Today’s Thoughts: Years ago, I ran across a quote by the English theologian, Austin Farrer. I often use it for my own personal prayer. “God forgives me, for he takes my head between his hands and turns my face to his to make me smile at him. And though I struggle and hurt those hands – for they are human, though divine, human and scarred with nails – though I hurt them, they do not let go until he has smiled me into smiling; and that is the forgiveness of God.”
Perhaps these words by Austin Farrer can be useful for our reflection today. In the readings today from Isaiah (Isaiah 40: 1-11) and Matthew (Matthew 18: 12-14) we hear about the compassion and love of God. The prophet Isaiah and the evangelist Matthew embrace the image of a shepherd in telling their story of God. Isaiah’s shepherd is feeding, holding and caring for his sheep. Matthew’s shepherd is tirelessly searching for that one lost sheep. Both images communicate the unrelenting and timeless care and concern of a God for his people. The Good News which Isaiah and Matthew impart on us today is that God is always loving, caring and forgiving. The image that Austin Farrer paints engages us in a personal way to encounter God’s care, love and forgiveness. We are asked to feel Jesus holding us, holding us so tenderly and lovingly that in the end we have to smile. At first it is an uncomfortable smile as we think about how often we have hurt, disappointed or turned away from him. However, in his shepherding hands all is well, all is forgiven, and all are loved. Have a blessed Tuesday everyone!
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Today’s Thoughts: Today provides us with two wonderful readings. The first from Isaiah, within it we find a wonderful image, a world where everything is about life. A world where every obstacle is overcome. My favorite part of this reading is, "A highway will be there called the holy way...It is for those with a journey to make, and on it the redeemed will walk." Once again, Isaiah provides us with the gift of hope. Over the Thanksgiving weekend I watched the movie "The Way" with Martin Sheen. It was the third or fourth time that I have watched the movie, but I always enjoy watching because it is a journey that started out as a struggle but ended with redemption. It like Isaiah's reflection today is about faith and hope made possible by God's mercy and gracious love.
The Gospel presents us with a two-part story. One Jesus' struggle with the religious leadership and the other is the graced story of the man who cannot walk, and his friends bring him to Jesus. They cannot get to Jesus because of the crowded house so the open a hole in the roof and lower the man in so that he might be healed by Jesus. The great gift of the second part of the story is that the man is healed because of the faith of his friends. We might say that these two readings work together for us today. The image of Isaiah's wonderful world is hopeful only if we work together, only if we journey together. Community, friendships, relationships bring about life and help us overcome what is not life. They often make healing and forgiveness possible. Perhaps today we might get a little closer to the world of Isaiah if we get on the holy way and bring someone else with us so that we can make the journey to God's love together! Have a great Monday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: The focus of our readings today especially the first reading from the Book of the Prophet Baruch and Luke’s Gospel is about looking in a different direction, about seeing life differently. The prophet Baruch is a disciple of Jeremiah, and he wants the people in Jerusalem to look at life differently. Rather than seeing and living life in hopelessness he wants the people to see and live life in hopefulness. He wants the Israelites look eastward for to those who will be returning from exile. He calls for a hopefulness in Jerusalem so that the city will no longer have to mourn her lost children because they will be returning. Baruch asks the people to look with hopeful eyes even in the midst of their struggles and sorrows.
John the Baptist in Luke’s Gospel is a voice in the wilderness struggling against the powers that be, Rome and his own Jewish community. He cries out Isaiah’s words of hope, that soon the mountains will be made low and the valleys will be raised up and the path to God will be straight and flat. He wants the people to look in a different direction. First at themselves, letting go of the worldly paths they have walked and secondly to look toward the east, to the coming of Christ. Baruch and John in different ways proclaim a vision of hope by asking people to look at life differently! A number years ago, I spent the first week of Advent in a parish in Nassau in the Bahamas giving a parish mission. I had the chance to look at life differently, no TV, none of the usual comforts that create a comfort zone in life. Yet, I too had a sense of hopefulness. It came from the people that I met and what the week of mission told me about myself and about the presence of God in my life. Friends in faith my hope for you today is that you will find your east to look toward. An east that will tell you a little more about yourself, an east that will create a sense of hope within you, an east that will help you to see and to know the gift of God in your life! Look East my friends...See Emanuel (God is with us!) Have a great Second Sunday of Advent and make sure you give God a little time today! Today’s Thoughts: As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception today our focus might be on two things, God’s gift to Mary and us by bringing her into the world untouched by sin and Mary's gift to God and us in her response of "Yes" to the angel Gabriel.
