Claire Smith

Scripture:

Jeremiah 30:1-2, 12-15, 18-22
Matthew 14:22-36 or 15:1-2, 10-14

Reflection:

But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened;
and, beginning to sink, he (Peter) cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’
Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him,
and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?  -Matthew 14:30-31

A member of my family, when she was struggling with alcohol addiction and depression, told me that her most heartfelt and honest prayer had been: “God, help me.” And we hear St. Peter utter this prayer in today’s Gospel too: “Lord, save me!” In the course of our lives, how often have we prayed this simple prayer that acknowledges our need for God and God’s help!

In today’s first reading , the prophet Jeremiah is once again giving a message of God’s love to a people in trouble. In the forty years that Jeremiah ministered as  prophet, there were many times when the people strayed from their relationship with God, causing Jeremiah much sorrow and the people much confusion and suffering, some of which is described in graphic detail in today’s first reading.

Like the people in difficult situations in today’s Scriptures, we sometimes feel vulnerable and powerless and even lost. Like St. Peter, we may fear we are sinking, or even drowning. Acknowledging our situation can bring us to a deeper dependency on God. But how do we keep our relationship with God alive?                                                                                                   

No relationship can survive without conversation; we call conversation with God “prayer”. In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us an example of prayer. After long days of teaching and healing, “he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening He (Jesus) was there alone.”(Matthew 14:23) While Jeremiah was in prison (as often happens to prophets), he received this message: “Call to me, and I will answer you; I will tell you great things beyond the reach of your knowledge.” (Jeremiah 33:3) Jeremiah’s prayer, like all good conversations, had some speaking and some listening. And these conversations with God sustained him in his forty difficult years as a prophet.

One of my favorite hymns about prayer is “Just as I Am” by Charlotte Elliot. Here is the second verse:

“Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt
Fighting and fears within without
Oh, Lamb of God, I come, I come.”

Like when we meet with a close friend, we come to God just as we are. And God meets us there, ready for a conversation.

Patty Gillis is a retired Pastoral Minister. She served on the Board of Directors at St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat and Conference Center in Detroit. She is currently a member of the Laudato Si Vision Fulfillment Team and the Passionist Solidarity Network.

Scripture:

Ecclesiastes 1:2; 2:21-23
Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11
Luke 12:13-21

Reflection:

Happy Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time!

You may be shocked to hear this, but I like funerals.

Now, just bear with me for a minute.  If you don’t know me well, let me tell you a little about myself.  I’m a father, a composer, musician, performer, director, writer, liturgist, speaker, minister – celebrating now 37 years working in and for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles (I’m also outrageously handsome & so very humble).  In addition to the countless masses, services, liturgies, weddings, baptisms, and other events, as you might imagine. I have ministered at or attended so many funerals… I stopped counting after 1,000.

And I really like funerals.

No, I’m not nuts.  Well, perhaps a little bit, but in a good way.  See, while funerals are largely viewed as perhaps the saddest and wretchedly emotional time in people’s lives, they also are the ultimate celebration we have as humans.  The funeral mass, the Rite of Christian Burial, is the powerful celebration of the absolute culmination of our life, our purpose.  The race being won, the soul that once inhabited the tent that lays in that casket over there is now running in the vast playground of God’s loving arms.  As heartbroken as we, those left behind, may feel, the true glory isn’t that the person we mourn in this life is dead… it’s that they’ve never been more alive!

They’ve never been more alive.

Let me tell you about something interesting I hear it at just about every single funeral for which I minister or attend.  And if I were a betting man, I’d bet you’ve heard it as well.  Shoot… you’ve probably said it.  I have.

“Tell people you love them while they can still hear it.”

It’s a universal thing when people grieve, I think, that they want to help others not make the same mistakes they made, and so they offer suggestions like that one.  It’s so well meaning, and I think so beautiful, and absolutely we must do it.  We must.  And if you’re at all like me, you’ll get sidetracked and time passes and don’t do it at all.  We’re human, I guess.

“How many times must He call my name?”

That portion of lyric from the Praise & Worship song “I Will Choose Christ” by Tom Booth resonates with me deeply.  It always has.  It’s like the funeral-eulogizers… Over and over again, I hear it.  “Tell them you love them…”  “PAUL – I’m CALLING you….”  One thing I don’t want is to regret my lack of reaching out to people before they die.  I can’t get that time back, that’s for sure.  And still I sometimes forget (on purpose).

Today’s scripture lays it on the line.  In no uncertain terms, the readings tell us to guard against all greed, and focus on what matters to God.  In the First Reading, Qoheleth (the probable writer of this passage), says that working for purely wealth and possessions is not only foolish but results in sorrow, grief, and anxiety.   Jesus echoes this in no small way as he describes the rich man in the Gospel parable who believes he has stored up enough possessions to guarantee a good life without worries – or so he thinks.  See, any reliance on wealth and possessions is in vain, for both worldly possessions, and this life, are fleeting.  What truly matters is that finale – our inheritance that only God can give – eternal life. What “matters to God” is letting go of things which hinder us from growing into the fullness of life, because we, as people of faith, know our ultimate goal, and we must focus on that, and share it the good news with others.

