Today’s Thoughts: Today's Gospel (Mark 6: 53-56) focuses on the sick coming to Jesus and the first reading (1 Kings 8:1-7, 9-13) from the Book of Kings talks about the presence of God in the community. I was thinking that when we can recognize God’s presence in the community then healing can take place.
When we know or feel God’s presence sometimes all it takes is touching the tassel on Jesus' cloak and healing takes place, things, life gets better. God's goodness is not gone we can encounter it every day of our lives, but it takes work because there is so much "non-goodness" out there! But if we believe in the presence of God, if we believe that Jesus walks by then we are given the opportunity to touch a tassel and encounter his Goodness. Let us pray today for the gift of God's goodness and mercy in our lives. Let us pray for the wisdom to recognize those moments when Jesus is near and the courage to reach out and touch his tassel. Let us live in the hope today that God dwells within us because we have truly built a house, a live where God can dwell forever. Have a great Monday everyone.
0 Comments
Today’s Thoughts: In our Gospel, today, Jesus uses the simple images of salt and light in asking the disciples, in asking us, to reflect on our lives. I have often preached on this Gospel using the image not of the Sermon on the Mount but of Jesus talking with his disciples one evening as they rested at an inn. They have traveled with him and Jerusalem in not far away and Jesus isn’t sure that they are ready for what is ahead, he isn’t sure their answer is “yes.” How can he help them trust in their relationship?
Then an idea comes to mind. He calls them together. Before he speaks he looks at each one of them and then says, “You are the salt of the earth! But what if salt loses it flavor? What is then good for?” Then he looks at each of them intently again and says. “You are the light of the world! People don’t put a lamp under a bushel basket, they put it on a stand so that it gives light to the whole room. In the same way, your light must shine, your flavor must be tasted!” Now I know I am being a bit free and easy with Jesus’ words but the point is that in order for us to say “yes” to God we need to trust in the gifts and talents God has given us. We need to realize that we have something to offer no matter how ordinary our gifts, abilities and talents seem. Salt and light were everyday staples of life, yet as Jesus tells us they were also very valuable and so are we. It is up to us. We can hide our light, we can lose our flavor or we can give our light and add our flavor to life! Perhaps the first place to start is to begin our day asking God to let our faith not rest on human wisdom but on the power of God so that our flavor isn’t lost and our light shines! Have a great Sunday everyone. Today’s Thoughts: The Gospel provides us with an insight into the life of Jesus and his disciples. Jesus knew that his time was short, and his message was important. He knew that it was vital that his message should be spread as swiftly as possible. However, Jesus knew it was also important to take time away from proclaiming the Good News. He knew it was important to rest. Even Jesus himself took time to rest and pray. It was in these moments of rest and prayer that Jesus found the inspiration and wisdom to continue his journey to Calvary.
The message of our Gospel today is clear. We need to remember that we journey through this life with God’s blessing and we need to remind ourselves of this blessing each and every day and the best way to be reminded of God’s blessings in our life is to pause from the busyness of life – to take some time of rest and prayer. In other words, we can discover the blessings of God when we spend some time in prayerful silence. It we don’t we can become overwhelmed by the busyness of life, the busyness of the world and miss the helping presence of God in our lives. We are all well aware of how life can often overwhelm us. We have many responsibilities, family, friend, work, ministry, shopping, preparing meals; getting places we need to be through traffic, bad weather. We face many pressures each and every day and sometimes they can be more than we bargained for. Our Gospel today reminds us to pause amid the busyness of our lives and take a break, rest a little, pray a little and stay connected with God. This can make all the difference! Try and have a restful Saturday everyone. Today’s Thoughts: The readings today are interesting on the one hand we have the famous story of Herod and John the Baptist. It is a rather gruesome story, it is hard sometimes to think of a young girl being presented with some one's head and then turning and giving it to her mother. Yet, I guess gruesome things happen in life every day, thankfully not in my life.
I am always struck in this story with the fact that Herod is moved by John, that he likes to listen to him, yet he gives in to the worldly pressure around him. I get the feeling Herod knows that John is right, but his power, his self-importance; his ego will not let him say yes. Herod has surrounded himself with people who push him in the wrong direction. We might say that he gives in to the peer pressure of his time! In our first reading we recall the greatness of King David. We have just finished reading David’s story in the First and Second Books of Samuel and the First Book of Kings and now in the Book of Sirach the greatness of David is remembered. While at the end of today’s passage the writer says that God forgave David his sins the focus of the passage is David’s faithfulness. We might say that our passage today not only focusses on David’s faithfulness but also God’s mercy. We need to be aware that God can come to us, be present to us in many ways. We need to trust that God is with us always. We need to remember that we are a community of faith not just individuals and we need to always be aware of the struggles and joys of others because they can often bring God into our midst. We also need to be aware that when we do fail and sins that God’s mercy is there for us. Let us today live by the phrase – God is my light and my salvation, whom should we fear? Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever! Have a great Friday everyone. Today’s Thoughts: Jesus in the Gospel today is trying to teach the twelve the value to trust. He sends them out to preach, teach and heal but they cannot take anything with them. The have to trust, trust the communities that they go to and trust that Jesus will be with them. The twelve find out that if they trust good things happen. They cast out demons, they heal, they are able to proclaim the Good News.
May we like Jesus’ disciples in today’s Gospel learn to travel through life light, letting go of all stuff we carry like hard memories, fears and worries. Let us learn to shake off the dust of those who are unkind and trust that what we need will be provided. So, as we journey through our day let us take each step with faithfulness by trusting in God so as we live this day good things will happen. Have a great Thursday everyone. Today’s Thoughts: We hear in the Gospel (Mark 6: 1-6) about a town that doesn’t seem to have faith which perhaps gives us a little food for thought.
