​Today’s Thoughts: Who is our Neighbor? “The Samaritan lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn, and cared for him.”  (Luke 10: 34) The scholar in our Gospel story today thought he was being clever. He asked questions to enhance his self-regard.  Jesus told the Good Samaritan story so that the scholar could recognize the right answer himself.  No country or religion or border defines our neighbor.  When we look up from our daily struggle or busyness and take the time to stop, look and listen, the lives of others come into focus and compassion stirs.  When we hurry to the other side of the road, indifference wins.
 
The Jesuit teacher and author John Kavanaugh, S.J., wrote in his book, Following Christ in a Consumer Society, that we all inhabit a gospel that reveals who we are.  In our society of capitalism, the reigning gospel measures worth by what we produce, consume, and possess.  People without money, jobs, health, home, education, or status do not count for much. St. Paul in his letter to the Galatians today, warns us that a false gospel is a curse.  To measure life solely this way can smother us in emptiness.
 
The Good Samaritan was an outsider.  He was familiar with insults: people moving away to avoid contact.  No surprise that a person at home on the margins would notice a stranger sprawled in a ditch.  Privilege, wealth, power, importance, anger, and fear had not compromised his vision.  He was willing to stop, to look, and to listen. He was willing to act.
 
Transformation often begins when we allow others into our life, when we are willing to allow the world around us to touch our life in real was.  No wonder that the poor often open their doors to those in trouble, they are not afraid to let the world in.  Up close, suffering and injustice become real.  As our moral vision grows, the situation of those at a distance become visible.  When children fleeing violence show up at our border, we must find ways to help.  God says: you will find me in the poor.  That road will lead us home.
 
Perhaps a question we might ask ourselves today is, “If Jesus told this parable today, instead of the Samaritan, whom do you think he might describe as acting mercifully?
 
Have a blessed and holy Monday everyone!

Today’s Thoughts: “All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of one single candle.” (St. Francis of Assisi) – Children are our candles… (Note a special prayer today for the six wonderful candles in my family - Emilia, Kristina, Natalie Ann, Michael, Vivian and Ellen.)
 
I am choosing to focus on the last part of our Gospel today rather than the first part 9Mark 10:13-16). I have always liked this section of our Gospel reading for today, Jesus’ welcoming of little children.  It is imagery that can speak to us even when we are not children anymore. It seems to make things a lot less complicated, and it reminds us of the gift that children and childhood is to us.
 
When I think of what we as a culture, a society and as a church have done to children and childhood down through the centuries I feel a profound sadness. I know that my childhood was very instrumental in helping me be the man of faith that I have become. I am profoundly grateful that I had wonderful people in my life as a child who showed me the Kingdom of God even thought I probably didn’t understand at the time.
 
My prayer each day is that all children can and will experience the wonder and joy that should be part of growing up. My hope is that all children get a chance to live in the moment. That they experience the joy of playing baseball or flying a kite or jumping into the deep and making it to the side. I hope and pray they feel the joy of swinging on a swing or running down a hill or eating the biggest ice cream cone ever.  Children are special. They make God ever so real and anyone who take away a child’s joy, wonder and innocents does not deserve the Kingdom.
 
As we listen to the words of Jesus remind us of the value of children today let us remember that each new day holds a surprise for us if we approach it with the wonder and awe of a child and if we do so God just might be around every corner!
 
God invites us to experience joy and wonder in our lives, to be in the present moment, and to find his presence around every corner. God always offers us unconditional love and acceptance perhaps something we first felt as a child, but it is available every day and every moment of our life.
 
Let us embrace the child in us and get ready for God’s blessings. Perhaps St. Francis says it best – “We should seek not so much to pray but to become prayer.” Isn’t that what children do!
 
Have a blessed and holy Sunday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: In our Gospel this morning Jesus turns to the disciples in one of their private moments and says, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.” (Luke 10:24)
 
Perhaps the question we should ask ourselves today is, “What do we see and what do we hear as we walk through life?” As we walk to work and encounter a homeless person on the street. Do we see someone who is broken and needs our help, or do we see someone who should just “stop drinking and get a job?” When we listen to the homily on Sunday and hear the call for action does it resonate with us; or do we say, “Let someone else in the parish take up that cross, I have way too much to do.”
 
We are gifted each day with the opportunity to encounter God, perhaps not exactly like the disciples in the Gospel. Jesus is not standing physically right in front of us. However, in the living of life we have the opportunity to encounter, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Father each and every moment of our life if we just take the time to listen and to see. If we just take the time to be open to the presence of God in our life!
 
Have a holy and blessed Saturday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: In today’s Gospel the towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum have stepped on one of Jesus’ nerves. Towns that are so much a part of his life and ministry just don’t seem get it. They don’t recognize the presence of God in their midst. Jesus has done all kinds of great things for them and yet they are slow to respond to his message. They have had the advantage and done nothing with it.
 
I am always struck when this Gospel passage comes around that the towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum exist no more. If you go to the Holy Land and visit the places where these towns once existed all you will find are ruins. For various reasons these town no longer have life, could it be because when they had the chance to be blessed, to celebrate the gift of God in their life, to follow along the everlasting way they missed it?
 
We often get focused on our own needs, thoughts, feelings, dreams and desires. In these moments at times we miss God invitation. We think we know better. We think we have it all figured out. We think we are in control, but we are not!
 
O God, I know I haven’t walked in your shoes. I know you have the words of everlasting life. Help us to see beyond ourselves. Guide us today and always along your everlasting way!
 
Have a blessed and holy Friday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: Our Gospel reading is rather straight forward today. Jesus sends seventy-two disciples out to announce the Kingdom of God to all the places that Jesus intends to visit. Jesus asks the disciples to go, to travel with nothing. They are not to be independent, but dependent. Not an easy way to travel. They are to be dependent on the places they go and the people they encounter. They are to be dependent on Jesus even though he is not there with them physically. They are to trust in their relationship with Jesus. This is all part of their learning process.
 
