Claire Smith

Scripture:

Hebrews 4:1-5, 11
Mark 2:1-12

Reflection:

Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him.  After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying.

This parable begs the question what are we called to…what creative means are we called to use to bring healing.  Given today’s hurting world, the polarization, the raw hate, the hurtful ‘reaction’ that surrounds us.  Given the digging in of heels and unwillingness to hear the other.  Given the tensions that consistently envelop us.  How are we called to bring people to Jesus, how creative do we need to be to bring people to the feet of Jesus?

How can we invite ourselves and others to believe in and dare to risk the possibility of peace – inner peace, outer peace, the peace the world cannot give?  The peace we find in God, in Jesus.  What is it that we – individually and collectively – are called to do to set another world view in motion?  How can we re-introduce the worldview that Jesus shared, the Kingdom of God that begins now?  How can we open the roof to let in the healing balm of Jesus presence among us?

Waiting for the other – for someone else to breakthrough and empower dialogue and creative solutions has proven futile.  This parable reminds us that the time is now, we need to step in, we need our voices and our hearts to be heard.  We need to introduce a new path, a new vision, a new accountability.  How creative are we willing to be?  How do we empower each other to re-discover the voice, and presence of God and join together to build something new – bring about a new creation, a new paradigm?  Jesus is present, he has returned to Capernaum – where are we?

Faith Offman is the Associate Director of Ministry at St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat and Conference Center in Detroit, Michigan.

The Baptism of the Lord

Scripture:

Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7
Acts 10:34-38
Mark 1:7-11

Reflection:

I’ve often wondered what made Jesus so compelling that people would quit their jobs, walk away from their families, and follow him. The suddenness with which this reportedly happened in scripture is probably not literal. They likely had lengthier conversations with Jesus, talked to their families, and packed some things before leaving. Yet the point is that they were willing to leave everything behind – their security, income, loved ones…everything.

I don’t think I could do that. I love my security – knowing I have a roof over my head and I will not go hungry. I love being with my family, a fact even more evident in this time of COVID isolation. I love my work, knowing I am “feeding” and healing people who need it. I can’t imagine risking losing it all, no matter how charismatic the person might be or how tempting the invitation sounds.

The underlying and most challenging question: So what WOULD I be willing to let go of for God? Ah, that’s where the rubber hits the road.

Sometimes, this is an overarching “life question”. Those with a vocation to the priesthood or religious life do leave everything behind, sometimes including their very name. For those of us whose vocation is in the world of laity, the question is murkier. Certainly, as a mom and wife, roles I believe God called me to, I sacrificed many things (including a ton of sleep!). I’ve left jobs that I felt were not in line with God’s will for me, or in one case, a job that was the fulfillment of God’s will for me at the time, until I felt led in a different direction. 

More often, the question isn’t overarching but instead relates to my daily activities, my purchases, and my priorities. For instance:

• How conscious am I of wasting precious water because Iwant a long, hot shower?
• How willing am I to drive less rather than contribute to pollution?
• Can I go out of my way to be kind, smile, and be appreciative even when I’m in a hurry?
• Can I donate more money and possessions to people who have less than I do, to the point where it’s a true sacrifice rather than only giving from my excess?
• In this time of COVID, can I wear a mask and maintain social distance to protect other people even though it’s a hassle for me?
• How many hours a week could I spend volunteering rather than coveting all my leisure hours as “my time” that I believe I deserve?
• Speaking of time, how many hours a week do I devote solely to my relationship with God, even though there is always, always so very much to do?
• How often do I thank, encourage, and support my loved ones vs. how often I criticize them, take them for granted, or complain about them to others?

Obviously, the list of questions could continue. So let it! What questions do YOU need to ask about your life, activities, possessions, and priorities? What are you willing to give up or change for God? Let’s commit ourselves to doing a better job, for the benefit of the Body of Christ.

Amy Florian is a teacher and consultant working in Chicago.  For many years she has partnered with the Passionists.  Visit Amy’s website: http://www.corgenius.com/.

Scripture:

1 John 5:14-21
John 3:22-30

Reflection:

A Final Letter on the Epiphany

This past week, for the first time in almost a year, I took the subway into Manhattan to run an errand. Wondering how things might be different I was recalling scenes from dystopian novels I had read over the years. In one a destroyed city had a subway that ran all the time, its doors didn’t close nor did it stop. You just jumped aboard as it passed through a station or jumped off when you arrived! Another had a theatrical group who wandered from settlement to settlement doing Shakespeare’s plays for the few survivors of a worldwide pandemic. And I remembered the ‘Postman’, where a survivor from a horrific war donned a postman’s uniform and carried a bag of mail that he found in an abandoned post office vehicle. He visited the scattered outposts of survivors where he was welcomed and revered, everyone hoping that he carried for them a letter from another living person. What a powerful symbol of our desire for human connectedness.

St. Proclus of Constantinople from the Eastern Church describes the difference between Christmas and the ‘greater feast, Epiphany’: at Christmas God is clothed in the royal garments of our human body, but at Epiphany God puts off his garments and his love flows forth to cover all mankind. At Christmas Our Lord is on the earth, in the manger of Bethlehem; in the Epiphany, when Our Lord is baptized, the waters of the Jordan blend with all other waters carrying God’s blessing to the peoples of the world. St. Proclus makes the Epiphany a very active event.

As I walked through Manhattan, I looked for signs of change. Were there less people working in the city or were there more people on the corners asking for assistance? Were the impressive buildings with interesting signs and facades, masking an urban financial crisis or being hollowed out by problems of worldwide proportions?

I ended up in the post office. Was I looking for a ‘postman’? When I asked for a book of 20 stamps, the woman at the window asked what picture I would like – ‘there is one with a flag or others, let me show you’. She passed me one that had pictures of wildlife. ‘That is good’, I said, ‘I like that one’. ‘Now I don’t want to force you, but that is the one I like the best’. She told me about the squirrel she had watched on her windowsill eating its lunch. I told her about an eagle that frequents the monastery garden and sits at the tiptop of a pine tree preparing to collect his evening meal. She told of her love for nature and how good it is. We exchanged names. I felt so good when I left that post office and can’t wait to need stamps again!

We meet John the Baptist in a desolate place, we meet the groom’s best man. He’s overjoyed to hear the voice of the one who must increase, and his joy is complete! Happy John invites you to listen to what makes him so happy. How out of character. This is Epiphany time. The next page in the book of readings is Ash Wednesday. We don’t know how our ordinary world and daily routines may change. Like my postman friend carry the surprise of hope and joy ever so humbly through our human contact. Like John manifest God’s love even in the decreases, helping our brothers and sisters to increase.

Fr. William Murphy, CP is the pastor of Immaculate Conception parish in Jamaica, New York.

Scripture:

1 John 5:5-13
Luke 5: 12-16

Reflection:

Witnesses by the Power of the Holy Spirit

In the First Reading (1 Jn 5:6) John states that, “It is the Spirit Who testifies to this, and the Spirit is Truth.” How do you listen to the voice of the Spirit? Try reading his word and getting familiar with it. God speaks through his word. The more you memorized his word the more you know when the Spirit is speaking. When wanting the Spirit to speak, go to a quiet place, praise and glorify Him, and listen. The Spirit also speaks through wise and holy people. Take some time and ask and listen to special people about something that you are not sure if the Holy Spirit is speaking to you about. The Holy Spirit wants us to witness through the word of our testimony.

When we testify about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus it is the Spirit who is speaking through our spirit. What is our witness? Our witness is our testimony about Jesus and how He has affected our life and what we know about His life. His baptism and His death witnesses that he is the Son of God. These two things are not always understood or accepted so the Spirit witnesses for these witnesses. He bears witness on behalf of Jesus through our spirit. We become witnesses for the risen Christ and thereby conquer the world. The Holy Spirit wants to rest on us and make us witnesses and conquerors for Jesus and sometimes more than conquerors. All we need to do is listen to the voice of the Spirit.

God gave us eternal life and this life is in his Son. Whoever possesses the Son has life. Cling to Christ as we make our needs and wishes known to Him, with humble submission to the divine will, like the leper (“Lord, if you wish”), and confidence in the power of God (“you can make me clean”).

