Today’s Thoughts: “Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice; turn to the Lord and his strength; constantly seek his face.” This is the entrance antiphon for today’s mass, and I must admit I do not often pay attention to the entrance antiphon. Some parishes where I have celebrated daily mass will always stand and read the entrance antiphon as I enter others do not. I have to say I rarely even read it. Yet at I was praying with today’s readings earlier this morning my eyes stopped at this entrance antiphon because I think in a few phrases it captures the essence of our readings today.
In our first reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul reminds the community at Ephesus where their faith begins and ends, in Christ. St. Paul tells children, fathers and slaves how to go about living their life. They need to be grounded in Christ. St. Paul challenges children, parents and slaves to seek the face of God, of Christ in all that they do. In the Gospel Jesus is confronted with questions about who will be saved, and his answer is that to be saved is a hard journey which is not always predictable. Entering the Kingdom is fraught with many challenges and what is necessary is strength. The best way to find and enter through the narrow gate is to trust in the presence of God in life and to draw upon the strength we are graced with through our friendship with God. For Jesus it is all about the lens we look through in life. Do we see things as the world invites us to see things or do, we see things as God asks us to see things? If we chose the world’s way of looking at things the road is wide and easy, but the end leaves us outside in the cold. If we chose God’s way of seeing things the road is narrow, difficult and challenging but in the end, we will find ourselves safe and warm in the Kingdom. We do not make this journey alone we make our journey through life with the gift of Christ presence with us. St. Paul tells his community to let go and let God as they journey through life. With God as our Father, our Master there is no partiality, no favoritism. So let us be a community, a Church of joy because our hearts seek the Lord; let us rely on God for strength for the journey; let us constantly be focus seeking, seeing the face of God in all we do today! Have a blessed and holy Wednesday everyone!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
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
Categories |