Today’s Thoughts: If I had to pick a theme or a focus for the Gospels that we have heard throughout the summer it might be discipleship. Or maybe said differently what it takes to be a Christian or Catholic. Each week for the last few months Jesus has challenged his disciples, he has challenged us to see things differently and thus to live life differently.
Jesus’ words have often been hard to swallow and at times have caused tension within us. Jesus often asks us to go against the way the world sees things, the way the world does business. Today’s Gospel is no different. When asked who will be saved, Jesus tells us, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate.” The world might say, “Look for the biggest gate there is.” Take the easiest way. But Jesus say, “Go for the narrow gate.” In other words, take a different path, a path that is often harder. Be faithful to your relationship with God. Do get caught up in the things of the world. Be faithful! It is not an easy journey and Jesus has told us this over and over again. It is hard, difficult and at times it can be impossible. It is a journey that can turn things upside down. The last go first and the first go last. It is a journey where the rewards in this life are often small but the journey through this life is only temporary thus the rewards in the life to come will be profound. Yes, God is a merciful God but at some point our time in this life will be over and it will be important to be ready. Because if we are not ready when God calls. If we have not been faithful to this relationship. If we have not strived for the narrow gate. We will find ourselves outside where there is “wailing and grinding of teeth.” As our responsorial psalm tells us a disciple, a Christian, a Catholic is someone who goes out to all the world and tells the Good News. It is not easy. It is not something that everyone is doing. Yet in the long run it will make all the difference. Have a blessed and holy Sunday everyone and don’t forget to give God a little time today.
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Today’s Thoughts: “Do and observe all things whatever they tell you, but do not follow their example.” (Today’s Gospel Matthew 23: 1-12) I have to admit every time I read this passage in Matthew’s Gospel I think of bishops, cardinals and even popes. I think of them as saying one thing and doing another, of laying heavy burdens on others, of always needing places of honor, of always being shown respect but not respecting others. Yes, it is easy to point the finger at others.
However, if I truly stop and think about Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel the first person I must really consider is yours truly, me. I too am part of the Church leadership. I am a priest, a preacher and a Passionist. Do my words and actions reflect Christ? Do I lay heavy burdens on people and then do nothing to help? Do I look for places of honor, special treatment just because of who I am? Do I expect people treat me different? Do I expect to be called “father,” “rabbi,” or “master?” If I am honest at times the answer to some of these questions is, “yes” unfortunately! Yes, I get caught up in my humanness. I want to be special. I want the world to follow my words. I want people to point to me and say good things. I want to get the first place in line or be at the head table. So, Jesus’ words today are an opportunity for me to pause and reset my priorities. They are an opportunity for me adjust my life. They offer me a chance to plant my feet on the ground again and to value the things that are most important, the things that really matter. They are a reminder of who is most important in my life, God and others. The Chicago Bears football great Gail Sayers entitled his autobiography, I Am Third, referring to the way he lived his life, Jesus first, others second and himself third. In Jesus’ words today, I am reminded that I will never be perfect in this life and every so often, I need a good kick in the behind so that I take note of why I am a Passionist, a priest and a preacher. I always need to remember God is first, others are second and I am third! Have a holy and blessed Saturday everyone. Today’s 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 and the first mark of a good relationship, is benevolence. Actively, seeking and finding the good in another. In today’s Gospel Jesus reminds us that we are to love God and love others and love ourselves. In order to do this, we must find the good in the ones we love, God, others and self. As Merton says if we can do this the gift of love will be our reward! Have a holy and blessed Friday everyone. Today’s Thoughts: I have used this quote often recently, “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.” (Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.)
