Today’s Thoughts: “My mother and my brothers [and my sisters] are those who hear the word of God and act on it [live it].” (Luke 8:21) I added the word live to Jesus’ words today because I truly believe that is what he means.
The picture that the Gospel (Luke 8:19-21) paints today often creates concern and questions. Why would Jesus treat his family this way? Why would Jesus treat his mother this way? Isn’t family first? However, if we think about today’s Gospel in these terms we are missing the point. Jesus loved his mother greatly. Jesus was a good member of the family. But in the Gospel today Jesus shows all the boundless amounts of God’s love. We are all mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers in Christ. There are no exclusive places, no special privileges. Today’s Gospel is a Gospel of hope. We are reminded of God’s great, unconditional love. Today’s Gospel gives us great comfort in knowing that God awaits all of us, accepts all of us. We can all be part of the family; we are called to be part of the body of Christ. All it takes is hearing the word of God and living it! That is what Jesus is calling those gathered around him today to, that is what Jesus is calling us to. Do you hear the voice of Pope Francis in the Gospel today? Have a blessed and holy Tuesday everyone.
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Today’s Thoughts: In today’s Gospel we hear the familiar story of Jesus telling us not to hide our “light” under a vessel, a box or the bed but rather to place the light where it will allow others safe passage as they enter the room. Doing this seems like a no brainer. Don’t we always light a light so that it gives light to the whole room? Why is telling us this so important to Jesus?
There is another parable in Luke’s Gospel, in chapter 19 to be exact, the Parable of the Ten Coins that seems to focus on the same message. A nobleman is going on a journey, so he calls in ten servants and makes each one responsible for one coin. When he returns each servant comes forward to give an accounting of what he has done with the coin. One servant does nothing with his coin, in fact, he hides the coin in a handkerchief because he is afraid of the master. Both parables, the candle and the coins, speak to the same teaching, that we are to share our gifts so that we can help make the Kingdom of God present in the here and now. Both parables also end with an ominous warning: “To everyone who has, more will be given; from those who have not, even what they seem to have will be taken away.” The servant who buried his coin rather than investing it like the others is sternly dealt with, he loses everything or to put it in terms of today’s parable, his light goes out and he is left with darkness. This is not about gaining or losing wealth, it is about gaining or losing the Kingdom of God. It is about living in the eternal light or being in the darkness outside where there is wailing and grinding of teeth. Jesus is using an analogy to talk about discipleship, he is not discussing candles and coins. The candle light and the coins are the gifts and talents we have been given to be used for building the Kingdom of God in the here and now. They can be our skills, our talents, our relationships, our experiences of life, the blessings that we have received. The challenge is what do we do with them? Do we hide them away? Do we live in fear of God? Or do we invest them? Do we light our lamp, or candle and place it on a stand in the middle of the room so that it gives light to all? Do we share the person God has created us to be? If we trust in our relationship with God. If we trust in ourselves then we will not hide our gifts but share them so that we and others will encounter the presence of God. By lighting our light for all, by sharing our gifts we welcome God into our hearts and share his Kingdom! Have a blessed and holy Monday everyone. Today’s Thoughts: There is a story I often use about a young man who is searching for God, so he goes to the cave of a holy man to seek wisdom in his search. The young man tells the holy man that he wishes to find God, to serve God.
The holy man says nothing but stands up and walks towards a lake that is near his cave. When the two men arrive at the lake the holy man invites the young man into the lake, and they wade into the water until it is up to their necks. Then without saying anything the holy man pushes the young man’s head under the water and holds it there. The young man begins to struggle the longer his head is under the water. Then just when he is about to drowned, the holy man lets go of his head. The two men walk back to the shore as the young man gasps for air. Once back on shore the holy man turns to the young man and asks, “What did you want most when your head was under the water?” “Air!” the young man responds. “When you want God just as much as you wanted air then you will be able to find and serve God!” Replied the holy man. This simple little story reflects, perhaps in a different way, the wisdom that Jesus is trying to impart on his disciples in the Gospel today. The only way to serve God is to go all in. We cannot have other masters in life and expect everything to go smoothly. Our focus and our desire must be centered in our relationship with God. The things in life, like money, power, influence and others can be and at times are important but not at the expense of our faith, our relationship with God. When we desire and serve God with all our heart, with all our soul, and all our being we will have found the right Master! Have a blessed and holy Sunday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: I have often used the parable of the Sower and the Seed that we find in today Gospel in my mission preaching. And even though Jesus explains it to his disciples I usually use a different interpretation. Jesus talks about the different kinds of soil in the parable as being different kinds of people however I often use the different kinds of soil to represent different conditions of our hearts.
