Join us on Tuesday April 16, 2019 at 3:00 pm for our new Livestream program Through The Cross - and "The Sunday Mass – 50 years and Counting!" and a Through The Cross Reflection for Holy Week. If you cannot be with us at 3:00 pm on April 16th you can always watch the program at another time by visiting The Sunday Mass Web site and clicking on Through The Cross... https://thesundaymass.org/en/live
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Today’s Thoughts: In, Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis writes, “I never tire of repeating those words of Benedict XVI which take us to the very heart of the Gospel: “Being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.
Thanks solely to this encounter – or renewed encounter – with God’s love, which blossoms into an enriching friendship, we are liberated from our narrowness and self-absorption. We become fully human when we become more than human, when we let God bring us beyond ourselves in order to attain the fullest truth of our being.” These words from Pope Francis and Pope Benedict today touch on the theme of our scriptures. Who are we? What are we about? Seems to be the question asked in our readings (Genesis 17: 3-9 and John 8: 51-59). Abram is to become the father of a host of nations; his name is even changed from Abram to Abraham. He is redefined as a person because of his personal encounter with God. Abraham is now a friend of God. Jesus does not make himself out to be just anybody; Jesus is “I AM” and if we believe we have the gift of eternal life. It is a hard pill for the religious leadership to swallow. Jesus is not able to break through their stony hearts with this personal encounter, in fact they pick up stones to do away with him. They cannot be liberated from their narrowness or self-absorption. Perhaps our challenge today is to renew ourselves in light of our personal encounter with Christ, to have faith in the covenant, to believe in Jesus as “I AM,” to trust in our friendship with God. We are challenged today to let God bring us beyond ourselves to attain the fullest truth of who we are so that we can live this day as God’s joy filled friends who share our joy with everyone we meet! Have a great Thursday everyone! Join us on Tuesday April 16, 2019 at 3:00 pm for our new Livestream program Through The Cross - and "The Sunday Mass – 50 years and Counting!" and a Through The Cross Reflection for Holy Week. If you cannot be with us at 3:00 pm on April 16th you can always watch the program at another time by visiting The Sunday Mass Web site and clicking on Through The Cross... https://thesundaymass.org/en/live
Today’s Thoughts: “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Simple words of Jesus in today Gospel (John 8: 31-42) if only we could follow them. Sometimes the truth is the last thing we choose to speak. We think it complicates life. We think it causes more problems. We think it often hurts more than it helps. We think it should only be used as a last resort only when there are no other options. The truth seems anything but free at times to us!
Yet throughout his life and ministry Jesus only spoke the truth and every time we walk into a church or a Catholic home and see a crucifix on the wall we are reminded of where the truth got Jesus. We are reminded of the price he paid for coming into this world to speak the truth. We are reminded just how much God loves us. Perhaps a different way of thinking about Jesus’ words in the Gospel today is that the truth has set us free. If only we would embrace it. If only we would follow the example of the three young men in Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace (Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95). If only we would realize the freedom that living by the truth means for our lives, the gift that it can be to ourselves and the world and the hope that it brings to life. May we have the courage to speak and live the truth like the three young men and may the truth truly set us free to be the people God has created us to be! Have a great Wednesday! Join us on Tuesday April 16, 2019 at 3:00 pm for our new Livestream program Through The Cross - and "The Sunday Mass – 50 years and Counting!" and a Through The Cross Reflection for Holy Week. If you cannot be with us at 3:00 pm on April 16th you can always watch the program at another time by visiting The Sunday Mass Web site and clicking on Through The Cross... https://thesundaymass.org/en/live
Today’s Thoughts: Today’s readings (Numbers 21: 4-9 and John 8: 21-30) ask us to look at the nature and the power of sin in our life. It is only when we do this that we can be healed from sin and its effects in our lives and our world.
In the first reading we have the familiar story of the people of the Exodus grumbling and complaining as they wander through the desert. This grumbling comes from the very people that God rescued from horrific oppression in Egypt, under a Pharaoh who consumed their lives to feed his false god persona, is grossly ungrateful. Not only had God rescued them from slavery but God also provided food to eat and a fresh stream of pure water to drink, (from a rock no less). God is taking them to a land “flowing with milk and honey” where they will be God’s people, protected and loved. However, they are a whining group, who can’t seem to see their own dependence upon God and the need to be grateful for all that God has done for them. Their sin of ingratitude is as twisting and venomous as a poison snake which kills with its bite, but it can’t be recognized until it is lifted up on a pole and each person must look at it and see his or her own darkness of heart to be “cured” of its effect. In John’s Gospel the serpent on a stick becomes an image for Jesus’ crucifixion. When, battered and bleeding, he is “lifted up” in front of us. It then becomes possible for us thankless sinners to see, to know, to recognize, and to understand, through God’s grace, the nature and cost of our sin for ourselves, our world and to our loving God. Jesus took our sin into his own human personhood in order to put it to death and be the instrument for our release from the sin that condemned him and all its death-dealing consequences. Our challenge today and always as we live our lives in the pursuit the life of grace is each day to stand before the cross and ask Jesus three questions: “What have I done for you? What am I now doing for you? What can I do for you?” Have a blessed Tuesday everyone! Join us on Tuesday April 16, 2019 at 3:00 pm for our new Livestream program Through The Cross - and "The Sunday Mass – 50 years and Counting!" and a Through The Cross Reflection for Holy Week. If you cannot be with us at 3:00 pm on April 16th you can always watch the program at another time by visiting The Sunday Mass Web site and clicking on Through The Cross... https://thesundaymass.org/en/live
Today’s Thoughts: Jesus says in the Gospel (John 8:12-20) today, “You judge by appearances….” Often our judgments of people are just based on appearances. It is either the color of their skin, their ethnic background, the language they are speaking, the clothing they are wearing, the god they believe in, the part of the world they come from that we use to decide who people are. We have not bothered to stop and talk with them or listen to their story or understand what they believe and value. We just judge them, we put them into a box from which they will never escape.
Jesus seems always to be judged by appearance by the religious leaders of his time. He cannot escape the box they have placed him in no matter what he does and says or how hard he tries. The problem is when people are judged in this way, those who do the judging lose. The religious leaders lose because they missed the presence of God in their life. God was standing in their midst and they didn’t see God. God can be standing in our midst, perhaps not as dramatically as Jesus, but God is still presence in others and if we judge them by only appearance we lose. Susanna (Daniel 13: 1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62) was judged unfairly and what we learn from her story is that unfair judgments always catch up with those who do the judging. The truth always finds its way to the surface. It can be a difficult process and at times we need people like Daniel to point out the flaws in our judgment, but truth will always win even though it may take time, sometimes a life time. As we go about our day let us not judge by appearance. Let us look for the truth, look for the presence of God in all we meet. Let us be guided by the Light of the world. Have a great Monday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: We find ourselves beginning the last full week of Lent and for me the interesting thing about our Gospel story today has always been that it is only the woman who is brought before Jesus. She was caught in the act of adultery so there had to be a man there but only the woman is dragged before Jesus. It gives you a sense of the injustice that was present in society at that time. Women were pieces of property along with children, not treated in an equal way.
Jesus however has a different way of looking at life and society. Perhaps he sees the injustice and responds to it, or perhaps Jesus just sees every person as someone created in the image and likeness of God. Perhaps he sees someone who has made a mistake yet deserves another chance. Perhaps Jesus sees life were the crowd sees death. Perhaps Jesus sees the possibility for change and newness of life and the crowd sees only the law and punishment. Pope Francis constantly challenges us to look at things differently by his words and actions. His picking of the name Francis reflects a different way of thinking about, seeing and living life. His humility and care for others reflects a different way of thinking about, seeing and living life. His putting of people first, his care for the poor, his desire for peace reflects a different way of thinking about, seeing and living life. Our challenge as people of faith is to always see and live life through the lens of faith. We are to think of life not death. We are to see others first rather than just ourselves. We are to live compassionate lives of justice and peace. Have a blessed Sunday! Today’s Thoughts: In our scriptures today (Jeremiah 11: 18-20 and John 7: 40-53) we are reminded that Jesus really never had a chance with the religious leadership of his time, prophets, like Jeremiah, never fared well no matter where they came from but the thought that Jesus came from Galilee sealed the deal. The religious leadership had made their judgment and nothing was going to change it, not even one of their own, Nicodemus calling for justice.
Jesus throughout his ministry cautioned about making judgments. He healed, taught, forgave, showed compassion and asked us to love even our enemies. His parables always reflected ways to live and not to live. They always reflected a relationship with God so that people could understand the presence of God in their lives. He showed compassion to all and forgave sinners. All of this was too much for the religious leadership of his time. Jesus' way did not fit into their view of the world, their way of living in the world. They were prejudice in the case of place, they didn't like Galilee but at other times their prejudice took on different forms. The prejudices that we allow to make a home in us can often be the very thoughts and actions that judge us! Jesus and Jeremiah became the trusting lambs led to the slaughter. They never had a chance because their message was of God not the world. Their actions, their teachings, their lives give us examples of how to trust and hope in God's love. They help us to look at life through the eyes of faith not the eyes of prejudice. As we enter this day let us be aware of how we often judge people without listening to their story, without knowing who they really are. Let us trust in the presence of God that every person can bring to us. Let us be people of justice, truth, compassion and love. Let us be open to finding God's presence, God's goodness everywhere. Have a blessed 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
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