Claire Smith

Scripture:

Genesis 17:3-9
John 8:51-59

Reflection:

“So they picked up stones to throw at him;
but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.” -John 8:59

Is it any wonder that Jesus’ contemporaries want to stone him? He told the rich young man that he had to sell all he had, give it to the poor and come follow him (Right!); He expelled the merchants from the temple (how did he expect them to manage?); He told prostitutes and tax collectors that God loves them (ok, then I am worthy despite my past mistakes). Unless I’m completely out of it, I hear Jesus telling me I must be willing to put sharing and caring above money making, and that no matter how shameful or sinful I am or feel, my creator God, loves me and wants to dance with me. (YIKES!)

Today, two thousand years later, we who claim to follow this Jesus, people who call ourselves Christians are: “…many of the world’s wealthiest and highest consuming citizens…” (Simplelivinghistorybook) To my problematic mind, that would mean either we, I count myself among the world’s wealthiest and highest consuming, didn’t understand what Jesus was all about, or we have chosen to ignore these more challenging aspects of His life and message.

Jesus, please don’t hide from me, from us, today. Let me see and hear your message and not run from it. Give me the courage to follow you, to be willing to leave it all and follow you, to take up my cross, not my brother or sister’s cross, but my cross, and carry it, being willing like You, to give my all, in the firm belief that I will share in the new life You promise.

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

Scripture:

Numbers 21:4-9
John 8:21-30

Reflection:

How is your Lenten journey coming along?   The reason the ancient season of Lent came into being was so that the church could prepare for the sacred celebrations of Holy Week.  These three days (Triduum) are the most sacred for us as Christians.  So, the Church takes some extended time for reflection and preparation.  You may have noticed that early in Lent the readings focused more on the triad of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.  Sprinkled throughout the 40 days are themes of sin and repentance.  Now as we press close to Holy Week, we begin getting glimpses which we are to etch on the memory tablets of our minds and familiarize ourselves with them so that when we see it again, we will clearly recognize it.  Such is the Gospel today.   

It is that central section of John’s Gospel when Jesus has gone up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles and gets in this conversation with the Jewish authorities.  Jesus clearly understands his role and authority.  He is his Father’s ambassador.  He also understands where this will lead him as he predicts his future to them.  He is to be “Lifted Up” On that day, no one would have expected that the lifting up would be on a cross, suffering the wretched punishment of crucifixion.

It is not a coincidence that this reading is paired with the Old Testament story from the book of Numbers whereby Moses lifts up the bronze image of a serpent who was biting the people.  And why were they getting bit?  Because they were complaining against God.  Just as a side note, both the Old and New Testaments, are consistent in revealing that God is intolerant towards grumbling, murmuring and complaining.  The text of the Book of Numbers states the seraph serpents bit the people in punishment.  Only after they have been bitten do they realize their sin.   Yet that is not the end of the story, for God acts with compassion on the people, forgives them and provides a remedy.  The remedy is to look at a bronze image of the very thing which bit them.  Hold it up and look at it.   And Jesus prophecy is that he will be held up so we can look at him. 

Some people are comfortable just keeping this as a historical event.  Others have etched the image on their minds so deeply that they begin to see innocent people who are crucified in today’s world by abusive power, injustice, ignorance, and justification.   If you think about the crucified of today, then let’s ask once more, how is your Lenten journey really coming along?  

Fr. David Colhour, C.P. is the local superior of St. Vincent Strambi Community in Chicago, Illinois.

Scripture:

Daniel 13:1-62
John 8:12-20

Reflection:

Facing the Challenge of Judgement

Ah, the fifth week of Lent…our annual quest for renewed hearts!  Today’s Scriptures are loaded with intrigue and false accusations — all met by the power of God manifest in the insightful words of the young prophet Daniel and the selfless love of Jesus, “the Light of the World”. 

The reading from Daniel 13 relates the saga of Susanna, wife of Joachim, who was falsely accused of adultery by two scorned, lust-filled elders.  She stood condemned to death – until the “young boy” Daniel appeared on the scene and shrewdly defended Susanna from the perjury of the two elders; their individual testimony conflicted, and they both received the death sentence they sought for her. 

The Gospel selection from John 8 shares Jesus responding to the charges of blasphemy and deceit made against Him by some evil-spirited Pharisees.  Jesus had been teaching in the treasury of the temple area, proclaiming that He is the Light of the World, that God the Father had sent Him to share His life-giving message of selfless love.  In word and deed, Jesus reveals Himself as the Light of the World, penetrating the darkness of human wickedness so often displayed in selfish, careless, baseless judgements.

Today, April 4, 2022, is the 54^th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.   He dreamed of the power of love to transform judgements, misconceptions, and injustice.  He is considered by many a contemporary “Apostle of Freedom”.

The message?  Prayer, penance, and almsgiving this Lent encourage a greater intimacy with God, and a greater love for our fellow human beings.  Our world scene?  We continue to rush in judgement of the gifts, the motivation, and the dignity of one another; at times we may work hard at trying to be and do good while selfishly comparing ourselves with others. 

