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Scripture:

2 Timothy 1:1-8 or Titus 1:1-5
Mark 4:26-34

Reflection:

The Gospel for today begins with Jesus telling the crowds, “This is how it is with the Kingdom of God.” He proceeds to share two parables about seeds. First the seed that, seemingly without any help other than us scattering it, sprouts and grows. The other parable is the familiar story of the tiny mustard seed. In both these parables, Jesus teaches us that the Kingdom of God begins simply. It emerges in unexpected ways and from unexpected sources.

I’m not sure I ever really paid much attention to Lois and Eunice mentioned in St. Paul’s letter to Timothy, the first option of readings on this feast of Saints Timothy and Titus. These women, Timothy’s grandmother and mother, were clearly early believers. Paul says that Timothy’s faith  “first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice.” Just like the small seed of Jesus’ parables, faith took root in the hearts of these women and from there spread to Timothy.

Nothing more is known about these women. They are not famous but for this brief mention. Yet it is in these women that the Kingdom of God found a place to take root and grow. So often we look around for the grand appearance of God. We look for the miraculous event. We search from the heroic saint. We long to see God revealed in extraordinary revelations.

Perhaps God might be better sought by paying attention to the ordinary lives of people like Lois and Eunice. Can we look back over the day and see the Kingdom of God sprouting in the most unlikely of places? In the kindness of a stranger? The smile of a co-worker? The vulnerability of a new born child? Let us look into our own hearts to see how faith has taken root in our lives. Sure, there are some annoying thistles and rocky ground in there, and it may need some nurturing, but it is there and it is growing.

Robert Hotz is a consultant with American City Bureau, Inc. and was the Director of The Passion of Christ: The Love That Compels Campaign for Holy Cross Province.

Scripture:

2 Samuel 7:4-17
Mark 4:1-20

 

Reflection:

The Word

“The sower sows the word”     When I was stationed at our monastery in Sierra Madre, CA, I often took my daily walks in the beautiful Huntington Gardens close by our Retreat House.  The Gardens have a museum there which contains a beautiful copy of the Gutenberg Bible.  Because of its historical importance it is among the most valuable books in the world.   Although no Gutenberg Bible has been auctioned in more than 35 years it has an estimated to be worth at around $35 million dollars.  Some pages have been sold at $20,000 and $100,000 for a page! Seeing this valuable book, I have often thought, how precious is the Word of God!

The Word of God is worth far more to us than $35 million.   The Word comes from the mind and heart of God and is spoken to our mind and heart.   There is no closer union among rational beings.   Any passionate desire for God is deeply concerned about the mind of Christ and desires to be a person after the Heart of the Lord!  St Gregory the Great said it elegantly: ““To know the Heart of God through the Word of God”      Heart to heart, ear to ear, from God’s lips to my heart.

After 52 years of constant preaching, I have been long convinced there is a powerful force in proclaiming the Word of God that we find in the Sacred Scriptures.   “For the word of God is living and active sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit.” Hebrews 4:12  I love this text. His Word is alive (zaō) and full of energy (energēs).

I think our preaching is often on the dead side rather than being “alive”, on the weak side rather than full of energy.  They said of Jesus that: “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.” John 7:46 The listeners of Jesus were ”were amazed at His teaching”  Mk 1:22  The word amazed in original Greek is ekplēssō (Hit) which means  “to be exceedingly struck in mind, to be astonished”.  Another word used in response to words and deeds of Jesus is existēmi  which means to stand beside or outside of ourselves.  Our word ecstasy comes from this word.  No wonder people who heard Jesus said: “What a word!”

Fr. Bob Weiss, C.P. preaches Parish Missions and is a member of the Passionist Community in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

2 Samuel 6:12b-15, 17-19
Mark 3:31-35

Reflection:

In today’s Gospel reading from Mark, Jesus’ mother and relatives are asking for Him as He is addressing the crowds. When He is told this, He looks at the people around Him, and says, “Who are my mother and my brothers? Here are my mother and brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

For me, I have always read between the lines in this exchange, and that is because of how Mark sets this up. Earlier in the Gospel (Mark 3:20-21), Jesus’ family hears that the crowds around Jesus have gotten so big that it was impossible for He and the other disciples to eat. And when the family hears this, they decide to go get Jesus and bring Him home because they have figured that “He is out of his mind.”

