Today’s Thoughts: “Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, [humankind] will have discovered fire.” (Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.)
This is one of my favorite quotes and I thought of it today in terms of the Gospel (Matt. 13:1-9). Jesus is preaching from a boat that is sitting just off the shore in the Sea of Galilee. Jesus’ words connect with the people who are listening. He is talking about their everyday life. the images of seeds and sowing, good and bad soil, and aggressive, choking weeds. A good harvest can be had if all goes well for the seeds. A happy and familiar ending for the seeds meant a good life for the people listening. This simple parable from Jesus seems to summarize our own struggle to seek the best ground, the best place in our heart to nurture and enliven our faith. If we successfully avoid the weeds of life, and spiritually dry and shallow places, we will thrive and produce fruit “a hundred-fold”. Seek the good earth, grow in the spirit, and praise God. We surely will produce in many ways. Our daily lives, those whom we influence or influence us, and our service to others will, in fact, provide the good soil that faith must have in order to flourish. Perhaps in a different way Jesus is saying to us that when we can get past all the things that seem to get in the way of our relationship with God we will discover love, the good soil. The things of the world are enticing but it is God’s love that makes all the difference! Have a blessed and holy Wednesday everyone!
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Today’s Thoughts: At first hearing we might be taken aback by today’s Gospel (Matt.12:46-50), how could Jesus be so rude to his family? Why would he not go out and at least speak to Mary? It seems disrespectful. It seems to go against everything Jesus teaches. What about the commandment, “Honor your father and mother?”
We can look at this Gospel story through these questions or we can see it another way. Maybe Jesus was in the middle of a teaching and when he heard that his mother and brothers were there to see him, he used it as an example to emphasize his teaching at that moment. Perhaps Jesus was not being rude or disrespectful; perhaps he was just taking the opportunity to expand our understanding of family. Perhaps he was taking the opportunity to help us understand better what it means to be community, to be church, to be family, to be the Body of Christ! As people who believe we are not on this journey alone, we traveling as community, as church, as family, as the Body of Christ. Jesus is just reminding us that we are connected, and we can draw upon the strength of the many to help us in those moments of doubt, struggle and challenge. Believing in, valuing and living out our relationship with God makes us part of a great family of believers. As we journey through this day let us trust in the presence of a family of faith that means we are never alone, that we are always loved by God. Have a blessed and holy Tuesday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: “There is something greater than [Jonah and] Solomon here.” Today in the Gospel we once again find the scribes and Pharisees seeking more from Jesus. They want a sign. We can hear the frustration in Jesus’ words as he tells them that the only sign they will get is the sign of Jonah.
If I had been in Jesus’ shoes I might not have been so patient. I might have said, “Come on guys there are signs all around you. Every day I am preaching healing, forgiving, raising people from the dead, turning water into wine what more do you want! If you don’t realize who I am and what I am about by now I don’t know what else I can do.” Our Gospel while addressed to the scribes and Pharisees many years ago is also addressed to us. On any given day we are just like them asking God for a sign. We want God to assure us that he is with us and that we are on the right path. We want to see, hear, taste, smell and touch God because if we don’t then it seems impossible to believe. Yet, like the scribes and Pharisees we miss the point the signs of God are all around us. We are reminded time and time again of God’s love for us in creation, in caring family and friends that are a part of lives, in the gift of the Eucharist, the acts of kindness, care and concern that touch our lives each day and the crucifix on the wall which reminds us of God’s greatest act of love. Yes, there is something greater than Jonah and Solomon in our life every day. Each morning that we arise and look in the mirror we are reminded that there is something greater in our life – it is the continuing presence of God. We just have to stop, listen, look around and be attentive to life and we will see, taste, smell, hear and touch God. Perhaps as we journey through this day our prayer might be – “Lord, I believe help my unbelief.” Have a great Monday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: Pope Francis early on in his ministry as pope challenged all priests to bring the healing power of God’s grace to everyone in need, to stay close to the marginalized and to be “shepherds living with the smell of the sheep.” This challenge by Pope Francis came to mind late last night as I reflected on the first reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah. God challenges the leadership of Jeremiahs time to be good shepherds something they are not doing just as Pope Francis challenges the priests and bishops the shepherds of this time to bring God’s grace to the world.
