Author: purposejoyandpositives

PURPOSE, JOY AND POSITIVES is a blog created to promote thoughts and ideas about gaining clearer PURPOSE in our lives, JOY in who we are and what we do, and sustaining POSITIVES. We are all on the journey called 'life' which has many paths for each of us. Sometimes, the path is clearer with PURPOSE and more JOY filled than others. Often, there will be crossroads........again we must chose. May our choices be about a fulfilling PURPOSE, JOY in the simple and profound, and abundant POSITIVES to sustain us on the journey. PJP

First Three Weeks of Lent:

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The various podcasts and sermons I have been listening to tell me that is it a time for ‘check in’ with myself about how I am doing with my Lenten disciplines. They also have mentioned that Lent starts to feel ‘hard’ about this time, as we are half way there.

Sometimes, I think I try to do too many different things. When I start on Ash Wednesday, it seems ‘oh, wow this podcast, or this Lenten program, and oh, yes, this looks like good spiritual reading too’. Then I realize that while they are all good and my intentions are good, I need to just pick a couple of things and keep it simple, so I can be consistent. As Father John Tap, our parish priest says: “We engage in these practices in order to grow closer to Christ, during this holy season and for the rest of our lives. So, if you have already fallen short with your Lenten commitments, then simply start over again.’ Good advice.

On the second Sunday of Lent, we reflect on the Transfiguration of Jesus. While Jesus is up on the Mountain with Peter, James and John, the Lord shares with us a little bit of the Kingdom and his affirmation of His Son and the role He will play in salvation history. I can only imagine that the apostles must have been overwhelmed by this experience of Jesus being transfigured and hearing the Lord’s voice.

This past Sunday, the third of Lent, we reflect on the story of the woman at the well. Jesus not only meets her where she is and for the reasons that she is there in the middle of the day, but He also tells her of her sin and explains the ‘Living Water’ to her. She was not afraid to approach Jesus; she listened; and she acted by running straight to her community and sharing with them what she now knew and understood; Jesus is the Messiah they have been waiting for. Just like the woman at the well, understanding and developing our faith takes a life time and it doesn’t happen over night. It’s all those little encounters we experience through prayer, people, things we read and all the other things we see and do in life that bring the fulfillment of faith to us.

May you be blessed as you continue your Lenten journey.

PJP

ASH WEDNESDAY:

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FEBRUARY 18, 2026

Here we are in the first day of the Lenten Season. It seems that we just finished with ADVENT, so how can it be Lent already? I say this but yet it is one of my favorite, if not my number one favorite liturgical season. The ashes received today remind us that this earth is not our home and we will return “dust to dust” one day. They remind us of the solemness of this season and the outward sign to do penance, fast, pray, and give alms.

Let’s talk about fasting. Years ago, fasting was related pretty much to fasting from your favorite foods, snacks or beverages. This is still true; however, there is much more emphasis on alternative ways to fast that are just as much penance in their own way. Here are some thoughts I have come across: fasting from harsh words, swearing, complaining, talking about others. Replace those things with kind words, praying to God, using positive talk in conversation and just plain don’t moan about all the things we don’t like.

Other fasts could be limiting social media, movies (I love NETFLIX), or other forms of entertainment that you enjoy. This may not mean a full fast from these things, but maybe a few days a week which is replaced with more time to reflect on the real meaning of this season and why we need to do penance.

Here are some Lenten Resources I have found and used over the years. First, the ones that are free:

DYNAMIC CATHOLIC , MATTHEW KELLY, offers BEST LENT EVER with one thought each day reflecting on various topics. Today’s was on Miracles.

RELEVANT RADIO with Father Rocky offers a reflection each day and this season’s theme is the Mass. Today he talked about why we use Holy Water as we enter the church.

CHRIS STEFANICK gives a reflection each day on his site. Today he talked about paper clips that will outlive you.

There are also a multitude of sites that provide good Lenten material but they do have a small cost. Some of these are:

HALLOW …..this is truly one amazing app. For the 40 day Lenten Challenge this year Johnathan Roumie, Sr. Miriam, Chris Pratt, Mark Wahlburg, Jeff Cavins, Lauren Daigle, Gwen Stefani, Father John Burns, and Father Mike Schmitz are the speakers for the The Brothers Karamazov and the Return of the Prodigal Son. The title of the program is THE RETURN.

