Daily Thoughts - 03/31/2015

Daily Thoughts: Troublemakers and troubleshooters are two very different types of people. Troublemakers are those people who create anxiety, frustration, agitation and cause calamity. 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 cooler than yesterday. Hopefully the cooler temperatures will not last too long. 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 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 extravagant love of God will touch your life in many life giving ways today. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 03/30/2015

Daily Thoughts: As we begin this most Holy of Weeks our readings (Isaiah 42:1-7 and John 12: 1-11) remind us of the good of this week and the bad. We are reminded of the compassion and love of Jesus. We are reminded of the caring and friendship of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. We are reminded of the impact that Jesus had on peoples' lives. We are reminded how Judas lost his focus and turned away from Jesus.

These early days of Holy Week set the scene, the characters and the focus for the Triduum. They give us the background of the story that will lead us to Calvary and the empty tomb. They remind us of how easy it is to get lost in the trappings of the world. They remind us how easy it is be distracted by the things of the world and to not recognize the presence of God. They remind us of how hard it is to be faithful people.

The scene today also reminds of the fact the Jesus is willing to accept extravagance when it is done in love. Jesus appreciates the extravagance of Mary's true love because Jesus and the Father are always about offering true love, the true love of the Cross which we will celebrate later this week.

What extravagant gesture of love can we offer someone this week? How can we make God's presence known and felt in our world this week? Remember God never turns away from a humble and contrite heart. Let us not be like Judas, someone who cannot grasp the love and support of God, rather let us be like Martha, Mary and Lazarus people who are friends of God!

Have a blessed Monday of Holy Week everyone!

Daily Prayer: Loving God, help us to enter more deeply into this journey of Holy Week. May we always have the faith of true friendship with you. May our actions express this friendship and thus make your presence known to all that we meet. Touch us with your extravagant love so in our moments of doubt and struggle we will not turn way, but turn towards you trusting in your compassionate love. Give us hearts which are humble and open to forgiveness. Give us spirits alive with your joy and love. Amen!

A Runner's Thoughts: As we run during this Holy Week let us remember that each run can help us embark on a pilgrimage of the ordinary which often leads us to the extraordinary and sacred!

  

Daily Blessing: Monday of Holy Week greetings and blessings to everyone! I hope your week is starting of well. We had a great crowd gathered last night at the 6 pm Mass at St. Francis de Sales. It was really a nice way to bring an end to Palm Sunday and enter this most Holy of Weeks!

I hope you had a great weekend and found some time for God by entering into the celebration of Palm Sunday! I will be praying that God will bless your Holy Week and fill it with many graces. May the God of Abraham and Sarah, the God of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, the God of Peter, James and John, the God of Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph bless and be with all of us as we make this journey of Passover and Holy Week.

My prayers are with all of you today and throughout this week. Please give sometime to God this week, even if your week is a busy one. Attend one of the Triduum services, make a visit to a Church on Holy Thursday evening, take the afternoon off on Good Friday, just try to connect with God in some special way this week. You will not regret it! Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 03/29/2015

Daily Thoughts: In Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis invites us to renew our relationship with Jesus when he says,

“I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord”. The Lord does not disappoint those who take this risk; whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there, waiting for us with open arms. Now is the time to say to Jesus: “Lord, I have let myself be deceived; in a thousand ways I have shunned your love, yet here I am once more, to renew my covenant with you. I need you. Save me once again, Lord, take me once more into your redeeming embrace”. How good it feels to come back to him whenever we are lost! Let me say this once more: God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy. Christ, who told us to forgive one another “seventy times seven” (Mt 18:22) has given us his example: he has forgiven us seventy times seven. Time and time again he bears us on his shoulders. No one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless and unfailing love. With a tenderness which never disappoints, but is always capable of restoring our joy, he makes it possible for us to lift up our heads and to start anew. Let us not flee from the resurrection of Jesus, let us never give up, come what will. May nothing inspire more than his life, which impels us onwards!”

It is my feeling that Pope Francis invitation focus us of the gift of this Holy Week. It is an invitation to once again enter a personal relationship with our God who loved us so much that he gave us his only son. As we journey through Holy Week we relive the crowning moment of Jesus’ journey, his journey of love. Today Jesus enters Jerusalem to take his last steps, steps that sum up his whole existence. He gave himself without reserve he kept nothing for himself, not even his life. May we take Pope Francis’ invitation to heart and live the joy of the Gospel proclaimed today!

