Daily
Thoughts:
St. John in the first reading today makes it sound so simple. If we believe we
will know what is of God and what is not. Sure when someone speaks against
Jesus it is a sure sign that we should not follow in that direction, however
there are many voices, many spirits out there that claim to be followers of
Jesus yet I am not always sure their way is the way to go.
John
reminds us we need to believe in the name of Jesus and love one another, yet
often the very people who ask us to believe in the name of Jesus do not seem to
love others. What should we think? What should we believe? It doesn't always
seem clear cut. Certainly John did not live in this age of mass communication,
of social media. The challenge of today is how to believe; how do we test the
spirits to see whether they belong to God?
To be
honest with you I do not have an answer, for me it is a work in progress. I
listen, I digest, I compare and I pray and hope that I make the right choice,
the right decision. I pray and hope that I am walking with God. One of my
criteria for testing the spirits of today comes from the Gospel today, from the
life of Jesus. The criteria that I place on today's spirits is how
compassionate are they. Jesus' life was about compassion for others. I test the
spirits of today with a sense of how compassionate are they? How caring for
others are they? How willing are they to provide hope in a troubled world? How
willing are they to unite not divide people? It is not always easy to make the
call, to know for sure, but the spirits of today must past the Jesus test, they
must be spirits that proclaim the "Good News!"
Have a
great Monday everyone and stay warm!
Daily
Prayer: Merciful
God, help us to become images of your light for all, especially those caught in
the darkness of injustice and violence. May we always live in your spirit so
that we too, like Jesus, might bring mercy, compassion, healing and hope to a
world caught in the grip of the spirits of fear, hatred, anger, violence and
injustice! Amen!
A
Runner's Thought:
As you run look for good in the world that you pass by, look for good in the
people you encounter, sense the good in you and know you do not run alone!
Daily
Blessing:
Monday greetings and blessings to all! To all who find strength and draw upon
the spirit of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton – Happy Feast Day!
We enter
the first full week of work in a few so I hope you are rested, refreshed and ready
to take on what life has in store for you this week. To make things a little
less inviting at least here in the northeast the cold weather is finally upon
us and it seems that the next couple of days will be the coldest so far this
winter! So bundle up, stay warm and think spring!
In couple
of hours I will be heading to Baltimore, MD where I will begin a retreat for pre-theology
seminarians. It will be a weeklong retreat from this evening until Friday
afternoon. I would ask you to keep these young men in your prayers this week
and if you could add an extra prayer for their preacher it would be greatly
appreciated!
I pray
for God’s blessing upon all of us today that we will have a blessed and holy
day and that we will encounter only the Spirit of God in our work, our travels
and our living of life! Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul
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