Claire Smith

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 26:16-19
Matthew 5:43-48

Reflection:

Lenten Growth:  Beyond the Ordinary

Our Lenten journey continues…and today’s Scriptures offer insights into the growth that is part and parcel of Lent’s encouragement of renewed prayer, penance, and almsgiving / service. 

Our selection from Deuteronomy highlights Moses’ words of encouragement to the people of his day – and us:  walk in God’s ways, observe God’s commandments, listen to God’s voice.  Moses reminds us that God loves us as His sacred people, with special dignity.  We’re encouraged to foster this special “covenant” dignity / relationship in our every thought, word, and deed.  Simple!  And yet a challenge.

The Gospel selection from Matthew 5 relates Jesus challenging us to grow beyond the “minimum” standard of effort:  to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.  Jesus even spells out some of what that means, what growth is entailed:  …love our enemies…pray for those who persecute us…greet everyone…be perfect!  As we continue our Lenten Gospel pondering, we see Jesus backing up his words with his deeds…to the ultimate gift of Himself in love as he dies upon the Cross.  For we 21^st Century Christians, that’s a tall challenge!  And with God’s grace this Lent…it’s doable!

These days of Lent encourage us to grow in love, as individuals and as the Church.  Jesus invites us to grow beyond the fears and pessimism and selfishness that limit our love today – to see and love as God sees and loves each of us, sisters and brothers in God’s family.  As Jesus notes, the sun shines on the whole world, and the rain falls on the just and the unjust; no part of creation is excluded from God’s love.  Our love is to be all-inclusive.  May our focused Lenten experiences of prayer, penance, and almsgiving / service encourage abundant growth in our love of God, neighbor, and ourselves! 

A prayer from fellow Passionist, Fr. Victor Hoagland CP, guides us:

Lord, teach me the love you call me to,
The love sun-like, shining on all,
The love rain-like, falling on any ground,
Looking for no response or return.
Show me the love in the great word you spoke,
The dark wood of your cross.
I learn love slowly, Lord…teach me.
Amen.

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:

Ezekiel 18:21-28
Matthew 5:20-26

Reflection:

In recent weeks, we’ve encountered Jesus’s sharp critique of hypocrisy, mainly directed at the religious leaders of his time. In modern English, he called them phonies, lip-servers and imposters. This naturally prompts a difficult question: How susceptible to hypocrisy are we, ourselves? It’s a question worth wrestling with because the answer is often “darn right susceptible.”

Our faith provides us with a powerful moral compass, a guide. We think of the Ten Commandments, which are foundational principles. However, the recent Gospel readings from Matthew go deeper, refining that compass with challenges that touch upon the honest truth of our actions – from basic laws to acts of mercy, rites, and rituals.

Let’s return to the heart of hypocrisy. It’s easy to ask, ‘Do we only help people experiencing poverty when others are watching? Do we repay loans merely to maintain a good credit score?’ Our integrity can sometimes be conditional, limited by a desire for approval or self-aggrandizement. We all have moments where our actions don’t perfectly align with our so-called beliefs.

In our contemporary Western society, where secularization has significantly impacted religious institutions, the public discourse on morality can get awfully thin. While honesty may earn widespread criticism, it underscores the difficulty of living authentically in a world that often bows to amoral freedom over any genuine moral compass.

Consider the commandment, ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.’ Jesus means more than simple lies. In our current climate, we see the proliferation of fact-less statements and the unjust portrayal of historical figures, often justified by a distorted sense of ‘the greater good.’ We must ask ourselves, what does such deliberate deception mean? What impact does it have on our conscience, never mind our souls?

Similarly, ‘Thou shalt not steal’ extends far beyond swiping cash from a wallet. What about broken promises, unpaid pledges, or the opportunistic use of bankruptcy laws?

We often fall short. We all grapple with the tension between our ideals and our actions. Let’s consider how we can cultivate greater authenticity and integrity. How can we move from simply performing religious acts to genuinely embodying the values we profess? How can we gear our actions to reflect the light of our faith truly? How, indeed, can we save our souls?

Jack Dermody is president of Share Our Gifts, Inc., a proactive group founded by Passionist Alumni dedicated to serving the poor and suffering. He is also editor of CrossRoads, the newsletter for the Passionist Alumni Association. He lives in Glendale, Arizona. 

Scripture:

Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25
Matthew 7:7-12

Reflection:

Several years ago, the husband of a dear friend was hospitalized suddenly in serious condition. Before taking him to surgery, the surgeon told my friend that he couldn’t guarantee a good outcome. When I arrived, the atmosphere in the waiting room felt quite chaotic. As you can imagine, my friend and her daughters were shocked as they tried to digest the news. It so happened that same morning the Gospel was the one we have today. Before leaving for the hospital, I took my daily scripture prayer book, thinking that it might be a source of hope and consolation.

