Daily
Thoughts:
Sometimes we see laws, rules and commands as unnecessary. Sometimes we think
they are burdensome. At times we look for ways around them or think, what is
the least we need to do to follow them. Take going to mass as an example,
people often ask me for what parts of the mass do they need to be there for in
order to fulfill their obligation? Well, as I was growing up it was often said
you had to be there before the Gospel and stay until Communion was given out.
Certainly if you go to church on Sunday you can see the people who observe the
law, the rule of going to mass in this way, they show up just before the Gospel
and they are out the door at Communion. The letter of the law!
However,
I do not think that is what Moses and Jesus are speaking about today. They are
talking about living a life of faith, living a relationship with God that does
not seek to do the minimum. It seeks to live the maximum. Moses tells the
people to live their relationship with God and pass that living on. Jesus tells
the people he has come to live his relationship with God, to be an example to
the fullest extent of this relationship.
Often
people ask what they can do to get their adult children to return to their
faith. How can they get them to live a life of faith? My answer to them is to
pray for and love their children and grandchildren, but most importantly to
live their faith. The best way to make God present to people is by living out
our relationship with God as authentically as we can, no short cuts! If we are
fully invested, if we live out our relationship with God each day, we become an
example; we pass on the gift sometimes not even knowing that we do.
Yes,
rules, laws, regulations, commands can be bothersome, they can place us in
opposition to culture and society. They can seem hard to live out. They can
frustrate us. But in living by the rules, in being faithful to our relationship
with God we keep the story alive. We enhance the community of faith. We bring
the gift of God's presence to all we meet. We pass on our faith!
Have a great
Wednesday everyone!
Daily
Prayer:
Loving God, nourish us with your Word this day. Teach us your statutes and
decrees. Enliven our hearts with a spirit of love for you and your presence in
our life. Challenge us to be more than people who do just the minimum. Grace us
with the strength to do and be our very best selves for you. Make our lives
true examples of your loving compassion in the world. Amen!
A
Runner's Thoughts: “The athlete who says that something cannot be done should
never interrupt the one who is doing it.” (John
Wooden) Remember running can be a kind of medicine that helps us to change
physically, emotionally and spiritually. Running can be an elixir that enlivens
our life with health, hope and the presence of God!
Daily
Blessings:
Wednesday greetings and blessings to all! I hope this day has started well for
you and you will find many blessings as you journey through it!
We begin
with a rainy morning here in Pelham and we expecting a windy day too. I hope
the weather by you is a little bit better.
This is
the closing day of the mission at Our Lady of Perpetual Help. It has been a
spirit filled journey. I continue to ask your prayers for the faith community
here at OLPH and for their preacher. Hopefully we will have a very blessed
closing both in the morning and the evening.
My prayer
of blessing today is that all of us will be touched by the mercy, joy and love
of God as we journey through this day. I pray that we will recognize the
richness of our life and share it with others. And may we all be blessed with
the strength to live the fullness of life not the minimum! Many blessings of God’s
joy upon everyone today. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul
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