So, when Jesus says what he says, I hear Him calling us to go beyond family and tribe, so to speak, and see each other as Jesus sees us. But I also imagine Jesus telling His family that He cannot go back with them. He has to keep doing what He is doing, speaking to crowds about the love of God, and working miracles of healing. This is for what He has been sent, and so He cannot return to a former life that would prevent Him from proclaiming the kingdom of God.

In many ways, we may be called to leave former ways of thinking and doing in order to fulfill the mission we have been given. May we see each other as mother, father, sister and brother, and may we come together to continue sharing the Good News we have in Christ.

Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P., is the local superior at St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Community in Detroit, Michigan. 

Scripture:

2 Samuel 5:1-7, 10
Mark 3:22-30

Reflection:

Be honest now.  Do you hear voices?  Not just one voice but a great many voices?  Actually, before we venture to answer that question, we may want to inquire what is meant by “hearing voices”.  Who of us, when confronted with a choice for good or for ill, doesn’t hear our mother say “Don’t go that way?”  Perhaps we hear a spouse say, “What a great idea, go with it!”  Even though it is a great idea, we may hear another voice say “We cannot afford to choose that at this time.”  If we are honest, we are being bombarded with voices all the time moving us to choose one way or another, think this or that, speak in one manner or another or act in a particular way.  The voices come to us from a multitude of directions and we must decide which we will listen to and which we will take to heart and allow to influence us.

In the Second Book of Samuel, we are witness to the political convention of the tribes of Israel.  After years of civil tensions and conflicts, David has fought to the point of bringing them all together so that all voices were able to be heard.  The author wants us to understand clearly that God’s voice is being heard in the conversation as well.  Finally, all the voices converge on one possibility – David should be anointed King of a united Jewish state.  God’s choice here is confirmed in the dialogue and David becomes King of Israel.  The voices were heard, accepted and what was said became fact.

In contrast, Mark relates a moment when contrary voices are heard.  Jesus is accused of performing His good deeds by the power of Satan.  Jesus’ voice clearly lays out the inherent contradictions in such a claim.  How can a house divided against itself continue to stand and prosper?  Healings and forgiveness which form the essence of Jesus’ ministry are the exact opposite of evil powers.  A single instance of healing or forgiveness clearly manifests the reality that the powers for good will defeat the power of evil.  Jesus then gives voice to the underlying reality of this moment.   To claim such a distortion of reality – to say that works which are obviously the works of God – are evil is a sin against the Holy Spirit.  Such a person has listened to a voice that says stay out of the light and remain in the darkness.  Refuse to acknowledge contradictory voices and remain deaf to all but death, darkness and destruction.  Such a sin is unforgiveable not because God’s forgiveness is limited but because such a person has turned a deaf ear to the voice which calls him to salvation.

Our scriptures today invite us to consider which of the great many voices speaking to us in our faith, in our Church, in our country, in our way of life and in the world reflect the values of the mind and heart of Jesus.  It is our baptismal challenge to allow ourselves to be conformed to the mind and heart of Jesus.  This can seem to be a relatively simple review of life for us.  However, in today’s circumstances, we are contending with a great many more voices than ever before.   There is a cacophony of voices vying for our attention and our allegiance.    Some voices say we are number 1, we are better than others; we deserve the cream while others are lucky to get rain water.  Some voices say some groups of people are more desirable than others.  Some voices say we should shun strangers, refuse them dignity and respect when speaking of them, and concentrate solely on our self-interest.  Other voices remind us to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, provide care for the sick, and afford every person his / her dignity regardless of color, religion or ethnic origin.  Still other voices encourage us to keep our heads down, stay out of such confusing issues and focus only on taking care of self and family.   The voices abound from every circle of life.  Today, Second Samuel and Mark invite us to consider how we are doing in responding to these voices.  How are we doing in measuring these voices against the teachings and the deeds of Jesus in the Gospels?   Essentially, today, we are asked to review our listening to the voice of Jesus, our accepting the message of Jesus and our making the voice of Jesus the foundation of our speech and our choices in life.

