Right Place

Right Place

    Tonight I sit down to write this blog and I find myself smiling. Now, for me to be smiling on a Sunday night is not a norm I must admit. The start of a new work week and the weekend slipping away cause it to be more of a blah attitude. Yet, tonight it is different because as I drove home from a discernment meeting feeling that again I am right where I need to be right where God wants me to be. 

     Have you ever felt this? Have you ever just stopped and said to yourself “Yep, this is where I need to be”? It is a great feeling when it happens. As I drove out to the meeting I was thinking about my life and where it is and while it is far from perfect, I am still blessed with the life I have. One thing I have found is that when I focus my prayer on my needs vs my wants, life is better. Most times I have found that when I say to God “Ok, You know what I need, let me know my needs and not my wants.” It works out better. Life seems brighter, not because of any other reason then I see the blessings of what I do have and how the needs have been answered. 

        There was a big part of me that as I left the meeting to instead of drive home was to drive over the bridge into Philly and head to St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. On the path I have been blessed to meet some great Priests that really have shown me how great their lives are and how happy they are being Priests. Believe me they have shared  the difficult moments and have been direct and honest with what they have shared. So, this is not the idea of a dream Priesthood but the reality of it. The Priests that I have meet along this way have been so helpful and welcoming. It is hard for me to put into words the experiences that I have had so far. I just hope and pray that in the end if I am to be a Priest, that I am able to do the same for men who are discerning as well. This experience has had a great impact on my discernment and more so on my life as a whole. 

      I ask that as we close out the Church year and start to enter into Advent that we keep all priests and religious in our prayers. We need them. The Church needs them. This week along with the close of the year is Thanksgiving. Think about what you are thankful for and thank God for them and all those in your life. Try and make mass to offer your thanks and praise to God on Thanksgiving. It is important to be thankful for what we have been given as well as pray for those who are not as fortunate as ourselves. 

Until tomorrow, God Bless, and let us be Thankful as our year comes to an end. 

Memorial of Saint Andrew Dŭng-Lạc, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs

Lectionary: 503

Reading 1

RV 14:1-3, 4B-5

I, John, looked and there was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion,

and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand

who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.

I heard a sound from heaven

like the sound of rushing water or a loud peal of thunder.

The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps.

They were singing what seemed to be a new hymn before the throne,

before the four living creatures and the elders.

No one could learn this hymn except the hundred and forty-four thousand

who had been ransomed from the earth.

These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes.

They have been ransomed as the first fruits

of the human race for God and the Lamb.

On their lips no deceit has been found; they are unblemished.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 24:1BC-2, 3-4AB, 5-6

R. (see 6) Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

The LORD’s are the earth and its fullness;

the world and those who dwell in it.

For he founded it upon the seas

and established it upon the rivers.

R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?

or who may stand in his holy place?

He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,

who desires not what is vain.

R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,

a reward from God his savior.

Such is the race that seeks for him,

that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.

R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

Gospel

LK 21:1-4

When Jesus looked up he saw some wealthy people

putting their offerings into the treasury

and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins.

He said, “I tell you truly,

this poor widow put in more than all the rest;

for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth,

but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood.”