Today’s Thoughts: "Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do." (St. John XXIII)
I thought of this quote from St. John the XXII as I encountered our readings today. As our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles begins today Peter and John have just been released with the warning not to preach in the name of Jesus. However, the power of the Spirit in their lives is so great they cannot stop. And as our reading ends we are told that the Spirit is so powerful in them that even the ground shakes as they pray and preach. If we take a moment to look back at the journey of these two disciples along with the other disciples we might note that it has been a long journey for them. They have endured many struggles. They didn’t always get Jesus’ preaching and teaching. They were not the brightest of students. At times, they often pushed for their way rather than Jesus’. They made some poor decisions and even denied and ran away from Jesus at his greatest time of need. Even their encounters of the Risen Lord did not seal the deal. All along from the first moment Jesus called them, he knew he had to begin emptying them. He continually invited them to let go of the world and to let God. Why? Because Jesus wanted to fill them with the Holy Spirit and it becomes the power of the Spirit that makes their prayer, their preaching so powerful and life giving. In the Gospel Jesus is trying to do the same for Nicodemus. He is asking Nicodemus to empty himself of the trappings of the world so that he can be filled with the Spirit. In a way, Jesus is telling Nicodemus that he is weighted down by the world but if he can let go and be filled with the Spirit he can be taken far beyond his wildest dreams! St. John XXIII using different words is offering the same message as our readings today. He reminds us not to be afraid, not to be weighed down by our fears, our frustrations, and our failures but to be open to the Holy Spirit. He wants us to let go and let the Holy Spirit empower us into our hopes, dreams and unfulfilled potential helping us to always remember that nothing is ever impossible with God. We just have to believe and never give up. So, let us empty ourselves today and let God fill us with the gift of the Holy Spirit so that we will stand ready for wherever the wind blows us today! Have a blessed, holy, safe and healthy Monday everyone and may the Passion of Jesus Christ be always in your heart!
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Today’s Thoughts: In our Gospel today, John offers us three diverse, yet united encounters. First, Jesus appears to the frightened apostles, minus Thomas. He offers them peace, then invites them to take on his mission, a mission he received from his Father, and then breathed upon their fear and confusion the gift of the Holy Spirit sending them forth with the mercy of God to offer the forgiveness.
Next it is now a week later, Jesus appears to the same group of apostles, this time including Thomas. As we have learned from the time in between the two visits by Jesus, Thomas, needs to see signs and wonders. So, Jesus invites him to see and touch the signs and wonders of his Passion and believe. Thomas’ simple respond is, “My Lord and my God!” Perhaps in other words, “I believe.” Jesus then asks Thomas to not depend on signs and wonders anymore but to have faith, to see differently. Finally, at the end of today’s Gospel, John tells us that he has written enough for us to believe without seeing. Yes, there were other signs and wonders after the Resurrection, but these which have been recorded are offered so that all who read and all who pray with them might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God and through faith, they will have true life in his name. Good old Thomas is such a good friend to us and so are the apostles gathered together in fear and separated by their individual shame at having abandoned their teacher, friend and Lord. They are living our doubts, our fears, our shames, and our desires to see just a little bit more so that our faith will be strengthened. It seems that God knows us better than we know ourselves. A little bit more will always be just a little bit more of what we will want. Thomas wanted to see more than he had heard his companions had seen. Jesus reminds Thomas, the others and us that seeing is not believing, but rather believing is a way of seeing beyond what can blind us. This seeing beyond is the gift of the Holy Spirit and it leads to us being sent out beyond ourselves as well. We are sent, as the Holy Spirit was sent to us, to attract others to Christ, to the Father. How we live by faith and not by sight is a graceful challenge to this “I need to see to believe world.” If we walk by faith and not by sight, then we will make the world around us uncomfortable. If we try to live by faith and not by sight, we can become a sign and wonder to the world of God’s wonderful and awesome mercy and love. Our struggles to live faithful, hope filled, and loving lives by going out, being sent, is the miracle of our times. By our life of faith, we become reminders that there is a beyond and what we see is the creative mercy and love of God. As reminders, we give new life to this creative mercy and love. Easter is our time for walking by faith, for going out and beyond. Have a blessed, holy, safe and healthy Divine Mercy Second Sunday of Easter everyone! Today’s Thoughts: In our readings today, we see a contrast between Peter and John great faith after Pentecost and their lack of faith right after the Resurrection. Mary Magdalene and the two disciples share with them their encounters with the Risen Lord, but they don’t believe. It is only after Jesus appears to them himself and takes them to task that they believe. Perhaps our readings today make the point that faith is always an ongoing struggle. It is always a work in progress. It is never finished until we take our last breath in this life.
