Daily Thoughts - 07/18/2015

Daily Thoughts: In today’s gospel we are made aware once again of the struggles between Jesus and the religious leaders of his time.  This time rather than taking them on Jesus withdraws to a friendlier place.  Many people follow Jesus and in a quiet way he heals and teaches.  We find out that Isaiah words from long ago are now being fulfilled by the presence and ministry of Jesus -

    Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,

    my beloved in whom I delight;

    I shall place my Spirit upon him,

    and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

    He will not contend or cry out,

    nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.

    A bruised reed he will not break,

    a smoldering wick he will not quench,

    until he brings justice to victory.

    And in his name the Gentiles will hope.

In this passage Isaiah talks about the tenderness of God and Jesus lives out that tenderness.  A bruised reed will not be broken, but strengthened.  A smoldering wick not quenched, but ignited into a strong flame.  Jesus brings to life the love and tenderness of God by uplifting the meek, strengthening the weak.  Jesus provides comfort to those who are mourning and encourages those who are struggling to “be strong, and fear not.”

As Pope Francis might say Jesus reminds us in our Gospel today of the endless mercy of God. In the midst of all that the world throws at us God is tenderly holding us, protecting us and giving us hope to continue our journey through life. Yes, God’s mercy truly endures forever!

Have a great Saturday everyone!

Daily Prayer: Loving Jesus, you were rich and yet for our sake, you became poor. You promise in your Gospel that whatever is done for the least of your sisters and brothers is done for you. Give us grace to be always willing and ready to provide for the needs of those who are struggling physically, emotionally or spiritually so that your Kingdom of service, hope, joy and love may extend throughout the world, to your unending glory. Amen. (Adapted from a prayer by St. Augustine of Hippo)

A Runner’s Thoughts: “Except for .001 percent of the running population, everyone's in the exact same position: There will always be people slower than you, and people faster.” (Ask Miles) – So to in the spiritual life…

Daily Blessing: Saturday blessings and greetings to everyone! It is another beautiful day here is Scranton as we enter this second day of novena. Hope you the day has started of beautiful wherever you are.

I would like to send a shout out to my beautiful little grandniece Natalie Ann who celebrates her first birthday today. It was just a week ago that I had the privilege of spending the weekend with her and my two other grandnieces. We all survived our time together and I was truly blessed to have been given the opportunity to be with them. The thing I remember most about Natalie’s birth a year ago is something her father as he announce her birth to the family - “She’s got five fingers and five toes and she’s beautiful!” Well she still has five fingers and five toes even after a weekend with her great uncle and she certainly is still beautiful. Happy Birthday Natalie Ann!

Here in Scranton our first day of novena was inspiring and the spirit is alive here as we make this ten day journey of faith. And we have gotten off to a good start on this our second day. As I mentioned yesterday if you have any intention, petitions or prayers send them along to me and please know that I will include them each day in my novena prayers.

My prayers today continue to go out to all the families of the people Marines who were killed the other day in Tennessee. My heart and prayers goes out to all who lost someone and I pray for those wounded. What a tragedy! What a world! It is at times hard for me to believe we can be so cruel to one another, however each day we seem to be confronted by violence, bigotry, racism, terror, hate and uncaringness.  Let us continue to pray for peace.

My prayer of blessing today for all of us is that God will grace us with the strength to somehow help the world take a step closer to peace by living our life with compassion, love and joy today! Please my friends don’t begin this day with hate in your hearts. Don’t see the world through the eyes of the 24 hour news stations. Don’t point your figures and blame. Don’t disrespect others not like you. Allow God’s blessing to touch your life and be a person of peace, of compassion, of hope, of joy and of love today. Be this person today for your family, for your friends, for your faith community, for those you work with, for those you meet, for the world, and for yourself.