In order to live out God’s challenge and Pope Francis’ challenge we must take some time to hear and be with God. The Gospel provides us with insight on how we might do this. Jesus knew that his time was short, and his message was important. He knew that it was vital that his message should be spread as swiftly as possible. However, Jesus knew it was also important to take time away from proclaiming the Good News. He knew it was important to rest. Even Jesus himself often took time to rest and pray. It was in these moments of rest and prayer that Jesus found the inspiration and wisdom to continue his journey to Calvary. The message of our readings today is clear. We need to remember that we journey through this life with God’s blessing and we need to remind ourselves of this blessing each and every day and the best way to be reminded of God’s blessings in our life is to pause from the busyness of life – to take some time of rest and prayer. In other words, we can discover the blessings of God when we spend some time in prayerful silence. If we don’t we can become overwhelmed by the busyness of life, the busyness of the world and miss the helping presence of God in our lives. A couple of years ago as I was checking my Facebook page, I ran across a friend’s reflection on his morning. It went like this – “Warm sun, hot coffee, pipe, swing, dog by my side, geese on the lake.... Mornin y'all!” Now I know my friend to be a spiritual person, but I am not sure he was thinking spiritually that morning a few years ago when he wrote his post, but I think he grasped the essence of our Gospel today! We are all well aware of how life can often overwhelm us. We have many responsibilities, family, friend, work, ministry, shopping, preparing meals; getting places we need to get through traffic, bad weather. We face many pressures each and every day and sometimes they can be more than we bargained for. Our Gospel today reminds us priests, us shepherds and us people of faith to pause amid the busyness of our lives and take a break, rest a little, pray a little and stay connected with God. This can make all the difference! Have a a blessed, holy, restful and prayerful Sunday evening everyone! Today’s Thoughts: In today’s gospel we are made aware once again of the struggles between Jesus and the religious leaders of his time. This time rather than taking them on Jesus withdraws to a friendlier place. Many people follow Jesus and in a quiet way he heals and teaches. Turning to some words from Isaiah long ago we find out in today’s Gospel how they are now being fulfilled by the presence and ministry of Jesus -
Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I shall place my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not contend or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope. In this passage Isaiah talks about the tenderness of God and Jesus lives out that tenderness. A bruised reed will not be broken but strengthened. A smoldering wick not quenched but ignited into a strong flame. Jesus brings to life the love and tenderness of God by uplifting the meek, strengthening the weak. Jesus provides comfort to those who are mourning and encourages those who are struggling to “be strong, and fear not.” As Pope Francis might say Jesus reminds us in our Gospel today of the endless mercy of God. Amid all that the world throws at us God is tenderly holding us, protecting us and giving us hope to continue our journey through life. Yes, God’s mercy truly endures forever! Have a blessed, holy, and healthy Saturday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: “Something greater than the temple is here.” A line from our Gospel today (Matt. 12:1-8) and we might be tempted to think it was meant only for those to whom Jesus is speaking. But it is meant for us here and now. We might not have Jesus standing in our midst, but we have his Spirit with us and it is greater than any temple, any church or any cathedral. The challenge is the same for us as it was for those who gathered to listen to Jesus; we need to recognize the presence and the Spirit of God in our midst.
Jesus gives us a clue on how to make sure that we don’t miss the presence of God. The clue is to be people of mercy. People a tune to and compassionate towards the struggles, challenges, difficulties and failings of others and ourselves. People willing to help and not judge; people willing to be compassionate and not self-righteous. People willing to include not exclude. Living life from a stance of compassion and mercy is not always easy; it can be difficult and challenging. However, being a compassionate and merciful person does help us to be ready and open to encounter something greater than ourselves the presence and friendship of God. Have a blessed, holy, and healthy Friday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: In the Gospel today (Matt 11:28-30) Jesus reminds all of us that we should always come to him, that we should always come to God, when we are troubled and find life burdensome and difficult. Jesus will give us comfort and rest. With Jesus, with God, the struggles, difficulties and burdens of life can be easier. What makes them easier is having faith in our relationship with Jesus.