As we begin this most holy of weeks, we are reminded of Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. This wonderful, “Hosanna” filled day is the starting point for the central story of all the Gospels, Jesus’ Passion, Death and Resurrection. Today, we reconnect ourselves to all those first gatherings of the Church as we listen to Mark's accounts of Palm Sunday and the Passion of our Lord. We remember the triumphant ride over the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem and the lonely walk to Calvary. We once again tell the story of triumphant, glory, hosanna, struggle, pain, sorrow, blessing, truth, giftedness, prayer and most importantly love. Like the early Church and all the centuries of Church that have gone before us, we are asked to remember, to believe, to have faith and to hope in the love of God as lived out by our Lord Jesus Christ. As we journey through this Holy Week, “May the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ Truly Be Always in Our Hearts!”

Have a holy and blessed Palm Sunday everyone!

Daily Prayer: At the name of Jesus every knee must bend, in heaven, on earth and under the earth and every tongue proclaim to the glory of God the Father, that Jesus Christ is Lord!

A Runner’s Thoughts: “...the real purpose of running isn’t to win a race. It’s to test the limits of the human heart.” (Without Limits)

Daily Blessing: Palm Sunday greetings and blessings to everyone! I hope you will be taking a little time to celebrate this holy day and that you will give a little time to God.

I am looking forward to beginning this journey through Holy Week by celebrating Palm Sunday mass at St. Francis de Sales Parish in Manhattan this evening. Our community just finished a mission in the parish this week and there was a wonderful spirit to the community during the mission and I am hoping that carries over to our celebration this evening.

I will keep you in my prayers this coming week. I will be at Our Lady of Perpetual help in Pelham Manor for Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. I will preach the three Triduum Liturgies. Then it will be off to Jamaica, West Indies on Easter Sunday. Yes, in a way it will be a busy week but I love this week and I am so looking forward to it!

I pray in a special way for God’s blessings upon all of you as you journey through this most holy of weeks. May you truly be touch by the unfailing love of God and may the Passion of Jesus Christ be always in your hearts! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 03/28/2015

Daily Thoughts: The stage is set today for Holy Week. All the characters are taking their places for the drama that will unfold throughout the coming week. The religious leadership has made its choice. They are afraid of Jesus; their comfortable life has been disturbed. Caiaphas has given the justification for the rest of their actions. He has put their social problems squarely on the shoulders of Jesus. He has put their leadership problems squarely on the shoulders of Jesus. He has put their fear and faithlessness squarely on the shoulders of Jesus.

With today’s Gospel (John 11: 45-56) we have a clear understanding of why all that we are about to reflect upon as we go through Holy Week has taken place. In many ways the ideal kingdom that Ezekiel (Ezekiel 37: 21-28) images in the first reading for today has not come about. There still is not just one God, one land, one people and one everlasting covenant of peace. We humans get in the way. We often fail to recognize God in our midst. We struggle to trust God’s presence in our life. We find it difficult to believe, to stake our lives on the promises of God. We are always looking for someone to blame, someone to sacrifice in the hope that things will get better.

As we prepare to begin this most holy of weeks let us take the time, not to plot against God, but to hear God’s word. Let us take the time to have faith in our relationship with God, to be people of faith on the journey, to be hopeful in the promises of God and to allow the love of God to embrace us and live within us as we journey through life!

Saturday blessing to everyone!

Daily Prayer: Loving God, open our hearts to the hope of your promises. Give us faith filled hearts that recognize your presence in our life today and always. Grace our hearts so that they may be filled with your love and that we will share your love with all we meet. Deepen our faith, hope and love this day and always so that we will never reject you, so that we will always have faith, see with hope filled eyes, live your love and proclaim the joy of the Gospel with our lives! Amen!

A Runner’s Thoughts: Breath is usually expressed in Greek as pneuma, which can also mean air, wind, or spirit. In Hebrew ruah is translated as breath, but it can also mean creative energy or life-giving force. As we run let us have an awareness of our breath as spirit, as our capacity to bring God into our being as we take in oxygen into our lungs. If we see each breath this way we will begin to allow our runs to become prayer! (Adapted from Running the Spiritual Path by Roger Joslin)

Daily Blessing: Saturday greetings and blessings to all! We enter the most sacred of all weeks in the Christian tradition tomorrow. We call it Holy Week and it brings to a close this long journey of Lent. We begin with Palm Sunday and we make the journey through the week celebrating Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and we end with Easter Sunday.