Have a great Saturday everyone, put a smile on your face and trust that you are loved by God even in those moments of struggle. May God bless you today and always and thanks for being the person that you are because you certainly make this world a better place and life worth living! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 07/17/2015

Daily Thoughts: “Something greater than the temple is here.” A line from our Gospel today (Matt. 12:1-8) and we might be tempted to think it was meant only for those to whom Jesus is speaking. But it is meant for us here and now. We might not have Jesus standing in our midst but we have his Spirit with us and it is greater than any temple, any church or any cathedral. The challenge is the same for us as it was for those who gathered to listen to Jesus; we have to recognize the presence and the Spirit of God in our midst.

Jesus gives us a clue on how to make sure that we don’t miss the presence of God. The clue is to be people of mercy. People a tune to and compassionate towards the struggles, challenges, difficulties and failings of others and ourselves. People willing to help and not judge; people willing to be compassionate and not self-righteous. People willing to include not exclude.

Living life from a stance of compassion and mercy is not always easy; it can be difficult and challenging. However being a compassionate and merciful person does help us to be ready and open to encounter something greater than ourselves the presence and friendship of God.

Have a great Friday everyone!

Daily Prayer: Loving God, thank you for the abilities that you have placed in our life. Help us to acknowledge these gifts and give us the courage to develop and use them in helping to make your presence known. Help us to be merciful and compassionate people who are always aware of something greater in life. We pray this so that we may never miss the gift of your presence in our life and that we may share it with the world around us. Amen!

A Runner’s Thoughts: When we run in a spiritual way, we are brought into the process of God-ing. Meaning as we run we are not moving toward God but interacting with God along the way. Our run becomes a direct physical, emotional and spiritual way of becoming who we are, our authentic selves. In the process we open up vast and unlimited opportunities to connect with God in new, life giving ways!

Daily Blessing: Friday blessings and greetings to all! It is beautiful day here is Scranton, we could not ask for better weather to open this year’s St. Ann’s novena!

Here in Scranton our first day of novena has gotten off to an inspiring and the spirit filled start. Some of you have passed long prayer intentions to me through Facebook, Twitter or my web site and I certain will honor and prayer for thoughts intentions throughout the novena. I am always open to taking prayers, petitions and intentions as an important part of my job is to keep the people of God in prayer so if you have a need, petition or intention send it to me through my web site, Facebook or Twitter. And please know that I will include your intentions each day in my novena prayers!

My prayers today are for the Marines who were killed in Tennessee yesterday, their families and friend and those who were wounded in the tragedy – I also prayer for an end to such violent.

My prayer of blessing today for all of us is that God will grace us with the strength to somehow help the world take a step closer to peace by living our life with compassion, love and joy today! Please my friends don’t begin this day with hate in your hearts. Don’t see the world through the eyes of the 24 hour news stations. Don’t point your figures and blame. Don’t disrespect others not like you. Allow God’s blessing to touch your life and be a person of peace, of compassion, of hope, of joy and of love today. Be this person today for your family, for your friends, for your faith community, for those you work with, for those you meet, for the world, and for yourself.

Have a great Friday everyone, put a smile on your face and trust that you are loved by God even in those moments of struggle. May God bless you today and always and thanks for being the person that you are because you certainly make this world a better place and life worth living! Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

PS If you like to make a prayer intention go to www.preacherman.org and click on contact under the prayer request section or send me a message through Facebook, Twitter or email!

Daily Thoughts - 07/16/2015

Daily Thoughts: In the Gospel today (Matt 11:28-30) Jesus reminds all of us that we should always come to him, that we should always come to God, when we are troubled and find life burdensome and difficult. Jesus will give us comfort and rest. With Jesus, with God, the struggles, difficulties and burdens of life can easy. What makes them easy is having faith in our relationship with Jesus.

A few years ago I ran across a definition of faith that went something like this – Faith is staking your life on the promises of God. Think about that for a moment – staking your life on the promises of God. In the Gospel Jesus promises that if we have faith we will always have comfort and rest even in the midst of troubles and challenges. Having faith is the key. Life is never easy and each new day brings challenges, struggles, burdens and difficulties but knowing where and with whom to stake our life can make all the difference.

So my friends in the midst of all that the world throws at us, let us continue to walk by faith by trusting in our friendship with God and staking our life of God’s promises.

Have a great day everyone.

Daily Prayer: Take, Lord, and receive all our liberty, our memory, our understanding, and our entire will, all we have and call our own. You have given all to us. To you, Lord, we return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give us only your love and your grace that is enough for us. (Adapted from St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Prayer)

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 – a prayer of thanksgiving, a prayer of petition or intercession, a prayer of praise, a prayer of struggle, or a prayer seeking help or perhaps just a prayer that says hello God how are you today?

Daily Blessing: Thursday blessings and greetings to all. It is a beautiful sunny day here in Pelham. The humidity has gone away. You could not ask for a better day. It is the kind of day that makes you want to get out of bed! I hope wherever you are it is a beautiful day also.

In a little while I will be headed to Scranton, Pa. I will be at our Monastery and Parish there St. Ann’s for our long standing solemn novena to St. Ann which will begin Friday and run ten days, nine days of novena and the celebration of St. Ann and St. Joachim’s feast on the tenth day, July 26th. Please offer a prayer for our preachers this year, Father Chris Cleary, C.P. and Father Lee Havey, C.P., for all the Passionists who will gather to help throughout the ten days and for all the people who will come from far and near bringing their struggles, sorrows, hopes and joys. Please pray that it is a faith filled and graced time for all.

Please know as always you will be in my prayers but over the next ten days you will get special attention as I journey through the novena. If you have any specific needs or prayer requests let me know and I will include them in my daily prayers.

I pray that God will bless your day with the richness of His presence wherever you go and in whatever you do. May you find the gift of joy within you and may it energize your living of life today. And may you know the strength, the joy and in the hope of God’s love as you live this day!

Well, friends stay well and have a great day! Please know as always you are in my prayers and may you always know that you are truly a gift. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 07/15/2015

Daily Thoughts: A friend of mind often says, “It is hard when you are the smartest man in the room!” His point is that people with smarts often have a hard time with those of us who don’t. They believe they know it all or at least they know more than everyone around them and they find it frustrating when things don’t go their way or at least the way they think things should go.

I thought of this today in terms of our Gospel (Matthew 11: 25-27). Jesus says, "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the child like.” In other words, sometimes the smartest, the wisest, the most learned among us have no clue!

We are all aware of just how open children are. They want to learn. They want to experience new things and they haven’t yet decided what the right way to do things is. They are open to trying new ways, learning new things and exploring life around them. I think the point that Jesus is getting at in our Gospel today is that if we are open to the word, the experience and the presence of God in our lives just like children are then we will have a better chance of hearing, encountering and recognized God in our life.

Intelligence, smartest, knowledge and wisdom are wonderful gifts however they can often get in the way of God’s presence in our life. It is often better to be like a child rather than the smartest person in the room.

Today is the feast of St. Bonaventure, a doctor of the Church, a Franciscan, a philosopher, theologian and a mystic. He was a biographer of St. Francis, a contemporary of St. Thomas Aquinas, a teacher and a bishop. We might say Bonaventure was one of the smartest men in the room and a man of many gifts and talents. I would guess at times his smarts got in the way but what made him great was that he used these many gifts and talents to proclaim the kingdom. We might say that St. Bonaventure was a man who didn’t let his smarts get in the way of God’s grace and that is why he is a saint today.

Perhaps in the spirit of St. Bonaventure we might take on the challenge of the Gospel today. Let us live, let us embrace today in a childlike way so that we don’t miss any of what God sends our way. Have a great Wednesday everyone.

Daily Prayer:  Loving God, create in us an ever-growing faith, with hearts open and centered in you. Awaken within us the fire of your Spirit, so that your love may fill us more fully, and flow throughout our lives.

Increase within us a desire to reach out, to invite and to share, to welcome and accept. Awaken the faith of all your people, especially those who have grown distant from you, those ready to hear an invitation to the love you alone can bring.

Awaken us, loving God, to see the fullness of your grace and peace. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. (Awakening Faith is a ministry of Paulist Evangelization Ministries)

A Runner’s Thoughts: Mother Teresa saw Christ in the face of everyone she met; it is possible to conduct a run that models her behavior. So as we run, let’s place a smile on our face and thus offer a blessing to everyone we meet on our run today!

