Today’s Thoughts: “You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.” (Thomas Merton)
Perhaps this is the spirit of today Gospel (Matt. 25:14-30) that we take the chance and invest our life. There are always risks involved but at the end of life, wouldn't it be great to hear God say to us, "Well done good and faithful servant, come share my joy!" And in the spirit of the Gospel – let us be good and faithful servants by taking the chance and investing our lives. In other words, by living our lives. Let us not bury our lives afraid that we might make a mistake. Afraid that we might make a poor choice. Afraid that we might lose what God’s has given us. Let us do what the master has done and invest in life. So that when we take our last breath in this life and meet God, he will simply say to us, “Well done good and faithful servant, come share my eternal joy!” Have a holy and blessed Saturday everyone!
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Today’s Thoughts: In our Gospel today (Matthew 25: 1-13), Jesus is focused on the end time, whether it is his final coming or the day that God calls each of us individually. And his point is that we need to be awake and we need to be ready like the five wise virgins because not being ready, not being awake has dreadful consequences.
Jesus’ story today about the ten virgins emphasizes and illustrated his message from yesterday’s Gospel and helps us loo once again at things a little differently. Jesus is not just talking about the end time or the day God calls each of us home, he is also talking about this moment and what we are missing if we are not prepared. What graces? What joys? What blessings? What experiences of God’s presence are we missing if we are not prepared, if we are not ready? It is not always about the negative, about the end time, about wailing and grinding of teeth. It is also about the opportunities we miss each day, each moment of our life because God is trying to give us good things, but we are more concerned about what is going on around us. Are we prepared, Are we focused on God, or do we cut corners and the oil runs out! Questions for today’s journey… Are we prepared? Do we have enough oil (faith) in our lamp? Or are we going to miss the wedding feast? Have a blessed and holy Friday! Today’s Thoughts: Today we celebrate The Passion of St. John the Baptist, and our Gospel (Mark 6:17-29) is the famous story of Herod and John the Baptist. It is a rather gruesome story; it is hard sometimes to think of a young girl being presented with some one's head and then turning and giving it to her mother. Yet, I guess gruesome things happen in life every day, thankfully not in my life.
I am always struck in this story with the fact that Herod is moved by John, that he likes to listen to him, yet he gives in to the worldly pressure around him. I get the feeling Herod knows that John is right, but his power, his self-importance; his ego will not let him say yes. Herod has surrounded himself with people who push him in the wrong direction. We might say that he gives in to the peer pressure of his time! There is a great line in the Letter to the Hebrews that I reflect on often, "Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels." It is great advice! Perhaps it is advice that Herod should have heard or heeded. He certainly had one of God's angels, John the Baptist in his presence. We need to be aware that God can come to us, be present to us in many ways. We need to trust that God is with us always. We need to remember that we are a community of faith not just individuals and we need to always be aware of the struggles and joys of others because they can often bring God into our midst. Today we are reminded – “Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.” May St. John the Baptist help us to see – God as our light and our salvation, and thus never fear! Have a holy and blessed Thursday everyone. Today’s Thoughts: "Woe to you..." Jesus continues his reflections on people who only seem to care about the non-essentials rather than the essentials. He reminds us that only taking care of the outside can have disastrous effects on the true meaning and purpose of life.
Perhaps Thomas Merton reminds us of the same thing but rather than using “Woeful” statements he asks us to focus on God’s creative act that the psalmist voice proclaims to us in Psalm 139. “To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love. Love is my true identity. Selflessness is my true self. Love is my true character. Love is my name.” (Thomas Merton) "Your hand shall guide me; your hand holds me fast." (Ps 139:9-10) It is not just that outside that is created by God it is the whole person. We are made in the image and likeness of God and this act of love is the very reason for our existence. “And for this reason, we [need to] give thanks to God unceasingly” (1Thes 2:13), by the way we live our life. So, let us live our life today valuing those we encounter and ourselves. Have a blessed and holy Wednesday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: We find ourselves today once again amid the “Woe to you…” challenges of Jesus. He challenges the scribes, Pharisees and us on where our priorities lie. Are we concerned with the non-essentials of life, or do we have our words and action aligned with God’s priorities? Our lives can look good and by all appearances we seem to be holy people, however inside is always what counts. Where are our hearts? Who or what is the center of our life?
These “Woe to you…” statements of Jesus are strong challenges that are not easy to live out. Often, we find ourselves comfortable in our nice, neat little worlds. We say all the right things. The outward expression of our faith seems to be spot on however if we look under the hood – “Is there is life, is there spirit, or is the tank is empty?” Have we allowed the non-essentials to become more important than the essentials – the love of God, others and ourselves. As we live this day let us strive to live authentically according to the values we profess. Yes, we are human, we have our faults and failings and our weaknesses. But today, let us, with God’s grace, strive to live life faithful to the Gospel. Let us look at our lives today and find those things that at times make us hypocrites and ask forgiveness so that we can grow in the essentials of life, so that we can grow in the presence of God! Have a blessed and holy Tuesday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: In our Gospel today, we have “Woe to you….” Statements. These statements seem out of character for Jesus, who usually uses positive statements to challenge us. Yet, I guess occasionally, we need to hear what not to do. The challenge of today’s Gospel is on what we see as important. The scribes and Pharisees made it a habit of placing importance on the accidentals of life rather than the essentials. In other words, they placed importance on the unimportant.