As we journey through this Easter Saturday, I leave you with a few Easter thoughts from some other people to reflect on as you journey in faith amid the Easter celebration… "We must restore hope to young people, help the old, be open to the future, spread love. Be poor among the poor. We need to include the excluded and preach peace." (Pope Francis) “Everywhere I looked, hope existed - but only as some kind of green shoot in the midst of struggle. It was a theological concept, not a spiritual practice. Hope, I began to realize, was not a state of life. It was at best a gift of life.” (Sr. Joan D. Chittister, O.S.B.) "To maintain a joyful family requires much from both the parents and the children. Each member of the family has to become, in a special way, the servant of the others." (St. John Paul II) “Totally love Him who gave Himself totally out of love for you.” (St. Clare of Assisi) "Stupidity is also a gift of God, but one mustn't misuse it." (St. John Paul II) “My strength returns to me with my cup of coffee and the reading of the psalms.” (Dorothy Day) "Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do." (St. John XXIII) “Without love, deeds, even the most brilliant ones, count as nothing.” (St. Thérèse de Lisieux) "See everything, overlook a great deal, correct a little." (St. John XXIII) Have a blessed, holy, safe and healthy Saturday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: Periodically you hear people asked the question, “If you could meet, have dinner with, spend time with anyone in history whom would you chose?” I am sure there is a different answer for every person asked. As we listen to our Gospel today we might ask the question, “If you could have breakfast with anyone from history who would be your choice?”
I know what my answer would be – Jesus! First of all, I would choose Jesus because he brings and prepares breakfast which is always a plus in my book. But more importantly I would choose Jesus because having breakfast with him means my day could not start any better! Even though they have encountered the Risen Christ a few times since Easter Sunday the disciples find themselves back in Galilee trying to figure out what to do next. Peter believes getting back to his usual routine is the best way to put life and the events of Jesus’ Passion, Death and Resurrection into perspective. So off he goes, to do some fishing, with the others tagging along. However, the night doesn’t go as planned. No fish after a long hard night’s work. Enter Jesus. “Have you caught anything to eat?” “No!” is the rather tired answer. “Well then try dropping your nets again but do it on the other side of the boat.” What do you think went through the disciples’ minds? Probably some resistant thoughts to what the man on the shore proposed or a few choice words muttered under their breath toward the man on the shore. Perhaps they were just too tired and said what have we got to lose. Whatever they felt or thought they at least went with the flow and cast their nets one last time and the rest is history. They encountered a catch so big that it was now a struggle of joy to get it to the shore. They encountered a catch so big that it could only be one person, “The Lord!” Yes, if I could have breakfast with one person from history it would be Jesus because when he enters our life whether it is breakfast, lunch, dinner or anytime in between good things have a chance to happen. The struggling disciples learn that the Risen Christ will enter their lives at any moment and is always willing to nourish them for the journey; they just have to be willing to have faith and trust that all things are possible. As an Easter people this story is a good reminder to us that in the midst of our struggles, our unsteadiness in life, at those times when we feel our nets are empty all it takes is for us to recognize the presence of God to steady us, fill our nets and make all things possible on this journey through life. Perhaps as we begin this day or any day, for that matter, we should consider inviting Jesus to breakfast. And as we enjoy his company we might ask his advice as to where we should cast out nets. Because as our Gospel story reminds us great things are possible especially when Jesus makes breakfast! Have a blessed, holy, safe and healthy Friday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: Pope Francis in an address on April 1, 2013 said the following: "The grace contained in the sacraments of Easter is an enormous potential for the renewal of our personal existence, of family life, of social relations. However, everything passes through the human heart: if I let myself be touched by the grace of the Risen Christ, if I let him change me in that aspect of mine which is not good, which can hurt me and others, I allow the victory of Christ to be affirmed in my life."
In our first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles Peter and John challenge the people about not being open to the presence of God in their lives, about not being open to the Easter mystery, the Easter sacraments as Pope Francis put it. They ask those gather to open their hearts to the grace of the Risen Lord, to let it pass through their hearts and change them. In the Gospel the disciples at first are afraid of the presence of the Risen Lord but Jesus offers them peace and the assurance that he is really with them so that by the end of his visit they have opened their hearts to the grace and the spirit of the ultimate Easter sacrament, Jesus. Their transformation has begun. They have become the witnesses of this great sacrament and the power that it can be in a person’s, a community’s life. Our readings and Pope Francis ask us to be open to the awesomeness of Easter, to be open to the countless ways in which God becomes present in our lives each and every day. Openness to the grace of the sacraments of Easter, openness to the presence of the Risen Lord, openness to the awesome potential that God’s presence and grace offers us can make all the difference in our journey through life. Thus, the question or the challenge at the beginning of this new day is – Are we open to the grace of the Easter sacraments? Will we allow that grace to change us? A blessed, holy, safe and healthy Easter Thursday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” We encounter two famous stories in our readings today. In Luke’s Gospel it is the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and in the Acts of the Apostles it is the story of Peter and John curing the man at “the Beautiful Gate.” In some ways putting the two stories together on this Easter Wednesday can help us to enter the mystery and power of the Resurrection.
The story of the two disciples on the road, in my book, is a classic. It has all the elements of our faith life. The struggle with the things of the world, of life, the missed opportunities of encountering Jesus because we are so focused on our struggles; the moments in time when we sense God’s presence, when our hearts burn but we don’t realize it until the end of the experience and those instances when Jesus becomes present to us in the breaking of the bread. We have all been where these two disciples have been. We have been on that road in our life. We have been blind by our own lack of hope, our own disappointments, our own struggles. The gift, the hope of this story is that God that Jesus never gives up on us. He is always trying to enter our lives to remind us of the story and open our eyes to his presence. Peter and John understood that as they entered Jerusalem through “the Beautiful Gate.” The opened the eyes of the crippled man who wanted silver and gold but ended up with much more. The power of the Risen Christ can transform our lives sometimes profoundly and sometimes simply but when that moment comes, we just need to be ready and not be blinded by our own lack of hope, our own disappointments, our own struggles. Let’s not be the only ones who do not know the story, who have given up hope especially during these difficult days. Let us be people of faith and hope today whose hearts are burning with the word and presence of God and through the living of life who proclaim – “Jesus is Risen, Alleluia!” Have a blessed, holy, safe and healthy Easter Wednesday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: We find ourselves today standing between Easter and Pentecost. In the first reading we look ahead to the day of Pentecost and we encounter Peter and the others boldly proclaiming the Good News. All fear seems to be gone and thousands of people come to believe in a single day because of their preaching. In the Gospel we find ourselves at the tomb on Easter Sunday morning once again in one of the most beautiful scenes of the Easter Gospels – Mary Magdalene’s encounter of the Risen Jesus. It is from this profound encounter that Mary Magdalene becomes known as the Apostle to the Apostles.
