Today’s Thoughts: Pope Francis said – “Always remember this: life is a journey. It is a path, a journey to meet Jesus…. A journey in which we do not encounter Jesus is not a Christian journey. It is for the Christian to continually encounter Jesus, to watch him, to let oneself be watched over by Jesus, because Jesus watches us with love; he loves us so much, and he is always watching over us. To encounter Jesus also means allowing oneself to be gazed upon by Jesus. “But, Father, you know,” one of you might say to me, “you know that this journey is horrible for me, I am such a sinner, I have committed many sins... how can I encounter Jesus?” And you know that the people whom Jesus most sought out were the greatest sinners; and they reproached him for this, and the people — those who believed themselves righteous — would say: this is no true prophet, look what lovely company he keeps! He was with sinners... And Jesus said: I came for those in need of salvation, in need of healing. Jesus heals our sins. And along the way Jesus comes and forgives us — all of us are sinners, we are all sinners — even when we make a mistake, when we commit a sin, when we sin. And the forgiveness that we receive in Confession is an encounter with Jesus. We always encounter Jesus.”
Jesus asks the crowd and his disciples to live in our Gospel story today – “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself [or herself], take up his [or her] cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his [or her] life will lose it, but whoever loses his [or her] life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it.” In other words, our lives are ground in our relationship with Jesus. By our words, our living of life and by our faith we are to strive to bring Christ’s presence, the grace of Christ’s love to every person we meet. Sticking with our Gospel story and the words of Pope Francis, we seek to bring the struggles of our life to Jesus because he does all things well and is always willing to forgive! My prayer for all of us today is that as we journey through this day and every day, we will not forget that Christ loves us and that Christ will always be faithful and present! Have a blessed and holy Friday everyone.
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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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