Daily
Thoughts:
Today is the feast of St. Mary Magdalene. She is referred to as the Apostle to
the Apostles. Mary was the first proclaimer of the resurrection a story we read
today from John’s Gospel (John 20: 1-2, 11-18). The interesting thing about
Mary’s encounter with Jesus is that at first she does not recognize him. You
might think that after following Jesus for so long it would be hard not to
recognize him.
Now some
might say it was because of his resurrected body but I think it was because Mary
did not expect to see Jesus alive. Have
you ever been in a situation when you did not expect to see someone? When the
person surprises us with their presence there always seems to be a moment when
we don’t recognize them. They haven’t changes, they are the same person but our
eyes and brain just were not expecting them. Then they do or say something that
is familiar and we recognize them. It doesn’t make sense and once we realize
our mistake, we wonder how we did not recognize her or him but yet it happened.
The
element of surprise can often catch us off guard. Perhaps today that is a good
way to think about the presence of God in our life. We have a God of surprises
and at any moment of our day God can walk into our midst. Are we ready? Or will
we miss the moment because we are not expecting God to be there?
Through
the intersession of St. Mary Magdalene may we be open today to be surprised by
God! Have a great Friday everyone!
Daily
Prayer: God
of surprises, we thank you for the gift of your presence in our life today. We
thank you for the way you bring us to new life in ways that surprise us,
liberate us, celebrate us and give us hope.
We ask
you to be presence in our life today; helping us to show that here and now, you
are at work bringing healing, wholeness, and justice and that by the grace of
your Holy Spirit of love, we your people may share in the surprising work of
your presence today.
God
surprise us today with your hope and love that we may be your faith filled
people who proclaim the Good News to a world that does expect to encounter your
love. Surprise us today, God! Amen!
A
Runner’s Thoughts: Remember running is an opportunity to search for God amid
the commonplace, humdrum and ordinary activities that most often occupy our
life. That is ultimately the point of meditative running – we are trying to
find a way to mix the mundane with the mystical, to blend the sacred with the
profane, to find heaven on earth. If running is sacred time to us, then we have
the opportunity to encounter the gift of God while we run! (Adapted from Roger Joslin – Running the Spiritual Path)
Daily
Blessing:
Friday blessings and greetings to all. I hope your day has started off well and
that it will be blessed in a special way as you journey through it. If you are
finding life a struggle today, please know as always you are in my prayers and
I will say a special prayer that it gets at least a little better as the day
goes on.
Later
today I will finally be headed to Scranton Pennsylvania and our St. Ann’s
Novena. I had originally planned to be there for the whole novena but I had to
change my plans because of other work related issues. However, things are now
worked out and I will head out this afternoon and be in Scranton help out with
the novena until next Wednesday morning. I always look forward to my time at
the novena. It is an opportunity to pause and encounter God in a unique way.
I hope
your week has gone well and that you have encountered interesting things in
your own life. We all cannot all be celebrities or travel around the world but
all of our lives are important and special. All of our lives give us the chance
to encounter God and bring God to others all of our lives are a gift!
In the spirit
of St. Mary Magdalene may God's blessings be upon your life today and as you
live out this day may you encounter Jesus in a special way. May you come to
know that you are loved and that you bring the love and grace of Jesus to others.
Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul
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