Daily Scripture, April 4, 2025
Scripture:
Wisdom 2:1a,12-22
John 7:1-2,10,25-30
Reflection:
“…they were trying to kill Him…”
Jesus came to our world with a living message of unity, forgiveness, hope and unconditional love – His life both a gift from God and a challenge to contemporary people! His preaching, teaching, signs and miracles came to be seen not as a means to personal salvation but rather as threats to safety and the status quo. The spiritual leaders of Jesus’ time felt that His death was necessary for their “safety” …and “they were trying to kill Him…”
Today’s first reading from the Book of Wisdom supports the plot Jesus later faced:
“…the wicked said among themselves, thinking not aright: ‘Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the Law and charges us with violations of our training. He professes to have knowledge of God and styles himself a child of the Lord. To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us, because his life is not like that of others, and different are his ways…”
Jesus was a living “thorn-in-the-side” for the wicked spiritual leaders of his day – “…and they were trying to kill Him…”.
As 21st Century believers, we know that Jesus’ eventual suffering and death on the cross was not the end of His ministry of forgiveness, reconciliation and selfless love, but rather His means to sharing eternal life and salvation for all humankind. My favorite saying from an author of long ago: “Good Friday didn’t spoil the weekend…”
We are called to grow as Jesus’ 21st Century disciples as helped by Lenten journey, including its griefs and graces. We are invited to be bold in living out our faith in Jesus. He encourages us to live lives of charity, patience, justice, purity, prayerfulness, and respect for life in all its forms — combating the force of evil which exists in our 21st Century world. Jesus leads the way for us, reaching out to us and encouraging us from the wooden beams of His Cross on Calvary…hailed as “The Tree of Life”.
Our journey continues in this last half of Lent 2025, pilgrims of hope in and through Jesus Crucified! May these grace-filled days renew us in every way and help motivate us to be credible disciples of Jesus Crucified by our love and service of our sisters and brothers worldwide.
Our Holy Founder, St. Paul of the Cross, pray for us!
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.
Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Daily Scripture, April 3, 2025
Scripture:
Reflection:
One of my teachers once said to me that he found John’s gospel good for meditation and hard to preach.
Perhaps there is some truth in that, although it is possibly tempered by one’s personal preferences and sense of how one wishes to receive and savour the ‘good news.’
Nevertheless, today’s reading from John tends towards an interpretation that favours the ‘good for meditation’ axis.
It is a rich tapestry of imagery and truth blended together into one of the discourses of Jesus. It has a myriad of ‘word images’ that nourish our faith and open doors to deeper contemplation and insight into the divine.
We are invited to contemplate being emissaries who ‘testify’ to the truth that is Jesus Christ.
We are invited to contemplate the possibility of seeing ourselves as a burning and shining lamp, albeit one that is far dimmer than the true source of light itself – Jesus Christ
We are invited to contemplate ‘hearing’ the voice of God, not in any supernatural way, but by listening to the Word of God.
We are invited to contemplate our relationship with Jesus, to “come to him.” Openly and wholeheartedly in order that we might have life itself.
We are invited to contemplate seeking Jesus above all, above the messages of the witnesses and scriptures that preceded him, and challenged at the same time to believe all that Jesus has revealed to us – that is, to believe his words.
Fr. Denis Travers, C.P., is the Provincial Superior of Holy Spirit Province, Australia.
Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
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Daily Scripture, April 2, 2025
Scripture:
Reflection:
Can a mother forget her infant,
be without tenderness for the child of her womb?
Even should she forget,
I will never forget you. -Isaiah 49:15
In today’s first reading from Isaiah, the author is speaking to a desolate and destitute people, who have been deported from Jerusalem to exile in Babylon. Their faith and their hope are at a very low ebb, and he does his best to console them by describing the coming liberation and restoration of Jerusalem. He uses beautiful images that were familiar to them, like shepherds leading their sheep to good pasture and away from dangers.
And they are not receiving his message. They respond with: “The LORD has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me.”
So, the writer of Isaiah offers perhaps the most beautiful expression of divine love in the Bible:
Can a mother forget her infant,
be without tenderness for the child of her womb?
Even should she forget,
I will never forget you. -Isaiah 49:15
When times are hard, or when we are discouraged by the evil we see in the world, it is difficult to believe in a loving God. Or we may feel unworthy and small; and it is a big leap of faith to believe that God sees me, loves me tenderly, and will never forget me.
Once we understand, accept and truly experience this tender love from God, we come to realize that God loves everyone in this same intimate way.
And we want to pass it on.
Having a conversion of heart, we take on the mind of Jesus, who proclaims in today’s Gospel reading His inclusive love:
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word
and believes in the one who sent me
has eternal life and will not come to condemnation,
but has passed from death to life. -John 5:24
Being loved by God and loving God, and loving others and being loved by others, leads us into compassion, sharing the tender love of God with those near, and eventually the entire created world.
Compassion begins with solidarity with a suffering world. -The Passionist Way
Patty Gillis is a retired Pastoral Minister. She serves on the Board of Directors at St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat and Conference Center in Detroit, Michigan. Patty is currently a member of the Laudato Si’ Vision Fulfillment Team and the Passionist Solidarity Network.
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
In whatever grief is arising for you this week, we invite you to take refuge in your senses with this music.