A second app that I often use is ASCENSION. The topic this year is CRUX: Daily Surrender Reflections. Father Columba Jordan leads this program.

Here are a couple of books that I have ordered to use as reflections:

In the School of the Holy Spirit by Jacques Philippe and Aquinas’s Lenten Mediations 40 Days with the Angelic Doctor, translated by Father Philip Hughes, Sophia Institute Press, Manchester, New Hampshire.

May your Lenten Journey be unique for you and fruitful, filled with the Holy Spirit guiding you.

PJP

Happy Valentine’s Day:

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I have heard it said that love is a choice, not for one day in your life, but every morning you wake up, you can make that choice.

Choosing love may not always be romantic; might not always be easy; but definitely is always necessary. Just think about it: what if there was no such thing as love? Where would the joy, the happiness, the kindness, and the caring for others show up in our lives?

We have been given the greatest love there ever was in life, and ever will be. And that is the love and the mercy that our Lord gives to us every single day of our lives. Certainly, we can pass that on to others, even if it’s just in small ways, we can show up and pass it on.


HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY……..choose love!

PJP

Word of the year 2026:

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INTENTIONALITY

It is only a few days into February and I have deliberated on my WORD for 2026 long enough. It was the second word that came to me about mid January and funniest thing, all of a sudden, I started reading that word in various materials about every other day.

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the meaning of intentionality is “ the characteristic of being conscious of intending an object” . Other words to describe the word might include purposeful or deliberate (from Oxford Languages).

I think that what brought the word to mind and started my thinking about it was something I heard in one of the priest’s homilies about being intentional about what we do in our lives, including our spiritual lives. To me, this moved my brain to thoughts about how to do things with more focus, acting not REacting.

I believe there are many ways to be more intentional, especially in today’s culture. One might choose to be selective in our words on social media and even more conscious of what we choose to read and engage in with social media, including the amount of time we spend aimlessly scrolling.

Listening intently to others when they are speaking with us is another great example. It’s easy to be thinking ahead in a conversation to what we want to respond with, instead of ‘hearing’ what the other is trying to say to us.

I like to be intentional about parts of my day. For example, I use early morning time as prayer time followed by stretching and low level exercise. My mid day is a few household things/laundry and running errands. Early evenings are my time to wind down and gratitude thoughts and reading are a part of my final intentional acts of the day. I follow this pretty much everyday with some variation of course if I am going out with friends or traveling.

Just some beginning thoughts about how I incorporate intentionality in my life. I certainly will be working on finding other areas of my life to be intentional.

PJP

Day of Prayer for the Protection of the Unborn Children:

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January 22, 2026

“Society as a whole must respect, defend, and promote the dignity of every human person, at every moment and in every condition of that person’s life” (Pope Saint John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae).

The US Bishops have asked that this day be marked as a day of prayer and fasting for life. A prayer from Chris Stefanick’s Daily Anchor: (1/22/26)

“Grant us a share in the humility of your Son, who sought not to be served, but to serve. Help us to see in every human life, rich or poor, young or old, guilty or innocent, a reflection of your image and likeness.”

May we take to prayer today those most in need.

PJP

Epiphany:

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A few days ago, January 6, 2026, we celebrated the Epiphany (that is the actual day; however, most parishes celebrate it the Sunday before). That is how important this day is; not to be relinquished to just another week day.

The word Epiphany means manifestation. Most of us growing up learned that this is the feast when the Magi followed the star and came to pay homage to the newborn Christ child with gifts of gold (Jesus is King), frankincense (Jesus is Divine), and myrrh (Jesus will suffer for our sins and die to save us).

Growing up, I only learned that this was the one Epiphany; however, I have since learned that there are three celebrations for Epiphany. The above being the first; the second is the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan by John, and the third is the Wedding Feast at Cana, which was the first earthly ministry Jesus performed. God reveals himself in each Epiphany.