Through his challenge to the scribes and Pharisees today Jesus asks us to stop and think about how we are living out our faith. Is it a faith grounded in unimportant things or is it a faith ground in a relationship with God? Do we think that God is the center but then we make actions, rituals, words and customs far more important than living out our relationship with God? Do we make things more important than people? Do we make ritual and places more important than prayer and actions? Woe to us if we don’t love. Woe to us if we don’t care for those in need. Woe to us if we first don’t find God in others and ourselves. Woe to us if rituals, places and the repetition of words become more important than people. Yes, I guess occasionally, we have to be challenged by the negative that seems to take hold of our lives. Have a blessed and holy Monday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: “I'm still discovering, right up to this moment, that it is only by living completely in this world that one learns to have faith. I mean living unreservedly in life's duties, problems, successes and failures, experiences and perplexities. In so doing, we throw ourselves completely into the arms of God.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
These words from Dietrich Bonhoeffer seem to capture the spirit of our readings today. Grumbling, complaining and whining will not change life for the better. It is in the living of life that we encounter the presence, the grace and the love of God and this is what will make all the difference. We have encountered Jesus’ words in the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel for the last five Sundays and Jesus has reminded us each week that he is the bread of life, that he is the food that will let us really live. Today he asks us to stop complaining and whining, he asks us to live! We are to follow in his footsteps. We are to throw ourselves into the arms of God ‘s self-sacrificing love. We are to love by making Jesus the center of our lives, the bread that will last forever. If we make Jesus the center of our life then we are called let go and let God by recognizing his words, his bread, his cup and his love as the way to eternal life. It is easy to grumble, complain and whine but if we truly want to live our faith journey we need to take up the challenge of living life completely in the loving arms of God. Jesus does not ask us to do it alone. He is with us at every step of the way, offering us himself as the basic food for our lives. He is also sending us out into our world to love others and be the support and ‘bread’ to the world around us. So, let us not be complainers, grumblers and whiner – let us live life today nourished by the word and the bread of life – Jesus! Have a blessed and holy Sunday everyone and don’t forget to give God a little time today. Today’s Thoughts: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” is Nathanael’s (Bartholomew) question to Philip in today's Gospel. In other words, Nathanael wants to know why should I waste my time? Why should I leave what I am doing or not doing to meet this Jesus? Questions any of us might ask if we were in the same situation. Yet, Philip’s invitation to “Come and see” is a life changing event for Nathanael. It is an event that gives him a different perspective on Jesus, on people who come from Nazareth, on life. It gives Nathanael and encounter with God.
The gift of the feast of St. Bartholomew (Nathanael) which we celebrate today is that Bartholomew did not miss his encounter with God and that made all the difference in his life. Throughout the Gospels we encounter people who miss the presence of God. Who are blinded by power, authority and preconceived ideas about people and life. Jesus walks into their midst and they miss their chance to encounter God. They hang on to what is comfortable, what is familiar. Through the invitation of Philip, Bartholomew does not miss his chance, his opportunity. He however must let go of his preconceived ideas, his comfortableness and when he does it makes all the difference. It leads him into an encounter with God that forever changes his life. Let us ask the spirit of St. Bartholomew to help us let go and let God today. Have a holy and blessed Saturday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: “Love seeks one thing only: the good of the one loved. It leaves all the other secondary effects to take care of themselves. Love, therefore, is its own reward.” (Thomas Merton)
Perhaps this is what Jesus is getting at as he answers the scholar of the law in today’s Gospel (Matt. 22:34-40). Love sits at the heart of any relationship, of any friendship and the first mark of a good relationship, is benevolence. Actively, seeking and finding the good in another. In today’s Gospel Jesus reminds us that we are to love God and love others and love ourselves. In order to do this, we must find the good in the ones we love, God, others and self. As Merton says if we can do this the gift of love will be our reward! Have a holy and blessed Friday everyone. Today’s Thoughts: I have used this quote often recently, “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, man will have discovered fire.” (Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.)
I have always liked this quote from Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J. and I think it ties into the thinking of Jesus in today’s Gospel (Matt. 22: 1-14). The story in the Gospel today is about the coming of the Kingdom of God. It is about the end time. Who will accept God’s invitation? Who will be ready? Everyone is invited but do we accept the invitation? Are we ready to enter the banquet of eternal life? The invited guests get caught up in the things of the world that they think are more important. One is not prepared, not ready. We to sometime get caught up in all the things the world defines as important and we lose sight of what God finds important. We think there is always tomorrow to get ready. If we think this way, we will find ourselves just like the invited guests and the person not appropriately dressed, outside. However, if we can tap into God’s energy, if we can accept God’s invitation and be ready to enter the Kingdom. we will not find ourselves outside in the end when it comes! Have a holy and blessed Thursday 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
November 2024
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