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Scripture:

Romans 9:1-5
Luke 14:1-6

Reflection:

In today’s first reading, I believe Paul is lamenting the fact that so many of his brothers and sisters in the Jewish faith didn’t know Jesus. He even wished he himself could have been cut off from Christ for their sake. They were the Chosen People, and how it must have grieved the Father that so many didn’t recognize Jesus when He came as the Messiah they had waited for so long.

Isn’t it the same for us when a son or daughter loses their way and chooses not to live a life of faith? How we grieve for them, how we pray for them! We want only for them to know Jesus and to return to the faith we tried to impart to them as they were growing up in our homes.

I remember the year the song El Shaddai came out, sung by Amy Grant. I loved that song because hearing the names of God sung in Hebrew touched me deeply. Hearing them I sensed a connection to God’s Chosen people. Wasn’t our faith built on theirs? Didn’t their prayers and worship lay the groundwork for the Christian faith? Wasn’t Jesus a Jew? (Yes, I know, stating the obvious, but don’t we forget that sometimes?)

I experienced through that song a kinship, a knowing that I too belong to God’s Chosen people because I have been grafted onto the vine. They are a people still set apart and special to God, but we have the same Father. They are my big brothers and sisters in the faith, and I long for them to know Jesus as Savior too.

And so we pray. We pray for our children who have seemingly rejected their birthright. We pray for the Jewish people who are God’s Chosen ones and our brothers and sisters in faith. And we know that our prayers will be answered one day because the Father’s heart longs for all of His children to be one. Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus! What a day that will be!

Janice Carleton and her husband Jim live in Bainbridge Island, Washington,  and partner with Passionist Fr. Cedric Pisegna in Fr. Cedric Ministries. She is the mother of 4 grown children and grandmother of 6. Janice also leads women’s retreats and recently published her second book: God IS with Us. Visit Janice’s website at http://www.janicecarleton.com/ or email her at [email protected].

Scripture:

Wisdom 3:1-9
Romans 5:5-11 or Romans 6:3-9
John 6:37-40

Reflection:

Last week I celebrated the funeral liturgy and burial of a 97 year old Catholic woman who was a widow and the mother of three children. In preparing for the wake and funeral liturgy, her daughter made a special effort to make it clear that she wanted her mother’s body sprinkled with holy water before the casket was closed. Opportunely, the closing of the casket was to take place immediately before the start of the funeral Mass. It seemed so right that we should evoke the words of the first prayer of the funeral Mass as the casket was being closed and the pall was being spread out over the casket. In baptism he/she died with Christ, may he/she now share with him eternal life.

The alternative second reading of today’s Mass comes out of the Christian conviction that the life we have entered into through baptism will never experience the defeat of death. Rather, by being joined to Christ in baptism, we are also joined to his Resurrection. We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.

This conviction fueled the early Christian communities’ willingness to suffer death for the sake of the Gospel. This “Paschal Mystery” of the life-giving death and resurrection of Jesus also inspired many founders, men and women, of religious congregations to create the religious families through which one would die to self and live for Christ.

Outside of religious life in the Church, other Christians have embraced the lesson of the Cross, dying to self, in order to live on as a disciple of Christ and witnessing to the Gospel in their daily living.

For all of us the dying will overtake us, and we shall have no choice but to abandon ourselves into the loving arms of our creator and the multitude of the saints who will come to welcome us home. We may, by tradition, be remembering our deceased loved ones today, but the eternal light that shines for them is the light that also serves as the beacon leading us home to our God.

Fr. Arthur Carrillo, C.P.  is the director of the Missions for Holy Cross Province.  He lives in Chicago, Illinois. 

Scripture:

Romans 8:18-25
Luke 13:18-21

Reflection:

Trick or treat!

Yep – it’s the eve of All Saint’s Day.  Halloween.  Who do you think will come knocking at your door tonight?

Today’s Gospel is part of those wonderful moments when Jesus speaks in parables about the Kingdom of God, making the concept more understandable for our mortal, limited minds.  In this case, he speaks about the Mustard Seed and the Yeast.  A reflection I wrote in July is based on this exact same message (which you can access by clicking this link right here ).

But today, being All Hallows Eve, I’ve been thinking a lot about who our trick-or-treaters are.  Who it is that knocks on our doors?  People from all walks of life, children primarily, who are filled with wonder and excitement at being someone or something else.  Dressing up, for me, was about putting on my fantasy of who I wanted to be… who I wished I was.  Except that year I went as a Hot Dog.  I don’t want to be a Hot Dog.