I have always liked this quote from Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J. and I think it ties into the thinking of Jesus in today’s Gospel (Matt. 22: 1-14). The story in the Gospel today is about the coming of the Kingdom of God. It is about the end time. Who will accept God’s invitation? Who will be ready? Everyone is invited but do we accept the invitation? Are we ready to enter the banquet of eternal life? The invited guests get caught up in the things of the world that they think are more important. One is not prepared, not ready. We to sometime get caught up in all the things the world defines as important and we lose sight of what God finds important. We think there is always tomorrow to get ready. If we think this way we will find ourselves just like the invited guests and the person not appropriately dressed, outside. However, if we can tap into God’s energy, if we can accept God’s invitation and be ready to enter the Kingdom. we will not find ourselves outside in the end when it comes! Have a holy and blessed Thursday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: We are confronted with an unsettling parable from Jesus’ again. Where is the justice? Where are the workers’ rights? How could the owner of the vineyard, how could Jesus be so uncaring? What does it all mean?
There are some of the typical questions and/or response I hear when this parable of the vineyard owner and the workers comes around (Matthew 20: 1-16). I always say to people this is not about worker rights, fair pay or justice. This parable is about compassion, mercy, generosity and love. This parable is about gratitude and letting God be God! The line that always strikes me in this parable is, “Are you envious because I am generous?” I believe this is a struggle we all have with God. We are so programed to do the right thing and in doing so we receive what is do us, but that is not how God operates. I often think about the Good Thief when this parable rolls around, it was just before his last breath that he connected with God. We talk about him stealing heaven. He is the very point of this Gospel today. The door to the Kingdom is always open, never closed and we are probably going to be surprised when we get there to see who is waiting to greet us, because God is a generous God, a merciful God, a loving God. The human rules of this life don’t apply to God and many of us will be thankful that God doesn’t operate by human rules and concerns when we reach the door of the Kingdom because without God’s mercy, compassion and generosity we might find ourselves outside! Be thankful not envious or judgmental today for our God is a generous God. Have a blessed and holy Wednesday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: In today’s Gospel the disciples listen to Jesus and then wonder, “Who can be saved?” Jesus says, “For [humankind] this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” Peter still worried about himself and asks, “If I follow you, what's in it for me?” Perhaps, the answer is not what’s in it for me but what can I do to help to make things possible? I/we can have a sense of gratitude for all God has graced us with. I/we can let go of our own need to control and live with gratitude and gratefulness toward God because it just might make all the difference.
Thomas Merton says it better than I… “To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us - and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him. Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.” Have a blessed, holy, and healthy Tuesday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: Eight years ago, at this time I had just returned from a pilgrimage to Lourdes. Recently I have thought a lot about that journey and how it changed my relationship with Mary. She was very present during my travels seven years ago especially during my time in Lourdes. While some might wonder why we pray through Mary to Jesus or the Father, or the Holy Spirit, it became very evident to me while in Lourdes that Mary has played and continues to play a very important role in my relationship with God and in all our relationships with God. The richness of her life, her presence and her place in the Body of Christ, in the Church and in the living of everyday life is very important. She is a touch stone to the presence of God in our life. I am glad to celebrate the gift of her love for us today on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary.
As we celebrate today I turn to some words by Benedict our Pope Emeritus in offering you some faith food for the journey of life today… “Mary is a woman who loves. How could it be otherwise? As a believer who in faith thinks with God's thoughts and wills with God's will, she cannot fail to be a woman who loves. We sense this in her quiet gestures, as recounted by the infancy narratives in the Gospel. We see it in the delicacy with which she recognizes the need of the spouses at Cana and makes it known to Jesus. We see it in the humility with which she recedes into the background during Jesus' public life, knowing that the Son must establish a new family and that the Mother's hour will come only with the Cross, which will be Jesus' true hour (cf. John 2:4; 13:1). When the disciples flee, Mary will remain beneath the Cross (cf. John 19:25-27); later, at the hour of Pentecost, it will be they who gather around her as they wait for the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14).” (Pope Benedict XVI) Happy Feast of the Assumption of Mary everyone and may the spirit of Mary enliven your journey of faith! Have a blessed, holy, and healthy Monday. Today’s Thoughts: I think there are images that our scriptures present to us today that help us to understand what they are asking. In our first reading from the Book of the Prophet Jerimiah, the image of the prophet stuck in the mud is an image I think we all can relate to. How often in the journey of life might we think of ourselves as stuck in the mud because of the circumstances of our life at that moment.