I hope you will give some time to God during these high holy days. This is a great week. It is a time to slow down a bit and allow the church to help us focus on our relationship with God. Please don’t let this week pass by as if it is just an ordinary week in life. Make it is special week. Get to church for at least one of the Triduum celebrations, Good Friday is the simplest and I think the most powerful of the three services. At the very least make some special time for prayer this coming week!

My prayer of blessing today is that God will be with all of you in a special way throughout this most Holy of Weeks. May God grace you with a special blessing that will enliven your faith, strength your hope, embrace you with love and fill your heart with the joy of the Gospel that you will proclaim by the living of your life each day. I pray that God will bless you with a restful and peaceful Saturday surrounded by friends and family, if not I pray your day will not be too busy. I also ask your prayers for this humble preacher of God’s Joyful Word!

It will be a somewhat of a busy week for me, a good busy and I can use your prayers so that the Good Word which I will proclaim as a friend of God during these most Holy Days will always be a Joyful Word. Be well and safe this weekend and always. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Daily Thoughts - 03/27/2015

Daily Thoughts: Both Jesus and Jeremiah find themselves in difficult situations today. For Jeremiah it is the reality of being a prophet, the people do not like what God is calling them to and so they are going to take it out on the prophet. For Jesus it is the reality that people just will not accept him. He has done many good things but people focus in on what they see as a problem, they look passed all the good, they only see the negative.

Isn’t that often the case, wonderful things can be happening yet people only focus on the negative. Whether we are talking about faith, church, religion, culture or society there can be many signs of hope, many actions that are good yet for some reason what is wrong, the negative, becomes the focus. We tend to look for what is wrong with a person, an experience or situation rather than what is right and good. At times it seems like we can make every positive story, situation, experience or person negative just give us time.

How can we overcome this? How can we be a positive life giving person today? How can we find the good and the hope in life? Well I think Jeremiah and Jesus give us the answer.

Jeremiah in the midst of his struggle says, “But the Lord is with me….” Yes, life isn’t exactly the best at this moment, things are not going so well, but God is with me! Jeremiah turns a negative into a positive. Jeremiah finds hope in a struggling moment.

Jesus reminds the crowd to look for and believe in good works. In other words find the goodness in the actions and works of yourself and others. Find what is right with the world, not what is wrong!

This is certainly a different way to live life and living this way will be challenged every day. The media and I realize that it is not just the media or all the media’s fault, but with its twenty four hour a day focus, its need to create news, it has helped us to constantly look for the negative. Let’s face it we like negative, we like seeing people’s faults and failings, negative stories that sell. The stories that most often seem to capture the attention of the viewers are those that focus of the negatives of life. We search and hunt for all that is wrong. We seem to take delight in pointing the finger, in bringing a person down rather than finding the good and building up.

Perhaps our challenge today is to look for the good work in ourselves and others and to believe that God is always with us!

Have a blessed Friday everyone!

Daily Prayer: Loving God, we thank you for this holy season of grace. Help us through your grace to see the goodness in ourselves and in others. Give us the strength to believe that you are always with us even when we struggle. Enliven our hearts with the gift of hope, a gift that we through the living of life can bring to the world. May your spirit of life, love, joy and hope always be within our hearts and help us to celebrate each and every day of our lives! Amen!

A Runner’s Thoughts: If we become meditative runners, prayerful runners, then we will be fortunate enough to find ways that refresh our bodies, our minds and renew our spirits, thus we might say we will be born again with every new run!

Daily Blessing: Friday greetings and blessing to everyone! I hope you have had a good week. I am sure you are ready for the weekend. Yesterday was a busy day for me but a good one. I made my way down from Peterborough, NH and then prepared for the closing talk at the Passionist Mission at St. Francis de Sales Parish in Manhattan last night. I have to say I was a bit nervous because I had not been there the other nights but all went well and it was a wonderful faith filled closing to the mission. Thanks for all your prayers yesterday!

Today is a day of rest more or less. I am going to get caught up on mail, paperwork and emails. It looks to be a rainy day here in Pelham so hopefully I will get a lot done.

I pray today that God will bless all of you in a special way not just today but throughout the coming week of Holy Week. May this time be rich in the presence of God and that you will find time to make today and the coming week holy in your life. May you be blessed today with the joy, faith, hope and peace of our God who so loved the world that he gave us his only Son and if we believe God will give us the gift of eternal life. Blessings upon all today!

Be well everyone, have a great Friday and a restful and peaceful weekend. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul