Boxed In

Have you overheard some one's description of you and thought,

"They certainly cannot be talking about me?"

Your response may be one of anger at the injustice of it all; or one of enlightenment from realizing there may be some truth in what was said.

Either way change is needed.

Nobody likes to be "boxed". It is limiting and dehumanizing; but we all do it, have done it and will have it done by others.

There is the old saying that we have to walk one mile in an other's shoes before we can really know them. The complexities of our lives define who we are and unless we are willing to share the stories of our lives with others, we may never be truly know by anyone. How and to whom you choose to share your stories is as important as how and who shares their stories with you.

Why was Jesus not accepted in his home town?

By his own people? They refused to listen.

"Ephatha, be open!"

Feast of Trinity

Prayer For,With, and In

Review your whole day and think of the best thing that has happened. Give thanks to God the Father who gifts us with all good things.

Review your day and think of the worst thing you did, how you hurt others, neglected those in need, some sin; and ask Christ our savior for forgiveness.

Think about tomorrow and what lies ahead, what task you need help with, what power or direction and pray to the Holy Spirit for the assistance needed.

In God we live and move and have our being God, who is For us, With us, and In us.

Pentecost

Time flies like the Wind, where ere it wills.

So what do you do when you receive a gift?
Are you focused on the gift or the giver?
Maybe that depends on the gift!

So, when the giver becomes the gift ...
It all has to do with why we were given the gift of the Spirit?
Not for our own purpose but for the build up of the Body of Christ, the Church. If all we do is relish our own gift or even envy the gift someone else received, the gift becomes a source of contention and division. Is it still a gift? Is it of the Spirit? Pray for those gifts. The temptation to take credit for our own gifts and to envy the gifts of others are as old as life itself. From the garden, Cain and Able... it goes on.

How do your gifts and talents benefit the rest? Your gifts are God-given, and the best way to give thanks to God is to use them in His service and the service of others. What are some of the prime passions and talents that God has giveb you? How do you use them?

FISHING

Who would have thought it, in the middle of winter here in western PA -- fishing! In Fsherman magazine has coined "location, location, location"as their legendary claim to successful fishing. It is all about where you are, not what you have in your tackle box, what kind of bait you use or how willy a fisherman you may be. If you believe that, what might "I will make you fishers of men" mean?

From conception to death there are key times in which we have a better chance for the big catch. Consider the times when Christ most affected peoples lives, as when they were young, stressed, on the fringe, sick or dieing, feasting or fasting. It was all about being in the right place at the right time. When was he needed the most? When do we need him the most? When are you most likely to be caught? Where does the church spend most of its time and energy?

Snow

What a little snow will do to lift one up. Just got back from Colorado and a little ski trip to put one on top of the world (Winter Park is close). We had a great trip and the resounding experience was one directly out of Exodus 3 ""Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." We were surrounded by snow (no burning bushes) but the feeling was unmistakeble- we stood on Holy Ground and God was present.

Have you ever tried to take off your shoes in the wilderness, a snowy mountain may be most wild? It is never easy and you are forced to look at where you place every step, for what you may destroy or step on. Has any one stood elsewhere? Look around, be surprised by the presence of God. I came back with a new appreciation of what has been placed before me, always! Know that you too are on Holy Ground. Peace this year.

Watching Waiting and Listening

Moving out was hard, moving in is harder. One is needed before the other however. One is a process of emtying, the other a process of filling up. Doing both at the same time is more difficult than I ever imagined. In the past I always had time to empty myself before I moved on, in fact I usually asked to be moved. This change unlike others was thrust upon me, and was so fast that I hardly had time to prepare in any way for the change of assignments. This one I accepted but hardly asked for. And there in lies the difference.

Maybe that is why this Advent seems like such a blessing to me. In the watching and waiting and listening of Advent, my perspective on this change changes me. I hope I am approaching this new assignment with an emptiness rather than a preconceived idea of what has gone on before. So far, as with any parish I have been involved with, there are good people, hungry people, searching people--we all have problems, but we share that common heritage, we are people. It is from the hunger and the searching that the new growth is able to come in and fill us up. We need to make room for Christ to come again into our busy lives, by becoming less busy. we need to make the space for him to fill. We are like the people sitting in darkness waitng for the light. If it were light already would we anticipate the coming of a greater light. In this holy darkness, there is a blessed light. It starts small, and grows to change all things. It begins to fill us up with what we need not with just what we want. This is a holy time.

I still struggle with the emptying.

to blog or not to blog?

Here is the deal: I have been told that the use of a blog is limited as an evangelization tool. In fact many bloggers are now moving toward the use of tools such as "facebook" or "my space" (for whatever reason I am not sure). I am not sure that I get the online communities or understand their possibilities. I tried, but it seems more like Greek to me than Greek itself. I posted a facebook profile and keep getting peoples hits on it and do not know what to do with them. so they just sit there and I get more requests from people who want to be "my friend" on facebook, I accept and then still do nothing. So I am requesting emails ( I have not done this before because I thought as long as I was here at OLOJ I would continue posting the odd blog, now I do not know, do I continue blogging?) Here is how this will work, I set up an email site with hotmail--it will not be a new email address for me for long, but for the next couple of months I will monitor it. When it dies I will let you know. That new address is mcg1nn1s@live.com You can copy this and put it in your email addresses and let me know what you think about the blogs, if you wish, or about facebook or what ever. I do not promise a response to every email. I am just trying to figure out if I should continue. Thanks