Daily
Thoughts:
I once heard someone say that our first reading from the First Letter of St.
Peter (1 Peter 1: 3-9) is the most beautiful reading in the scriptures in terms
of hope. While I like the reading I would not mark it as one of my favorites
even in terms of hope but it does create a wonderful image of our relationship
with God, which some might say stands in contrast to the Gospel passage today
(Mark 10: 17-27) but I would say complements it.
The
Gospel brings us the story of the rich young man, perhaps one of the saddest
stories in the Gospel. The story of struggle because of wealth and possessions,
a story that points out one of the great pitfalls of being successful, that it
can go to your head. Wealth and possessions can become a god if left unchecked,
if they become the most important things in life.
Yet, the
end of the Gospel like the reading from the First Letter Peter leaves us with a
sense of hope. The hope is that “For human beings it is impossible, but not for
God. All things are possible for God” (Mark 10:27). Yes, we are going to
struggle with the trappings of life. Yes, sometimes we are going to feel like
the rich young man. Yes, at time the words of the disciples will be uttered by
us, “Then who can be saved” (Mark 10:26). And yes, sometimes our possessions
and money will overwhelm us and we will struggle.
But we
live in the hope that even in our failures, our distractions all things are
still possible, salvation is still possible, friendship with God is still
possible because God is always with us and will never leave us to face life
alone!
Happy
Monday everyone!
Daily
Prayer:
Compassionate God, at times our hearts seems troubled. When this happens
everything becomes an effort, life is difficult and we struggle to be faithful.
In these moments remind me of Your Son’s words “For human beings it is
impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God” Do not let us be
afraid and thus give in to life’s troubles. Rather help us, stay close to you,
by reaching out to others, doing something creative with passion, and always
living the fullness of life. Enliven us always in Your Holy Spirit of hope, so
that we may live life with Passion together. And may the Passion of Jesus
Christ be always in my heart! Amen.
A Runner’s
Thoughts:
You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've
given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to
where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of
achievement. (Steve Prefontaine)
Daily
Blessing:
Monday greetings and blessings to all. I hope your day is starting off well. As
I look out my window the sun is rising in the east and it looks to be a
beautiful start to the day. The weather people are talking about rain in the
afternoon but I am going to focus on the rising sun and worry about the rain
later.
I have
mass at the Wartburg Home this morning at 11 am and I would like to get a nice
long run in hopefully before it rains. Other than these two goals not much else
happening in my day which is sort of nice for a change. I hope your day will
not be too busy either.
I would
like to offer a little prayer this morning for expectant mothers, remembering
in a special way my niece, Sarah, who is currently waiting for her son to
arrive any day now. Loving God, bless all waiting mothers today!
May their
wait not be too long so that they will be filled with the joy of new life. And
bless waiting fathers and grandmothers too!
My prayer
of blessing for all of you today is that your love many more and more abound in
wisdom, knowledge, understanding and wealth of experience so that you may
continue to learn to value the things that really matter and that you will
always be blessed with a harvest of faith, hope and love which God has planted
within you. Blessings to all today! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul
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