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| Passion is NOT dimmed by Failure, because Passion is not based on success. | | |
| From Fr. Pat and the Ignatius Commentary on the Gospel of John: John 21: 15-19 Jesus asks Peter, three times, do you love me? But the Greek translation does offer greater insight to Christ's love for Peter, and essentially, us. "In the first two questions, Jesus asks Peter if he loves him with 'willing love'(agapao or Agape in Greek), but in the thirst question he asks if Peter loves him with merely 'friendly affection'(phileo or Philia in Greek), which is the word Peter uses in all three of his responses. An intended distinction between these terms would indicate that Jesus, desirous of a complete and heroic love from Peter, was willing by the end of the conversation to settle for his friendship." Who can say that they have a consistent Agape type of love for Christ...I can't...but the beauty of Christ is that He will meet you where you are...He wants us to try to give the best type of love, but accepts our Human love...the question is, can we transcend our human love (Philia) to give God divine love (Agape)? Obviously, we cannot do it on our own...No man is an island...prayers for all...for friends with babies, for friends expecting babies, for my babies (students), and for beanie babies...ok that last one was a lame joke...thanks Jesus | | |
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From Marina del Ray - Jen and Edgar "looking out yonder, movie moment" picture From Fr. Raymond's homily and I didn't want to forget Gospel he quotes: Peace be with you...a phrase Christ never said until after his death and resurrection...We can never separate the phrase of Christ's peace from the context of betrayal...After Christ was betrayed...he still offered His apostles peace, while they were expecting a scolding or guilt, Christ gave peace... 3 steps to peace: 1. Serenity of mind: anxiety comes from unneccesary worry...worry of things that are not completely in our control: life, death, cancer, disease, accidents, heartbreak, a raise, the future...one of the steps for Alcoholics Anonymous is to admit that there is a power greater than myself...when you ADMIT to a God, you can then have FAITH in that God, and finally TRUST in Him = which leads to a serene mind.. -Lord I Trust in You 2. Simplicity of heart: A Buddhist sentiment that seems to be sound theology is: Desire leads to suffering...If we did not desire material things, there would be no suffering (in context of materialism)...desire for the GRACE to be CONTENT with what GOD/LIFE has given you for each moment and you will attain simplicity of heart.... -Lord I only hope to hope in You 3. Tranquility of soul: We only attain a tranquil soul when we know that we are right with God...when our individual souls are with God we gain peace from the mercy, love, and wisdom He gives...This does not mean we must be perfect in order to have a tranquil soul...we must BELIEVE in GOD'S MERCY, and start LIVING our BELIEFS.. -Lord I am imperfect, but your Mercy and Sacrifice justify me | | |
| Our struggles don't seem so bad...broken spirits, hearts, souls, and bodies...for those who suffer the loss of life and their families...we drink of the cup and share their burdens with them...we hurt because a part of us was lost...Lord for the times of darkness...be their light...may we be Your hands of hope and kindness...Lord this we pray. Amen | | |
| God does give me strength when I fall...For the past month or so, through much of lent and the struggles that come with it, my students have been awesome...I was glad to tell them "As I was going through hell last week, two things kept me sane...scripture and my students..."...I shall explain...I asked God at the beginning of lent to give me a conversion, a change of heart, to form me into something for Him...That was probably done out of pride, but He likes to humble people...He let me see just how selfish and dumb I was...not to mention self righteous...I had a vision of my purgatory...although brief, it was very painful...purgatory is the place where you realize your failure in loving...this must have been one of the most painful things to ever experience...the fact that you saw your chance to purely love, and you corrupt it, or fail at it...to make it worse, I thought I was great at this love thing, only to see the selfishness in it...but back to my students...they saw first hand the struggles...but the graces came from unexpected places...those students that gave me grief were the ones God used to give me comfort...some would just come in during the breaks to ask if I was ok, or to just talk and say hi...one said..."hey I saw you kind of put your head down on the bible, are you okay man? cuz the clippers suck"...I so saw God in my students...then I had them pick quotes from the bible, or songs, that speaks to their souls...and man...they loved it...most popular was Psalm 6...one the yearns for God in sorrow....who ever thought...the next week came with the reading of Thomas Merton's No Man is an Island...the first chapter...my students highlighted the spiritual maxims that spoke to them...once again, they ate it up...who ever thought that my students would love Thomas Merton...thank you Jesus for the students that teach my soul to love deeper, simply, and through all the pain of life...these students are really a gift...when you look into their eyes- you see truth, you see a person... God Bless the Broken Road -Can a road be blessed without being broken? Can one see joy without suffering? Is there love without sacrifice? Didn't think so... -its painful to always let go and die each day...but its one that builds trust with God... -for the angels that support us in our "Agony in the Garden"...thank you -things to work on...trust in God, love all those he places in your path...God's will can never be fully understood, but if you love...God's will shall unfold...Thanks Fr. Pat | | |
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