A learning process that we hear in our first reading from the Book of Job. Job tells his friends what exactly God means to him. He proclaims his dependence, his loyalty, this faithfulness, his trust in God. Job places God first in his live even with all his struggles. Job knows that his Vindicator lives, and that he will one day see God!
 
We are also asked in our journey of faith to move from independence to dependence. We are asked to trust in our relationship with God. As I mentioned above and as we know for our story of faith this is not an easy process and like Job and the disciple we will fail at times. We will place more trust in the world or in ourselves. Our challenge is always to let go and let God!
 
Have a holy and blessed Thursday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: My thoughts this first Wednesday 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 few years 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 70 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… “No one sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62) For me this closing verse of our Gospel today says it all. Looking back is not an option in our journey of faith. Yes, we can recall stories, experiences and moments of our past, but we cannot be about our daily life always looking back.
 
Think of someone pushing a plow or driving a car or running a race or doing anything that asks for our attention to what is in front of us. If we turn to look back bad things can happen plowing the field, driving the car or running the race. In our Gospel today Jesus asks us to live in the moment and yes sometimes living in the moment can be hard if not next to impossible. Yet living in the moment is what is going to make all the difference in our journey of faith.
 
I don’t know too many people who would not want to bury their mother or father or say good-bye to their family if they were leaving but I don’t think Jesus is saying that we cannot do these things. Remember what Jesus’ says is often more for effect rather than hard and fast rules. If our family is valuable to us shouldn’t God be also?
 
Living in the past, focusing on the past does not allow us to move forward. It can often cause us to miss the presence of God when we most need it. If we are going to follow Jesus, we need to focus on what is right in front of us not what is behind us.
 
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 Wednesday everyone!

​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: The dangers of living out an arrogant self-importance life are captured in the readings from Job and today's Gospel from Luke. At first, I struggled to find a connection between these two readings, but after careful reflection it finally dawned on me.  Satan’s challenge for God to test Job’s faith and the desire of the disciples to be ranked on personal greatness are two powerful examples of how the abuse of “ego” can easily divert one’s focus from God and his love.
 
The story of Job has been repeated thousands of times in the past but taking a different approach and interpreting the message from Satan’s perspective provides a new opportunity to shed light on another aspect of human nature.  Job’s faith and devotion to God speak for themselves, but Satan’s obvious abuse of ego deserves attention.  Satan accompanied the angels of the Lord with specific intent to place a challenge before God.  His own ego could not bear witness to Job’s relentless faith to the Lord so he eagerly accepted God’s offer and exerted his devious will to bring Job harm, especially to his family and personal possessions. The result was treacherous but in the end Job ultimately wins God’s favor and thus defeats the misguided ego of Satan.
   
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 experienced by Job, and expressed by Jesus in his reaction to the disciples?
 
We might say that our readings today challenge us to always live in the present because the future does not yet exist, and the past is gone forever. All we have is the present moment and the many ways this present moment will help us to encounter the presence of God within ourselves and others.
 
Have a blessed and holy Monday everyone!

Today’s Thoughts: Our readings today have a hint of “fire and brimstone” in them! James in his letter certainly does not mince words especially as he goes after those with wealth within his community. Notice it is not that their wealth is bad, but James’ words are about how they have attained their wealth and how they have used it.
 
Jesus too, brings on a little “fire and brimstone,” himself, as he challenges his disciples to be aware of the things that cause them to sin. He is speaking metaphorically as he talks about cutting off hands, feet and gouging out eyes, but his words stand for something absolute and essential. The misuse of our gifts in service of others, the misuse of any kind of leadership, authority or power we have over others needs to be address or we risk the fires of hell.
 
Our readings today are directed mainly at those in leadership, whether it be leadership within the faith community, civil leadership, parents, teachers. Yet, the readings today can also be good reminders for our own journey of life. How do we use our power, our authority, our gifts in our journey of life and faith?
 
One last thought about our readings today, at least the first reading and the Gospel, they remind us once again that God works in mysterious ways. God’s grace, God’s Spirit can be a gift to anyone, they are not reserved just for the holy, the righteous, those we see as chosen. We need never dismiss someone because we don’t think they are worthy enough to proclaim the Word, the Spirit of God. As Moses says in the first reading, “Would that all the people of the LORD were prophets! Would that the LORD might bestow his spirit on them all!" (Numbers 11:29)
 
Have a blessed and holy Sunday everyone!

​Today’s Thoughts: Our readings today might cause us to close the book and say, “What’s the use!” Both Ecclesiastes and Jesus paint a bleak picture of the reality of the journey of life. Yet, at times we need to hear these bleak words. We need to be reminded of the struggles, the imperfection, and the sinfulness that life can place in our way.
 
Our journey through life is never “happily ever after.” It is fraught with struggles, challenges, unfairness, sinfulness, and in the end death. The challenge is always what do we do when faced with these realities. Do we give up? Do we run away? Do we say, “Oh what’s the use?” Do we go our own way? Or do we trust in the presence of God? Do we enter into the journey as Jesus did with our eyes focused on the Father? Trusting in God’s presence to bring us through.
 
Perhaps our challenge is to take life as it is and yet always see God’s presence in the journey, in the sunrise, the sunset, in the breath of life. Like Jesus we are called to sense our Father in every breath that we take. In the midst of the struggles and the unfairness of life we are challenged to never forget that we are the work of the Creator’s hands and so we must honor every passing hour, minute and second of our life so that at the end of this life we can move into a gift of eternal life!
 
Have a holy and blessed Saturday everyone!