So easy to say, but how hard to accomplish! We all have memories, good and bad, that we just can't seem to shake. We live with regrets and frustrations of what might have been. We also hold on to past accomplishments as if they somehow make valid our lives. St. Paul didn't have time for any of this. He used to call himself a mad man whenever he had to remind people who he was. He would tell them all of the things he had done, all of his great and not so great moments, and then he would call it all garbage compared to following after Jesus. He didn't live in the past. He pressed on always. He covered 6400 miles, on foot, in his relatively short missionary life. He was always on the go for Jesus. He as always looking for a way to comfort, encourage, and when need be, admonish his children in the faith. I pray we can all follow after St. Paul as he follows after Christ. If we do,we will find ourselves rejoicing when it's the last thing we feel like doing. We will find ourselves being gentle and kind to those in our lives. We will find ourselves praying without ceasing, and we will be set apart for Jesus. This takes prayer, hope, and the will. But more than anything, it takes grace. I am in Thessaloniki tonight. We walked through Phillipi today. We saw the jail where St. Paul spent a night singing hymns. The steady rain didn't dampen our spirits at all. This is what Fr. Mike said tonight to end his homily, "Let's forget the good and the bad, and press on in Jesus, through Jesus, and for Jesus." Lord have mercy!
wkm
Thessaloniki ,Greece
St. Paul's jail in Phillipi
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