Claire Smith

Scripture:

2 Corinthians 1:18-22
Matthew 5:13-16

Reflection:

In our Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples that they “.. are the salt of the earth” (v. 13). Salt adds flavor to an otherwise bland or tasteless food item. It simply makes it taste better. However, Jesus is telling them that they are the spiritual salt of the world. In this context we can understand his comments about salt losing its flavor. It would be tasteless and of no value. The same applies to spiritual salt, it can lose its flavor without care and attention focused on maintaining its freshness. This section of the Sermon on the Mount follows Jesus’ sharing of the Beatitudes, his teachings on how we are to live. To live those teachings, we must make our spiritual life a priority.

“Salt of the earth,” is a common phrase often used in referring to certain people we know. They are not salt; yet they add flavor to our lives in positive ways. These are people who are faithful, loyal, vibrant, dependable, and much more. One might say that “yes” to the spiritual life was present in them.

“You the light of the world (v.14).” If we placed a candle under a bushel basket, it would be extinguished and be of no value. Light is a metaphor for faith. If we hide it, it will surely go out. Yet, if we use the flame to light other candles, the light is not diminished. Similarly, faith, once shared, is increased. We are not diminished in the sharing.

Salt and light are necessary for life, and Jesus uses these as similes to relay his missionary message. I believe Jesus was warning the disciples—and us—to be careful to protect their spiritual life.

A healthy spiritual life allows us to spread that message liberally where we live and work.

In our reading from the Second Letter to the Corinthians, Paul’s words offer a similar message of commitment. “Yes,” was in Jesus. He fulfilled all the promises of God with a resounding “yes” poured out for us. We are wrapped in Jesus’ “yes” as a seal. In his “yes” we have been given the Spirit into our hearts. Can we protect our “yes” within us?

Being spiritual salt and light means our actions and words have meaning and bring life.

May we be salt for the earth, and light for the world.

 Like St. Anthony, whose feast we celebrate today, may we find our “yes” daily. Amen.

Jean Bowler is a retreatant at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center in Sierra Madre, California, and a member of the Office of Mission Effectiveness Board of Holy Cross Province.

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16a
1 Corinthians 10:16-17
John 6:51-58

Reflection:

The Mass as Dangerous Memory

There is memory.
And there is dangerous memory.

How do these two terms differ?  And what relevance do they have with today’s feast, The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, a feast that calls us to focus on two manifestations of the Body of Christ, the Holy Eucharist, and the Church?

First, since the earliest centuries, the Church has spoken of the elements used in celebrating the Eucharist as being changed into the body and blood of Christ.  Indeed, the Church teaches that “the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life” (no. 1324, CCC). 

This teaching, that the bread and wine in the Eucharist become the Real Presence, body blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ (no. 1374, CCC), is a central tenet of our faith.  However, according to a 2019 Pew Research Center survey, most Catholics do not believe this core teaching.  Specifically, nearly 7 in 10, (69 percent), say they believe that the bread and wine used in Communion are merely symbols of the body and blood of Jesus.

Sadly, for these Catholics, the Eucharist – and the Mass itself – is simply memory.  The bread and wine serve as symbols to remind us of the Last Supper and the death of Jesus 2,000 years ago.  That is memory, not unlike the way we remember our nation’s Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.  We remember and we celebrate that which took place nearly 250 years ago.

The Pew survey also found that only 31 percent of Catholics believe “that during Mass, the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus.”

They embrace dangerous memory.

Yes, we remember what Jesus did 2,000 years ago.  But equally important, that memory is made present in the Real Presence of the Eucharist.  We remember that Jesus is present, right now among us.  The theological term for this memory is the Greek word, anamnesis. Anamnesis explains why the Church has always taught that Christ is not re-sacrificed at each Mass, but that we enter that one moment when Jesus defeated evil’s strongest consequence – death.

Anamnesis means that the memory of the past becomes the memory of the present.  We may even think of this Eucharistic moment as a liminal experience – that space where we mortals occupy both sides of a boundary between time and timelessness, that moment that holds both the past and present as one.   It is that moment when the priest, in persona Christi, acting in the person of Christ, speaks the sacred words, “This is my body,” and “this is my blood.  Do this in memory of me.”

This memory is dangerous because it urges us to act, to make inconvenient, even dangerous choices.  Jesus made his choice, most agonizingly at Gethsemane.  “Not my will, but yours be done,” Jesus declared in the garden.  Choosing for God led Jesus to the cross.