Is it too late to be who God wants me to be?

And this got me thinking about Zacchaeus, who climbed a tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus.

I remember the last time I climbed a tree. It was in 1984, after my 8^th Grade graduation at Holy Family in South Pasadena. Everyone was gathered around the parking lot and celebrating all the new graduates. I couldn’t see where my friends and family went, so I climbed up this huge tree so I could get a better view in hopes I’d find my way to them. When I got high enough I realized that, in my enthusiasm and excitement, I’d neglected to think about how far up I was, or how I’d get down.  I really went “out on a limb.” Well, I found the way to both safety and my family, and (thank God), the tree didn’t drop me.  The Lullaby which includes the text “When the bow breaks” still makes me shudder.

Zacchaeus also really went out on a limb to see Jesus.  Just to grab a peek at the great Holy Man.  Zacchaeus, the hated tax collector, did what he had to do in order to find his way to Jesus.

But here’s the thing – Jesus was waiting for him.  Jesus called out, “Zacchaeus, come…”  High in a tree, at a distance, Jesus reaches out to a “sinner,” calling him.  And the people are all a-twitter when Jesus goes to stay at the house of this sinner, but he says “Today, salvation has come to this house.”

In a very strong way, this reminds me of a prayer we recite at every Eucharist:

“O Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”

What does this have to do with Halloween?  Well, I guess Jesus is the really ultimate Trick-or-Treater…  He knocks on our door.  Always.  Not looking for our sweetness or our “candy,” but for us to open the door and grant him passage to our soul.  Our brokenness, our failure, our hurt, our sin – he calls us down from our shaky, unstable tree-limb.  “(I have) come to seek, and save what was lost.”

You know, that old tree is still down at Holy Family…

Maybe it’s time to go out on a limb again so I can hear the voice of Jesus say “Come…”

Dear God, thank you for the gift of your never-ending love, your knock on my door.
Please grant the grace of your mercy to me, a sinner, looking to change. Amen.

Paul Puccinelli is Director of Liturgy & Music at St. Rita Parish in Sierra Madre, California, and a member of the retreat team at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center.

Scripture:

Romans 8:12-17
Luke 13:10-17

Reflection:

In today’s gospel we have a woman who is possessed by a spirit, drained of her strength, and badly stooped.  And Jesus cures her of her infirmity.

The chief of the synagogue criticizes Jesus for curing on the Sabbath.  The chief of the synagogue was apparently healthy and needed no cure.  Apparently healthy.  Yes, his body may have been healthy, but what about his soul?  He comes across as one possessed with a spirit of self-righteousness, badly stooped with pride, and so infirm that he cannot recognize who Jesus is.  Who was more in need of a cure, the woman or the chief of the synagogue?

Where is healing needed in our world today?  Yes, there are many people who are physically infirm and in need of a cure.  But many others are crippled by anger, shackled by fear, eaten up by greed, impaired by hypocrisy, blinded by prejudice, starving for appreciation and thirsting for love.  Infirmity is all around.

At Mass we bring up bread and wine.  We ask the Holy Spirit to come upon this bread and wine and transform it into the Body and Blood of Christ.  This bread and wine represent not only all of us present, but our whole world.  We place all the people of the world upon our altar and ask the Holy Spirit transform all of us.  Transform all anger into forgiveness, all fear into courage, all greed into generosity, all hypocrisy into truth, all prejudice into understanding.  Nourish the starving with compassion and the thirsting with love.

We ask the Holy Spirit to transform all people with the spirit of adoption through which all can cry out together, “Abba, Father.”   If we recognize that we are all children of God, created by God, dependent up God and loved by God, then we have well-grounded hope for the cure that is peace.  We can stand up straight and continually be thanking God.

Fr. Alan Phillip, C.P. is a member of the Passionist Community at Mater Dolorosa Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.   http://www.alanphillipcp.com/

Scripture:

Exodus 22:20-26
1 Thessalonians 1:5-10
Matthew 22:34-40

Reflection:

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Mt. 40

Love for God and Love for our neighbor are the two main themes for the readings today. They are also the foundation for building the Kingdom of God. In the Book of Exodus we read about caring for those who are aliens, widows and orphans and when lending money to be fair and reasonable. It was so important to the Jewish people, that the poor were taken care of, that they had laws to guide them in this regard. They left some grain in the fields after the harvest so that the poor could glean the leftover grain to sustain them.

