Today’s Thoughts: Something to think about from Thomas Merton as you journey through the day. It is certainly something that Herod did not think about in our Gospel (Matt. 14:1-12) today!
“To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us - and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him. Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, and is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.” (Thomas Merton) Have a great Saturday everyone!
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Today’s Thoughts: The Gospel reading today focus on the human struggle, lack of faith. Often we think we know what is right. We think we know what is best for ourselves and those around us. We think we know what God wants. Then someone comes along, like a Rosa Parks, a St. John XXIII, a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a Thomas Merton, a Mother Teresa, an Oscar Romero, a Pope Francis and they point us in a different direction, sometimes telling us we are headed down the wrong path, but always showing us just where God can be found.
We don’t like to be wrong and we are not always excited to have someone ruin our plans after all what do they know about us, about our life, about our faith. We might not put them to death like the Israelites often did to their prophets, but we reject their way of thinking, their insights, their spirits, the gift of their faith, hope and love. We call to mind tradition, dogma, or doctrine. We point to order, cost and what makes us comfortable. We at times dismiss them as misguided and unimportant or we point to their faults and failings. When we do this like the people of Nazareth we make it almost impossible for God to work in our lives. We make it impossible for the ordinary things in life to become extraordinary. O God, in your great love keep us always open to the voices of your Word and strengthen our faith so we will always recognize your presence amongst us! Friday blessings to all! Today’s Thoughts: I have always liked the image that we find in today’s reading from the Prophet Jeremiah, “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand….”
What a wonderful image of God creating us. We can trace this image back to Genesis and the story of creation, God creating humankind out of the clay of the earth and then breathing life into us. In this section from Jeremiah the focus is on God’s relationship with Israel yet we can also connect it to ourselves. The act of God creating us, forming us, making us the individuals that we are, giving us our own gifts and talents. When a potter sits down at the wheel what is created is unique, one of a kind. Yes, other works can look similar but each work, each creation of the potter is distinctive and so are we! The challenge is to believe in our uniqueness, in our specialness and to live the journey, the life that God has created us to life with faith, hope, joy and love! Let us celebrate our uniqueness today and share it with all we meet! Have a great Thursday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: The Gospel for today (Matt. 13:44-46) talks about the Kingdom of God and Jesus uses two images for the Kingdom, a buried treasure and a fine pearl. In the case of the treasure the person sells everything and buys the field where the treasure is buried and in the case of the pearl the merchant who sells everything to buy the pearl. In other words, when it comes to the Kingdom of God we must be all in because it is worth more than anything else.
I thought the following quote from St. Ignatius of Loyola seems to say the same thing about the Kingdom of God as Jesus in today’s Gospel, but St. Ignatius says it a little differently! “God freely created us so that we might know, love, and serve him in this life and be happy with him forever. God's purpose in creating us is to draw forth from us a response of love and service here on earth, so that we may attain our goal of everlasting happiness with him in heaven. All the things in this world are gifts of God, created for us, to be the means by which we can come to know him better, love him more surely, and serve him more faithfully. As a result, we ought to appreciate and use these gifts of God insofar as they help us toward our goal of loving service and union with God. But insofar as any created things hinder our progress toward our goal, we ought to let them go.” Have a great Wednesday everyone! May God bless your journey through this day! |
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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