This Eucharistic meal, this Messianic Banquet, this Real Presence, brings the Church together in communion to share in this salvific living bread, calling us to join in solidarity with those who today suffer, and who in the past have suffered persecution, unjust treatment and death, the poor of God.  That is the meaning of dangerous memory as 20th-century theologian Johann Baptist Metz described the term.

The Eucharist is not solely a matter of personal, feel-good, devotional memory – that certainly can be a good and comforting experience for the faithful.  But it cannot stop there.  The Eucharist, the body and blood of Jesus Christ, challenges us to choose what we stand for, with whom we stand, and in what we stand against.  The Apostol Paul says it best.  “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom. 12:2).

That is also the moment, at the conclusion of Mass, when the Church is sent out in mission, “The Mass is ended.  Go out to serve God and one another.”  It is time to act, to build up God’s kingdom here on earth – against all odds, against all opposition.

That is dangerous memory.

Deacon Manuel Valencia is on the staff at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.

Scripture:

Tobit 11:5-17
Mark 12:35-37

Reflection:

Story Tellers of the Happy Ending

We are finishing one of the most beautiful stories of the Old Testament, the story of Tobit. Well crafted, we have a love story, one of human suffering and hopeless as well as human goodness, and the happiest of endings! We can make the story one that speaks of ourselves. We are Tobits trying to do good, our laments are his and Sarah’s, and our hope is their happy ending.

The story also belongs to the Chosen People. The People of Israel seeing themselves during the Assyrian exile becomes their story when they were challenged to keep the law of Moses that could violate the laws of their captors – as removing a body left on display in the market place as part of the death sentence, and removing one being a serious offense. The exile was a true suffering, did God hear their unceasing prayer? Could they, the People of the Covenant, again experience the joys of Tobias and Sarah who amidst unspeakable misfortune find joy in their marriage covenant. 

Like the Book of Tobit, we conclude our yearly reading of Mark’s gospel this week. Our reading ends before the Passion, but what we are reading is associated with the approaching Passion. It is in Mark’s Passion as Jesus dies on the Cross that we hear his words of great lament, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”. Today’s reading gives us a proclamation of Jesus as Lord. His true identity that will be revealed as Jesus enters into the mystery of the Cross, his passion and death, when the Roman Centurion proclaims, ’Truly this man was the Son of God’.

We delight in stories, especially love stories. Truly, every story partakes in the Love Story of God for us. The story of Pentecost continues among us as Church, a pilgrim people, in the world but not of the world; exiles in a sense as we await a new more permanent dwelling not made of human hands. As a Church we carry with us and share the victory of God’s love. We are people of hope and encouragement gifted by the spirit, and one with the Father through Jesus our Lord. In the story of life we continually want to be spoilers for those who do not know a happy ending. That is God’s gift, our vision and our goal.

In the Western Province of the Passionists today begins a ‘Chapter meeting’, a once every four years assembly of the vowed men, both brothers and priests, along with lay men and women who are part of the Passionist community, feeling drawn to the charism of St. Paul of Cross in prayer and sharing in its the ministry and work. Paul proclaimed as a preacher in the 18th century: the love and mercy of God made present among us through Jesus Passion and Death. He gathered companions to live a way of life to nourish growth in this charism and to empower them to share this in the Church.

A ‘Chapter meeting’ is always a significant event. Gathered are approximately 35 priests and brothers, and about 60 non-vowed men and women to listen to the spirit in their service to the pilgrim people, the Church, and to be enabled to bring hope and encouragement to the Tobits and Sarahs of today though the victory of the Cross.

Please, this week include our Passionist family in your daily prayers.

Fr. William Murphy, CP is a member of Immaculate Conception Community in Jamaica, New York.

Scripture:

Tobit 6: 10-11; 7: 1bede, 9-17;8: a4-9a
Mark 12: 28-34

Reflection:

The Greatest Commandment: Love God and Love Others

In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 12, verses 28 to 34, we find a powerful exchange between Jesus and a scribe. The scribe approaches Jesus and asks, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” Jesus responds, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

These words of Jesus encapsulate the essence of true spirituality and righteousness. Love for God and love for others form the foundation of a fulfilled life. Jesus reveals that our devotion to God should be complete and all-encompassing, involving every aspect of our being – heart, soul, mind, and strength. This love for God should overflow into our relationships with others, where we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves.

By emphasizing these two commandments, Jesus highlights the interconnectedness of our love for God and our love for fellow human beings. Loving God requires us to genuinely care for those around us, treating them with kindness, compassion, and respect. It compels us to go beyond mere religious rituals and extend a helping hand to the marginalized, show empathy to the hurting, and offer forgiveness to the broken.

