​Today’s Thoughts: Peace is one of the most elusive gifts whether we are searching for it personally or as a family or a culture and society. There are so many things that can get in the way of peace in life. It can be the minor irritations of life like traffic, construction, a person on a cell phone sitting next to us or spring allergies. It can also be the major realities of life, civil war, civil unrest, injustice, warring nations, terrorism, natural disasters, viruses, pandemics and gun violence. There are many things that can get in the way of a peaceful moment and a peaceful life.
 
Jesus in the Gospel today offers us peace. Yet he reminds us that the peace he offers is not of this world. In fact, the peace that Jesus offers cannot be found in this world. We cannot create the peace that Jesus speaks about. It is God’s peace, God’s creation. The peace that Jesus speaks about and offers us lies beyond this life and flows from his relationship with the Father, the Creator of peace.
 
Jesus reminds us that we need not be troubled or afraid that even though we cannot create, make, control or encounter his peace in this world, he will not forget us. In other words, to encounter the peace that Jesus offers we need to somehow let go and let Jesus and let God!
 
Peace is what we all want in our personal lives and in our world. We encounter it occasionally, for a moment, however it doesn’t last. Something always comes along to disturb the peace. Thus, we need to be people of faith; we need to be people of hope.
 
Amid life’s struggles the early Church continued to move forward. They did not get down they did not give up. It was through God’s grace that the Good News was preached. It was because the early Church had faith and hope in God that their hearts were not always afraid or troubled. They were on the journey towards the peace that Jesus offers. Let us be people of faith and hope today. May we not be troubled or afraid because we are willing to let go and let God!
 
To end my reflection today I offer you a reflection on peace by Sr. Bridget Haase, OSU that I found in Living With Christ –
 
“We may discover that PEACE is a collection of special graces permeating our lives:
Practicing non-violence through encouraging words and compassionate actions.
Evoking calm while others around us are agitated and irritable.
Accepting difficult situations with grace and serenity as we work toward conflict solutions.
Challenging ourselves and others to seek local and global justice and
Entrusting our lives to God in faith-filled surrender and exuberant hope.
 
Have a blessed and holy Tuesday and last day of April everyone.

​Today’s Thoughts: “Not to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory.” The refrain from today responsorial psalm seems to be the focus of our readings today. This journey of faith is not about us, it is about the glory of God.
 
We certainly see this in the drama of our first reading (Acts 14:5-18). Paul and Barnabas go from nearly being stoned to being honored as gods. Yet as they both point out it is not their work it is the work of God. The man who hasn’t walked from birth is healed not because of Paul and Barnabas but because he has faith. His faith in God enables Paul and Barnabas to lead him to healing. They bring God to the moment so that healing can take place. It is not about Paul, Barnabas or the man who is healed it is about the glory of God.
 
The same focus can be found in our Gospel today, (John 14: 21-26), Jesus speaks about his relationship with the Father and how it can be life-giving in our lives, for this to happen our focus has to be on God. We are asked to buy into the relationship with the Father that Jesus is offering us. We asked to have faith in God and faith also in Jesus. If our life is about the glory of God and not stuck in selfishness then the grace, blessing and presence of God will abound in us.
 
In a world were so much focus can be placed upon self, our scriptures today ask us to place our trust, our faith and our hope in God. We are challenged to not make life about us, but about the glory of God!
 
Have a blessed and holy Monday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: There is a lot going on in our readings today. Certainly, first and for most, we encounter in our Gospel the image of the vine and branches. One of the wonderful images of John’s Gospel. An image plucked right out of everyday life during Jesus’ time and that of the early Church. Jesus becoming the vine from which we the branches can grow in a faith filled life.
 
In our second reading we are called “Children.” I can remember a time during my life as a Passionist student when one of my brother Passionist students seemed offended but John referring to us as children. He said, “I am not a child any more I am an adult and I want to be seen and treated as one!” I have to admit sometimes I feel that way too, but I also know that if I open myself up like a child, I have a better chance of encountering the vine grower and receiving life from the vine.
 
Also, in the second reading we are given some advice. We are asked to not to love just in word or speech but to love in deeds and in truth.  In other words, actions speak louder than words.  Perhaps, that is why St. Francis says, “Preach always and when necessary, use words.” It is often easy to talk about doing the right thing but doing it can be a challenge. 
 
Because John sees us as children open to learning he goes on to share how we can accomplish living out our faith – by loving one another and by keeping God’s commandments and by doing what pleases God.
 
This all sound rather simple, but there are many moments, people and experience that make it downright hard!  I can easily think of people, experience and moments in life that presented and still present challenges to me when I try to practice the command to “love one another.”  No matter what I do, or how hard I pray for patience in dealing with people or situations, loving is difficult!  However, I am asked to persevere and love. 
 
Perhaps the challenge is to stop and think of how difficult it might be to deal with me, and how it may be difficult to love me. Not easy thoughts to think. It is a heck of a lot easier to spend time thinking of the faults and failings of others than my own, but perspective is gained when I consider my own faults.
 
Back to our Gospel, the story starts with a description of our Father, the vine grower.  The vine grower very carefully works in the vineyard caring for the individual branches daily. Those branches that are not bearing fruit are removed; the fruit bearing branches are pruned to produce more fruit.  The vine grower wants nothing more than to have a fruitful crop. Thus, a great deal of time is spent on caring for the branches so that fruitfulness can be achieved. God will do whatever is needed and we see that down through our faith story.
 
Our heavenly Father spends a great deal of time and care in watching over each of us.  If we remain in Jesus and his words remain in us, we are told to ask for whatever is wanted and it will be done. 
Three or four years ago there was a great deal of attention paid to the death of Alfie James Evans, the little toddler from Liverpool, England who had a lot of medical issues and there was a dispute between his parents and medical people as to whether his life support should be turned off. Even Pope Francis expressed his heart felt sorrow at the time of Alfie’s death! So many prays for healing, and it may seem that those prayers were not answered. Everyone wanted a miracle. Although it seemed that everyone’s prayers weren’t answered, actually they were — leaving the struggles of this life and moving on to Eternal life, while difficult for the family and all who prayed, was perhaps the better answer for Alfie. At difficult times in our life, we are asked not to despair, because prayers are answered. God, our vine grower does prune so that we might learn, so that good fruit is born, in the midst of our faith filled journey through life.
 
I sense the Alfie now is resting in the joy and love of heaven. Have a blessed and holy Sunday everyone and don’t forget to give God a little of your time today!

​Today’s Thoughts: “If you know me, then you also know my Father.”  These are familiar words of Jesus spoken to Thomas and Philip and found in today Gospel (John 14: 7-14). They are words that remind us that our Christian faith is a very profound experience; only those who have faith come to know that God, the creator of the universe, chose to enter our life, to be part of human history and in doing so reveals a profound love to all creation.
 
Jesus seems to be responding to the age-old question, is there a God, and if so, what is this God like? Jesus’ answer is, look at me, know me, because if you see and know me then you see and know my Father. As we find earlier in John’ Gospel, “God so loved the world that he gave us his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might bot perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16) So if we take a good look at Jesus, if we get to know Jesus then we will know God, we will know the Father, the God who so loves the world!
 
In coming to know God it always comes down to a relationship, a relationship with Jesus, a relationship with the Father, a relationship with the Spirit. Relationships take work, relationships can be difficult and demanding, relationships demand time and investment. Yet in the end a relationship is the only way we can come to know the love, mercy, joy and faithfulness of God!
 
Have a holy and blessed Saturday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: It must have been difficult being one of the 12 apostles. Today Gospel reminds us of two realities in the life of Jesus’ friends. First that to be a friend of Jesus you had to make a leap of faith repeatedly and second how Jesus is almost always patient with them. I say almost because at times you can hear little frustration in Jesus’ voice in dealing with his friends.
 
Imagine how new this all was to his disciples, his friends, even after the years of teaching and following. Jesus says there’s a place for you; you know the way. And yet Thomas says: “We don’t know where you are going; how can we know the way?” 
 
Jesus is the way. This is the message his friends hear repeatedly. It’s a message we are to hear and live by. We, like Jesus’ disciples, are challenged to make a leap of faith as we live each day of our lives. We, know the way, but we sometimes struggle to follow it. We make easy choices and we let ourselves be led astray. But like Jesus’ disciples, we learn the way. We learn to go in the right direction. When we make a mistake and make the wrong turn, we are graced with God’s patience and we hear the words that open our Gospel today, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith in me.”
 
Have a blessed, and holy Friday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: We celebrate the feast day of St. Mark, the evangelist, writer of the earliest and shortest Gospel. We meet Mark also known as John Mark, in the Acts of the Apostles and in the First Letter of Peter which is the first reading for today’s mass. Mark was a companion of St. Paul for a time and Peter refers to him as his son, most probably meaning his spiritual son.
 
Mark took the account of Jesus’ Passion and Death and formed his Gospel around this main event in the life of the faith community. Mark gives us nothing of Jesus’ birth or early life. He gives us the years of Jesus’ ministry and public life. As stated, the center of Mark’s Gospel account is Jesus Passion and Death.
 
The interesting aspect of our readings today is that in the first reading from the First Letter of St. Peter, Peter refers to the Devil as a lion. This not an image of the devil that is often used. Lions while powerful, strong and dangerous are often seen as the king of the jungle, they are often seen as noble creatures. In fact, the symbol for St. Mark is a Lion with wings.
 
In the first reading Peter reminds us to be careful and on the lookout for the devil and the Gospel reminds us that anything is possible with Jesus. Perhaps our readings and our feast today are reminding us to be on the lookout for the loin who can help us to soar above the struggles, and evils of this world to the presence of God.
 
The tradition of Mark’s Gospel has helped to spread the Good News. His Gospel has helped to sustain our faith throughout the centuries. It has helped the Church keep alive the story, the life, the ministry, the love of Jesus for the world. As we celebrate Mark today let us be reminded of the Good News. Let us take a moment out of our day to read a few words, a story, a passage from his Gospel. Let us remember the story of Jesus and let us proclaim that story in the way we live our life!
 
Have a blessed and holy Thursday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: Once again we are privy to the life of the early Church. In today’s first reading Barnabas and Saul set apart from the others and the Holy Spirit comes upon them, sending them on their ministry to the Gentles. We meet Mark and other characters in the story of the early Church. We begin to see how the faith communities identified people alive in God’s Spirit and called them forth to proclaim the Good News.
 
We might say that this little section from the Acts of the Apostles is a practical example of what Jesus speaks about in John’s Gospel today. Jesus continues to remind us of how important his relationship is with the Father. He reminds us that we need to listen for the words of God as they come from Jesus and as they come from those who the Spirit sends. The Good News comes from God, it is alive with God’s Spirit, and it is the light that will guide us on our journey of faith.
 
Along with listening Jesus also reminds us that he is the Light sent by the Father. A light that illuminates the presence of God in our life. We might say that the story we hear in Acts is also about light. Those called by God, set apart in the community of faith are lights of God’s presence also. Perhaps, the focus of the readings today is to remind us that we are the light of God’s presence in the world today!
 
The challenge is always our willingness to hear, to see and to be the gift of God in the world as we live our life. The challenge is to be open each day to the many ways in which God becomes present to us. The challenge is to take the Word we hear and the Light we see and make it known to the world. The challenge is to be the voice and light of God in our world today!
 
Have a blessed and holy Wednesday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: It is always interesting to me to hear the stories of the early Church as they are presented in the Acts of the Apostles. We hear about the struggling and the joyous moments of the early Church. We meet the people who made up the early Church and helped it to move forward. We hear about the wonderful faith filled moments and the dark moments of persecution and challenge.
 
Each time I hear the stories of the early Church I am reminded that as much as things change, they also remain the same. The characters are different, the events are different, but the struggles and joys are the same. Today we face many if not all of the same challenges of the early Church and perhaps some new ones.
 
We have communities of great faith; we have preachers on fire with the Good News. We have challenges inside and outside the Church and at times we have persecutions.
 
Our faith is constantly in question, challenged, and often under attack. We are faced with change, differences within and a changing, struggling world around us. Like the early Church we are a community of believers listening for the voice of the Good Shepherd. Sometimes we hear it and sometimes the noise of the world around us tries to drown it out.
 
Our challenge is to hear the Good Shepherd’s voice, to recognize it in the midst of all the other voices and to have faith, to trust and to believe that the Good Shepherd will always be with us and will never leave us to face our perils alone!
 
Have a blessed and holy Tuesday everyone!

Today’s Thoughts: These words of Pope Francis seem to capture the spirit of today's readings first reading (Acts 11: 1-25) and the Gospel (John 10:11-18). "Every Christian, and especially you and I, is called to be a bearer of this message of hope that gives serenity and joy: God's consolation, his tenderness toward all. But if we first experience the joy of being consoled by him, of being loved by him, then we can bring that joy to others. This is important if our mission is to be fruitful: to feel God's consolation and to pass it on to others!" (Pope Francis)
 
In our first reading we are confronted with the struggles of the early Church. We are reminded that there are people who want to keep God all to themselves. They want to keep the Church a closed little group of self-righteous people. You have got to follow the rules to be a part of us. yet, through Peter God says “wait a minute. I have created everyone and everything and I am giving everyone and everything the opportunity for eternal life. I am the Good Shepherd of everyone!”
 
A few years ago, Pope Francis set out to deal with all people who were trying to make their way to God. He especially focused on the family which involved the struggles of divorced and separated people. Pope Francis like Peter, in our first reading today, did not attack the people who did not like the way he did it or he did not justify his decisions, he called a Synod on the Family to talk about the issues and the problems. He gave people an opportunity to speak, to reflect on the issues so that the Church could move forward and be inclusive. Unlike Peter, Pope Francis paid a heavy price though of criticism, judgmentalness and self-righteousness.
 
Our first reading and our Gospel remind us today that God works in mysterious ways, and we have the option to either get in his way or get out of his way.
 
In the Gospel, Jesus offers us a relationship with himself and the Father. Jesus offers us the consolation and tenderness of the Good Shepherd. Jesus brings God’s joy to us. All we must do is get out of his way, accept his offer it and be willing to offer it to others!
 
Have a blessed, and holy Monday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: Our Gospel today introduces us to Jesus as the Good Shepherd. An intimate relationship that calls us to listen in a special way to the voice of the Good Shepherd in our lives. Sometimes the noise of our world gets very loud, but the Good Shepherds voice is always calling us. Sometimes the leadership of our world, our country, our church, our culture and society is all about power, authority, money, influence and self-interest. Jesus in John’s Gospel today reminds us that true leadership is about service, about offering one’s life and being a Good Shepherd. Jesus’ image of leadership is about mercy, compassion, forgiveness, understanding, care, support and selflessness!
 
Too often today we find that our shepherds are in it for other reasons, money, power, selfishness, control and self-importance. At the slightest sign of danger, problems, or truth they run away, they move on to greener pastures. Not so with the Good Shepherd. He is always there, always present through thick and thin. Jesus as the Good Shepherd is built on a lasting relationship of love, the greatest love that there is, the love of offering his life for us.
 
We are called today to listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd. A Good Shepherd who is always there especially amid struggles, challenges, fears and evil. A Good Shepherd with a Spirit that cannot be denied. Let us listen, live and be God’s faith filled people of hope!
 
Have a blessed and holy Sunday everyone!