Today, we still have the poor and we give in different ways through donations to many organizations who assist those who are in need. In recent months we have had opportunities to help others due to natural disasters. Opportunities to give a voice for those with whom others have turned a deaf ear. Opportunities to assist those in our own communities, parishes or neighborhoods. I was in the grocery store a couple of weeks ago and was able to witness someone take the opportunity to assist someone who could not afford their groceries. Not asking for anything in return, gave the person a hug and asked them to “pay it forward”. How many of these situations have we found ourselves in and turned away for one reason or another?  Jesus message to love our neighbor is a message to heal others through acts of kindness. Healing is what our neighborhoods, parishes, communities, state and country needs at this time. Imagine what the evening news would be like if kindness, mercy and compassion were the headlines.

Linda Schork is a theology teacher at Saint Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky.

Feast of Ss. Simon and Jude, Apostles

Scripture:

Ephesians 2:19-22
Luke 6:12-16

Reflection:

In a recent RCIA session we asked the candidates and catechumen this question:  “What are some of your peak moments in your faith journey that has led you to enter the RCIA process?”  The stories that were shared centered around the act of being called, being invited to reflect in a deeper and more serious way what faith was all about.  Each week we come together to share our faith stories, to sing and pray, to listen and learn, to be challenged and affirmed to spread the Good News of Jesus.  We are given the command or directive to invite others to live as disciples of Jesus.

The first apostles came from different backgrounds and cultures than we do today, but, nonetheless they are true models of faith that we can relate to and also be challenged by.  We hold many things in common with the first apostles, but most especially, that of being sinners and saints.  We celebrate the life of Sts Simon and Jude today.  Simon and Jude along with the rest of the apostles took their role of apostles very seriously.  They were not perfect but they believed in the Good News and spread the message of Jesus Christ wherever they were sent.

The month of November in the Church year calls us to reflect on the holy people in our lives who have gone before us in faith.  On All Saints Day and All Souls Day we celebrate the lives of family members and friends along with those who have been formally canonized as ‘Saints’ by the church.  We give thanks for the grace and wisdom they have brought to our lives in the past and continue to do so today.

Take some time during the coming month to prayerfully reflect on those peak moments in your faith journey that continue to lead you to the Table of the Lord and give thanks for all those special helpers who have walked the journey with you past and present.  We are all Saints called by God to lead lives of goodness and grace.

ALL YOU HOLY, MEN AND WOMEN, PRAY FOR US!  HAPPY FEAST DAY TO ALL!

Theresa Secord is a Pastoral Associate at St. Agnes Parish, Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture: 

Romans 7:18-25
Luke 12:54-59

Reflection:

“You hypocrites!  You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”  These words from Luke’s gospel today have left me befuddled for weeks!

Jesus is making a strong point here.  He seems to be trying to get the crowds to realize that something is happening NOW and they just don’t seem to get it.  I truly wonder how Jesus would deal with us in our times if He was trying to tell us the Kingdom of God is at hand.  Could He get us to put down our electronic devices long enough to even recognize His presence much less the significance of His words and deeds?  Could He interrupt the constant repetition of “Breaking News”?  And could He even hope to distract us from the morning tweets?

Miracles abound in Luke’s gospel.  Yet even miracles are not enough to get the crowds to realize the importance of Jesus’ call to reform our hearts.  If we observe the signs of the times today, we are left gasping for mercy in a world of violence, bigotry, hate, greed, cruelty and self-centeredness.  Earlier in this chapter from Luke, Jesus says “Do not live in fear, little flock.  It has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom.”  Why can’t we hear and respond to this gentle invitation amid the deeply troubling signs of our times?

Maybe today is a good day to think about the gift of the Kingdom of God.  Maybe today is a good day to reflect on the following words from Jesus in this chapter from Luke.

“Stop worrying.  The unbelievers of this world are always running after these (material) things.  Your Father knows that you need such things.  Seek out instead his kingship over you, and the rest will follow in turn.”

I invite you to pray with me.

Lord, the signs of our times are scary indeed.  Help me to not live in fear but to turn my heart toward you in every present moment and simply accept your Kingdom with open arms.

Terry McDevitt, Ph.D. is a member of our Passionist Family in Louisville, Kentucky.