Daily
Thoughts:
Troublemakers and troubleshooters are two very different types of people.
Troublemakers are those people who create anxiety, frustration, agitation and
cause calamity, i.e. Donald Trump. Troubleshooters are those people who have
the ability to identify, locate and eliminate the source of the disturbance. In
today’s Gospel (John 13: 21-33, 36-38) Judas is a troublemaker and Jesus is a
troubleshooter.
In the
Gospel we are told that Jesus is deeply troubled and as we read on and picturing
the scene we quickly understand why. The scene today is the Last Supper and
Jesus is aware of the events ahead of him. He knows that Judas will betray him
and in the midst of the supper Jesus sends him on his way. We all know what it
feels like to lose a friend. We invest time, effort, our emotions and feelings
only to have the person move on, decide that we are not worth the time, effort
and trouble. Jesus has given three years to Judas but Judas needs to move on.
Jesus has
given three years to all of his disciples yet he knows they will all run away
before the night is over. One of his closest friends, Peter, will deny that he
knows Jesus even though we listen to his bold statement of loyalty in the
Gospel. Yes, it is a troubling time for Jesus.
However,
unlike the troublemaker Judas, Jesus does not run away. He identifies the
problem, the struggle, the difficulty. Jesus realizes that humankind has
“fallen from love.” That is our original sin; we have fallen from God’s love.
Jesus the troubleshooter is going to restore the gift of that love by his
journey to the cross the empty tomb. Jesus set us free to embrace the mystery
of God’s love. It is up to us to turn away from sin but through the action of
Jesus, the troubleshooter, we are given the chance to once again “fall in love
with God!”
As we
journey through this day let us remember what Jesus has done for us. Let us
look at the cross and “fall in love once again!”
Have a
blessed Tuesday everyone!
Daily
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, we thank you for your great love. We are sorry for having troubled
you by not embracing, by rejecting, by denying, by betraying your love. Help us
to be people of hope, to be people of joy, to be people of faith. Help us to be
people who fall in love with you again! You know the weakness of our human
hearts. Grace us with hearts alive with your joy filled love. Gift us with
faith filled spirits that will help us to make good choices as we journey
through this life to the mystery of your everlasting love! Amen!
A
Runner’s Thoughts: Let us run with a spirit of gratefulness. Before we begin
our run let us declare our intentions to look upon all we encounter with the
freshness of the unexpected. The let us run with a sense of miraculous
expectation and allow our feelings of gratitude for the extraordinary and the
ordinary to flow through our beings. (Adapted
from Running the Spiritual Path by Roger Joslin)
Daily
Blessing:
Tuesday greetings and blessings to everyone! I hope your day is starting out
well. It looks like a sunny start to our day here in Pelham and they say we
will be a little warmer than yesterday. Hopefully the warmer temperatures will last
throughout the week so we can have good Holy Week celebrations weather wise. It
would be nice to see the sun and feel some warmth for at least a few days in a
row. Whether your day is warm and sunny or cool may it be one touch by God’s mercy
and joy!
My prayer
asking for God’s blessing today is that you will all have a great day. One
filled with many blessings. If you are encountering a bad day take a moment to
remember that you are in my prayers and that God does love you. Perhaps that
pause will help to turn the tide from a bad day to a good one. I pray that all
of you will be rich in the special graces of this most holy of weeks and the extravagant
love of God will touch your life in many life giving ways today. Peace in
Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul
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