This teaching challenges us to examine the priorities in our lives. Are we truly loving God with our whole being? Are we actively expressing that love through our actions toward others? It’s easy to get caught up in religious activities without experiencing the transformational power of love. Jesus invites us to a deeper understanding of faith, urging us to embody love in all that we do.

As we embrace the greatest commandment, we find that love has the potential to change lives and bring healing to a broken world. It is through genuine love, both for God and our neighbors, that we can make a meaningful impact and leave a lasting legacy of compassion and grace.

Let us heed Jesus’ words today and allow love to be the guiding principle in our lives. As we walk in love, we embody the essence of true discipleship and fulfill the purpose for which we were created.

Deacon Peter Smith serves at St. Mary’s/Holy Family Parishes in Alabama. He is a retired Theology teacher from Holy Family Cristo Rey Catholic High School in Birmingham, a retired soldier from the US Air Force, and a member of the Passionist Family.

Scripture:

Tobit 3:1-11a, 16-17a
Mark 12:18-27

Reflection:

Have you not read in the Book of Moses,
in the passage about the bush, how God told him,
I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, 
and the God of Jacob?
He is not God of the dead but of the living.
You are greatly misled.

-Mark 12:27

Every Tuesday afternoon I visit a friend of another faith who is in hospice care, and even though over the years we have both claimed no fear of death, here we are on each visit, sharing how terrifying this concept becomes when we must move out of the realm of the intellect into today, disrupting not only our plans for today, but evidently for all time to come. OMG!

We’ve shared how letting go and willingly venturing off from our homes as children, I entered a very familiar life in the Monastery I lived across the street from, and he, believe it or not, went off to the Clown School in Baraboo Wisconsin. Although very different paths leading to this day, a day neither of us could have imagined at that time.

Along the way, we’ve shared how both of us have made many mistakes, some of which held us in bondage to individuals and institutions that we had harmed, or we thought had harmed us. Learning to let go of these mistaken beliefs, or in the words of St. Paul of the Cross and many other mystics, forgiving ourselves, each other and the institutions we mistakenly or not believed were the cause of all our problems, has allowed us to live in the moment.  

Dear God, help me believe the Apostle Mark’s reminder to the people of his day, that You are in charge. Help me let go of all my expectations—resentments in the making. Help me forgive myself and others I believe have harmed me, and finally, help me accept that not only are You, our Emmanuel with us today, but so are, our parents and all Your creation.

Dan O’Donnell is a Passionist Partner and a longtime friend of the Passionists.  He lives in Chicago.  

Scripture:

Tobit 2: 9-14
Mark 12: 13-17

Reflection:

The late John Kavanaugh, a Jesuit at St. Louis University, related an encounter with Mother Theresa while on a visit to her mission serving the poorest of the poor in India.

In a conversation he asked her to pray for him.

“What would you like me to pray for?” she asked.

“Clarity,” he answered.

“No,” she responded.

“No?” he asked in surprise.

“No. I will not pray that you have clarity. I never have clarity. But I will pray for you to have trust. We must pray to fully trust God.”

The story speaks to the psalm of today: “The heart of the just one is firm, trusting in the Lord.”

In our high tech, efficient, North American culture, we are taught from an early age to take the initiative to create a life of comfort and financial security, a life free of worry and full of pleasure and respectability. Put your mind to a task or goal and you will succeed! Plan your work and work your plan!

This culturally formed way of living implies we are capable of achieving anything we set our minds to. The message is clear: we are independent beings with unlimited ability.

The downside comes when we hit a wall, realize our limits and fail. The ultimate boundary on our omnipotence is, of course, death, which is on the list of to-dos for each one of us.

When Mother Theresa told Fr. Kavanaugh she would only pray that he have trust, she was countering his wish for a clarity that would have shown him the way to some goal or project or action he wanted to achieve. She said no.

Instead she offered a prayer for more lasting and important gift: absolute trust in God.

The beauty of the psalmist’s words ring true to Mother Theresa’s insight: “An evil report he shall not fear; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. His heart is steadfast; he shall not fear…”

This kind of trust in God is possible only by God’s grace. We cannot will it. We must pray for the grace to have it.

But once we experience this total trust, our world’s strong messages of fear of loss of control, the quest to be in charge, and to win no matter the cost or means to victory, are shed to make room for an awesome tranquility that bring peace.