It is through these two very different scenes that we are reminded of the transforming presence and spirit of the Risen Christ. On that Pentecost morning the Spirit descends upon all gathered in the Upper Room and pushes them out into the world proclaiming the Good News. It is a powerful Spirit, a life-giving Spirit, a Spirit on fire with the love and presence of God, it is a Spirit that cannot be missed or stopped. On Easter Sunday morning the presence and Spirit of the Risen Christ gently and lovingly invited Mary Magdalene into the Mystery of the Resurrection. St. Paul’s words from his First Letter to the Corinthians come to life in our readings today – “There are different gifts but the same Spirit….” We are reminded today of the many gifts of the Spirit. Gifts that push us forward in faith and gifts that comfort us and remind us of the gentleness of God presence in our life. Like Mary Magdalene we enter this day looking for the Spirit of the Risen Christ in our life and when we hear him speak our name we might want to just hold on to that moment. However, Jesus will send us forth like Peter and the others to boldly proclaim the Good News with joy! Have a blessed, holy, safe and healthy Easter Tuesday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: Easter Sunday is the highpoint of the liturgical calendar, the key to the season of Lent. The resurrection of Jesus is what centers our faith, the mighty deed done by God in relation to us and our need for salvation.
That’s all the facts of the matter; but what really matters is how each one of us lives into the mystery of the resurrection of Jesus. This season of the resurrection beginning today, Monday of the Octave of Easter, provides the opportunity to understand the depths of that mystery by discovering how it impacts our lives. Wherever and whenever we encounter Christ, the effects of his resurrection extend to us. Encountering Jesus clearly flows from the sacraments. When we celebrate the Eucharist; when we receive forgiveness for our faults and failings in the Sacrament of Reconciliation to name but two of the sacraments, we encounter the Risen Christ. These weeks of celebrating Easter invite us to set our sights on Jesus, raised from the cruel death of the Cross by God’s loving hands only to come alive again as the Risen Christ present to us all in so many remarkable and simple ways. Our task is to open ourselves to the Risen Christ, to the many ways that he is present to us, even in these unusual times, and to continue to grow as women and men of faith, hope, and love because of his presence in our lives. Our task these next few weeks during the Easter season is like Mary Magdalene and the other Mary in our Gospel today, to keep our eyes on Jesus, our ears attuned to faith, our heart compassionate toward the world, our hope beyond the reach of frustration, anger and the struggles of these difficult and unusual days. No virus, rumors, lies and scandals will detour us, no human attempts at explanation, no payoffs, no bribery will compromise us. No social distancing, masks and gloves will take way the presence of God in our lives. We are simply yet profoundly called to “not be afraid!” To go and carry the Good News to our sisters and brothers as best we can even in these unusual times. Happy Easter and have a blessed, holy, safe and healthy Monday everyone! Today’s Thoughts – Easter Sunday
"The Lord is risen, Alleluia! Happy Easter everyone! I have chosen some words from Pope Francis to give us a little food for thought as we celebrate this Easter morning “If we think that things are not going to change, we need to recall that Jesus Christ has triumphed over sin and death and is now almighty. Jesus Christ truly lives…. Christ, risen and glorified, is the wellspring of our hope, and he will not deprive us of the help we need to carry out the mission which he has entrusted to us. Christ’s resurrection is not an event of the past; it contains a vital power which has permeated this world. Where all seems to be dead, signs of the resurrection suddenly spring up. It is an irresistible force. Often it seems that God does not exist all around us we see persistent injustice, evil, indifference and cruelty. But it is also true that in the midst of darkness something new always springs to life and sooner or later produces fruit. On razed land life breaks through, stubbornly yet invincibly. However dark things are, goodness always re-emerges and spreads. Each day in our world beauty is born anew, it rises transformed through the storms of history. Values always tend to reappear under new guises, and human beings have arisen time after time from situations that seemed doomed. Such is the power of the resurrection, and all who evangelize are instruments of that power.” (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium: The Joy of the Gospel) These words of resurrection today from Pope Francis remind us of what Easter is all about. He challenges us to believe in the empty tomb and like Mary of Magdala and disciple whom Jesus loved to believe and proclaim that belief to all we meet. There is goodness and newness of life today do we believe? The Messiah is among us, the Messiah is one of us. Are we willing to bring the risen Christ to the world? I heard an interesting thought a couple of years ago on today's Gospel. The question was posed as to why when Peter and the other disciple (John) get to the tomb, Peter goes in and John goes in, but it is only John who believes? The answer was that after three years of traveling with Jesus, seeing him day in and day out when John saw how the cloths where left he knew that Jesus had risen because Jesus folded his bed lines in just the same way every day. It is an interesting theory, one that is only speculation; however, it does lead to an important aspect of our faith journey. Believing, having faith is much easier if we have a relationship with Jesus, with God. If we spend time with God, if we share ourselves, if we allow God to share himself with us, it is much easier to have faith, to believe. This is a very unusual Easter Sunday. Most of us will not celebrate this Easter in the usual way, with Easter Sunday Mass and perhaps a family gathering. We continue to shelter in place. We might say we are looking at the empty tomb or maybe even sitting in the empty tomb wondering what it means and will we ever get out! Today, this Easter Sunday demands of us more than ever faith and hope. We need be like Mary Magdalene and the other women and believe in the Risen Christ. We need to believe that we ill make it through these difficult and unusual days to our resurrection and new life beyond this virus. This is perhaps an important part of this Easter Sunday celebration! The mystery of Easter is about relationship, it is about friendship with God so that when we encounter the empty tomb, when we find ourselves sheltered in place, we too will believe and have hope! Easter Sunday blessings to all! Have a blessed, holy, safe and healthy Easter Sunday! Today’s Thoughts… Holy Saturday
“There are Christians whose lives seem like Lent without Easter. I realize of course that joy is not expressed the same way at all times in life, especially at moments of great difficulty. Joy adapts and changes, but it always endures, even as a flicker of light born of our personal certainty that, when everything is said and done, we are infinitely loved. I understand the grief of people who have to endure great suffering, yet slowly but surely we all have to let the joy of faith slowly revive as a quiet yet firm trust, even amid the greatest distress: “My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is… But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness… It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (Lam 3:17, 21-23, 26).” (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium: The Joy of the Gospel) I return today to these words of Pope Francis that we heard earlier in Lent because I think they reflect what Holy Saturday is about. We sit and wait. Will there be an Easter? Yes, we know that there will be but those disciples and friends of Jesus who lived through this day many centuries ago did not. They lived this day in their grief, but they also lived this day in hope. It was a time when they remember the story, it was a time when they hoped, it was a time when joy was conceived in their hearts. Today we live in the hope that once again joy might be conceived in our hearts! The word that I always use for Holy Saturday is hope. After a long Lent, after the gift of Love which we call Good Friday we wait in Hope on Holy Saturday. The elements of the Easter Vigil which very few of us unfortunately will celebrate in person this year, all point toward the virtue of Hope. On Holy Saturday night the story of creation is retold, the story of our creation, of how God so loved us, of how we are created in the image and likeness of God. We retell the story of our release from slavery; How God with a mighty arm brought us from slavery to freedom. We hear how God provides for all those who are thirsty, who are hunger. The rich table, the rich food God provides for us. On Holy Saturday night the new fire is lit. New water is blessed and usually we welcome people, through baptism, confirmation, Holy Eucharist into the community of faith but they like us will have to continue to wait. Holy Saturday night, even this year, can be and let me say is a night of hope for us, for our church, for the world. I read not too long ago that the most common one-liner in the scriptures is, "Do not be afraid." Someone counted, and it occurs 365 times. This is not really accurate but “Do not be afraid” does appear often in the scriptures. In our Gospel for the Easter vigil this one-liner appears twice. First the angel who meets the women at the tomb just after the earthquake tells them, “Do not be afraid.” Then as they go running from the tomb, they run right into Jesus who also tells them, “Do not be afraid.” Fear can be a crippling emotion. It can sometimes hold us back from seeing, experiencing and proclaiming the Good News. The world can throw many experiences, situations and encounters at us that can cause to live our life in fear. The message of our Easter celebration is to not be afraid, but to have hope! Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings a tune without the words and never stops at all! (Emily Dickinson) We wait in faith today, we wait in love, and we wait to hear the tune of hope that perches in our soul singing a tune of love that never stops. Yes, today we wait...in hope! Have a blessed, safe and healthy Holy Saturday and don’t forget to give God a little time as you journey through this day! |
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
May 2023
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