If we say that Jesus is the sower and our hearts are the field, then as Jesus sowers the seed his word, his grace, his blessing, his hope, his love in our life the seed encounter four different kinds of soil. Three of which do not allow the seed to grow and one of which does. In other words, perhaps our parable today asks us to look into our own hearts to see what might not allow God’s grace, God’s blessing, God’s hope or God’s love to grow within us. It might be the hardness of the foot path. The place of our heart that have been hurt, stepped on by the struggles of life. All of us have been hurt in life, by words, actions, the lack of words or the lack of actions in life. When we are hurt we harden so that we don’t get hurt again. We might have some rock, stones, pebbles or boulders in our hearts that take up room and don’t allow the seed to grow. Rocks and boulders, you ask? Our sinfulness, our faults and failings, our character defects, the sins in our life that take up space in our hearts and do not allow anything to grow with in that place of our hearts. Then there are the weeds and thorns, the stuff of life, sometimes good stuff that is over grown and chokes of whatever God plants. The things of life that often become more important than our relationship with God. Sometimes good things that become gods and choke off the grace, the blessing, the hope and the love that God offers us as a gift. We want our hearts to be all good soil. Soil ready and willing to accept whatever God plants so that it will grow and produce fruit a hundredfold! Why not take some time today and look into your heart? What is not allowing the grace of God to be planted, take root and grow within you? What places in your heart need a little word so that they become good soil? Have a holy and blessed Saturday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: “If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I am living for, in detail, ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for.” (Thomas Merton)
In today’s Gospel (Luke 8:1-3) we are reminded of the importance of women in Jesus’ ministry. They were there supporting, taking care of, helping Jesus with their resources, their gifts, their talents, their faithfulness and their faith. I ran across a reflection a few years ago that was very interesting in terms of today’s Gospel here is that reflection by Kevin Perrotta – “What is it about Mary of Magdala that cause so many misconceptions to sprout up around her? Some mark her as a great sinner; others suggest she had a romantic relationship with Jesus. Hacking our way out of this underbrush of speculation, we do know Mary had some wealth, since she supported Jesus and the male disciples. No husband is mentioned; was she widowed? Perhaps she ran her own fish business – a trade that flourished in Magdala. Rather than a repentant floozy, Mary may well have been a solid family and business woman – like many of the women in church on Sunday. Seeing her [this] way makes her a model for many of us today!” (Living with Christ) Kevin certainly makes us stop and think about Mary Magdalene. Yes, our Gospel says seven demons came out of her, but who hasn’t fought with seven or more demons in life? In paraphrasing Thomas Merton – When trying to identify Mary Magdalene let’s not ask where she lived, or what she liked to eat or how many demons came out of her but let’s ask how she lived, what she lived for and what got in the way from time to time? If we ask these questions Mary becomes a woman of strength and great faith just like the others who followed Jesus and attended to his needs in daily life. Let’s hear it for women today and every day! Friday blessings everyone! Today’s Thoughts: “We ask Mary that, as the first disciple, she teach us to remain watching, that she accompany us in patience, strengthen us in hope; we ask that she lead us towards the meeting with her Risen Son; that she free us from fear, so that we can hear the announcement of the angel... to announce it to others who need it so much.” (Pope Francis)
These words from Pope Francis help us to reflect on Mary’s place in our life especially as we celebrate the Feast of “Our Lady of Sorrows” or “Mother of Sorrows” today. Yes, Mary experienced much in her life. She carried the awesome responsibility of being the Mother of Jesus. She encountered moments of great sorrow throughout her life, seven moments that stand out, however Mary in many ways is our go to person. She was human, a person just like us who had great strength, great patience and great hope amid a life filled with sorrow, disappointment and pain. Mary, particularly as Our Lady of Sorrows or Mother of Sorrows, is an example, a grace and a blessing to us as we journey through our own struggles in life. Perhaps something else that Pope Francis said best reflects the gift of Mary in our life - “To be faithful, to be creative, we need to be able to change. To change! And why must I change? So that I can adapt to the situations in which I must proclaim the Gospel. To stay close to God, we need to know how to set out; we must not be afraid to set out.” (Pope Francis) Mary certainly was faithful. Mary certainly was willing to change, to adapt to the situations of her life. She stayed close to God and was not afraid to set out and proclaim the Gospel of her Son! Have a blessed, holy, and healthy Thursday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: Today is a special feast in the Church and for the Passionist Community. It is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