During the long hours of waiting periodically my friend would ask me to read the Gospel to her. I remember the sensation of being suspended in time as we waited and prayed with the Scripture, “Ask and it will be given to you. . .” (v.7a). Thankfully, our prayers for a good outcome were answered that night.

About two years ago, we prayed for the healing of a dear young man just shy of 17 years old suffering from a malignant brain tumor. Our community had been praying for him from infancy as he courageously fought –and won— the battles along his journey until he finally succumbed to the disease.

This felt like a gut check to our faith in God and prayer. We may often feel unheard or “not good enough” to have our particular petitions answered. No doubt we have all experienced both the euphoria of answered prayer—in the manner of our petition, and the disappointment of a perceived silence in the unanswered petition.

These situations provide no straightforward solutions or definitive answers. They call for deepening our faith in God’s wisdom and presence precisely when we don’t feel it possible. Trusting that our heavenly Father is not giving us a “stone” and withholding the “bread” when we ask (v.9a) is an act of faith in God’s providence and grace. It is choosing to believe in the bigger picture that God alone can see.  Surrendering to the mystery of human life in all its joys and sorrows is the ultimate expression of faith. Never a passive offering, it is an active and ongoing engagement with the Spirit of God in prayer.

Like the Psalm suggests, “Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me; you built up strength within me” (138:3). Therefore, strengthened by our prayer, let us hold fast to faith and trust that we will always receive “bread” from our heavenly Father in whatever form that takes. Amen.

Jean Bowler is a member of the Ministry Team at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center in Sierra Madre, California.

Scripture:

Jonah 3:1-10
Luke 11:29-32

Reflection:

The Old Testament reading from the Book of Jonah describes Nineveh as “an enormously large city: it took three days to go through it”.  In fact, for some number of years, the city of Nineveh was the largest city in the world.  However, the term “city” used in the Old Testament frequently referred to a regional area of relatively cohesive population under the rule of a single potentate, in the case of the first reading, the king of Nineveh.  So, the three-day transit makes sense. 

The Book of Jonah also depicts Nineveh as a wicked city worthy of destruction.  After Jonah’s perilous ordeal in the belly of a great fish, which resulted from his own disobedience to God by trying to flee from the mission that had God had sent him on, Jonah prayed and repented and moved on to the City of Nineveh to preach to the Ninevites of their coming destruction.  Upon hearing of Jonah’s warning from God, the Ninevites fasted and repented for 40 days.  As a result, God spared the city.

Five centuries later, Jesus told a gathering crowd, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah.”  The sign of Jonah is a reference to Jonah’s three days and nights in the belly of a great fish.  Jesus is using this analogy to foreshadow His own death, burial and resurrection which transforms the Old Testament wrath of God to the New Testament covenant of salvation.

So here we are more than 2,000 years after the life and death of Christ.  If Jesus came amidst us today, would He consider this “an evil generation”?  Look around yourself at the global scene.  What would your own assessment be?  Obviously, in the context of our fallen nature, every generation is to some extent “an evil generation”.  There are good and saintly people and there are foul and demonic people.  That was likely the case in the city of Nineveh.  The question that we each need to ask ourselves: Am I a contributor to an evil generation?  Or somehow through the grace of God, am I able to turn my back on the evil within me and around me and achieve the mercy of God that the Ninevites did. 

Like the Ninevites, we are now in the 40-day season of Lent.  Perhaps we can follow the example of the wise King of Nineveh.  All, from the King to his lowest subjects, humbled themselves in sackcloth and ashes.  Seeing their repentance, God did not carry out the punishment he had intended for them.  Rather he relented and had mercy.  During this season of Lent, let us rise from our thrones, lay aside our robes, cover ourselves with sackcloth and sit in ashes for 40 days.  And let us remember, that notwithstanding our meager Lenten sacrifices, no matter their minimal consequential impact on our daily lives, God is indeed a God of mercy and forgiveness.  He only desires that we approach Him daily with a contrite heart and a promise to turn against our evil generation to bring the Gospel message to His people and to live out the Gospel message ourselves. 

Doesn’t God, through our holy Mother Church, afford us so many opportunities to turn our back on sin and return to Him rejoicing in His wondrous love and mercy?  Thank you, dear Lord.

May the Passion of Jesus Christ be always in our hearts.

Bill Berger has had a lifelong relationship with the Passionist Family.  Bill and his wife, Linda, are currently leaders of the Community of Passionist Partners (CPPs) in Houston, Texas.