Daily Blessing: Hump Day and Wednesday blessings and greetings to all! I trust wherever you are you are staying dry and cool for the most part. There were period of intense rain yesterday and it was rather humid all day. It appears today will bring more of the same here in Pelham as it is overcast this morning.

Today is my last day home for a couple of weeks so I will be trying to clean off my desk and get things in order. I found out yesterday that my car was totaled so once I return at the end of the month I will be searching for a new car but right now my focus is getting ready to head to Scranton.

My blessing prayer this morning is that each of you will encounter the richness of God’s blessings today! That you all will find today rich in the presence, joy, hope and love of God. That each encounter you have and journey you make will add another piece of the mystery of God to your life. And that you all may be alive with the joyful grace of God’s presence that will become the gift of you to the world today!

Have a great day everyone! Stay cool and dry may this day be one of many blessings for you and those who are important in your life! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 07/14/2015

Daily Thoughts: We might say our Gospel today is about missed opportunities. In the Gospel (Matt. 11:20-24) the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum have missed their opportunity to encounter the presence of God, they have missed their opportunity to be people of faith.

I think if we all stop and think about our lives we can look at moments when we to missed opportunities. Perhaps we missed an opportunity to help another person, we missed an opportunity to be a compassionate friend, we missed an opportunity to help someone with their struggles or we missed a moment when God was truly present in our life. In looking back at our life we probably recognize many opportunities that we missed.

Now in looking back at our life we have two choices; we can choice to learn from our missed opportunities or not. In the Gospel today the towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum chose not to learn from their missed opportunities. These three towns no longer exist; there are just piles of rock, archeological digs sitting in the hot sun wait for people to come and walk through them. There is no life in any of these towns today.

Today is the feast of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American saint. She was canonized in 2012. She is known as the “Lily of the Mohawks” and is patroness of ecology and the environment. St. Kateri had a strong devotion to the Eucharist which helped to strengthen her faith in the midst of struggles and challenges. May we be touched this day by her spirit of faith in our own journey through life! We also might say that St. Kateri was a young woman who didn’t miss her opportunity to encounter God and that is why he is a saint today!

Perhaps in the spirit of St. Kateri Tekakwitha we might take of the challenge of the Gospel today by learning from our encounters God rather than not learning from them and finding ourselves like Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum today.

Thus, our challenge today is to ask ourselves if we as individuals, as families, as communities, as Church, as cities, as nations, as a culture and society are willing to learn from our mistakes, our missed opportunities? If we chose not to our fate will be like the fate of the three towns in the Gospel. What choice will we make?

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Daily Prayer: Loving God, strengthen us with the power to love through your Spirit in our inner most being. Fill our hearts with your presence and please do not leave us even when we seem to choose to go our own way. Help us to learn from our mistakes and missed opportunities so that we might grasp fully how wide and long and high and deep your love is for us. Above all, enable us to know this love that surpasses all knowledge so that we may share it with others. Amen!

A Runner’s Thoughts: Shakespeare once wrote, “Now bid me run, and I will strive with things impossible.” Jesus said, “…with God all things are possible.” Thus if we run with God then as we strive with things impossible they will become possible! Have a great run today and stay cool.

Daily Blessing: Tuesday blessings and greetings to everyone! I am back in Pelham and they are saying it will be a rather humid day with storms in the afternoon and evening. Well I guess summer is truly here!

Today I am waiting to hear from the insurance company about me car. Do we fix it or is it totaled? As I mentioned yesterday I leave for Scranton, PA on Thursday so I would like to get things moving one way or another before I leave for Scranton.

My prayer of blessing today for everyone today is that your day will be rich in the grace, joy and presence of God. That you will encounter the grace you need to navigate through this day successfully and peacefully. That you will be blessed with a joyful heart that you will share with everyone you meet and that you will encounter the presence of God throughout your day helping you to have the confidence that your presence in the world today is a gift to everyone you meet and to us all! Blessings upon all today and stay cool and dry! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul