Daily Thoughts - 10/28/2014

Daily Thoughts: As we celebrate the Feast of Sts. Simon and Jude today, two apostles, two friends of Jesus, the thoughts I would like to offer you come from one of my favorite authors, Barbara Brown Taylor. Barbara writes about what it means to be a priest. Her thoughts have given me food for thought recently and so I offer them to you today.

“...a priest is someone willing to stand between a God and a people who are longing for one another's love, turning back and forth between them with no hope of tending either as well as each deserves. To be a priest is to serve a God who never stops calling people to do more justice and love more mercy, and simultaneously to serve people who nine times out of ten are just looking for a safe place to rest. To be a priest is to know that things are not as they should be and yet to care for them the way they are.”

I hope I live up to what it means to be a priest most of the time. I know at times I do fail and I pray that my failures do not hurt others or keep them from God. I do know that things are not as they should be and I hope and pray that I do care for all the way they are!

I have a great day everyone!

Daily Prayer:

Loving God, Often we hold on to the things we own and we are afraid to open our clenched hands. Who will we be when we have nothing left to hold on to? Who will we be when we stand before you with empty hands? Please help us to gradually open our hands and to discover that we are not what we own, but what you want to give us. Amen! (Adapted from a prayer by Henri J.M. Nouwen)

A Runner’s Thoughts: A few words of inspiration and of faith today come from Dean Karnazes, “Struggling and suffering are the essence of a life worth living. If you're not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you're not demanding more from yourself - expanding and learning as you go - you're choosing a numb existence. You're denying yourself an extraordinary trip.” (Dean Karnazes, Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner)

Daily Blessing: Tuesday greetings and blessing to everyone! As we begin this new day we find ourselves getting ready to say “good bye” to October and its menagerie of colors, crisp morning air and sun drenched afternoons and we prepare to welcome November with its fading colors, ever darkening days and hustle and bustle of the soon approaching holiday season. So in the midst of this in between week I offer this prayer of blessing to begin your day and send you on your way towards November…

Loving God, Creator of this new day, bless my friends and all so that we may live your truth in everything we do. That we may express your love to everyone we meet. Touch us with your grace so that we may share our enthusiasm and make each moment better; so that we may give life to our hopes; so that we may walk by faith; so that we may dance and sing to your music of life; so that we will always embrace your blessings and your love and make today and everyday worth remembering. Amen! Have a great Tuesday everyone! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 10/26/2014

Daily Thoughts: “Love seeks one thing only: the good of the one loved. It leaves all the other secondary effects to take care of themselves. Love, therefore, is its own reward.” (Thomas Merton)

Perhaps this is what Jesus is getting at as he answers the scholar of the law in today’s Gospel (Matt. 22: 34-40). Love sits at the heart of any relationship, of any friendship. The first mark of a good relationship, a good friendship, is benevolence. Benevolence is actively, seeking and finding the good in another.

In the first reading from the Book of Exodus (Exodus 22:20-26) God reminds the Israelites that they are to care people not like themselves. They are to care for immigrants, aliens. They are to care for windows and orphans, those less fortunate than themselves. Because – we have all been immigrants and aliens at one point in our family history; we all have the potential of struggling and needing assistance. Care, concern, mercy and compassion are the hallmarks of a friend of God.

We find ourselves in the midst of a great debate these days about immigrants and those who are poor. Pope Francis constantly challenges us to care for these people with compassion, understanding and love. In our first reading today God challenges not just the Israelites but us to care for the aliens, the immigrants, the poor!

In the Gospel Jesus reminds us that we are to love God and love others and also love ourselves. In order to do this we must find the good in God, others and ourselves. We must desire good for God, others and ourselves. As Merton says if we can do this the gift of love will be our reward!

We see the effects of lack of love every day in our culture, our society and even our church. Lack of love started with the inability to find God’s love within ourselves and this inability produces violence, suffering, injustice, selfishness, self-centeredness and judgmentalness. The lack of love creates divisions, alienates and isolates people.

The power of God’s word challenges us to be loving people today not just to those we like or those we find easy to love but we are asked to extend the embrace of love to all, including ourselves. If we can find the love that God has created within us then it is much easier to look beyond ourselves to love God and others!

Have a great Sunday everyone and may the peace of Christ’s passionate love be with you today and always!

Daily Prayer:

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,

 my memory, my understanding

 and my entire will,

 All I have and call my own.

 

 You have given all to me.

 To you, Lord, I return it.

 

 Everything is yours; do with it what you will.

 Give me only your love and your grace.

 That is enough for me.

(Suscipe – St. Ignatius of Loyola)

A Runner’s Thoughts: Here are some words to ponder and perhaps even live by from Paul Maurer’s book, The Gift – A Runner’s Story.  “Running isn't a sport for pretty boys...It's about the sweat in your hair and the blisters on your feet. It’s the frozen spit on your chin and the nausea in your gut. It's about throbbing calves and cramps at midnight that are strong enough to wake the dead. It's about getting out the door and running when the rest of the world is only dreaming about having the passion that you need to live each and every day with. It's about being on a lonely road and running like a champion even when there's not a single soul in sight to cheer you on. Running is all about having the desire to train and persevere until every fiber in your legs, mind, and heart is turned to steel. And when you've finally forged hard enough, you will have become the best runner you can be. And that's all that you can ask for.”  And this is what faith is about too!

Sunday Blessing: Wherever you are, whatever this day has brought into your life,  if you are watching your favorite team, celebrating your team’s victory, or mourning and debating its defeat or just anticipating the work week and the busyness of that lies ahead. It you are resting and relaxing or busy about many different things, if you are taking time to enjoy the beauty of this day or struggling through a problem, no matter where you are or what you are doing I offer this prayer and blessing for you...

This is the Day that God has made let us rejoice and be glad. May there always be work for us to do.  May our pockets and purses always hold a coin or two. May the sun always shine warm on our windowpanes. May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain. May the hand of family, a loved one and a friend always be near and may God fill our hearts with gladness and love that we in turn can share! May God’s blessing be upon us all today and always. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 10/25/2014

Daily Thoughts: Saturday greetings and blessings to all! I will be heading to Manhattan in a little while for the 5:00 pm Mass at St. Malachy's. I have confessions at 4:30 pm followed by mass at 5 pm. Then it will be on to dinner with Fr. Michael Greene, C.P. at Maggie's Place 47th and Madison! If you are in the city and your schedule permits why not join me at St. Malachy's at 5 pm.

Remember to give God a little time this weekend! Have a great Saturday afternoon and evening everyone! Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 10/24/2014

Daily Thoughts: A I read today’s Gospel (Luke 12:54-59) as I prepared to celebrate mass this morning I could not help but think of one of my favorite says by Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J = “Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.”

Jesus seems to be saying the same thing. As human beings we seem to get caught up, become fascinated, with the things around us and in doing so we often miss the most important. We know what will happen when the wind blows out of certain direction. For example the last few days here in the east we had a northeast wind meaning it was blowing in off the ocean, so we had three days of rain and there is nothing wrong with knowing and understanding how nature works. However, Jesus’ and Fr. Teilhard de Chardin’s points are that there is something great, something more important, something more value to life and because we are busy about other things we miss it.

If as a Church, a nation, a culture, a society, a world we could put our efforts into harnessing the energies of God’s love we would discover fire for a second time in history and how important was it the first time! The energies of God’s love are all around us but we are so busy with other seemingly important things that we most often miss the chance to encounter God’s love. We miss the opportunity to make God’s love part of our lives.

My suggestion the Friday morning to all is that we take sometime today to pause and look around ourselves. Look past the obvious, the usual, the everyday. Look for the gift of God in our lives as it comes to us in so many different and life-giving ways. Discover it. Acknowledge it. Breathe it in. Embrace it. Celebrate it. Be thankful for it. And share it!

Have a great Friday everyone!

Daily Prayer: We believe, Lord, but let us believe more firmly. We hope, Lord, but let us hope more surely. We love, Lord, but let us love more warmly. We repent, Lord, but let us repent more deeply. Lord, give us humility, patience, and charity. Teach us goodness, knowledge, and discipline. Give us your love together with your grace, and we will be rich enough. Our God, our Jesus, our all in all. Amen (Adapted from a prayer by St. Anthony Mary Claret)

A Runner’s Thoughts: “At first an ordeal and then an accomplishment, the daily run becomes a staple, like bread, or wine, a fine marriage, or air. It is also a free pass to friendship. (Benjamin Cheever)

So to in the spiritual when talking about prayer!