A couple of years ago I read a reflection on today’s readings and something the author said struct a nerve in me. The author of the reflection was focusing on the second reading for today’s mass from St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. In his letter St. Paul says, Jesus “did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.” (Phil. 2:6). The author’s point or question was “Do we try to be equal with God, through our actions, our arrogance, our judgmentalness, our way of looking at or treating others?” This question or reflection recalled something I often struggle with especially when I wander through social media. There are often post saying “Let us put God back in our schools!” our families, our country, or a number of other places. When I see a post like this I often think “How arrogant we are!” To think we have the power to take God out of something. That we have the power to tell God where to go, where to be present. Perhaps we not only think equality with God is something we have but that we are bigger, and better than God! God is present in every school, in every family, in every person, in every place. God is everywhere, whether we acknowledge his presence or not is another question. We are not equal to God. We tried being that once at the beginning of creation and where did it get us? This feast is about reminding us that like Jesus, we need to humble ourselves, realizing our human faults, failings, and inadequacies and allow God to direct, guide and enliven our lives. It will involve suffering, struggle, disappointment, and even failure. It will also involve the glory and presence on God in our life! So, I offer you three simple prayers to guide you through this day and life... The first comes from our Passionist tradition it is a simple prayer we utter each day - "May the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ be always in our hearts!" The second a prayer every Passionist prays before morning, evening and night prayer – “At the name of Jesus every knee must bend, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue proclaim to the glory of God the Father that Jesus Christ is Lord.” The third prayer was written by the great Jesuit theologian Fr. Karl Rahner, S.J. - "The Cross of My Lord, Be my Standard, Be my Comfort, Be the Answer to all dark questions, The Light of all nights, The Sign that You have chosen us, The mysterious and sure Sign that we are Yours for eternity. Amen." These three simple prayers reflect the meaning of the Cross that we as Church and as the Passionist Community celebrate this day. May the Passion and the Cross of our Lord, Jesus Christ be not a sign of violence, oppression, war, and failure. May the Passion and Cross of Christ be a sign of God's great and unconditional love for us. May the Passion and Cross of Jesus be a walking stick that we can lean on to rest; be a protector in times of struggle and danger; and always be a reminder of just how much God love's us, no matter how imperfect we are as we journey through life! Have a blessed and holy feast of the Exaltation of the Cross and Wednesday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: “You are not a human being in search of a spiritual experience. You are a spiritual being immersed in a human experience.” (Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.)
This simple expression of life touches our readings today (1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27-31a and Luke 7: 11-17). In the Gospel Jesus reminds all gathered at the city gate that they are spiritual beings in the presence of God as he brings the widow’s son back to life. The value of our life rests in our relationship with God and when we trust that relationship wonderful things can happen. Yes, the world around us is human, imperfect but we are created in the image and likeness of God. We are spiritual beings living this human experience. God is always present. If we invest in God’s presence, if we stay connected to God’s presence the richness of our relationship with God can be experienced. God is always waiting. God is always ready to help. Our first reading from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians talks about the Church as one body with many parts. Once again if we listen to Paul’s words we learn that we are spiritual people, intimately in relationship with God. God needs to be first. Care and concern for others is the primary task. Compassion is the attribute that enable all to experience the presence of God. We are asked by Paul to strive for the spiritual gifts no matter where we find ourselves in the Body of Christ. Let us pray for our Church for all Church leaders that they will always serve with compassion and love. Let us pray for ourselves that we will always embrace the spirit of God as we journey through this human experience. Have a blessed and holy Tuesday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: Our faith it often tested; we might even say it is tested every day. We probably find it hard to have the faith of the centurion in today’s gospel He has a strong faith and is willing to turn everything over to God. His words to Jesus echo the words we say in the midst of every Mass, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul will be healed.”