Our second image comes from the opening line of the Gospel when Jesus says. “I have come to set the earth on fire!” Fire in the scripture usually means the presence of God. In other words, Jesus has come to bring the presence of God to the world. The third image comes from our second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews, the writer of the letter tells us to “persevere in running the race that lies before us while keep our eyes fixed on Jesus the leader and perfecter of faith.” These words are reminiscent of St. Paul, running the race of life with our eyes always fixed on the end prize eternity with God. These three images from our readings today help us to make sense out of the challenge that Jesus is placing before us. Almost all summer Jesus has been reminding us that being a disciple, being a Christian, being a Catholic, being a person of faith is not easy. Believing in God is not a fairy tale, we don’t say we believe and then live happily ever after! It is a challenge each day of our lives. At anytime the world can turn against us just like it did in our first reading to Jeremiah. It can cause division even among the people we love most and the only way to get through it is to keep out eyes fixed on God and let the fire of God’s presence burn within our hearts! Have a blessed Sunday everyone and don’t forget to give God a little time today! Today’s Thoughts: First of all, let me apologize for not posting my reflections over the last two weeks. As I mentioned August 1st, I was going to post a series of flection for the time that I was on pilgrimage to Germany, Austria and Switzerland. However, I got so busy the day I left that I forgot to post the reflections.
I am back now so today I am back into my usual routine. Thanks to all who offered prayer for our pilgrimage. It was a wonderful experience, specially attending the Passion Play on Oberammergau. It was a safe journey and I hope the 32 people who journeyed with me will never forget the experience. Now on to my reflection today. I am thinking back to another pilgrimage I make eight years ago to France. One aspect of that journey that I have reflected on in the past was the gift of children in life. Whether it was my encounters with families especially children at Lourdes and at other points during the pilgrimage or thinking of the children that are important in my life these days, like my three grandnieces and grandnephew. St. Bernadette and St. Thérèse of Lisieux where both children when they were profoundly touched by God. In Aramaic, the word for child, servant, and slave is the same, which reflects the cultural attitude of first-century Palestine. But Jesus says, “for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” What a switch! Jesus is turning the social structure upside down! What does Jesus see that the learned and clever cannot see? Children are vulnerable and totally dependent. Because they lack power and control, they live in trust. Relying totally on their parents, they learn and grow. This is the stance that Jesus took when he taught his disciples to pray. We need to do the same. We need to value the gift of children in our lives. They should not be silenced, or abused, or hidden away, or seen but not heard. They should be in our midst always reminding us to be vulnerable, dependent, trusting and loving. They need to remind us to have joy always in our hearts! Have a great Saturday everyone! It is nice to be back and perhaps today you might spend so time being aware of the gift of children around you because remember they know the Kingdom! Today’s Thoughts: “Jesus teaches us another way: Go out. Go out and share your testimony, go out and interact with your brothers [and sisters], go out and share, go out and ask. Become the Word in body as well as spirit.” (Pope Francis)
Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when he asked the disciples what they had when they were confronted with such a large crowd. Yes, the miracle of the loaves and fishes took place that day. Yes, Jesus took a few loaves and fishes and fed over five thousand people. But before he did it he asked the disciple what they had. Jesus asked the disciple to give out what they had. God always provides and most of the time it is through us. Often, we look at ourselves and think, “There is not much here! I certainly don’t have enough to satisfy the crowd!” But we do and as Pope Francis says, if we go and share, if we go and become the Body of Christ then great things will happen. Miraculous things will happen. The world will be fed! The question for today is “What do we have?” The challenge is to “go and share!” Have a blessed, holy, and healthy Monday 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
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