It amazes
me how negative, hurtful, bigoted and sinful we can be with the words we write
about others. We call ourselves Christian yet the pictures we post, the
cartoons we send around, the ideas we put forth sometimes are anything but
Christian. I guess it is easy to sit in our homes or offices or be walking down
the street and attack a person, an organization, a political party, a public
servant, someone in leadership, or a president. They get no chance to defend
themselves and our words don’t have to be true. From the comfort of our own
electronic device we can post whatever we want and often there are no
consequences to our actions whether we are right or wrong. Remember it is a
free country and certainly free social media!
In the
readings from mass today we are reminded about the importance of truth. Jesus
(John 15:26 – 16:4a) reminds us that he is sending us the truth through the
Holy Spirit from the Father, not Fox News or MSNBC or any other news
organization that we agree with. Truth is most often not found in the media
sources of today’s world it is found in the hearts of people who journey
through life as friends of God.
Lydia,
whom we meet in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 16:11-15) today, went to the
river to pray and her life was changed through the preaching and the presence
of Paul. Paul spoke the truth and Lydia allowed it to enter her heart. She came
to believe. She invited the truth into her home and into her heart.
We need
to trust the Spirit in our life not 24 hour news. We need to speak truth about
ourselves and others. We need to be friends of God who build up not tear down.
There are always going to be those who bring deceitfulness to the living of
life may we always be people who bring truth!
A couple
of years ago I was wondering through the social media, Twitter to be exact and I
came upon two tweets from Fr. James Martin, S.J. that I wrote down and I think they
speaks to our scriptures today. Fr. Martin was talking about Pope Francis’
visit to the Holy Land. “To those who doubted that Pope Francis could do
anything valuable in the Holy Land, or could find grace among warring factions,
I say...that you've forgotten about the Holy Spirit again. Nothing is
impossible with God.”
Have a
blessed Monday everyone!
Daily
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, you have brought us the gift of abundant life. Give us eyes that
can look beyond the glamor and trivia of the world to the richness of your
loving presence as it comes to us in others, creation and ourselves. Grace us
with hope so that we will not give into despair, anger, vengeance and fear but
through hope we will find the joy, grace and life you came to give us. May we
come to know the full measure of life that you have promised and bring it to
others! Amen!
A
Runner’s Thoughts: Run with a strong heart today. If you run in the midst of
the ordinary, you will often find yourself touched by the extraordinary
presence of God. Run strong into the heart of God today!
Daily
Blessing:
Happy Monday everyone! I hope your Monday, your week, has started off on the
right foot. If not, I pray your fortunes will change as the day and the week
goes on.
I am
writing to you today from Greensburg, PA and the Caritas Christi Community of
the Sisters of Charity at Seton Hill. It is a beautiful place on the campus of
Seton Hill University. We began the retreat here last night and in a little
while I will be celebrating morning mass with the sisters.
I arrived
yesterday around 1 pm so I had a little time to walk around and relax. It was a
time to walk down memory lane because when I was a kid I would visit Seton Hill
each summer to attend the Summer Festival held by the sisters. We can to visit
my two great aunts who where Sisters of Charity. One of the first places I
visited during my walk was the cemetery of the sisters where my two great aunts
are buried. I said a little prayer asking them to be with me in spirit this
week. I would ask for your prayers for the 70 sisters on retreat and their
preacher!
My prayer
of blessing for all of you on this Monday is that you like Lydia, in the first
reading for today, may you hear the word of God, take it into your heart and
allow it to bless you with peace, hope and joy throughout this day and always!
Blessings upon your day, upon all that you are doing and upon all whom you will
meet! May God bless you with the gift of bringing God’s joy to the world today!
Peace in Christ’s Passion and Hope in the Risen Lord…Fr. Paul
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