Today’s Thoughts: The two things that caught my attention in our scriptures today are – how quickly the people of Nineveh respond to Jonah’s preaching and how quickly the Simon, Andrew, James and John respond to Jesus’ invitation. If I didn’t know better, I might think that all of them had read the section of St. Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians that we did today and figured that they were running out of time!
I am always a little concerned when we encounter such profound responses in the scripture like the ones today because I know from my own life experience that responding to God is not always easy. Sometimes I have to be hit over the head several times before God’s message, invitation or call sinks in. I mean just take Jonah’s situation as an example. Think of yourself walking through any big city in the United States, New York, Chicago, Los Angles or any other large city and you are proclaiming the Word of God. What would you expect to happen? Imagine yourself standing in the middle of Times Square proclaiming the Good News. What would you expect to happen? Not what happened to Jonah is my guess! Now imagine yourself in the midst of your daily life. Perhaps you are getting ready to walk out the door to work. Perhaps you are busy getting your children ready to head off to school. Perhaps you are sitting in front of your computer working to support your family. Perhaps you are sitting in a doctor’s office waiting for your appointment. Perhaps you are at Starbucks waiting for your morning coffee. A man approaches you. A man you have never met before and he says, “Follow me!” Would you go? My guess is no. However, that is exactly what happens in the Gospel today and Simon, Andrew, James and John say yes! Our scriptures today tell us that God’s Word, the Good News is very powerful. It can change peoples’ perspective, it can change peoples’ lives in an instant if they let it. The Good News can awaken us from the tedium of life. It can give us a new perspective. The Good News can be something new and wonderful if we let it into our lives. Perhaps the people of Nineveh were just waiting for a new message, a new chance, a new perspective on life. Perhaps Simon, Andrew, James and John were waiting for a new opportunity to love life. Pope Francis has told us that – “Instead of imposing new obligations, (Christians) should appear as people who wish to share their joy, who point to a horizon of beauty and who invite others to a delicious banquet.” Perhaps that is exactly how Jonah appeared to the people of Nineveh and how Jesus appeared Simon, Andrew, James and John. Our scriptures challenge us to bring the joy, beauty, the delicious banquet of God’s kingdom, God’s love, God’s presence to the world. They challenge us to proclaim the Good News with our words but more importantly with our life! Have a blessed and holy Sunday everyone and don’t forget to give God a little time today!
0 Comments
Today’s Thoughts: The Gospel today is an interesting one. It is short and to the point. The crowds are pressing in on Jesus, he does not have a moment to breathe, pray or eat and his family and friends are not too sure about all that he is doing, they go so far as to say, "He is out of his mind."
I have always found “He is out of his mind.” an interesting line in the Gospel. I don't think we often, if ever, would use the phrase, "He is out of his mind." to describe Jesus. It almost seems irreverent! Yet that is what his family and friends thought and in a way, it is comforting. I don't know for sure, but I do believe that people have thought that "I am out of my mind," because of the things I have done or because of the busyness of my life or the thoughts that I have expressed or the stands that I have taken. It is comforting to know that at least for a moment Jesus and I share the same struggle concerning how people see us. Perhaps many of the things Jesus did, experienced and lived out seemed crazy. How often today does someone point out that Jesus would have done it this way and because it doesn't fit with how we live life and we think or say the person is crazy. Jesus asks us to do a lot of crazy things, love our enemies, pray for our persecutor, forgive, be in the company of sinners, accept people for who they are, step across boundaries in order to bring about healing and life. It may seem crazy, in doing these things it might seem like we are out of our minds, but remember we are in good company! Have a holy and blessed Saturday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: In the Responsorial Psalm (Ps. 57: 2, 3-4, 6, 11) for today’s mass we are presented with the image of a mother bird protecting her young. She shelters them with her wings until the danger passes. But what happens once the danger passes well the children need to grow and move away from the nest until they finally take that step off the limb and fly on their own. In learning to fly they now take on the responsibility of caring for themselves and eventually having their own little ones whom they will protect. It is the cycle of life.
Jesus names his twelve closest friends in the Gospel today (Mark 3:13-19). These friends embodied many of the all too human traits of life. They will reveal by their words and actions impatience, fear betrayal, doubt, misunderstanding, impetuousness, and pettiness. These will be balanced by courage, steadfastness, faithfulness, trust, goodness and purity of heart. In our words, these friends of Jesus are moving toward the end of the limb and soon they will be flying on their own. They will soon be proclaiming the good news to all the world in all their humanness. Part of the Good News that they will proclaim is mercy, the mercy of God and the mercy we need to have in living life. It not always easy to live by mercy as David finds out in the first reading (1 Samuel 24:3-21). Yet that is what we are called to as the children of God. So, what is our challenge today? Perhaps it is to trust in the ongoing care and concern of God for us but also to know that through that love and care we are sent forth into the world to proclaim the Good News, Good News grounded in the mercy a God. Have a blessed and holy Friday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: As I reflected on today’s Gospel (Mark 3:7-12) this morning the thought that came to mind was "A Day in the Life." This is the title of a 1967 Beatles song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. While the Gospel and the song have nothing in common, I thought of the title in terms of what picture the Gospel paints for us today, A Day in the Life of Jesus.
It is interesting, I did a little research about the song, Lennon and McCartney wrote their sections of the song at different times, Lennon using accounts from the newspaper and McCartney using memories from his youth. The two sets of lyrics were then put together with orchestral glissandos. What does this have to do with the Gospel, well think about how the Gospels were put together? The days of Jesus' life, not a daily rendering but events tied together by the overarching story of his life. Today, we have a day in the life of Jesus, crowds coming from every corner of the world it seems, healing with every touch, demons proclaiming he is "the Son of God," people everywhere! No room, no time for himself, no space to breathe. When you think about it Jesus had a very difficult life long before he got to Calvary. He was always in demand. How did he do it? How did he balance his ministry and his need to just be, to pray, to connect with friends? How did he stay focused? Stay refreshed? Stay motivated? Sometimes seeing a picture of a day in the life of Jesus can be inspiring, sometimes it can be troubling, sometimes it can be tiring, sometimes it can be overwhelming. What does today's picture of a day in the life of Jesus say to you? To me it says he loved us very much! Have a holy and blessed Thursday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: My thoughts today center around a single phrase in the Gospel, "Jesus looked around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart..." (Mark 3:5) It is comforting to know that Jesus was angry and grieved from time to time. That he got frustrated with others, particularly others who should have known better. Today it is the religious leaders they don't seem to get it. They don’t apply common sense to their theology or religious traditions. Life, the quality of life, is much more important than rules and regulations.
Every day, we as people of faith are focused on life. It is profoundly important to us. It is a gift from God that we do not want to see abused, neglected, devalued, taken, lost or discarded. We pray for it; we walk in support of it. We cherish it in our own lives and families. Life is primary to what we believe. Yet, at times we get so focused on one aspect of life we miss many others. We miss many opportunities to honor it, acknowledge it, celebrate it and heal it because of rules and regulations! Jesus was always about life, honoring it, acknowledging it, celebrating it and certainly healing it. May we find a way like Jesus to turn anger into healing, to turn anger into life! Think life today and every day! Have a blessed, holy, and lifegiving Wednesday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: In reflecting on the readings today a couple pf themes struck me about our faith. The first is that we do not always see in the same way as God does and God often chooses the unexpected. In the story we read today from the First Book of Samuel, God’s choice of David in unexpected. Samuel is sure that it is the first, second or third son of Jesse but God surprises him and us. God tells Samuel, “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature…. Not as [humankind] sees does God see…. [God] looks into the heart.” We are reminded that God looks beyond human appearance, status and stature, God looks into the heart and soul of a person. This is a consistent theme throughout scripture. God is about quality not quantity. God is about substance and appearance.
Another theme in our readings today is that of change. If something is alive that also means change. Jesus in the Gospel to the horror of the Pharisees indicates that things are not always going to remain the same. Change is in the air. The Sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath. Jesus is asking people to look at their faith differently. The Sabbath came into being to help humankind take time to focus on God. But the Sabbath is not greater than the needs of people. In other words, the actions, the rituals, the customs, the reality of the Sabbath is not what is most important, it is people and their relationship with God. On a side note, I wish we might understand that about our own rituals and practices. Life means changes and as we go through life the things that connect us with God are going to change, take on different forms and different importance. But remember God always looks at things differently. God does not make decisions on appearance but on what is in our heart. Two of God's great gifts to us Life and Hope are always guiding us, always nourishing us so may they always be in our hearts. Have a blessed and holy Tuesday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: I read a short quote from Pope Francis a while back, “Sing to the Lord a new song. (Psalm 95:1) What is this new song? It does not consist of words, it is not a melody, it is the song of your life, it is allowing our life to be identified with that of Jesus, it is sharing his sentiments, his thoughts, his actions. And the life of Jesus is a life for others. It is a life of service.”
I thought of this quote from Pope Francis after sitting with the Gospel in prayer (Mark 2:18-22) in which Jesus says, “no one pours new wine into old wine skins…. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.” So, if we are singing a new song it cannot be the same old life that sings. It has got to be a new life, a new way of looking at the world. It has got to be a new way of looking at ourselves and others. Often, we are afraid of new, afraid of change, afraid of difference yet Jesus, Pope Francis and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. tell us not to be afraid, but to pour, to sing and to dream new. Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – Happy Monday – and Happy New Wine, New Song and New Dream – Everyone! Today’s Thoughts: Our first reading and Gospel today present us with two snapshots in our story of faith. One is the emergence of the prophet Samuel and the other is the emergence of Jesus into his public ministry.
They seem like simple ordinary moments in life, perhaps Samuel’s encounter with God a bit more unusual but then all of us have had those moments when we are awakened during the night or from a nap and we are not sure if we have been dreaming, or someone in the house has called us or what that sound was that awakened us. However, Samuel’s encounter with God and Jesus’ encounter with Andrew and Philip in many ways are more than simple and ordinary. They are extraordinary and profound! We might notice that in our reading from First Samuel by the end of the story it says that – “Samuel grew up and the Lord was with him, not permitting any word of his to be without effect.” Now, all words have an effect. Sometimes that effect is a good, lifegiving, hopeful, positive effect, however other times the effect is not so good and every once in a while, the effect of our words is profoundly negative. We have witnessed this last effect that I have mentioned often over the last eight or so years. When someone with great power, authority, leadership and influence uses words as a match to light a fire that becomes very destructive to our country, our Church our world. We need to remember that words carry great power and as we learn today in our first reading, when the origin of the words is God, it is power for good. As we learn everyday words also carry a very destructive power when God is left out of the equation. Our faith story calls us to a relationship with God that is based on respect for God, others and ourselves and one way we show, we live that respect is through the words we use. Perhaps, one challenge of our readings today is to ask ourselves the question from what power, what authority do we speak our words? In our Gospel we find a very simple encounter between, John the Baptist, two disciples, Andrew and Philip, and Jesus. I am told when people begin the study of biblical Greek, the first text from the Bible they read is usually the Gospel of John. The reason is that John’s Gospel is written in very simple Greek. And the sentences are simple and straightforward in structure. “What are you looking for?” “Where are you staying?” “Come and see.” What could be simpler, right? The exchange between Jesus and the two disciples is ordinary. So why did John included it — especially when these words are the first ones we hear Jesus speak in this his gospel. If we read this exchange again slowly we will hear not a simple conversation profound exchange. Because once we read the whole Gospel, we will come to realize that John’s simple language is much deeper than it sounds at first. “What are you looking for?” Is one of the deepest questions a person can ask another. To paraphrase, “What—really, down deep—are you seeking as you live your life? Power? Pleasure? Wealth? Relief from loneliness? Relief from pain, hunger? Knowledge? Truth? Love?” How do you answer this question right now? “Where are you staying?” This question is not the disciples asking Jesus his street address or his house number? The question that is really being asked, “Where do you come from, Master? What is the source of your life? Who — really, down deep — are you?” For the word translated “stay,” menein, means something deeper than what is your address. In the Gospel of John this word refers to a person’s source of being and ultimate purpose. Jesus’ response, “Come and see,” really means when you know the whole story, “Follow me as a committed disciple and you will come to really see (understand and believe) in a whole new way.” As we begin this journey through ordinary time at the beginning of a new calendar year it is a great time, to pick up the Gospel of John or any of the Gospels and come and see who Jesus is and from where he derives his existence, his power. It really can be an awakening, a way of seeing what leads to a whole new way to journey through this life in faith. Why not try it? Have a blessed and holy Sunday everyone! Today’s Thoughts: Today, we finish our journey through the first week in Ordinary Time. In the Gospel, Jesus walks along and sees another person who might make a difference as one of his disciples - a tax collector – perhaps the least likely candidate to be a disciple according to attitudes of the time. Jesus sees in Levi the very follower he needs and asks him to drop what he is doing and come follow. Can you imagine Levi looking into Jesus’ face with astonishment and saying, “Who me?” Why is this Jewish man speaking to me in such a nice, invitational way? Levi must have seen something in Jesus’ look that caused him to change his entire life. Did his heart skip a beat for a moment? Did Levi realize that all his hopes and dreams were somehow met in this encounter with Jesus? Well, in all honesty, we just don’t know, but we can imagine. Most of us have come to moments in our lives when we experienced a crossroads. The proverbial fork in the road – did the path we took make all the difference like it did for Levi?
In life it seems that if we believe in God at all, it is hard for us to believe that God is profoundly interested in our ordinary activities; profoundly interested in a young man making his living by extorting money from his neighbors who pay taxes. Is it possible that God is profoundly interested in what we are doing today? In what we are doing at our computer? In what we could be doing for the Kingdom today? Is it possible that God is inviting, calling, cajoling us to come join the journey? It is not only possible - it is the promise and fulfillment of all that is important about being human. Levi can help us see that as ordinary as we might be, God has great things in mind for us. Things far more important than any petty pursuit of our own. Let’s go – it is a new year and a new opportunity to become what we have been created and called to be. Have a holy and blessed Saturday everyone. Today’s Thoughts: I have always liked the story in today's Gospel and the reason is because it is not just one person's faith at work. The story says, "When Jesus saw their faith...." It was the faith of the group of friends, of the community, that makes all the difference. It was the hard work and faith of the friends of the paralytic. It was the faith of the man, himself, that probably motivated his friends. All of them worked together so that this healing moment was possible.
I often refer to the parishes I go to or the people who make one of my retreats as a community of faith and I truly believe that they are. I am always happy to be in their presence because I believe there is a great power in a community gathered together for a Sunday mass, a daily mass, a prayer service, a parish mission or a retreat. I believe that it takes a community of faith to get us through life. Sure, we need our personal faith. Sure, we need a personal relationship with God, but we also need a community because as good as we might be there are times when we cannot do it alone. We need people to pick us up, to carry us. We need people to help us find a way in, to find a way to God. We need people who believe in us and in the journey, we are on. We need people who know God just as we do. Jesus affirms the small community of faithful friends in the Gospel today. They make it possible for their friend to be healed and to be forgiven. What great friends the paralytic man had, do we have friends like him? Are we faith filled friends willing to pick a friend up and make sure they can get to God? Have a joyful and faith filled Friday everyone. |
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
Categories |