Just before we received communion like the centurion, we ask God to accept us as we are, and we have faith that God will. We trust that God loves us even as we fumble through life, as we make mistakes. I admire the faith of the centurion and all those early, early Christians, they believed so strongly, they seemed to have such unwavering faith in Jesus. Our challenge is be like the centurion. It is to be willing to turn everything over to God. However, this kind of trust, this leap of faith can be hard, because it is hard to give up control. I think sometimes we are willing to be faithful but with some exceptions. We stand on the edge, but we just cannot take that leap of faith, our fears are holding us back. We might say that faith is like a muscle, one that grows stronger as we exercise and stretch it, as we use it, as we live it. At times taking a leap of faith, turning everything over to God, letting go and letting God are ways that we stretch, strengthen and develop our faith. St. Ignatius Loyola has a very famous prayer call, the Suscipe, that seems to express the faith we find in the centurion of today’s Gospel and hopefully our own faith… Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, All I have and call my own. You have given all to me. To you, Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace, that is enough for me. Have a blessed and holy Monday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: I have two sections to my thoughts today. First, I would like to reflect on this day and secondly, I would like to reflect on our Gospel for this day…
Remembering the 21st Anniversary of the tragic events of September 11, 2001 “There is nothing that can replace the absence of someone dear to us, and one should not even attempt to do so. One must simply hold out and endure it. At first that sounds very hard, but at the same time it is also a great comfort. For to the extent the emptiness truly remains unfilled one remains connected to the other person through it. It is wrong to say that God fills the emptiness. God in no way fills it but much more leaves it precisely unfilled and thus helps us preserve -- even in pain -- the authentic relationship. Furthermore, the more beautiful and fuller the remembrances, the more difficult the separation. But gratitude transforms the torment of memory into silent joy. One bears what was lovely in the past not as a thorn but as a precious gift deep within, a hidden treasure of which one can always be certain.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer) As Dietrich Bonhoeffer says above there is nothing that can be said or done that replaces the loss of someone dear to us. But hopefully Bonhoeffer’s words can help to give comfort to all who lost loved ones fourteen years ago in Lower Manhattan, Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania. Perhaps, Bonhoeffer’s words can help all of us deal with what we as a city, a country and a world lost thirteen years ago. May his words give us pause to be grateful for the silent joy that all who gave their lives continue to give us. May those who lost their lives continue to be a hidden treasure for all of us, a treasure that we can always count on. “In normal life we hardly realize how much more we receive than we give, and life cannot be rich without such gratitude. It is so easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements compared with what we owe to the help of others.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer) To the people who gave their lives, to the families who gave their loved ones, to those who continue to give their lives because of the aftereffects of this day even these many years later, to all of you I say thank you! Turning to our Gospel today… Recently I ran across a quote by C. S Lewis, “Human history is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.” These words from C. S. Lewis seem to fit well with our readings today. In our first reading from the Book of Exodus we encounter Moses and God having a conversation. God is fed up with Israel. They have found a Golden Calf and for the moment it has made them happy. God wants to destroy them and start over and but Moses talks God out of his anger. God choses not to give up on Israel. In our second reading from St. Paul’s First Letter to Timothy we hear St. Paul tell us how much of a sinner he was before encountering Jesus. How he thought he found happiness is persecuting the early Church until Jesus gave him the opportunity to see things differently. St. Paul’s message to Timothy and us is that God doesn’t give up on us. Finally, in our Gospel from Luke today we encounter the three parables that Jesus tells in Chapter 15. This chapter is often known as the Chapter of the Lost, because we encounter a lost sheep, a lost coin and two lost sons. There are many things we can take away from these parables but perhaps the most important message for today is the message that God does not give up on us! Yes, even today after all these thousands of years, we still spend a lot of time searching to things that will make us happy other than God. Yet, God does not give up on us. God is always will to welcome us home, whether we have gone else where to find happiness or whether we have become angry, jealous, or resentful because of God mercy, compassion and forgiveness. There are some people who don’t like or have rejected Pope Francis because he lives his ministry as the father in our Gospel today. Always ready to be merciful, compassionate and forgiving. He is our Moses always trying to talk God out of being angry with us. He is our St. Paul reminding us that God never gives us. These older sons can remain standing outside or they can join the celebration. Pope Francis is always going to remind us that God is never going to give up on us! Have a blessed Sunday everyone and don’t forget to give God a little time! |
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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