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. Now I truly believe
that when we receive communion we should do it reverently. That said there are
many ways to be reverent. If we were to apply Isaiah's words in the first
reading to the action of receiving communion, they 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.
In other words, as Isaiah reminds us God is not about rituals, God is about
actions.
However,
we receive communion is not the point – 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 and mercy to the world.
In The
Gospel, the religious leaders are once again hung up on the rules, regulations
and rituals but Jesus is 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
great 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 all. Are you cold enough? I have decided that
I have had enough of winter and I am ready for spring. I hope Mother Nature is
listening. I hope you are weathering the cold or that the weather is a bit
nicer and warmer where you are.
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 a Lenten mission at St. Raphael/Holy Angels Parish in Trenton, New Jersey.
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
No comments:
Post a Comment