Today’s Thoughts: In our first reading (1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-30) focuses us on the temple that Solomon builds for God and our Gospel focuses us on the fact that the Pharisees and scribes the religious leaders of Jesus’ time put more importance on the accidentals of life rather than the essentials. I think our readings have something to say to us today.
In our first reading Solomon dedicates the temple but reminds the people and reminds us that God is much larger than any building. A temple, a church, a chapel are sacred and holy places to go to but we must always remember that God is much larger than any building, any place. We must always remember that God is always with us, God is always within us! And our Gospel reminds us that there are essentials in faith and there are non-essentials. We need to be able to recognize what is important and what is not. Sometimes we forget, or we place more importance on the non-essentials than on the essentials. Solomon reminds us of what is important the presence of God. The Pharisees and scribes always seem to remind us of what is not. Jesus' struggle with the religious leaders continues. I have often struggle myself with the way we as an institutional Church have put more emphasis on traditions, objects, rules, regulations and rituals rather than on people. Do not get me wrong, traditions, rules, regulations, and rituals are all important but not at the expense of people. One of my biggest struggles is that at times we treat inanimate object far better than we treat people. Jesus' mission, his message, his ministry, his living of life was about people. He did not disregard traditions, rules, regulations and rituals but he put them in their proper place as helps, as guides not as the be all and end all. He never valued traditions, rules, regulations and rituals over people. He never made them (rules, regulations, rituals) the faith of the community. He never let them hide the image and likeness of God. I think if we want to be honest with ourselves, we need to be challenged by today's Gospel. We need to take a long hard look at what we do with traditions, rules, regulations, rituals in our faith life. We need to realize that perhaps at time we are just like Scribes, Pharisees and religious leaders in the Gospel today, tradition, rules, regulations and rituals get in the way of faith, get in the way of people, get in the way of God! Have a blessed and holy Tuesday everyone!
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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. Today’s Thoughts: Peter’s words in today’s Gospel, – “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man” – always seem to catch my attention. Every time I encounter God, I would like to be Isaiah and say, “Here I am, send me,” however my humanness always seems to get in the way. Why would God want to call me, to send me? Yet what our readings tell us today is that God does and is calling us.
In our first reading and in the Gospel, we encounter God calling people for the work of the Kingdom. Isaiah’s call is one of majesty and splendor. He is caught up in a theophany, an encounter God on the heavenly throne. While in the Gospel Simon and the others encounter God at the workplace. They are simply going about their business of catching fish when Jesus once again walks into their lives. In other words, our readings today remind us that God can call us anywhere, at any time. In fact, God is always calling us. Yes, God know we are sinful women and men yet that is exactly who he wants to proclaim the Good News. Few of us, if any, will encounter God the way Isaiah did. All of us will encounter God the way Simon and the others did in everyday life. Each day God calls us to something new which can be scary but also life giving. Sometimes the call is to take a chance and grow beyond realm of our abilities and other times it is to simply be who we are to the best of our ability. Like St. Paul in this First Letter to the Corinthians we all have a story to tell. We all make mistakes. We all have our faults and failings. We are all sinful people. Yet, God calls each one of us gifting us with his mercy and sending us forth in our own unique way to walk by faith and proclaim the Good News. We might not have a burning ember placed in our mouth. We might not be knock off our feet. We might not catch more fish then we can handle. But God will and does call us. The question is - are we ready to say, “Here I am send me!” Have a blessed and holy 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! Have a blessed, holy, and 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! There is a great line in the Letter to the Hebrews that says, "Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels." It is great advice! Perhaps it is advice that Herod should have heard or heeded. He certainly had one of God's angels, John the Baptist in his presence. 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. 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 blessed and holy 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 holy and blessed Thursday everyone. Today’s Thoughts: Wednesday 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 as 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! May we all have a holy and blessed Wednesday! 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! |
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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