Today's Thoughts...

​Daily Thoughts: “Run away from God,” that is Jonah’s response to what God asks of him and I have to say that there have been many times in my own life when I would have liked to have done the same thing. Sometimes what God seems to be asking of us just doesn’t feel right. Sometimes what God asks of us seems beyond our ability. Sometimes what God asks of us isn’t fun. Sometimes what God asks of us puts us at odds with the world around us. So why not run?
 
Well as we find out in the story of Jonah today (Jonah 1:1-2; 2, 11) you can run but you can’t hide from God! Somehow, someway God is going to find you and put you right back in the middle of things or God will find someone else to do the job. The priest and the Levite ran away but God persisted and the Samaritan did not (Luke 10: 25-37).  You can hear the voice of Pope Francis in the Gospel today. He echoes Jesus’ voice on who is our neighbor. Our neighbors are the people in most need and our challenge is to always show mercy.
 
When faced with this challenge we can always run, we can always try to hide, we can always make excuses. But God is always going to find us, perhaps not in this life but when it most counts the life to come and if we haven’t responded, if we haven’t been merciful we will find ourselves in a terrible and unending storm!
 
I would have to say that I have never been a big fan of the rosary mainly because of the communal experiences that I have had with it. People try to out yell others, some praying fast others slow, adding prayer after prayer rather than holding to the simplicity of the rosary. Yet, there have been many moments in my life when I felt like running away from God and it was the simple prayers of the rosary, the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be… that held me in place. The rosary is often the formal prayer that I pray when running because of its simplicity and power.
 
Today we are challenged to be merciful to the people around us. We are challenged not to run from God when things get difficult or don’t go our way and we celebrate the gift of the rosary as a prayer with the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, that can keep our feet grounded in God and our eyes open to the needs of others.
 
Have a great Monday everyone!