Deacon Peter Smith serves at St. Mary’s/Holy Family Parish in Alabama, a religion teacher at Holy Family Cristo Rey Catholic High School in Birmingham, and a member of our Passionist Family.

Scripture:

1 John 4:19-5:4
Luke 4:14-22a

Reflection:

Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.
Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,
have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.  -Luke 12:37

As a very young child I remember visiting my grandma on my father’s side of the family. There, perched on her kitchen counter, sat what seemed to me like a whole bakery full of freshly baked loaves of bread. My grandma came to this country from Ireland as a young mother of one child, with a second one on the way. She would have six more children, ending up the mother of five girls and three boys. My father, Joe was the third child and oldest boy.  At that time, I never knew you could make bread at home. I thought you had to go to the bakery. When I later learned how to make bread at home, I realized why my mother chose to send us to the bakery every day to get our two large loaves of white bread sliced and one rye without seed.

The scripture passage taken from today’s readings for the feast of St. Raymond of Penafort, OP, a 13th century friar who codified canon law under Pope Gregory IX got me thinking about service and what it means to be a servant. Evidently St. Raymond was a “vigilant” servant. According to a Wikipedia article, his codification of canon law became the Roman Church’s standard for the next 700 years. The article relates that St. Raymond had a deep sense of justice and compassion which kept him from excesses found in the age he lived—the formative years of the Inquisition. Sounds like a saint for today, a person willing to serve and to avoid the excesses of his day!

God, thank you for putting people in my life who are willing to serve and help me learn from the story of St. Raymond to vigilantly recognize opportunities to serve and to go about that service quietly and without judgement for those I help. Let me learn from my grandma and all mothers and food preparers to serve you, by serving and loving those you graciously put in my life.

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

Scripture:

1 John 4:11-18
Mark 6:45-52

Reflection:

Recently I attended, online, the funeral of an 87-year-old Benedictine priest. At the solemn Mass of the Resurrection, in the monastery’s cavernous church, the masked monks sang these words from Psalm 119, verse 116, as they carried the simple wooden casket to the nearby gravesite:

 “Uphold me, O Lord, according to your promise and I shall live.  And do not confound me in my expectation.”

The deceased monk had spent 73 years in religious life, having entered the minor seminary at age 14.

He lived these years with the promise of life eternal with God. At the point of death, which we each will face, this priest-monk, I am sure, did not want to be “confounded” in his expectation.

The chanted plea speaks to our deepest human longing…to be cared for by God in death. It is the promise of our faith that Christ has conquered death, which we fear more than anything. Belief in this victory is foundational to all Christian tenets, as written in today’s reading from Hebrews, “…we have confidence on the day of judgement…”

And yet, at this funeral, the recessional hymn of the monks gives evidence that even a community of holy men, who have vowed to live lives totally dedicated to Christ, offers hint of not being 100 percent sure that the promise upon which they are living every moment, might not hold up… “do not confound me in my expectation.”

We all, even holy monks, doubt faith. We get scared thinking about our tomorrows, our own deaths.

In this passage from Mark’s Gospel, Jesus knows his disciples had a long way to go to understand his core message of absolute trust in Him. He lets them stay on the rough sea until it was near dawn (the fourth watch of the night). Then he passes them by until they reveal their primitive fears in shouts and a delusion of Christ being a ghost.

But at the right moment, he calms them, reassures them: “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

The demands of our faith are great. We are called to discipleship, to be ambassadors for Christ in a world crying out in fear, including our own fears. The pandemic, the political and racial divisions, the ever widening gap between the elite and the masses, the destruction of our climate, water, top soils and species of life, the chemical addictions, mental and physical illnesses, the arms races and the destruction of networks of charity and fellowship all are occasions to panic in our tiny boats and become delusional.

But the demand of our God is all encompassing and true: “Take courage. It is I; do not be afraid.”

To step back from the excessive stimulations about us, the noise that breeds confoundment, is essential for the grace of God’s presence to transform our hearts. In God’s wisdom we are cared for every moment of our lives. We need not panic. Christ offers the peace we seek at our deepest levels.

Perhaps a few moments of silence today will open a space for God to comfort and reassure us that God is upholding us right now, according to God’s promise. We are alive. And God will not confound us in our expectations.

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

Scripture:

1 John 4:7-10
Mark 6:34-44

Reflection:

He said to them in reply, “Give them some food yourselves.” But they said to him, “Are we to buy two hundred days’ wages worth of food and give it to them to eat?”   –Mark 6:37

In today’s gospel we hear the story of the miracle of the feeding of the 5000. This wondrous act often overshadows and drowns out the curious exchange quoted above. This comes just before the miracle. Jesus’s disciples make, what seems to them to be a very reasonable, suggestion. “Send these people on their way so that they can purchase food for themselves.”

But, as usually happens, Jesus turns the entire situation on its head. He blithely tells his disciples to feed the crowd themselves. It’s interesting to note that the disciples don’t reply, “We don’t have enough money to buy that much food,” but, “Do you expect us to spend that much money on these people?” Perhaps they do have enough money in the coffers. Perhaps they’re thinking of what they need to keep their ministry afloat. In any case, what they don’t say is, “Lord, we don’t see how this is possible. Please show us the way. “However, that’s exactly what Jesus does. He asks them to find out how much they have and then goes about giving it away. Lo and behold! there is enough for everyone, with even some left over.

There’s an oft-quoted saying that God never asks us to do something that’s beyond our capabilities. I had a dear and wise friend, who has since passed, who told me once, “It isn’t until you say “yes” that God sends his angels to your aid.” I wonder sometimes how much easier my life would be if, when faced with a seemingly impossible situation, I said “yes” and asked the Lord to show me how, instead of complaining that I don’t have enough.

My prayer for today (and the rest of this coming year) is that I recognize the folly of “I’m not enough” when I’m faced with challenging situations and pray to the Lord to show me how.

In addition to being an independent teacher (now online!), Talib Huff is on the retreat team at Christ the King Passionist Retreat Center In Citrus Heights. You can contact him at [email protected].

Scripture:

1 John 3:22 – 4:6
Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25

Reflection:

The Epiphany, The Manifestation…Continues!

Yesterday we joyfully celebrated the Solemnity of the Epiphany, the “manifestation” of Jesus to the world in the welcoming of the Magi by the humble Holy Family of Bethlehem.  Centuries later, 2021, we too proclaim: “Jesus is the loving Savior of all people, without exception!”

Our Gospel selection from Matthew helps us appreciate the entire life of Jesus as a “manifestation” or revelation of God’s power, mercy, and love.  Jesus preaches, teaches and calls for personal repentance; He cures disease and illness, even the possessed, the paralyzed, the leprous, those wracked with pain, the outcasts.  His love reaches out to everyone! 

The Gospel selection goes on to say that great crowds from many parts of the area followed Jesus, no doubt looking for additional “manifestations” via miracles and powerful teachings.  Their motivation?  Perhaps, like so many of us, they were a bit selfish…

Throughout the centuries, countless women and men have “met” Jesus, then selflessly left everything and followed Jesus — not just to view another miracle or two, but to freely give their lives in promoting the Good News of Jesus.  One such rather contemporary disciple is St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the 19^th Century foundress of the first women’s religious congregation in the United States — and the first native-born U.S. citizen to be canonized.  Her disciple’s love included families, children, the poor of her day; with her life rooted in the person of Jesus, each person she met prompted Mother Seton to be generous in serving their needs

You and I have received that same Epiphany / Jesus-manifestation in our day.  We have 21^st century sicknesses – the COVID-19 pandemic, our selfishness; our world suffers from violence and lack of respect for all of creation.  Jesus today speaks to our hearts as this Christmas Season inspires us, and He challenges us with great human examples such as St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. 

The question of the day:  Can we say “yes” to Jesus, have a true change of heart, and lovingly serve Him in our day?  With the Magi of old, with St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, we have seen the Lord!  This Good News needs to be shared!

May God help us credibly say “yes” by our lives, in both word and deed — and may the world find life and hope in the person of Jesus!  Amen!!

Fr. John Schork, C.P. is the Vocation Director for Holy Cross Province. He lives at St. Vincent Strambi Community in Chicago, Illinois.