Many years ago, I ran across a definition of faith that went something like this – Faith is staking your life on the promises of God. Think about that for a moment – staking your life on the promises of God. In the Gospel Jesus promises that if we have faith, we will always have comfort and rest even in the midst of troubles and challenges. Having faith is the key. Life is never easy, and each new day brings challenges, struggles, burdens and difficulties but knowing where and with whom to stake our life can make all the difference. So, my friends in the midst of all that the world throws at us, let us walk by faith trusting in our friendship with God and staking our life of God’s promises. Have a blessed, holy, and healthy Thursday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: A friend of mind often says, “It is hard when you are the smartest man in the room!” His point is that people with smarts often have a hard time with those of us who don’t. They believe they know it all or at least they know more than everyone around them and they find it frustrating when things don’t go their way or at least the way they think things should go.
I thought of this today in terms of our Gospel (Matthew 11: 25-27). Jesus says, "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the child like.” In other words, sometimes the smartest, the wisest, the most learned among us have no clue! We are all aware of just how open children are. They want to learn. They want to experience new things and they haven’t yet decided what the right way to do things is. They are open to trying new ways, learning new things and exploring life around them. I think the point that Jesus is getting at in our Gospel today is that if we are open to the word, the experience and the presence of God in our lives just like children are then we will have a better chance of hearing, encountering and recognized God in our life. Intelligence, smartest, knowledge and wisdom are wonderful gifts however they can get in the way of God’s presence in our life at times. It is often better to be like a child rather than the smartest person in the room. So, let us live, let us embrace today in a childlike way so that we don’t miss any of what God sends our way. Have a blessed, holy, and healthy Wednesday everyone. Today’s Thoughts: We might say our Gospel today is about missed opportunities. In the Gospel (Matt. 11:20-24) the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum have missed their opportunity to encounter the presence of God, they have missed their opportunity to be people of faith.
I think if we all stop and think we have all had moments when we to missed opportunities. Perhaps we missed an opportunity to help another person, we missed an opportunity to be a compassionate friend, we missed an opportunity to help someone with their struggles or we missed a moment when God was truly present in our life. In looking back at our life, we probably recognize many opportunities that we missed. Now in looking back at our life we have two choices; we can choice to learn from our missed opportunities or not. In the Gospel today the towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum chose not to learn from their missed opportunities. These three towns no longer exist; they are just piles of rocks, archeological digs sitting in the hot sun waiting for people to come and walk through them. There is no life in any of these towns today. Perhaps we might take on the challenge of the Gospel today by learning from our encounters with God rather than not learning from them and finding ourselves like Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum today. Thus, our challenge today is to ask ourselves if we as individuals, as families, as communities, as Church, as cities, as nations, as a culture and society are willing to learn from our mistakes, our missed opportunities? If we chose not to our fate will be like the fate of the three towns in the Gospel. What choice will we make? Have a blessed, holy, and healthy Tuesday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: Over the last week or so we have been reading a section of Matthew’s Gospel that is a directive for discipleship. Jesus tells the disciples to trust in God by taking nothing with them on the journey, to depend of the hospitality of others, and to offer peace and to proclaim the Kingdom wherever they go. Jesus also tells them that the journey of discipleship will not be easy, that they will be rejected and at times the peace they offer will not be accepted. And in today’s Gospel Jesus also tells the disciples that the struggles of discipleship may even start within the family and friends that they love.
In a number of ways, the picture Jesus paints of discipleship in Matthews Gospel today (Matt. 10:34-11:1) is one that seems impossible to embrace let alone live. The thought of being at odds with mother, father, sister and brother would make me wonder why I would want to journey down that road. I think Jesus’ purpose for this instruction is simply to make it clear that if we get on broad it is not an easy ride. The journey of a disciple is not the journey of a fairy tale; it is not the journey of “happily ever after.” The journey of a disciple is a difficult road with many challenges, many struggles, many difficulties and often a great deal of change. It is a journey of choices and decisions that are not always easy. Discipleship is the journey of the Cross and Jesus wants those who take it up to understand the consequences along with the joys and hopes. Have a blessed, holy, and healthy Monday 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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