Pray for the Election of a President

 "Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son." Acts 16:14b

Changing our minds is hard work, something that most of us do only reluctantly. Even when the truth stares us in the face, we resist. Perhaps we are afraid of losing something with which we are comfortable. Or we think that changing our minds might be interpreted as disloyalty to someone in power or a friend. Whatever the reason for our resistance, opening our hearts, letting go and changing our minds in order to follow the Lord more closely is a clear mandate in the gospel, even when it seems we have good reasons not to change. 

Today, as we prepare for the election of a new president and other civic leaders, is a good time to ask ourselves which candidates might help  create a country where livinging, practicing and proclaiming justice for all is the rock upon which to build hope here and around the world.

Today, open your heart to a new idea or person.

What keeps you from opening your heart to God's desire for you?

Our Vocations

 "The gifts and the call of God are irrevocable." Rom 11:29

God loves us. That is God's gift to us. But God's love is not a promise that we will never suffer or feel lost and alone. When we say that God loves us we mean that his gift, as St Paul reminds us, is irrevocable. God will never take it back, never stop loving us, and in this promise we have hope, strength and the assurance that God is near even and especially when we suffer.

God's call is also irrevocable and this can be both empowering and terrifying. God calls all of us to discipleship, and discerning what that is can be the task of a lifetime. In my own case, like many other young men of my generation, I felt strongly I was being called to be a Capuchin priest. Motivated by so many of the Capuchin priests I knew as a boy to be active, engaged and committed to the needy, God used that natural attraction to lure me into vows and priesthood. Being a friar, though important, was a distant second to being  a priest.

Today, ask God to renew the vocation to which you have been called.

Who or what has been most influential in helping you listen more deeply to the Gospel?