The people in Nazareth, Jesus' home town are so closed minded, so sure they know Jesus that they have very little faith. Their faith is so weak that the wonderful things Jesus does everywhere else could not happen in their town. They have put Jesus into a box, and they are not open to the unpredictable answers, the unexplainable surprises and the unrelenting love that Jesus brings! Our Gospel reminds us that faith is profoundly important but is not easy, that it takes work. We cannot always depend on what we know or see. History is helpful but at times can get in the way. We need to be open to the possibilities of something new. We need to keep working at our faith. We need to not give up hope because we never know when the grace of God will be in our midst and we do not want to miss it! So today let us live out our faith, let us not fear, because God's kindness is everlasting and God's grace in always right around the corner! Have a great Wednesday everyone. Today’s Thoughts: In the Gospel (Mark 5: 21-43), today we hear about two women, one who is cured and the other who is brought back to life. The women in the Gospel story are different, one is just a child of twelve who faces death, and the other has lived many years but for the last twelve years has faced a great physical struggle. For one woman it is the faith of her family, in particular her father, that makes all the difference, for the other it is her own faith that makes the difference. This is what brings these women together, faith. Faith if lived out can give us the opportunity to be cured; faith can also give us life!
The focus of the Gospel is the thread of faith. The two women in our Gospel relied on faith to bring about comfort, relief and life. We, the community of faith, rely on the faith of those that journey with us, our own faith and the faith of those who have gone before us, "the cloud of witnesses" to keep us going, to support us on this journey of faith we call life. Faith can be a comfort, faith is always a challenge but remember it can bring healing, it can bring support and it can bring life. Let us be faith filled people today and always so that we to can be a source of healing, comfort, support and life to all we meet! Have a great Tuesday everyone. Today’s Thoughts: As I prayed with the Gospel (Mark 5:1-20) this morning a line from the Psalms came to me – “Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord!”
I find this Gospel to be a strange story. There are many layers to it: Jesus in foreign territory; the man who lives among the tombs; the unclean spirits named legion that are sent into the swine; the swine that throw themselves into the sea; the fear for the people so much so that they ask Jesus to leave and finally the man once possessed becoming a preacher of the Good News. It seems that the possessed man in the story is the only one who can take comfort in Jesus. He has struggled all his life. He has been chained and broken out of the chains only to find little peace. It is only Jesus who can finally free him totally. I think we all have parts of ourselves that get possessed by the demons of life. Things that we cannot let go of that hurt us in a personal way and sometimes even hurt the people around us. We sometimes free ourselves only to be caught by them again. Perhaps like the man in the story it is only through Jesus that we can find comfort and hope. Often as we live life we tell Jesus to move on, to leave, we do not want our life disrupted even if it not going so well. We like things the way they are even if our life a awash with struggles, chains, tombs and a lack of peace. Yet all of us have the opportunity to recognize Jesus in our life and become free of the things that possess us but first we need to overcome our fears and trust in God's presence. Trust that change can be good. May we recognize Jesus passing by today and allow our hearts to find comfort and hope in his presence! Have a great Monday everyone. Today’s Thoughts: Sunday greetings and blessings to all and happy feast day! Today is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, "Feast of the Meeting" or in the Eastern Church where it started the Feast of the Encounter. It is also known at Candlemas Day as candles are blessed on this day. For the longest time it brought an end to the Christmas season in the Church. It is certainly a day of blessing.
The Gospel (Luke 2:22-40) today tells the story of Anna and Simeon two people waiting for the Lord. They were waiting for the consolation and redemption of Israel and they both recognized it in the child Jesus. Simeon's now famous words, words recited each evening near the end of Night Prayer, words reflecting the joy Simeon has in being granted the gift of seeing Jesus. Anna too is grateful for this opportunity. An opportunity that both Anna and Simeon have prayed and waited for a long time. Perhaps, Anna and Simeon reflect for us the journey of faith that all of us are on. We long for the Kingdom of God, we long for a day when the struggles, the times of sadness in life, the difficulties of life will be gone, when will we see the gift of God in its fullest. At that moment perhaps, we will utter the words of Simeon. However, until then we wait, and we journey in faith, we keep the faith like Anna and Simeon, and we go about life hoping to encounter God's many gifts in simple ways. Being on the lookout for an opportunity to hold God in our hands and feel the blessing of God in our life. May we truly be blessed this day knowing that we are on a journey of faith that will bring us to the Kingdom where we can truly give thanks! Remember to give God a little time today and have a great Sunday everyone. Today’s Thoughts: The Gospel story today (Mark 4:35-41) reminds us that in the storms of life, when the waves rise, and the surge comes Jesus is still with us in the boat on the journey. All we need is to have faith.
In the Gospels faith often makes all the difference. It can enable us to be healed. It can save us. Faith can make us part of the community again. Sometimes it is not just about our faith, but the faith of friends that can make all the difference. In our Gospel story today, it is faith that not only can save but get us to the other side, in other words help us to grow in our journey. God reminds us again and again that he is not going anywhere. God is always with us never leaving us to face our perils alone. All we need is faith so that we can trust the God is with us, though often invisible or unapparent, God/Jesus is always in the boat helping us through the storms of life. Have a great Saturday everyone. |
Fr. Paul R. Fagan, C.P. "Preacher on the Run"Just a few thoughts to help you on your journey through life...let me know from time to time what you think... Archives
April 2024
Categories |