Fr. Richard Burke, CP, is a member of St. Paul of the Cross Province.  He lives at St. Ann’s Monastery in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Scripture:

Jonah 3:1-5, 10
1 Corinthians 7:29-31
Mark 1:14-20

Reflection:

One of the thrilling but usually unappreciated occurrences of commonly experienced on our city streets Is watching the driver of an 18 wheeler back his truck into a narrow alley, when traffic must come to a standstill as he skillfully threads his large vehicle off the narrow street on which he finds himself, with parked cars lining either side of the two-lane street, and other cars impatiently lined up either way blowing their horns at the truck-driver, as he deftly maneuvers that hulking piece of equipment into its proper place in the alley.  This is an urban masterpiece, usually going unrecognized, but certainly deserving of applause.

Turning our lives around is similar to this achievement, and is the centerpiece of our biblical readings today.  It relates to the accomplishment of the prophet Jonah described in our first reading today, trying to back the people of Nineveh off the course their lives have taken, and onto the straight and narrow way that Jonah the prophet was promoting as he roamed the narrow streets of Nineveh and preached to the people there about turning their lives around.  And he was hugely successful, even though like the truck-driver who had to deftly avoid cars parked along each side of the narrow street, to a cacophony of noisy horn-blasts, as he maneuvered his huge truck backward into the narrow entranceway of the alley—much like Jonah’s hearers being corralled by him all the way up to the entranceway into heaven.  Of course, they will have to turn their lives around in order to pull off this maneuver.

St. Paul must have felt like that truck-driver years later, after the exploits of Jonah, when he, Paul, had to inform his converts in Corinth, Greece, that they’re going to have to live their married lives differently from the way they had been doing, or handle their disappointments less sadly than they had been doing, or control their expressions of joy when they’re happy, or treat their assets less selfishly than was their custom.  After all, the truck they’re doesn’t belong to the driver.

And the same message reached the ears of Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, even before Paul heard it.  They probably led a frugal life living off their catch for the day so when Jesus passed by, He seemed to offer them (and James and John as well) an opportunity they couldn’t resist, and so they accepted it, but becoming companions of Jesus was a long way from fishing the Sea of Galilee, and they had a lot of learning to absorb, like a new truck-driver, before leaving their fishing boats behind and following along behind Jesus.  This must have become more and more challenging as they watched Jesus run into more and more opposition, just as the trucker must have found out, that travelling the straight and narrow of the highways was easier than backing the truck into a narrow city alleyway.

In all of these examples we hear of the often arduous tasks before us.  But we also see that they can be successfully handled, whether by a Jonah, or the Church in Corinth, or by Peter, Andrew, James and John.  Or, by a good truck driver.  We must take it slow and easy, and disregard the horns.

Fr. Sebastian MacDonald, C.P. is a member of the Passionist Community in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

2 Samuel 1: 1-4, 11-12, 19, 23-27
Mark 3: 20-21

Reflection:

I’ve always found this brief Gospel intriguing.  We’re told that Jesus’ relatives want to seize him because they think he is out of his mind.  In the passage before this one we hear of how popular Jesus is.  People are coming from all over Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea and many other places just to hear him.  Jesus has also just appointed the twelve who are to join with him in accomplishing his mission.  Now we find Jesus in a house so crowded with people wanting to be with him, to hear him preach, to experience his miracles, that it is impossible to get anyone in or out!  And…his relatives think Jesus is out of his mind.

I can’t help but think that Jesus’ relatives have been hearing the murmur of constant and growing condemnation coming from the religious leaders.  Already by this time in his ministry the religious leaders are very critical of everything Jesus has been saying and doing, especially when he calls them out for their hypocrisy in their attitudes and behavior, in the heavy burdens they pile up and place on the poor and outcasts.  And then, Jesus performs those many healing and forgiving miracles, even on the Sabbath!  There was surely a steady drumbeat of criticism and threat coming from the “important” people in Israel.  Jesus refused to be intimidated but clearly the growing hostility frightened those who loved him.  So, some of the family came to “seize” him so they could take him back home where he would be safe.

Every one of us has to make controversial and, perhaps, even risky decisions in our lives.  Some of those choices may be about a career, a place to live, a spouse, whether to have children, whether to walk away from a relationship, to name just a few of the important choices in our lives.  Sometimes the people in our lives, even the ones who love us, don’t agree with the choices we make.  They may even think we’re out of our minds!  It is surely a comfort to understand that even Jesus had people telling him that he was taking too much of a risk and that he should stop what he was doing.  Jesus heard the message but knew that he had to continue to follow the Father’s Will for him.  May God help us be faithful to His Will as we make important decisions in our lives.

Fr. Michael Higgins, C.P. is the director of Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.