May this Lenten season help us move beyond selfish judgements.  May our hearts be touched by the wisdom of the young prophet Daniel and the Light and Life which is Jesus.  May we be honestly renewed in heart and life, sharing the Jesus-inspired radiance and energy that help us lovingly embrace the opportunities and challenges of 21^st Century life. 

The Responsorial Psalm, Psalm 23, encourages: “The Lord is my shepherd…He guides me in right paths…I fear no evil…goodness and kindness follow me all the days…”  May we walk hand-in-hand, with Jesus Christ, our Easter Light.

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:

Isaiah 43:16-21
Philippians 3:8-14
John 8:1-11

Reflection:

The landscape of Israel is littered with stones. They stretch out across the sun-bleached land often as far as the eye can see. In such a setting it is not hard to appreciate how ‘stoning’ others became a form of defence, punishment, and assault. The means were there in almost every situation and place. In the heat of arguments people may have simply taken up stones are merely an arm’s length and thrown these at each other. But in cases of violations of the law, stoning was used to punish and at times to execute people.

In such a setting adultery was seen as a sin deserving capital punishment.  Of course, the woman is being use in this story, the real intent of the scribes and Pharisees is to trap Jesus and to find some cause to further criticise or condemn him.  Their intentions is far from the a desire to defend the law, and hypocritically their protestations about defending the law for the sake of tradition and out of respect for the Mosaic tradition is hollow and shallow.

How far is both the old law, and the misuse of its provisions by those with other agendas, from Jesus’ command ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Once again, we see Jesus create an answer that is unchallengeable, and which also confronts those who seek the woman’s stoning. Further, his intervention ensures the woman’s safety and freedom.

What can we learn today for our own spiritual growth? It seems that there is a strong warning about hypocrisy within this story (the false motives of the officials), there is inequality to confront (the partner of the woman is absent entirely and has gone unpunished or unexposed), and there is a misuse of office and power at work here (those with power are exercising it against one with little or no power).

The scene calls out to us to be aware and to base our behaviour on the standards that Jesus championed and not those of the crowd, the voyeur or the manipulative.

We are called to follow a compassionate leader, one who saw behaviour that needed to be challenged from time to time, but who did not condemn the person.

Let us do likewise.

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

Scripture:

Jeremiah 11:18-20
John 7: 40-53

Reflection:

After a month of watching the horrors of the war in Ukraine on cable news, I noticed recent stories are more than the recounts of deaths and devastation. The news commentators are now describing the various ways people are responding to the violence. There are interviews with refugees trying to find a meal and a bed, ambulance drivers who flew in from other countries to transport people and medical supplies, Ukrainians who have never picked up a gun joining the military, nurses and doctors serving in bomb shelters, and international aid agencies responding to the needs of millions.

This has led me to ask: What can we as Christians do about violence? This is not a new issue of course. We have seen incidences of violence in Scripture from Genesis on. In today’s first Scripture reading from Jeremiah, we hear the prophet describe the plot to kill him and “cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will be spoken no more.” And in today’s Gospel, we hear the people’s ambivalence about Jesus; some believe in Him and some want to arrest Him.

In these last weeks of Lent, as we walk with Jesus to Calvary, our meditation on His Passion is more intense. And we can learn a lot from the way different people in the Passion narrative respond to violence. Jesus is our way to peace; and he tells us we must be converted—we must first rid ourselves of the violence in our own hearts. In a world where the attitude is often “might is right,” Jesus calls us to let go of our sense of entitlement, our resentments, and our desire for revenge. When many relationships are often no more than contractual, we are called to surrender to loving and being loved unconditionally. When we are overcome with fear, we are called to trust.

Today’s psalm response: “O Lord, in you I take refuge” is a prayer for our own conversion, and for all those who suffer from violence this day.

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:

Wisdom 2:1a, 12-22
John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

Reflection:

I am sure all of us are deeply troubled by the violent warfare now raging in Ukraine.  The unprovoked aggression that prompted it, the terrible loss of human life, the wanton destruction of what were peoples’ homes.  For some mysterious reason, violence goes hand in hand with human history.

The Bible affirms that at the outset of primal human history violence breaks out in our first human family when Cain out of jealousy kills his brother Abel.  And all through biblical history, along with beauty and graciousness, there are enmity, wars, and murders.

This sober reflection (on April Fool’s Day, no less!) is prompted by the Scripture readings assigned for this Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent.  The first reading is a famous reading from the Book of Wisdom (2:1, 12-11) about the assault on the “just” person by those who feel that his goodness and gentleness is an affront to them and puts their own vile behavior in a bad light.  They mock his claim to have God as his Father and they plot to test his gentleness and patience by putting him to a shameful death.

Even though this text was written many decades before the life of Jesus, it is not surprising that the early Christians saw here a kind of prefigurement of Jesus’ own sufferings in his passion.  In fact, the Gospel of Matthew directly quotes from this passage and places it on the lips of those who mock Jesus hanging in agony on the cross (see Mt 27:43). Jesus, too, was a just person, filled with gentleness and goodness; and Jesus, too, trusted in his Father’s love even in the face of hostility and death.

The same sober mood characterizes the gospel selection from John.  This scene (John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30) is one of the most hostile encounters in the Gospel between Jesus and the religious authorities, whom John identifies simply as the “Jews.”  Obviously, not all Jews at the time of Jesus were hostile to him—his own family and his disciples loved him, and Jesus drew crowds of his fellow Jews eager to hear him and to be healed by him.

But, nevertheless, Jesus did face some fierce opposition, not only from the religious authorities who were wary of him but also from the Romans who directly ruled Jerusalem and its surroundings. John’s Gospel notes that at the moment of Jesus’ arrest in Gethsemane, the armed men who seize him included a speiran—the Greek name for a cohort of Roman soldiers.

What is the point of all this?  The Scriptures for this Eucharist remind us of something we see around us every day—the presence of violence and evil perpetrated by ruthless people. The Bible does not wink at the presence of evil or pretend it is not there.  Instead, it reminds us that sin and death do not have the last word.  We are approaching our celebration of Easter, the ultimate triumph of life over death in all its forms.  Jesus for our sake absorbed violence and death and, through the power of his Father’s love, overcame it.

That is the Easter promise that protects us from despairing about the tenacious presence of evil in our world, whether in the cities of Ukraine or in the violence that walks our streets here at home.

Fr. Donald Senior, C.P. is President Emeritus and Professor of New Testament at Catholic Theological Union.  He lives at the Passionist residence in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.

Scripture:

Exodus 32:7-14
John 5:31-47

Reflection:

Happy Thursday in the Fourth Week of Lent!

It’s not rare that I tell the pupils in my private studio that, no matter what, I can help them get better.  I don’t know how much it actually has to do with me and my abilities, but one thing’s for sure — I know I can guide them on a path which, if they do the work, will absolutely make them better musicians. 

But, again, even though it’s often very hard, they have to do the work.

It’s not unlike when we become sick.  We go to the doctor and, to help us become well again, she’ll likely write a prescription.  But if we don’t take the medicine she recommends, we won’t get better.  Sure — the pills may be bitter and hard to swallow, but in the end, our good health becomes a very tasty meal.

But again, even though it’s hard, we still have to do our part.

In today’s Gospel (John 5:31-47), Jesus says, “But, you do not want to come to me to have life.”

How often have we, in our humanness, ignored Jesus and attempted to do all things on our own?  How many of us search for something which will fill an emptiness in our hearts? I do.  If I’m going to be completely honest, I have to admit that way too often I’ve searched and focused on things which fail to satisfy… It seems to be a human condition, because so many look for joy from things that can never, ever fill us up.

Wars are fought because people want something… land, control, whatever… Relationships are destroyed because of greedy desire and those who decide it’s ok to act on it.  People drop into the depths of despair and addiction, looking for something they don’t have, which could be spiritual, emotional, or tangible.

But Jesus says, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.”  (Matthew 6:33, NLT)

I’ll be the first to admit that, from time to time, I’ve found myself ignoring God when things are going well.  But when something happens that’s not good — BAM — I start to pray.  I suspect that it’s safe to say that there are many people who will turn to prayer only when something’s gone wrong, or someone is ill, or is in need. 

But I’ll also be the first to admit that when I keep a strong, connected relationship with Jesus through prayer, it keeps me grounded when the storms do arise.  It helps me to act as a better person, to forgive, to love.  Rising from whatever tomb I find myself in at the moment isn’t nearly as impossible as it seems when I let Jesus guide me through what have been the toughest times of my life.

He carries us when we cannot walk.

I know how busy we all are.  Believe me.  But there are so many opportunities we might overlook…  What about driving in traffic, or perhaps while we do our work?  What about praying before our meal in a restaurant, even though everyone can see?  Even pulling weeds or doing our laundry can be beautiful if we can remember we are accompanied by Christ in every step.

We are never alone.

Dear Jesus, hold our hand.
Show us the true path to you…
to life — to love. 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:

Isaiah 49:8-15
John 5:17-30

Reflection:

Today’s gospel reading touched my heart, because it made me think of today’s parents and their children. The first line – ‘My Father is still working, and I also am working.” How many times have we seen the family unit disintegrate because the father or mother isn’t present or doesn’t take the time to lead their children to God, or to a strong work ethic, or to teach them a moral destination to right and wrong? 

The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing…

Our world is in such turmoil – yes, there is a lot of good that is happening every day, but there is a great deal of sadness, discourse, anger, frustration, violence, and confusion – confusion as to where we should be in our faith, and how we exercise and commit to our faith. Some of these issues stem from the changes post-COVID; some from political views, and some just from a lack of initiative to strengthen our faith.

Parents, don’t be afraid to be a parent. Don’t shy away from directing your children to God. I promise you; no one cares if you are the cool parent, the kid-friendly parent, or the lenient parent. Children need structure, and today they need a strong presence of Godly people to direct them. Be that Godly person to not only your children, but to everyone around you.

For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; and he has given him authority to execute judgement, because he is the Son of Man. Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. ‘I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgement is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.  -John 5:26-30 (NABRE)

Patty Masson supports the Passionists from Spring, Texas.