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 and pandemics. 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 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 I read a last year about this time. It was 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, holy, safe and healthy Tuesday everyone.
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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, holy, safe and healthy Monday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: In our Gospel today, we get another glimpse of the disciples trying to understand Jesus. I find these glimpses helpful because they enable us to see the human side of Jesus also. We see his patience and his love for his friends.
Jesus’ friends were human, at times they were confused, puzzled and at other times they were ready to believe. Today Jesus tells them to not let their hearts be troubled, have faith because he has a place for them. They know the way. But Thomas and Philip are not so sure. Perhaps, their hearts are troubled by the world around them and their minds are having a hard time catching up. They don’t realize that in knowing Jesus they are already on the way. In following Jesus, they are assured of the truth and being a friend of Jesus they share his life. Like Jesus’ disciples, we are called to have faith, to trust, to believe. However, having faith, trusting, believing is just the beginning. We must live our faith every day. Yes, Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. But we must believe, to live and at times, the world makes if difficult and we find ourselves just like Thomas and Philip. We want Jesus to spell it out We want Jesus to just give us a clue, give us a little something so that we can be sure. This is certainly true during this unusual time of virus. Some of the usual ways in which we trust, know, and encounter Jesus’ presence in our life have not been fully available to us. We have had to find new ways of seeing, of recognizing, of knowing and encountering God. Jesus shows us the way. If we believe and follow the way, we are to love our neighbor. We are to walk on the right path but as we know, it is not always easy. We know the right way but often we look for a detour, a shortcut, an easier way because it seems to be too difficult. However, there are no shortcuts. To quote the fictional President Andrew Shepherd from the movie The American President, “America isn’t easy. America is advanced citizenship. You have got to want it bad because it is going to put up a fight.” Follow Jesus, being a Christian, a Catholic isn’t easy. It is advanced citizenship in the Reign of God, it is advanced discipleship. You have got to want it bad, to have faith, to believe because the world, culture, people around you, the journey of life is going to put up a fight. However, if we have faith, trust, believe and live we will find the way, the truth and the life because Jesus is always with us and will never leave us to face the struggles of life alone! Have a blessed, holy, safe, and healthy Sunday everyone and do not 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 blessed, holy, safe and healthy 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 blessed, holy, safe and healthy 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, holy, safe and healthy 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, holy, safe and healthy 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 certain some new ones especially our struggle with the coronavirus. 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 out shout it. 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 great Tuesday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: These words of Pope Francis seem to capture the spirit of today's readings first reading (Acts 11: 1-250 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 think the way he did or 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 through 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, holy, safe and healthy Monday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: “I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep.” These are but a few of the words spoken by the Good Shepherd in today Gospel (John 10: 1-10). There are probably many people in life that I could image as the Good Shepherd. People who have impacted my life in profound ways. But as I sit here reflecting on our Gospel my thoughts turned to mothers. Perhaps it is because I have begun to think about Mother’s Day next Sunday that I make the connection between mothers and the Good Shepherd. I am sure there are theologians and scholars out there who would cringe at the thought of connecting the image of mothers with the image of the Good Shepherd.
But it makes sense to me and that is all that is necessary as I offer you a few thoughts and musings on this Fourth Sunday of Easter. My own mother is not far from my thoughts as I prepare for another Mother’s Day without her. She has been gone now for well over nine years. I do miss her but I know that she is in a much better place and enjoying the gifts of God’s joy, peace and love abundantly now. But I still miss her! Mothers are often the Good Shepherds of our lives, standing guard at the gate, especially early on in our life, protecting, nurturing, feeding and loving us. They are the first shepherds of our life yet even after we leave the sheep fold for what we think are greener pastures they are still with us, standing guard, nurturing, protecting, feeding and loving us. They don’t do it perfectly, mothers are human and have their flaws, but the vast majority of the time they are Good Shepherds! A number years ago, a professional basketball player, Kevin Durant received the Most Valuable Player Award for the NBA season and unlike most other professional athletes he chose not to honor himself or his teammates but to honor his mother. For Mr. Durant, his mother was the Good Shepherd of his life, the person who made all his achievements possible. Yes, that is what a Good Shepherd does, he makes possible all our achievements, and the Good Shepherd makes possible our life. The Good Shepherd came into the world that we might have life and have it more abundantly. That is what mothers do to. They give us life and by their care, their nurturing, their protection, their wisdom, their joy and their love we get to have life and have it more abundantly. If we were coming up on Father’s Day I would say the same thing about fathers, but next Sunday is Mother’s Day and if you have a hard time seeing the Good Shepherd, Jesus, in all mothers, I am sorry. However, each time I think of my mother, each time I encounter the many mothers in my life there is an image that I see and the image of Jesus, as the Good Shepherd. May the Good Shepherd, bless and be with all of us today. May Jesus, the Good Shepherd stand at the gate of life so that all of us may continue to have life and have it more abundantly! Have blessed, holy, safe and healthy Good Shepherd Sunday 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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