Pope (now also saint) John XXIII wrote in his journal three years into his papacy (1958-1963) of this sure, inner peace:

My experiences during these three years as Pope . . .bears witness to this maxim and is a moving and lasting reason for me to be true to it: absolute trust in God, in all that concerns the present, and perfect tranquility as regards the future. The various initiatives of a pastoral character which mark this first stage of my papal apostolate have all come to me as pure, tranquil, loving, I might even say silent, inspirations from the Lord, speaking to the heart of his poor servant who, through no merit of his own save that that very simple merit of mere acquiescence and obedience, without discussion, has been able to contribute to the honor of Jesus and the edification of souls.

(Journal of a Soul, pp 313-314.)

In your quiet moments of conversation with God this day, you might want to discuss your longing for the grace to fully trust.

Jim Wayne is a board member of the Passionist Solidarity Network (PSN), and author of The Unfinished Man. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Exodus 34:4-6,8-9
2 Corinthians 13:11-13
John 3:16-18

Reflection:

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Today we celebrate a major belief of our Catholic Faith:  our belief in three Persons in one God…Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  We believe in the Most Holy Trinity…a “mystery” of divine relationship, drawing us into the special, life-giving relationship that is shared with us in the Person of Jesus.

Each of today’s Scripture readings add divine brushstrokes to the portrait of our belief in the Most Holy Trinity. 

Our first reading, from Exodus 34, shares the experience of Moses going up Mount Sinai to encounter “…the Lord, the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity…”  A true Father / Parent, caring for their growing children.

The Gospel selection is a classic, John 3:16-18…the ever-so-popular statement of belief in Jesus.  “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life…”  God loves us!  Jesus is our Salvation!

The New Testament selection from Paul’s 2^nd letter to the Corinthians presents Paul as the “cheerleader”, encouraging us all to live as people of faith:  mending our ways, encouraging one another, living in peace, greeting one another with a holy kiss.  Paul concludes with a blessing that is truly Trinitarian:  “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.”  We are called to live the Life of the Holy Trinity!

Indeed, we celebrate a Mystery.  It wasn’t until the Council of Nicea in 325 that this teaching of the Church was formulated.  It may take us time to comprehend the fullness of this dimension of our faith, but the teaching is clear:  in God there are three Persons, equal and distinct; the Father shares life with the Son, and they are bound together by an everlasting love or dynamic power that we call the Holy Spirit.  The Trinity / God is relationship, “rejoicing” in the sharing of life and growth and warmth and intimacy…for you and I and all of creation!

As Easter People, as Pentecost People, let us praise God who shares the fullness of Divine Life with us in the Most Holy Trinity.  May we fruitfully reflect on our living and sharing that Divine Life, with the encouragement that St. Paul shared with the Corinthians.  Full of the Trinitarian Life of the Father, Son, and Spirit, may we be 21^st Century women and men of healing, encouragement, peace, and true love.  God so loves the world!

Fr. John Schork, C.P. serves as the Province Vocation Director and also as Local Superior of the Passionist Community of Holy Name in Houston, Texas.  

Scripture:

Sirach 51:12cd-20
Mark 11:27-33

Reflection:

Two realities emerge from the gospel today. One is the fact that Jesus lived each day in the face of criticism, opposition, and risk. We take for granted that his life was mobile and missionary, but we often do not see that this same itinerant preaching life was one surrounded by constant ridicule, challenge and at times insult.

Many encounters, from which we often glean real treasures of teaching and revelation, are in fact moments for Jesus when he is ‘on trial’. Times like that of today’s passage from Mark are all too typical of the daily life of Jesus. We hear a challenge about the origins of his authority, designed no doubt to elicit a response that might be used against him, but his answer not only reveals the true origin of his authority, but silences his critics.

Jesus parallels his own situation with that of John – and the chief priests, scribes and elders find themselves trapped in their own question and its implications. Jesus can be seen as having authority conferred by God and proclaiming a message that is not only comforting, but well received by the people.

The second learning for us who are privileged to enter this encounter through the scriptural witness, is to see that Jesus’ authority is not only founded on God, but that it also has its own provenance. That is, Jesus himself, his courageous witness, his vision, and his teaching are all compelling and attract people drawing them in to relationship and response.  There is an authority born by the very fact that his teaching is accepted and welcomed by all who hunger for new life and good news. The truth has its own power and Jesus spoke the truth.

Ironically the setting of today’s gospel is the Temple precinct, in many ways the centre of authority, wealth and power in his society. Yet here speaking and teaching is the real centre of relationship to God and the revelation of the truth about God.

His message is our truth too, let us treasure it.

Fr. Denis Travers, C.P., is a member of Holy Spirit Province, Australia.