Daily Blessing: TGIF everyone! I hope your day has started off well. It looked like the sun was going to make its way out from behind the clouds but the clouds have thickened again as they continue to roll in from the northeast. Our nor’easter of the last few days continues to hang on. Hopefully it will move further north at some point we will see the sun today.

I will be sitting at home today waiting for the dishwasher repair person. It has only been two weeks since it broke and he or she will arrive sometime between 1:00 and 5:00 pm and with my luck it will be 4:59 pm! He or she will probably not have the part and it will be another week or two before it gets fixed but that is life I guess. Good thing we don’t have a lot of dishes.

Once again I will take my daily blessing from the words of St. Paul that we find in our first reading from his Letter to the Ephesians. – And so my friends I pray that God will bless all of you today with the strength to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with everyone you meet through love, always striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace; remembering that we are one Body, one Spirit, and that we are called to one Hope; that we believe in one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of us all, who is over all and through all and in all. May our one God bless us all today and always! Amen! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Evening Thoughts - 10/23/2014

Evening Thoughts: After encountering today’s Gospel this morning it has been on my mind as I have journeyed through the day doing a little fall cleaning. I can’t help but hear Jesus’ words in all the articles, headlines and reflections on the Synod of the Family that began in Rome on October 5, 2014 that I have read the past few days.  Just by reading the headlines you could surmise that the Church is being ripped a part by confusion and unthinkable divisions – bishop against bishop, cardinal against cardinal, cardinal against pope, conservative against liberal (well this one is quiet thinkable), but hopefully you get my point. In all the chatter especially from within the Church about the good and bad of the synod you would think the “End Time” is just around the corner.

Yet, my response to all of this chatter, media and hysteria is – in the immortal words of Aaron Charles Rodgers, quarterback of the Green Bay Packers – “Relax!”

Jesus tells us in the Gospel today (Luke 12:49-53) that there will be divisions, conflict and struggles because of his presence, message, ministry and call. He tells us that he has come to set the earth on fire and through the centuries that is exactly what has happened from time to time. There is no reason to believe that it will stop anytime soon unless God has other plans. As long as there are two people there will be disagreements, struggles and challenges.

The Synod on the Family called for by Pope Francis last October has only begun. Those gathered for the synod were told by Pope Francis to speak frankly, honestly and truthfully and it seems they did. They listened to one another. They gave their opinions and they tried to formulate a document that would reflect their beginning, I repeat, their beginning work!

And then like a football team who plays a bad game everyone pounced on them, the international and national media, cardinals, bishops, priests and laity alike. What are they saying? What aren’t they saying? What do they really mean? Was the translation right? It all too confusing! It’s a mess? This confusion is of the devil! They have challenged doctrine! And so on and so on and so on!

Let me send this memo to the team, fans, media, to all cardinals, bishops, priests, deacons, whomever – “Relax!” The synod has just begun its work, yes it is messy, yes there will be fights, disagreements and divisions but let’s all have some faith in the Holy Spirit. Let’s all have some faith in the process. Let’s all believe in the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ love!

Have a restful evening everyone!

Evening Prayer: Grant us God, to know what is worth knowing, to love what is worth loving, to praise what delights you most, to value what is precious in your sight. Do not let us judge by what we see, nor pass sentence according to what we hear, but judge rightly between things that differ and above all to search out and to do what pleases you. Amen (Adapted from a prayer by Thomas A Kempis)

A Runner’s Thoughts: “The most important day in any running program is rest. Rest days give your muscles time to recover so you can run again. Your muscles build in strength as you rest.” (Hal Higdon)

So too in the spiritual life – rest is necessary for the mind, soul and spirit!

Evening Blessing: Thursday evening greetings to all! I am running a little slow with my reflections today as I worked on a little cleaning project that I have wanted to do for some time now. I hope all of you had a great day and at least are on your way home for a peaceful and restful evening.

We had a rainy, dreary day here in Pelham but as I said above all was not lost. Sometimes it take a miserable day to get you motivated to do a little work! I hope your day was a little brighter and your work successful!

My evening blessing is from our first reading today, St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians (3:14-21) – Friends, I kneel before God this evening, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that God may grant all of you in the accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God! – And I also ask God to bless you with a restful and peaceful night! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul