​Today’s Thoughts: “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” As I read this sentence from the Gospel (Luke 9:51-56) today I thought of the situation in our country, in our world with so much hate and violence. I wish we could call down fire to consume it and start all over again and I am thinking Jesus might give the request just a little more thought this time! But in the end, we would get what the disciples got a rebuke.
 
Jesus never confronted violence with violence, for him there was always another way, a better way. It isn’t always the easy way but in the end, it is better than violence, anger, negativity and abuse of power. It is the way that will invite, welcome and make God present to the people around us and to the world. Are there risks to Jesus’ way? Absolutely! But the risks are worth it.
 
Jesus shows us in the Gospel today that meeting rejection with rejection, or hate with hate, or violence with violence is not the way. When we are treated poorly, when we are disappointed, when we are attacked, violence, anger, hate is not the way forward. Jesus’ suggestion is to take a deep breath, and then take our next step in faith. This is the way all disciple can complete their journey of faith.
 
But Jesus couldn’t you make just one exception and call down fire to consume all who preach hate and violence! Just a thought but a better one would be from St. Thérèse of Lisieux who would say that our loyalties should always lie in the message of faith and peace!
 
Have a blessed and holy Tuesday everyone.

​Today’s Thoughts: My thoughts this first Monday of October will be two-fold, first I would like to reflect a little on our feast today, the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels and then touch on our scriptures for the day.
 
Feast of the Guardian Angels… I have always had a special affection for our feast today, the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels. Perhaps it goes back to my childhood, when in the first and second grade we always had to save room at our desk for our guardian angel. It was one way that the good Felician Sisters taught us about the spiritual life, but it also helped them keep order in classroom, for you see if we kept a space on our seats for our guardian angel then the theory was, we would not bother the person sitting next to us. I have to say, sometimes it worked but most of the time it didn't!
 
A year or so ago another childhood memory came to mind. One of my favorite movies as a kid was Angels in the Outfield, (the original 1951 version with Paul Douglas, Janet Leigh, Keenan Wynn, the voice of James Whitmore and cameo appearances by Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio and Bing Crosby, just to name a few). I loved the movie because it took place in Pittsburgh and centered around the woeful Pittsburgh Pirates and how the Pirates overcame their last place woes with the help of Heavenly Choir Nine, a celestial team of deceased ballplayers, who began bestowing "miracles" upon the Pirates—but only on the condition that their loudmouth manager Guffy McGovern put a moratorium on swearing and fighting. It is a wonderful and funny story. I sometimes wish the Heavenly Choir Nine would return to help the Pirates once again – I can dream can’t I!
 
The point of my walk down memory lane is that the spirits of God's presence which we honor and celebrate today, Guardian Angels, play an important role in our life. Whether we acknowledge them by saving them a seat at our desk or laugh and cry with them as Hollywood brings them to life in movies like Angels in the Outfield or It's a Wonderful Life, we all have had moments and experiences in life when we sense that God has sent someone to help us.
 
It might be a special person from our past, whose loss we have grieved but who seems to continue to walk with us helping us overcome a struggle, an obstacle, or a difficult moment. Someone whose spirit whispers in our ear a good word that sends us on our way in the right direction. A loving spirit who lets us know that we are not alone, we are loved, we are important, we are special and that makes all the difference at that moment in our life.
 
Many years ago, I was running the Boston Marathon. It was my second time running that marathon. I was at mile 25 and out of gas. I could barely walk. I was just trying to find any strength so that I could keep moving forward. A young woman stepped off the sidewalk and began to walk alongside me. I didn’t know her. She asked me my name and then put her hand on my shoulder and said, “You can do this! Let’s run!” She began to run and so I began to run. She asked me if this was my first marathon and I said “no.” She said, “Then you know that you can do this so let’s run!” And we began to run faster. In the next moment as I seemed to get new energy I looked to my side, and she was gone. I never got a chance to ask her name or to say thanks! I am sure it was my guardian angel just making sure I kept going. It is something that she has done now for 69 years and eleven months in many different ways. You might say I have gotten her, “her wings,” many times over!
 
In the Talmud there is a saying, “Every blade of grass has an angel that bends over it and whispers... Grow, Grow!" May our Guardian Angels continue to make sure we grow and grow on our journey of faith!
 
Today’s Scriptures… In our readings today, we have God’s hope for us from the Book of the Prophet Zechariah and the dangers of living an arrogant self-importance life presented to us in today's Gospel from Luke.
 
Through the prophet Zechariah God reflects his desire and hope for us that we might encounter heaven here on earth. God paints the picture of the heavenly Jerusalem with old people sitting amid a beautiful day reminiscing and children joyfully playing. We can probably translate this scene into many different scenes in our own life. A family gathering that has been long planned. The gift of a birthday or anniversary celebration. The reuniting of friends after a long separation. There are many moments in our lives that we long for that would give us a taste of heaven here on earth. Hopeful moments that keep us focused on our journey through life. Moments that perhaps we think are impossible, but God does not!
   
In the Gospel we find the disciples of Jesus, out of sheer stubbornness exerting their own egos of self-gratification, putting Jesus to test by questioning who is the greatest among them. As the story unfolds, we quickly learn that in the eyes of God personal humility is held to a much greater value than actively seeking public self-recognition and acclaim.  In today’s world, humility of this nature seems highly impossible given the perpetual attention by TV and news media to endlessly advertise mundane gimmicks which promise to enhance personal appearances, wealth, and self-gratification.  But where should our loyalties lie? In the eyes of humans, or in the message of faith and devotion as expressed by Jesus in his reaction to the disciples.
 
May we live in hope today made possible because in faith we strive to live humbly with our focus on serving others and graced by our Guardian Angels.
 
Have a blessed and holy Monday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: Our Gospel story for today is a rather straight forward one. A man had two sons who disappointed him in different ways. The first one rebelled but then had a change of heart. The second one was full of yeses but did not follow through with his yes!
 
In the time of Jesus, this story was addressed to the religious leaders of his time, the chief priests and elders of the people, who were always seeing themselves in “the right.” They, indeed, were doing God’s will. They were the yes men of Jesus’ time. But they were failing to show up. They didn’t respond to John the Baptist’s challenge and they were not responding to Jesus’ invitation.
 
There is a familiar phase, “actions speak louder than words!” Perhaps, this is what Ezekiel and Jesus are getting at in the first reading and the Gospel today. The religious leaders had all the right answers, but their actions did not reflect their words.
 
Jesus’ invitation to follow is not easy. It is demanding and sometimes like the first son in our story today we don’t want to engage. The commitment of faith is too hard, too difficult, and always the most pleasant of experiences, it is demanding of our time and our actions. The hope of faith is that when we pause to think about the alternative, we have a change of heart and respond to God’s call, God’s challenges, God’s invitation to be a person.
 
We cannot just say “yes” and think that is enough. We cannot stand in front of a church and hold up a bible and think that makes us a person of faith. It is how we live out our faith that is most important and that faith calls us to be more concerned about other than ourselves. It calls us to see God in others. As St. Paul reminds us today, as true followers of Jesus we are invited to place the well-being of others before our own and to do it with humility and selfless love.
 
Being a person of faith is not easy. It demands action not just words and at times we will come up short, but we have an infinitely patient and merciful God who stands always ready to forgive, bless and grace us with his love if we change our mind or most importantly change our heart!
 
Have a blessed and holy Sunday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: In our first reading today, Zechariah gives a directive to the people to sing and rejoice because the Lord is with them. In today’s world, we might find it difficult to follow Zechariah’s directive to sing and rejoice, for there is much in our world to be sad about: racism, division, wars, violence, natural disasters, hunger, the abuse of children, women, people, dishonesty, greed, and injustices of all kinds.
 
However, Zechariah’s reason for hope is the same reason we have hope today. God is in our midst. The Lord is with us. Against the roar and clamor of bad news, fake news, and the distraction of social media we must listen for the whisperings of good news in our own hearts, within our families, our faith communities, our workplaces, and peace negotiation tables. 
 
Wherever people of good will are engaged in bringing peace into their specific situation and doing so with courage and love. Our questions for today are where do we find God in our midst? How do we know that the Lord is with us?
 
Have a holy and blessed Saturday everyone! 

​Today’s Thoughts: Perhaps these words from Pope Francis are what Jesus is getting at in the Gospel today. “Before all else, the Gospel invites us to respond to the God of love who saves us, to see God in others and to go forth from ourselves to seek the good of others.”
 
Jesus sees God in Nathanael and he calls Nathanael to follow him. Jesus see God in all of us. All of us are invited to respond to God’s love!
 
Today we honor the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. May these trusted servants of God protect, guide, and bring comfort and healing to us. The images that we find in the Book of the Prophet Daniel and the Book of Revelation today are human images of the place of heaven. Being in the eternal presence of God like Michael, Gabriel and Raphael is beyond our understanding but it is the goal of our journey through life may these three servants of God always be present to us in this journey!
 
Have a holy and blessed Friday everyone!

Today’s Thoughts: As the saying goes curiosity killed the cat. But does it? Sometimes we think of curiosity only as something negative, something that will ultimately get us in trouble. However, curiosity can be a good thing. It can help us to encounter and experience many wonderful things that if we had not been curious about them, we might have missed the experience. Think of all the wonderful things that have been discovered or invented because people were curious. Think of all the diseases that have been cured because people were curious. Curiosity can be a very positive experience.
 
Today in the Gospel Herod is curious about Jesus, just as he was curious about John the Baptist. I often get the feeling that Herod was not far from the Kingdom of God. He was not far from being a really good person. He was not far from following Jesus. However, Herod never really let his curiosity lead him to the Kingdom instead he worried about what others might think or say or do. He never let himself truly experience the presence of God in his midst. Herod curiosity led to fear rather than new life. Herod curiosity led to worldly things rather than to God.
 
We are all curious people, but the question is – what do we do with our curiosity? Perhaps a few questions we might ask ourselves as we journey through this day are. Do we let our curiosity lead us to God or the world? Is our curiosity healthy and purposeful or unhealthy and destructive? Are we willing to let our curiosity led us to a deeper relationship with God or to a fear of God?
 
Have a holy and blessed Thursday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: Dependency is not a word we often see as positive. In our world and certainly in our country there is a pride taken in being independent. We are rugged individualist; we can do it on our own. We don’t need anyone else. Being dependent on others means weakness. We pride ourselves on being able to do things on our own. Yet as the Gospel unfolds today Jesus instructs his friends to be dependent.
 
They are to be dependent on the people they visit. They are to take nothing for their journey and rely on the hospitality of the places they visit and people they meet, and most importantly they are to depend on God. They are to depend on God for the authority and power to heal, cast out demons and proclaim the Kingdom of God. They are to depend on God to see them through their journey.
 
Often dependency doesn’t feel good to us. Relying on others seems risky. There are too many things that can go wrong if we depend on others however that is what Jesus asks of us, we are to depend on God and each other. If we do we have to opportunity to cure, heal, to have power over evil and proclaim the Kingdom. If we do, we have the opportunity to be part of the Body of Christ!
 
Let us trust in God’s presence today and continue to live this journey of life proclaiming the Good News.
 
Have a blessed and holy Wednesday everyone!

​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.

​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: We are confronted with that unsettling parable of Jesus’ again. Where is the justice? Where are the workers’ rights? How could the owner of the vineyard, how could Jesus be so uncaring? What does it all mean?
 
There are some of the typical questions and/or response I hear when this parable of the vineyard owner and the workers comes around (Matthew 20: 1-16). I always say to people this is not about worker rights, fair pay or justice. This parable is about compassion, mercy, generosity and love. This parable is about gratitude and letting God be God!
 
The line that always strikes me in this parable is, “Are you envious because I am generous?” I believe this is a struggle we all have with God. We are so programed to do the right thing and in doing so we receive what is do us, but that is not how God operates.
 
I often think about the Good Thief when this parable rolls around, it was just before his last breath that he connected with God. We talk about him stealing heaven. He is the very point of this Gospel today. The door to the Kingdom is always open, never closed and we are probably going to be surprised when we get there to see who is waiting to greet us, because God is a generous God, a merciful God, a loving God.
 
The human rules of this life don’t apply to God and many of us will be thankful that God doesn’t operate by human rules and concerns when we reach the door of the Kingdom because without God’s mercy, compassion and generosity we might find ourselves outside!
 
Be thankful not envious or judgmental today for our God is a generous God. Have a blessed, holy, safe, and healthy Sunday everyone and don’t forget to give God a little time today!