A little food for thought this morning from Sr. Bridget Haase, OSU 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.
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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 and natural disasters. 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. His peace 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 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 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 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 own reflection today I offer you a reflection I read this morning during mass from Sr. Bridget Haase, OSU 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 wonderful Tuesday 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 great Monday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: On Holy Thursday during the Eucharist of the Lord’s Supper we heard the verses of John’s Gospel that lead into to those we hear today. Jesus has washed the feet of his followers and we learn that Judas has dirtied his hands by betrayal. Jesus is back at the table and Jesus begins the Good-News, Bad-News of his last hours with his friends. The bad news is that he is going to be with them for only a little while longer. The good news is that he will be revealed in all his glory, upon the Cross. Jesus over the next four chapters of John’s Gospel will make sure that his message is clear enough for his friends to understand.
What Jesus make most clear and which he will repeat in chapter fifteen, is that he wishes them to love one another and by this love stay together as well as increase in fruitfulness. It is by this love for one another that they will be recognized and draw others to friendship with God. Jesus commands a “new” kind of love which is meant to bring back light, reverence, respect for what is restoring what God did with the first command at creation. The disciples are commanded to love each other into life as Jesus has done with them. Jesus has given them as much as they can handle. Now he is urging them to love outside the circle, beyond the eleven. They are to encourage others to reverence themselves as gifts prepared to be given in gratitude to others. In our world not all of us enter the process of bringing new sacred life into this circle of love. Yet, we are all commanded to co-create, and co-recover the lives within our life’s circle. When understood, this “new commandment” urges us beyond the emotional experience of love. We are missioned to continue God’s love. We might say that through us God continues to say, “Let there be light” because of us. “Let there be love” because of how we live. Imagine all that! That is mighty “new commandment” and a commandment which surpasses all others. Yet if we look around our world, we have the opposite power as well. There is our ability to also not love, to de-create. It is the “old commandment” which Satan gave to Adam and Eve. However, Jesus is inviting his disciples and us to accept our being loved by God and having accepted that, we are challenged to gracefully be instruments of attracting others into the circle of life. If we love others, we want them to be, not more than they can be, but more of the God-loved persons that they are. The more we love others, the more they have the chance to love themselves, the more the circle of life, the community of life, called Church, will be able to grow larger, deeper. The more we come to know our true selves, the more we will want to share with others the love of God. Jesus handed his life over to us before he handed his life over to the Cross. We are now commanded to be the instruments - sacraments - making his creative love a real presence in the world. Have a great Sunday everyone and don’t forget to give God a little 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 great 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 over and over again 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 over and over again. It’s a message we are to hear and live by. We, like Jesus’ disciples, are challenged to make a leap of faith over and over again as we live 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 just have 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 great Friday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: “Characters welcome,” use to be the calling card of the USA network. But as I reflect on the stories of the early Church as they come to us through the Acts of the Apostles I am reminded that our Church, our community of faith is made up of characters, faith characters. Some very familiar to us like Peter and Paul others not so familiar just names or people who appear for a moment, yet they played a role in the development of the early Church.
What is it that makes a “character of faith?” Well, I think our answer is in today’s Gospel. Jesus has just washed the feet of the disciples and he reminds them that “no slave is greater than his master and no messenger is greater than the one who sent him.” Thus, a “character of faith” is someone who follows the words and actions of Jesus. A “characters of faith” has faith in God, faith in Jesus and faith in the Holy Spirit. A “characters of faith” follows Jesus and believes that in following Jesus he or she will make his or her way to the gift of eternal life. One of the great “characters of faith” in our time is Pope Francis! One thing is for sure because we are “characters of faith” we will not live life the same way and occasionally, we will need to stop and listen for the voice of God in our life. We will need to receive those whom God sends into our life. But as a faith character we take comfort and have hope that Jesus will always take the time to point us in the right direction. The sad thing is that just as in the early Church, and during the time of Jesus, characters are not always welcome. We have all been gifted by being created in the image and likeness of God. Each of us are different, each of us are unique and special. And as we will learn a little later in John’s Gospel Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. There are many dwelling places in the eternal home thus there is room for every character! Have a blessed 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. The challenge is always our willingness to hear and see the gift of God in 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 Wednesday everyone! Tuesday Greetings and Blessings to all!
Join us, this afternoon, Tuesday May 14, 2019 at 3:00 pm for our Livestream program Through The Cross - The focus for this show will be "Getting Away – Passionist Retreat Ministry!" Our special guest today will be Fr. Paul Wierichs, C.P., Director of Our Lady of Florida Retreat Center in North Palm Beach, FL. We will also be livestreaming on Facebook! Remember, if you cannot be with us today at 3:00 pm 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: It is the feast of St. Matthias today. Matthias was the person chosen after the resurrection to take Judas’ place among the twelve. So, we first call upon Matthias’ spirit of faith in the Risen Lord to guide and direct us today.
“You are my friends…It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you.” Two reflections by Jesus in John’s Gospel (John 15:9-17) this morning that I have always given me pause for thought. On the one hand there is something comforting about being a friend of Jesus. Yes, this friendship demands a lot and is not always easy but being identified as a friend of Jesus often helps me to know that I am never alone. When you think about it someone who is willing to and did lay down his life for me is not going to walk away from me. The only person who can walk away from this relationship is me! The second reflection by Jesus is a little more of a struggle. I guess I would prefer to think that I am in control, that I am the one doing the choosing and to a certain extent I have chosen God. However, when I look back over my life, I can see the signs of God’s hand, of Jesus’ invitation. I can see God’s plan at work in the story of my life. I am who I am today not because I chose God but because God chose me! I have come to believe that it is God who does the choosing, extending the invitation to be friends. After all we can put Jesus’ words together with Psalm 139. “O God you probe me and you know…You formed my inmost being: you knit me in my mother’s womb.” Yes, God did the choosing long ago. God chose to create me, and Jesus chose me as a friend. God so loves the world that each of us are fearfully, wonderfully made so as we live this day let us trust in our friendship with God and live the gift that God has created us to be! Happy feast of St. Matthias everyone and have a great Tuesday! |
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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