Think about this though; Epiphany didn’t just happen thousands of years ago. No, look around at your world, your family, your church community, your friends and beautiful nature itself. Epiphanies happen every day in all of our lives; however, I know that sometimes I forget to look around and I am sure that I miss some of God’s revelations to me. I get the big ones I know, but our God is so good to us that he gives us many epiphanies daily. We just have to take the time, the pause and see them. Finally, we have to act on the epiphanies made known to us.

PJP

Merry Christmas!

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Happy Birthday dear Jesus. Thank you for coming into the world so that we could all be saved. Blessed be your holy Mother Mary who said Yes and her husband Joseph who also said Yes.

Thank you for everything!

PJP

Blessing Gifts, 

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As we await the coming of the Baby Jesus, I cannot help but think

Of the many gifts and blessings in this life, we all receive.

Some are from our prayer requests; some are add on little surprises, we never did expect; Some are painful but have a silver lining to teach us something; others over time we come to know and believe.

What I wonder about the most, is how many blessings did I let slip by and not attend to? How many blessings from this tiny Baby Jesus who has given me everything was I too blind to see? Most likely there are many and I’ve much thanking to do.

Mother Mary said ‘yes’ and Joseph knew he too would say ‘yes’,  so that this Baby Jesus could come to be our King, to bless us, to help us, and to save us. It is in this very story, the one that changed history, that gives us the true meaning of a Blessed Christmas. 

May you and your loved ones have a very Blessed Christmas. May our prayers include those of thanksgiving for the gift of Christmas.

PJP

Third Week of Advent: Gaudete Sunday: JOY

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As we light the third candle, the rose/pink candle, we reflect on the joyful/rejoicing anticipation of the birth of Christ. There is a different feel to this week; the somberness of the first two weeks is changed to a lighter tone of JOY. We are still preparing for His coming in both our hearts and our deeds.

Father John Tapp at Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Florida gave a wonderful homily about the meaning of Gaudete Sunday. I will paraphrase and capture his main points. Title: What things in your life really bring you Joy, that deep sense of amazing joy in your heart? Is it that new car, the latest and greatest new gadget that does everything, the coolest new outfit from your favorite store, something your child or grandchild often does that warms your heart, your financial status, and the list goes on. Certainly, there is nothing wrong with feeling happy and joyful about any of these things. BUT the type of amazing, deep inner JOY and peace comes only from Jesus Christ who lives in our hearts. He is always there, but many times other material things that we think bring us JOY overshadow that feeling in our hearts.

I will share with you one of the closest moments to this JOY we are talking about that I experienced 37 years ago. It was a cold winter night in mid February with a new blanket of sparkling 6 inches of snow. My father had unexpectedly passed away only a few weeks before. After dinner that night, I was feeling sad, so I bundled up and took a long walk all the way to the top of a hill above where we lived. In a few moments, the moon shown so brightly that every flake of snow reflected like a diamond. I stopped, took a deep breath and in that moment through my tears, I felt the amazing JOY of Christ and His peace in my heart. I have never forgotten that type of JOY.

May you leave the material things on the second page and put Christ and the JOY He gives on the first page.

PJP

FIRST AND SECOND WEEK ADVENT

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Our Advent Season is well underway; the time that marks the new liturgical year, with hope and time to prepare for the coming of Christ. The color used for these first two weeks is purple, signifying preparation and penance. In the last few years, I have heard Advent referred to as ‘little Lent’ with a deeper focus on sacrifice, repentance, scripture reading and prayer.

As we light the first purple candle on our advent home wreaths, the readings this week center on the coming of Christ and being prepared ‘for we know not when the hour Jesus will come’. He is the Light of the World and can and will overcome all darkness. We are asked to trust, even when life gets messy, difficult, or just plain out of control.

As we light the second purple candle for the second week of Advent, we focus on Peace. This candle is referred to as the Bethlehem Candle as we reflect on Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem and the humble beginning of Jesus life. We take time away from the hustle and bustle of our well planned to do lists. This is the Peace only Christ can give us, but we have to stop awhile, pray, read scripture and listen for His voice of Peace.

Find a quiet moment to set aside each day to reflect on how this coming of Jesus, a small baby born in the cold dark night, laid in a manger, will change the course of the world.

”For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

PJP