“Tonight your very soul will be demanded of you,” Luke writes in today’s Gospel.  It’s true, “we know not the day, nor the hour,” and no matter what, we can’t take any of this world with us when we go.  Sure, in this world we all need currency and possessions that aid us in living the life to which God has beckoned us, but we are called not to love a floor-wax or a car, but to love each other. We are asked to serve, and to walk, humbly, the path to Heaven.

And, friends, I don’t know about you, but no matter how many times I mess it up, I’m going to stand when I hear Him call my name, drop the things I hold so tightly, and run past “Go,” do not collect $200.

What is it that you need to let go of today?   Let’s do it, together.

Dear God of all,
thank you for the gift of Eternal Life.
Grant us the grace to see you,
to hear you,
and to drop all that weighs us down,
so we may know what it’s like
to never be more alive. Amen.

Peace & Love to you, today and forever.

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:

Jeremiah 26:11-16, 24
Matthew 14:1-12

Reflection:

Today’s reading speaks volumes to us about integrity and the social pressures that become present in certain situations. How many times have we made decisions because of the pressures of others, or tried to defend what is right when you are surrounded by people who disagree? Do you act as John and lead a life of integrity, doing what is right despite of the pressures around you? Or are you Herod, one who gives in to his whims with no regard for right or wrong? 

We are called by God to be prophets – to lead lives that follow His teachings, and live lives that lead others to Christ. Both John and Jesus gave up their lives for the truth. Are we making that kind of commitment to our faith? Are we, like John and Jesus, ready to commit ourselves to that type of sacrifice? 

I pray for wisdom, and for courage to never say anything or defend anything that I don’t believe is true. I have lived through the sacrifice of speaking my truth and have been “unfriended” by people who I have worked with and for. I am okay with that, because I know in my heart that my integrity is intact, and I have tried to lead and make decisions in my life that will positively impact others. I am destined to suffer as a child of God, and I am happy that I am so loved by God. Lord, give me the strength to always do the right thing, and to turn to Jesus for his guidance.

Patty Masson supports the Passionists from Spring, Texas.

Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus

Scripture:

Jeremiah 26:1- 9
John 11:19-27

Reflection:

      “. . . you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”

During my recent trip to California, I was able to attend Sunday liturgy at San Carlos Cathedral in Monterey. This is the longest active church in the State of California, established by Saint Junipero Serra. This was the place where my maternal grandmother made her first communion and possibly the place where she and my grandfather were married. It was the first time that I had been in this church and I spent some time during and after mass to reflect on the faith of my grandparents and how that effected my faith life. My thoughts went to the many people who had worshipped and supported the parish for over 200 years. How the present members are passing on that faith to others in the community. Certainly a strong testament to the deep roots of faith that have sustained the area for so long.

 Who are the people in your life that helped you to grow in your faith as a child, teenager, adult?

In the Gospel of John, Jesus and Martha have a conversation where Martha makes several faith statements about her belief “in the resurrection on the last day”. The last statement she makes is that she believes “you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” In the Gospels, when Jesus is healing someone it is through that person’s faith or the faith of others that the person is healed. Martha, a woman who is portrayed as to busy to pray in the Gospel of Luke, is the one who has faith that Jesus is going to heal her brother or raise him from the dead in the Gospel of John. Jesus responds to her with one of the “I Am” statements:

     “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,
       and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”

This conversation between Martha and Jesus might be a Covenant dialog. Martha makes her statements of faith and Jesus replies with the promise of eternal life. Martha’s faith and the faith of the Apostles was not perfect. They kept trying to understand the message just as my ancestors and the people of San Carlos Cathedral are practicing every day. Jesus is the one God has chosen to free people from their sin and to give eternal life. We are making our statement of faith as best as we can. Taking time to hear God’s response, engaging God in our own covenant dialog could possibly be an opportunity to deepen our relationship with God and grow deeper in our faith.

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

Scripture:

Jeremiah 18:1-6
Matthew 13:47-53

Reflection:

The words from the prophet, Jeremiah today reminded me of a potter friend of mine. I remember watching him at his wheel as the clay was spinning and being molded into a creation of his choosing.  It was an experience of awe and wonder for all of us waiting eagerly to see the finished product. He lovingly took the time to mold and shape the wet clay into a fine piece of art admired by all.

Carey Landry, noted song writer and musician, wrote the song, Abba Father, in which we can find the creation plan our loving potter God envisioned for each one of us in these words:

            Abba Father. You are the potter; we are the clay, the work of your hands.
            Mold us and fashion us into the image of Jesus Your Son.

Jesus reminds us in the Gospel of Matthew that the Kingdom of heaven includes both the new and the old, the rejected and the praised, the rich and the poor, the immigrant, the prisoner, the LGBTQ, people of all faiths, creeds and skin color. As people who have been created in the image and likeness of God, may our prayer reflect the love and acceptance of all creation as we sing the closing lyrics of Abba Father:

Father, may we be one in You. May we be one in You As he is in You and You are in Him!

Glory, glory and praise to You. Glory and praise to You forever, Amen, forever Amen.

Abba, Abba Father. You are the potter;
We are the clay, the work of Your hands. Abba.

Theresa Secord recently retired as a Pastoral Associate at St. Agnes Parish, Louisville, Kentucky.