We celebrate the vision, the plan of God from the first moment of creation to touch us with the beauty, joy and faithfulness of Mary. We celebrate a simple response of “yes” by Mary. “Yes” is a response, word, we make and use many times in life. Sometimes our “yeses” are simple responses to easy questions but at other times our “yeses” become responses that change our lives forever. Mary’s “yes” changed her life and our lives profoundly because it paved the way for Christ, the gift of perfect love, to come into the world. Mary’s “yes” was not an easy "yes" because before she could utter it, she had to deal with fear. What was God asking? What did all this mean? How could this happen? Why me? But Gabriel asked Mary to not fear. So, Mary with faith and trust in God moved beyond her fear to God’s perfect love. Remember as St. John tells us, "Love casts out fear!" Enlivened with God’s love Mary stepped beyond fear and said "Yes!" And this made all the difference for her and us! As I pause to celebrate God’s gift of Mary to us today, I am thinking back to my trip four plus summers ago to Lourdes, France. It was there one hundred and sixty years ago that Mary appeared to a frightened teenager, Bernadette Soubirous and told her not to fear because "I am the Immaculate Conception.” St. Bernadette like Mary chose not to fear and thus brought healing waters to a world in most need of healing. If nothing else our feast today challenges us to not live fear. It asks us to welcome God’s gift of Mary into our lives. Our feast reminds us to be like Mary and say “yes” to God because when we do impossible things happen for as Gabriel reminds us “nothing is impossible for God.” Blessings to all on this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception! Have a great day everyone and may you find peace, hope and joy throughout your day! Today’s Thoughts: "Let it be done for you according to your faith. And their eyes were opened." The healing words of Jesus that we find in today’s Gospel. Two men wish to see and as we are told it is their faith that heals and enables them to see. The words Jesus speaks to them seem to echo Mary’s words to the angel Gabriel which we will hear tomorrow, “May it be done to me according to your word.” Two acts of faith, one that heals and one that brings the Eternal Healer into our midst.
Faith always seems to be the center point of our journey through life. Time and time again in our faith story we are reminded just how important faith is. It can move tree and mountains. It can make crooked ways start and turn destructive things into life giving things. Faith can heal and raise the dead. Faith can enliven hope so that we can see the possibilities when things too often seem impossible. Many of our readings throughout Advent remind us that faith is the touchstone to encountering the presence of God in our lives. A question our scriptures ask of us today is – “What kind of faith do we have?” Is it a faith that heals and proclaims the Good News? In having faith in Jesus, the two blind men in our Gospel receive the gift of sight that sends them on a journey proclaiming the Good News. What healing can our faith bring us that will send us on a journey of proclaiming the Good News? Have a great Friday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: In today's Gospel Jesus speaks about the Wise and the Foolish Person. The question is – on what foundation is our faith, our relationship with God built.
Six years ago, here in New York and along the New Jersey coast we had a very profound example of the power of the wind and the sea. Homes that were built near the shore took a big hit; many were ripped from their foundations. We found out firsthand the power of nature. Jesus uses the image of the power of nature to remind us that there are many things in this life that can pose a threat to our faith, our relationship with God and if we don't have it anchored well, if we have not build our relationship with God on a strong foundation the challenges, the struggles, the difficulties of life are going to ripe our faith from its foundation. As we learned from yesterday's Gospel God will take care of us, but we have got to trust, and we have got to be willing to share. So today let us not be foolish, let us be wise so that our faith does not collapse but that it stands firm amid of the storms of life! An extra thought to keep our faith rooted on rock...St. John Chrysostom says: "Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness." Have a great Thursday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: Both of today's readings talk about a holy mountain. For Isaiah the holy mountain is the place of a wonderful feast, a banquet of rich food, of choice wines, a place where tears are wiped away. Jesus' holy mountain is a place where people are healed and feed. It is a place where all the excluded people can come and be included, the lame, the blind, the deformed, those that cannot speak and many others. Both holy mountains, or should I say, the holy mountain is a place of mystery and a place of great mercy, love, forgiveness, it is God's place!
Perhaps, today's readings are a reminder to all of us that God does not discriminated, in fact God goes looking for all who are often not included so they should be included. Perhaps today's readings remind us that none of us are perfect, we are all in need of healing and of nourishment, and we are all in this journey of life together. Let's us welcome the miracle of God's healing and love and may it be what we share during this holy day! Have a great Wednesday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: Recently, I spent time with two of my grandnieces. They are growing too fast, growing into young women with unique personalities! I could not help but think of earlier times that I have been with them, when they were younger. Did you ever take time to watch little children? When I am with my grandnieces, I usually get a chance to spend some quality time with them. When this has happened, I have gotten a chance to sit back and just watch them. When they were younger it always amazed me how they often made anything they had into a simple play toy, boxes, board games, a piece of ribbon or string, everything seems to come to life.
When my niece Kristina, was about three years old, she often played for hours on the floor by herself with board games, like Risk, Trivial Pursue, and others. She had no real understanding of how these games were played but that didn’t matter. She was content to just sit there moving pieces around, building things and imagining a whole different world. There was a joy and contentment on her face as she enjoyed a moment of life. I was often jealous of her freedom, her joy and her excitement. Both of my nieces have the gift of allowing their imaginations to enliven their lives. In reflecting on these experiences with my grandnieces I could hear Jesus' words in the Gospel today. God truly does reveal many things to children that we adults miss. Children seem to know the joy and the love of God. Through their imaginations I truly believe they often see the hidden gifts of God that we adults at times miss. We can learn a lot from children, if we let them be children and if we stop to watch and celebrate the gift of their presence in our life. Children also keep alive the hope that Isaiah talks about in the first reading today. If we use our imaginations as children do, we will be able to see the wonderful life that Isaiah envisions, where the wolf is the guest of the lamb and the leopard lies down with the kid and the baby is at play right next to the cobra’s den and all is well. In other words, if we are not afraid to use our imaginations, we have a chance to encounter the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, strength and wonder and awe and we have a chance to live in a world were justice and peace flourishes. We have a chance to make this life God’s Holy Mountain. Yes, I know it seem farfetched but perhaps all it takes is a little imagination! Have a great Tuesday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: In reading the scriptures for today two thoughts came to mind. First, I have always liked the section from Isaiah which is our first reading today. It carries for me the hopefulness that one day swords, guns, bombs and all other means of violence will be beaten into plowshares, microchips, ovens, stoves, refrigerators, anything useful and life giving. I hope and live for the day when we will no longer train younger women and men for war ever again and that every nation will live in peace! Yes, I know this might be an impossible hope, but I still hope. Perhaps for me Emily Dickinson puts it best – "Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and sings the tune--without the words, and never stops at all!" May hope never stop singing for any of us.
My second thought today centers on the Gospel. It is a familiar story in Matthew's Gospel of the centurion who asks Jesus to heal his servant. Did you ever realize when reading the Gospels that many of the people whom Jesus encounters with life changing faith are not part of the faith community but are seen as outsiders. This centurion has great faith, a faith that ultimately brings healing to his servant. This Gospel story and others like it should remind us that God's presence, God's healing, God's grace, God's work can come from anywhere and from anyone. Dismissing people for any reason is not a good practice because by dismissing them we may just be dismissing God and an opportunity to be healed! So, as we begin this journey of Advent let us invite God to enter under our roofs even though we might feel unworthy and commit ourselves to renewing the gift of hope in our lives, strengthening our own faith and respecting the gift of others in life so that we never give up on peace or miss a chance to encounter God’s healing presence. Have a great Monday everyone and a blessed Advent! Today’s Thoughts: On this First Sunday of Advent I find one of my favorite lines of Scripture in today's Gospel. "But when these signs happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand." Now this might seem strange to you, and I have to say I might not say it in the same words, but I believe what Jesus is getting at is to be hopeful, confident and proud (good kind of pride) in your faith, in your relationship with God. I might say it this way, "Stand up straight, stick out your chest, hold your head high be ready for God's presence in your life!"
Some years ago, when Pope Benedict was still pope, there was a synod of bishops in Rome that focused on the New Evangelization. During the synod one of the cardinals said that we need this New Evangelization because we are embarrassed by our faith. Now upon hearing this I took offence. I have never been embarrassed by my faith. I have been embarrassed by some of the Church leadership at times. I have been embarrassed by the institution at times. I have been embarrassed by the actions of certain people within the Church at times. I have even been embarrassed by my own actions at times, but I have never been embarrassed by my faith, my belief in God and my relationship with God, my membership in the Church and the Body of Christ. When it comes to my faith, I always stand up straight, with my chest out and my head held high and I believe! Advent is a new beginning, a time of hopefulness, a time to look at the trials, tribulations, struggles, disappointments, difficulties of life and say I believe! To say we believe! As we begin our journey through Advent may we take the words of the scriptures to heart today and everyday throughout this Advent Season and make ready to "Believe" once again in our Faithful and Loving God! Have a great Sunday everyone and don’t forget to give God a little of your time today. |
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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