Blessing: Thursday greetings and blessing to all. I hope your day is getting off to a go start. We begin the third and final day of retreat here in Jamaica. Please continue to keep the six Passionist Volunteers in your prayers and if you have time their preacher also!

Have a blessed day rich in the grace of Easter. May the Risen Christ touch your life with the joy of the first Easter. May you be touch by the newness of life as you encounter others, journey through your day and celebrate the gift of life by living this day to the fullest. Peace in Christ's Passion and the Risen Lord...Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 04/08/2015

Daily Thoughts:  “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” We encounter two famous stories in our readings today. In Luke’s Gospel it is the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and in the Acts of the Apostles it is the story of Peter and John curing the man at “the Beautiful Gate.”  In some ways putting the two stories together on this Easter Wednesday can help us to enter into the mystery and power of the Resurrection.

The story of the two disciples on the road, in my book, is a classic. It has all the elements of our faith life. The struggle with the things of the world, of life, the missed opportunities of encountering Jesus because we are so focused on our struggles; the moments in time when we sense God’s presence, when our hearts burn but we don’t realize it until the end of the experience and those instances when Jesus becomes present to us in the breaking of the bread.

We have all been where these two disciples have been. We have been on that road in our life. We have been blind by our own lack of hope, our own disappointments, our own struggles. The gift, the hope of this story is that God that Jesus never gives up on us. He is always trying to enter our lives to remind us of the story and open our eyes to his presence.

Peter and John understood that as they entered Jerusalem through “the Beautiful Gate.” The opened the eyes of the crippled man who want silver and gold but ended up with much more. The power of the Risen Christ can transform our lives sometimes profoundly and sometimes simply but when that moment comes we just to be ready and not be blinded by our own lack of hope, our own disappointments, our own struggles.

Let’s not be the only ones who do not know the story, who have given up hope. Let us be people of faith and hope today whose hearts are burning with the word and presence of God and through the living of life who proclaim – “Jesus is Risen, Alleluia!”

Have a blessed and joy filled day everyone!

Daily Prayer: Jesus, we come before you at the beginning of this day. Take Lord, and receive our hearts; the words of faith that we speak, the works of justice that we do, our joys and sufferings. When we come to the Eucharistic table of life, gather our offerings to your own for the life of the world. At the end of this day, place us with Mary, your mother, and for her sake take our hearts to your heart. Amen! (Adapted from a prayer by the Maryland Province of Jesuits)

A Runner’s Thoughts: “Succeeding in running should be seen as an allegory for succeeding in every aspect of life. Set goals, plan out how to achieve them, then stick to the plan.” (Kim Griffin)

Daily Blessing: Happy Easter Hump Day everyone! Yes, it is Easter Wednesday so our camel is decked out in Easter eggs and lilies today proclaiming the good news that it is Hump Day. I hope your day has started well and that wherever you are the sun is out or will be out and you will get to enjoy its warmth!

This is the second full day of our retreat Jamaica. I am celebrating retreat with six very faith filled and talented volunteers. Please keep these six young women and men in your prayers and also say an extra prayer when you get a chance for their preacher...me!

I send Easter blessings to all of you today. As I was preparing for mass yesterday I reflected on the fact that whenever I get to this week each year I think of the movie Ground Hog Day, because for these eight days of the Easter Octave each day we celebrate Easter Again. So Happy Easter and may God bless you today with the gift of Easter joy wherever you are and in whatever you are doing. May you be found rich today in the grace and presence of God and may you share your Easter joy with everyone you meet. May your hearts burn today with the presence and the spirit of the Risen Lord! Peace in Christ's Passion and the Risen Lord...Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 04/07/2015

Daily Thoughts: We find ourselves today standing between Easter and Pentecost. In the first reading we look ahead to the day of Pentecost and we encounter Peter and the others boldly proclaiming the Good News. All fear seems to be gone and thousands of people come to believe in a single day because of their preaching. In the Gospel we find ourselves at the tomb on Easter Sunday morning once again in one of the most beautiful scenes of the Easter Gospels – Mary Magdalene’s encounter of the Risen Jesus. It is from this profound encounter that Mary Magdalene becomes known as the Apostle to the Apostles.

It is through these two very different scenes that we are reminded of the transforming presence and spirit of the Risen Christ. On that Pentecost morning the Spirit descends upon all gathered in the Upper Room and pushes them out into the world proclaiming the Good News. It is a powerful Spirit, a life giving Spirit, a Spirit on fire with the love and presence of God, it is a Spirit that cannot be missed or stopped. On Easter Sunday morning the presence and Spirit of the Risen Christ gently and lovingly invited Mary Magdalene into the Mystery of the Resurrection.

St. Paul’s words from his First Letter to the Corinthians come to life in our readings today – “There are different gifts but the same Spirit….” We are reminded today of the many gifts of the Spirit. Gifts that push us forward in faith and gifts that comfort us and remind us of the gentleness of God presence in our life.

Like Mary Magdalene we enter this day looking for the Spirit of the Risen Christ in our life and when we hear him speak our name we might want to just hold on to that moment. However Jesus will send us forth like Peter and the others to boldly proclaim the Good News with joy!

Have a blessed Easter Tuesday everyone!

Daily Prayer: Loving Jesus, come back into our society, our family life, our hearts, and reign there as our peaceful God. Enlighten us with the splendor of faith and the love of your tender heart so that we will work for the good of all your people, especially those in need, Impart on us your own spirit, a spirit of discipline, serenity and gentleness preserving the flame of enthusiasm always alight in our hearts. May this day be a day when you find a home at the center of our life, and are borne on our shoulders as your joyful Easter people. Amen! (Adapted from a prayer by St. John XXIII)

A Runner’s Thoughts: “That's the thing about running: Your greatest runs are rarely measured by racing success. They are moments in time when running allows you to see how wonderful your life is.” (Kara Goucher) And so to in the spiritual life our best days are when we realize just how much God loves us!

Daily Blessings: Tuesday greetings and blessing to all! I hope your Tuesday has started off well. Perhaps for some this is your first day back to work and for others it is just another Tuesday the second day in a work week. As for myself I have settled into my life this week here in Jamaica, West Indies. My travel on Sunday went smoothly and I arrived here just outside of Mandeville in Jamaica. Yesterday I spent the day visiting some of the Passionists here and getting ready to begin the retreat with the Passionist Volunteers.

Our retreat began last night with an opening talk and prayer and at 9 am this morning we will gather again to continue our journey. I would ask your prayers for the six young people whom I will journey with these next three days. Pray that they will have open spirit to the word and presence of God in the lives and that God’s loving spirit will enliven them on their journey through life. And if you could offer and extra prayer for their preacher that he will proclaim with joy and spirit to them the Good News!

My prayer of blessing for all of you is that your day will be filled with Easter joy as you make your own journey through it. That your encounters with others, your travel, your experiences, your times alone will be touch by our joy filled God and that your will encounter God’s loving presence in many was as you make your way through this day! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul