Today’s Thoughts: We could approach today Gospel (Matthew 7: 1-5) from a negative perspective after all that is what Jesus seems to do. We could look at it as the don’ts of life. We are not to judge so that we will not be judged. But I would like to look at Jesus’ words in a more positive light.
Perhaps the intent of Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel isn’t just to say, don’t judge so that you will not be judged but that Jesus is asking us to stop and take a look at just how we look at others. Do we look at others through what they or maybe we do wrong? Wouldn’t it be better to first try to find God’s goodness, God’s presence in others which just might lead us to finding God’s goodness and presence in ourselves? Judging is easy. We are all imperfect, so we will always find flaws. We will always find moments of weakness. We will always find actions that don’t measure up, not only in others but also in ourselves. I think sometimes we judge or are hard on others because we know our own mistakes, our own shortcomings and if we can take the focus off our faults, our failings and look for them in others we think we can feel better. However, the opposite is true, if we look for goodness, if we look for God’s presence in others it often opens the door to finding God within ourselves. I think this is what Jesus is getting at today. Yes, perhaps he puts it in the negative but if we walk by faith, if we trust in God’s love then Jesus’ words can be turned into a positive way of living life. After all, if we take the wooden beam from our own eye then we will have better vision not just to see the splinter in others, but to find the goodness in ourselves and others. If we can find God in ourselves, we will be able to find God in others and vice versa! Have a blessed and holy Monday everyone!
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Today’s Thoughts: There are many ways to look at the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ which we celebrate today. The most obvious is the gift of the Eucharist, the institution of which we encounter in the account we hear in our second reading today from St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. We encounter that special moment just before Jesus Passion and Death when he gathered his disciples together and gave them the central focus for the rest of their lives. The Eucharist is our most cherished gift, it is the center of our lives as people of faith, as Church. The Eucharist offers us, like it offered the first disciples, the physical and spiritual nourishment needed to live this life of faith. The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist that we receive demands our lives, it demands that we bring Christ’s real presence to the world.
Another way of looking at this feast comes from our Gospel story. Fr. James Martin, S.J. writes, “God can do a lot with what we think is a little.” Just think of what Jesus did along the Sea of Galilee when he multiplied the loaves and fishes. His disciples wanted to give up. They said all they had were five loaves and a few fish. As we have learned God makes possible the impossible while doing a lot with little; or as Teresa Whalen Lux put it, “God often takes something small and insignificant and turns it into the extraordinary.” When you think about the word of institution from St. Paul and the story of the Multiplication of the Loaves you think of Jesus taking simple ordinary things and doing extraordinary things with them. Along the Sea of Galilee, he fed many and at the table of the Eucharist each Sunday, each day, Jesus feds many. Day in and day out Jesus takes something small, insignificant and ordinary, bread and wine, and does the extraordinary. I have often in my preaching reflected on receiving the Eucharist as a moment when God, when Jesus says to us, I demand your life! I have given you mine so now go and give it to the world. Our celebration of the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ today reminds us of just how blessed we are, of just what God can do and of our challenge each day to live, to trust in God and bring the real presence of God to the world! Have a blessed and holy Sunday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel provides us with a spiritual blueprint for living life. He invites us to disconnect ourselves from the things that the world finds important like material goods and wants, and become more trusting of God, like the birds of the sky and the flowers of the fields.
Jesus invites those listening and us to focus on things that really matter and not those that are distractions. Jesus challenges those listening and us to live more simply, less materialistically, and more spiritually. Jesus encourages us to be more faith-filled and less troubled by the things we are powerless to change. In other words, it is not the temporary and fleeting things in life but the consent presence of God that can help us come to the source of real power. It is coming to the realization that we cannot serve two masters. It is making the conscious choice to put God at the center of our life. It is trusting in the reality that when we are weak, we are strong. It is not worrying about tomorrow but living today! Have a holy and blessed Saturday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: There is a poem by Fr. Pedro Arrupe, SJ, who was the Superior General of the Society of Jesus for almost 20 years, which I like very much.
Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything. I thought of it as I read today’s Gospel (Matthew 6:19-23). Where is your treasure? Who or what do you love? Seem to be the questions of the day. Is it God? The words of the Gospel today challenge us to find our treasure in God, but also to move beyond simple academic statements about God and love. Jesus asks us to allow our living of life to reveal to us what we really believe and value. The path we take in life can be a helpful, important, and challenging window in helping us recognize where our hearts are, what and who we are in love with, and where our treasure truly lies. Have a blessed and holy Friday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: Each time I encounter today’s Gospel, Jesus teaching the disciples to pray the Our Father I can feel the emotions well up within me. For you see I have a special memory that centers on this prayer. The Our Father was one of the last prayers I prayed with my father before he died 39 and a half years ago. It was a December night in 1982, I was in my father’s hospital room late that night and as I was about to leave, when he asked me to pray with him. I was more than happy to do so, and I asked him what prayer he wanted to pray, and he said, “The Our Father.”
I began to say the words and notice that my dad was not praying so I stopped and asked what was wrong. Dad said, “I don’t remember the words.” His illness had begun to affect his mind. So, I said, “No problem” and suggested that I say a few words of the prayer and that he would repeat them after me. Do you know how hard it is to say the Our Father when you must stop and think about what you are saying? Well, we got through the prayer and dad became very peaceful and for the most part remained peaceful over the last few weeks of his life. I have always remembered that moment. I would like to add little anecdote to this reflection on the “Our Father” and my own father. Four years after my father died, I was ordination to the priesthood on June 18th. The day after my ordination I celebrated mass for my family who had come to New York for my ordination. It was a Thursday morning just like today. I awakened early that morning and wandered down the hall to the monastery and retreat house chapel to look at the readings and prepared for my very first mass with my family as a priest. When I got to the Gospel, I could not believe what I read. It was today’s Gospel from Matthew about Jesus teaching his disciples to pray, specifically to pray the Our Father. I put the book down and tears welled up in my eyes and I just sat there for about an hour unable to prepare any more. All I could do was remember that evening in the hospital four years earlier. I had wanted my dad to see me ordained but that was not to be but on that Thursday morning 36 years ago, I realized that he was with me and had been with me all along. I have never prayed the Our Father at mass, during the rosary or at any other time and not thought about that moment. What power there is in this simple prayer, what a gift this simple prayer is to all who pray it. I would invite you at some moment today to pause and slowly, deliberately pray the Our Father. Listen to the words. Realize what God offers you through the words of this simple prayer and what God asks of you. By the way thanks Dad! Have a holy and blessed Thursday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: “God loves the cheerful giver.” This little sentence from St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians seems to really sum up today’s Gospel (Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18). Jesus challenges us to be humble people of prayer and service.
In the Gospel we hear those familiar phrases. “Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. When you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.” In each case the most important reward comes not in the world knowing that we do things but in God knowing. I think the grace and the challenge of the message of our Gospel is that what we have is a gift from God and in sharing this gift it becomes far more profound than we ever thought it could be. However, for this gift to have power, impact and abundance we need to share it – not for our glory and praise but for the glory and praise of God. Have a blessed and holy Wednesday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: “Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.” Perhaps this simple refrain often connected to Psalm 51 might be a key to understanding and living out Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel (Matthew 5:43-48). To love one’s enemies, to pray for those who persecute us, we first must realize that we too are sinners; we too have hurt others and at times made life difficult for others.
There are no perfect people out there in the world, no one can claim perfection, thus if we wish mercy and forgiveness, we need to be willing to offer it too. Now I am not saying it is easy, if faith, if offering mercy and forgiveness was easy, Jesus would never have included it in his teaching, and I would not be writing about it this morning. Living a life of faith is often difficult and always challenging. Perhaps the key to making it work is prayer. If our first response to the challenge, to the difficulty, to the struggle is prayer rather than anger, resentment, and judgment then we have the chance to imperfectly live the Gospel message. Today’s Gospel is not about excusing offensive acts or being lenient with people who hurt us. It is not about looking the other way and letting people just do what they want. Today’s Gospel is about how we trust in the presence of God as we live in the midst of an imperfect world. It is about how we react to people and situation that hurt us. Do we seek vengeance, do we expect to extract our pound of flesh or do we pause and through prayer place the person, the situation in God’s hands? Prayer can be a way of offering another Christian love. It can be a way of seeking mercy and forgiveness and also offering mercy and forgiveness. Prayer is not going to make our world perfect, but it can be a starting point for us becoming the people of faith that Jesus asks us to be today! Have a blessed and holy Tuesday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: Given the negativity, anger, misinformation, violence of our world and the bad things that often seem to happen to good people living with a generous and willing heart is not always easy and sometimes is downright frustrating. At least it seems that way to me. I truly want to follow the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel (Matthew 5: 38-42), “Give to the one who asks of you and do not turn your back on the one who wants to borrow.” Yet, time and time again I struggle with the Gospel way that Jesus outlines today.
At times I want justice or maybe more so revenge, yes, I want an eye for an eye. I don’t like to get hit at all and I certainly don’t want to turn the other cheek. I am happy at times to go the extra mile but not always. You can have my jacket or coat as long as it is an old one and I have another. And it seems at times there are people on every street corner and subway stop if I give to everyone I will be broke within a day! Yes, often I fail when it comes to Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel and that bothers me! How can I be a person of faith, how can I be a Christian, a Catholic and fall so short? Jesus’ words are haunting words today and I have no answers. Sure, I have often rationalized – I can’t give to everyone; the money will surely be used for drugs or drink; they got what they deserved; somebody has to teach them a lesson; it’s too cold; I don’t have time; somebody else will help them; and on and on! But Jesus doesn’t give conditions or excuses he just says offer no resistance, turn the other cheek, give your coat, go the extra mile and don’t turn your back! So, I am still faced with my imperfection, I am still face with how to act and live. I have no intelligent answer, no sage wisdom of many years. All I can say is that it is perhaps good to pause and listen to or read Jesus’ words in Matthew’s Gospel today knowing that we are not perfect but also reminding ourselves that there is still much to learn, much to do. Perhaps, Jesus’ words help us to make sure that we see the world around us and that we don’t close our eyes to it! Have a blessed and holy Monday everyone! Today Thoughts: A numbers of years ago now I read a book entitled Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith by Barbara Brown Taylor. Barbara is one of my favorite authors, I love the way she writes and how she tells a story. In one of the chapters Barbara tells a little anecdote about life as pastor/rector of her first parish in northern Georgia.
After services one Trinity Sunday she found a miniature Three Musketeer Bar and a note on her car. They were from an eccentric woman who lived across the street from the church. The note read, “One for all and all for one, Happy Trinity Sunday.” I could not help but laugh as I read the story and the story has stuck with me over the years and I keep coming back to it. Taylor writes the story as she is talking about settling into her first parish as a pastor/rector. It wasn’t easy, there were challenges and struggles, but this story seemed to reflect an acceptance, a fitting in for her. Perhaps that is what this feast of the Holy Trinity is all about. We celebrate the mystery of God as Trinity, three persons but one God. Just saying it seems odd. How can we have three persons but just one God? How can we talk about three individuals yet still only be talking about one God? In human language it is impossible yet that is what we believe. We celebrate the gift of three persons so connect, so intimate, so focused that they are one. Believing means that we are part of that one, members of the relationship, accepted. We believe in, we celebrate our God today who is all for one and one for all. Happy Trinity Sunday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: As I reflect on the readings for the feast of the Apostle, St. Barnabas, which we celebrate today, I am also thinking about my Uncle Joe. June 11th is the anniversary of his death. He died 36 years ago today. He was my only uncle and I guess you could say I looked up to him, both literally and figuratively. He was a big man at least by the standards of those days. He had played football in high school. He was a lineman. He had the personality of a salesman, which he was, not in a negative way, but a positive way. He could talk to anyone and just being around him made you feel at ease. He would call me “Pedro.” I am not sure why as my name is Paul and “Pedro” means Peter, however I didn’t mind and use to look forward to his greeting of “Pedro” whenever the family got together.
Uncle Joe, at least from my perspective, was a positive man always willing to pass along a good word or two. He was fun loving and at times would like to “stir the pot” at family gatherings just to keep things lively. He always seemed to have encouraging words for everyone he met. I share these things about my uncle today as we celebrate the feast of St. Barnabas. Barnabas’ original name was Joseph. The name Barnabas means “son of encouragement.” I guess in thinking about my uncle I could not help but connect the two. Two men who because of their personalities and their outlook on life brought encouragement and energy to whomever they met. They brought the presence of God. They were gifts in the lives of the people they met. They each did it in their own way and I am grateful for having known them, one in real life and the other in my story of faith. I am thankful for both Barnabas and Joseph today and may their spirits of encouragement bless all of us as we wander through this day and always! Have a holy and 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
May 2023
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