​Today’s Blessing Prayer: Wednesday greetings and blessing to all! I hope your day has started well and will become even better as you journey through it. Today is the last day of July and the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola. A shout out to all Jesuits, especially to Pope Francis. Blessings on all as you celebrate the feast of your founder today and may you continue to live and minister in his spirit!
 
Enjoy your Wednesday everyone and may God bless our day with many good experiences and people! May our Wednesday be rich in the presence of God, blessed with the energy to live fully and graced with encounters of God’s Kingdom. May we find a hidden treasure or a pearl of great price and be willing to give all we have to possess it! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Today’s Prayer:
O loving God teach us to be generous
to serve you as you deserve to be served
to give without counting the cost
to fight without fear of being wounded
to work without seeking rest
and to spend ourselves without expecting any reward
but the knowledge that we are doing your holy will.
Amen.
(Adapted from a prayer by St. Ignatius of Loyola)

​Today’s Blessing Prayer: Tuesday blessings and greetings to everyone! I hope your Tuesday is starting off well! It is good to be back with you again. Yesterday was a very long travel day as I made the journey for Kentucky to New York. For the most part it was an uneventful journey just long. But I am home safe and sound and I must now enter back into life as I usually live it. I will miss the Abbey of Gethsemani. It is a profoundly peaceful place for me, but it is not where I belong so yes there is sadness in leaving but also the joy of having been there and the hope of returning again!
 
My prayer of blessing today comes from my blessed journey of retreat last week and the renewed sense of living life that has come from my personal time with God. I pray today for God’s blessings upon all of us as we go through our day. May God bless all our endeavors, may God be with us in all of our challenges and in all of our struggles. Please trust in the presence of our kind and merciful God whom we carry within us and may we not be afraid to share our gift.
 
Have a great Tuesday everyone – many blessings on your journey today. I hope all of you will have a great Tuesday no matter where you are or what today will bring! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

Today’s Prayer: Eternal God, the refuge of all your children, in our weakness, you are our strength; in our darkness, you are our light; in our sorrow, you are our comfort and peace. May we always live in your presence and serve you in our daily lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer by St. Boniface)
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​Today’s Blessing Prayer: Monday blessings and greetings to all. I hope your Monday is starting off well. The heat wave seems to have broken with yesterday evening storms at least that is the case here in Carmel, Indiana. I hope the same is true where you are!
 
In a little while I will begin my journey to Trappist, Kentucky and the Abbey of Gethsemani, where later today I will begin my eight-day retreat. For the next eight days I will be celebrating my own time of retreat which means I will be going dark as far as social media (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) is concerned. Also I will not be posting on my web site. No Today’s Thoughts, Today’s Prayers, Runner’s Thoughts or Today’s Blessings until Tuesday July 30th. I am sorry if you depend on these posts daily but I need to take a break and spent the next eight days solely with God. A retreat is a special time and I need to put my electronic devices away and focus on listening to God alone. If you get a chance please offer a prayer or two for me this week. I will hold all of you in prayer during my special time of prayer!
 
My prayer of blessing today is in the spirit of St. Mary Magdalene. I pray that God's blessings will be upon our life today and as we live out this day may we encounter Jesus in a special way. May we come to know that we are loved and that we bring the love and grace of Jesus to others. Have a great day and a great week and I will see you again on July 30th! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul

​Today’s 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!

Today’s Blessing Prayer: Sunday greetings and blessings to everyone! I hope your Sunday has gotten off to a good start. I begin my Sunday in Carmel, Indiana at my sister and brother-in-law’s home. This is a stop on my journey to Kentucky, where I will spend the next eight days on retreat. The heat wave will continue today but I believe it is to break before tomorrow. I hope you are making it through these hot summer days ok!
 
My prayer of blessing for you today is this – wherever you are today, whomever you are with or will encounter and whatever you are doing or will do - I prayer that you will be blessed with the grace, love and presence of God. May the God of Peace, who shared with us Jesus, his Son, furnish all of us with all that is good, so that we may always do what God has created us to do. And may we always take some time to rest and enjoy life. May we remember to pause an listen for and to the presence of God if our life.
 
Enjoy your day, think positive thoughts, wear a smile and trust that God journeys with you! Blessings to all on your journey through this Sunday and every day! Don’t forget to give God a little time today. Peace in Christ's Passion...Fr. Paul
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Today’s Prayer: Loving God, you are the light of the minds that know you, the joy of the hearts that love you, and the strength of the wills that serve you: grant us the grace to know you that we may truly love you, and so to love you that we may fully serve you, who to serve is perfect freedom, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen! (St. Augustine of Hippo)
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​Today’s Blessing Prayer: Saturday blessings and greetings to everyone! I hope your Saturday is starting off well. We has storm roll through here late last night. The power went out for a moment and the lightening show was almost like fireworks but this morning all is calm. However, more rain and possible storms are on their way. I know in most places around the country today will be another uncomfortably hot day. So be careful if you are out and about!
 
The retreat ends this morning with mass at 9:00 am. I am hoping to be on the road by about 10:30 am. I will travel to Carmel, Indiana for the weekend and then on to Trappist, Kentucky on Monday, where I will begin my own retreat.
 
My prayer of blessing today is that God will grace us all with the strength to somehow help our world take a step closer to peace by living our life with compassion, love and joy. Please my friends don’t begin and end this day with hate in your hearts. Don’t see the world through the eyes of the 24 – hour news stations. Don’t point your figures and blame. Don’t disrespect others not like yourself. Allow God’s blessing to touch your life and be a person of peace, of compassion, of hope, of joy and of love today. Be a person of faith for your family, for your friends, for your faith community, for those you work with, for those you meet, for the world, and for yourself.
 
Have a blessed and peaceful Saturday, put a smile on your face and trust that you are loved by God even in those moments of struggle. May God bless you today and always and thanks for being the person that you are because you certainly make this world a better place and life worth living! Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul