Claire Smith

Scripture:

Daniel 3:25, 34-43
Matthew 18:21-35

Reflection:

One thing we can rely on: God will always forgive us. There is no sin so big, so grievous, or so intentional that God refuses to forgive it. Jesus even forgave those who killed him, and Jesus commands infinite forgiveness from us. Yet it is incredibly difficult to forgive someone who has deeply hurt me. In a world ruled by revenge-fueled cries of eye-for-an-eye “justice”, forgiveness remains one of the thorniest aspects of discipleship. Although it is far too complex a topic to cover in a these brief reflections, I offer a few thoughts on the misunderstood nature of forgiveness.

First, there is a difference between forgiveness and reconciliation because reconciliation is a mutual endeavor. It begins with forgiveness, with each party admitting their part in the wrongdoing, each one repenting and asking forgiveness of the other, and both parties granting forgiveness. Then both people sincerely engage in the often difficult process of repairing the relationship and rebuilding the trust that was damaged. Both people must want it, and that the relationship must be worth the effort and challenge.

Forgiveness, on the other hand, can be a unilateral act. I can forgive someone even if they show no remorse, don’t repent, and don’t ask for it. Forgiveness is something I do for my own sake and the sake of the Gospel; it is not a “favor” I extend to the offender. It does not mean the offender’s actions were right or OK with me. It doesn’t mean I think the offender deserves to be forgiven (indeed, perhaps there is no remorse or change in behavior and the offender would do it again given the opportunity). It doesn’t mean I give up on any pursuit of justice or due consequences for the action. It does not require that we reconcile.

It DOES mean that I give up my need for revenge. I give up my hate. I give up my desire to see the offender suffer as much as I have suffered. I give up the urge to get even. I refuse to be controlled by someone else’s bad actions. I take back my own power and release myself from being shackled by the venom of anger and vengeance. Hopefully I eventually reach the point where I can pray for that person’s good. I set my heart free from prison, and I can live my life, sleep, eat and laugh without that constant dark shadow. I can heal and be whole.

Forgiveness is not a single decision. It is a process. The greater and more grievous the hurt, the longer the process takes. Even after forgiving, something may happen that brings those old hurts up again and generates the anger, bitterness, and desire for revenge. Then I have to return to the process and reaffirm the forgiveness, over and over again.

Of course, it is easier to talk about forgiveness that to do it. Especially when the hurt is deep, it can seem impossible. But we need to try. We need to try for our own sakes, so we can be made whole. We need to try for the sake of God’s people across the globe who are oppressed and victimized by ideologies of vengeance. We need to try for the sake of Christ, who commanded it and modeled it to his death.

Especially during this Lenten season, may we all grow in forgiveness, so that the reign of God may be proclaimed by our lives.

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:

2 Kings 5:1-15b
Luke 4:24-30

Reflection:

But Naaman went away angry, saying, “I thought that he would surely come out and stand there to invoke the LORD his God, and would move his hand over the spot, and thus cure the leprosy.” 2 Kings 5:11

Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. Luke 4:24

I was reflecting the other day on a bit of news here in California: the state government has approved rules that allow driverless cars to be tested on the roads without a backup human driver at the wheel. I was thinking that this passed almost unnoticed. There was no big hoopla. I remembered when I was a young man reading in novels about driverless cars and speculating how exciting they would be. But now that they are here, the idea of cars that drive themselves has become familiar, what with cars that already park themselves, beep a warning if we are in danger, can be set to travel at a constant speed, and all the other wonders of modern auto technology. They no longer look new and exciting.

It’s a rule of thumb that what is familiar to us is not held in high regard. As a teacher I often encounter situations where parents tell me that their children think that a suggestion I gave was a great idea, when they have been proposing the same with no response for months. We seem to value what is new and spectacular and disregard that which is known and commonplace.

Both Naaman and the people of Nazareth fell victim to this tendency. And isn’t it easy for us to say, “We recognize the power of Jesus; we listen to the Lord God.” And yet, many of the the troubles that I encounter seem to have simple answers when I really stop and look at them truly with the eyes of Jesus. The familiar answers (pray for those whom I’m in conflict with, approach them with love and an open heart, willing to discuss our conflict) seem too familiar to work. I want something new and spectacular that will work without an effort on my part. Perhaps I need to listen to the prophet who’s native place is in my heart of hearts, Jesus.

Today I pray that I be willing to listen to God, even if the message seems familiar.

Talib Huff volunteers and works at Christ the King Retreat Center in Citrus Heights. You may contact him at [email protected].

Third Sunday of Lent

Scripture:

Exodus 20:1-17
1 Corinthians 1:22-25
John 2:13-25

 

Reflection:

No Rest for the Good…

What a scene in today’s Gospel!  Jesus goes to the Jerusalem temple, and finds it not so prayerful at all:  it had taken on a commercial tone — a busy place with oxen, sheep, doves, money changers…a genuine ruckus!  Something like today’s yard sales, or state fairs, or even some of the larger religious gatherings today for big celebrations.  No wonder He felt compelled to zealously overturn the tables and “change things” …  Time to get back to the basics!

As presented in today’s first reading from the Book of Exodus, God gave us the Ten Commandments to guide us in loving God, neighbor, and ourselves.  In Jesus’ day, and for many of us today, the Temple / our Churches are to be places of true worship and sacrifice, helping us grow in love for God and one another as we enflesh the values in each of the Commandments.  When life becomes more “commercialized” and we get too busy, the true spirit of prayer and sacrifice and love is compromised – and life seriously suffers.  Lacking the true spirit of worship and sacrifice, we can easily forget our calling as God’s beloved people, and our mission to share God’s love in our needy world.

Lent is a prime-time opportunity to renew the spirit of prayer, awareness and outreach which are to be the heart of our lives as followers of Jesus.  Especially for we members of the Passionist Family, we look to Jesus Crucified:  as St. Paul states in the 2^nd reading for some “…a stumbling block…foolishness…but to those called, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God…”  His Life and Death enflesh the love that God shares with us — and likewise invites us to share with one another.

Jesus today challenges us to faith-filled love and sacrifice, to remember who we are as God’s family in the 21^st Century…to not give into temptation and life’s commercialism and clutter…to love as He loves in thought, word, and deed.  In this 3^rd week of Lent, may God bless our Lenten program.

Fr. John Schork, C.P. is a member of the Passionist community in Chicago, Illinois. 

Scripture:

Micah 7:14-15, 18-20
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Reflection:

“Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance; Who does not persist in anger forever, but delights rather in clemency,
And will again have compassion on us, treading underfoot our guilt? You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins.” Micah 7:18-19

Read those verses again…no really, go back and read them again…

Is this Good News or what?! God’s compassion and mercy for us is truly amazing! Most of us have only experienced conditional love and most of us only give conditional love. We are so human! Which is why we need to grow in holiness and become more like Jesus.

Think of the impact each of our lives can have when we offer kindness instead of anger; when we forgive someone and really mean it. When we don’t hold grudges, but let love cover the past. Humility is the key here. When we see how much God has forgiven us, it’s easier to offer that same forgiveness to others. God even delights in being merciful and lenient with us. Can we do the same?

Someone once said, “God casts all of our sins into the depth of the sea and then posts a sign that says, ‘No fishing.’” Isn’t this the very thing the father in today’s Gospel offered his wayward son? Even though the son acted as if his father was dead by asking for his inheritance, and even though the son then squandered that inheritance, the father ran to meet him and acted as if none of that mattered. All that mattered was that his son was ok and had come home again. Not only should we not beat ourselves up for past sins that we have confessed, but we also shouldn’t hold others’ sins against them.

Let’s rejoice today in the power of forgiveness, in the awesome, unbelievable love of God for each one of us. And then let us delight in offering that love to the people who cross our paths today and every day.

Janice Carleton and her husband Jim live in Bainbridge Island, Washington,  and partner with Passionist Fr. Cedric Pisegna in Fr. Cedric Ministries. She is the mother of 4 grown children and grandmother of 6. Janice also leads women’s retreats and recently published her second book: God IS with Us. Visit Janice’s website at http://www.janicecarleton.com/ or email her at [email protected].

Scripture:

Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a
Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46

Reflection:

This year, the readings for the second day of March present us with epic events in the history of the children of Israel, and an epic parable told by Jesus to the generation of his time.

Today, the first reading from Genesis recalls the story of Joseph, the favored son of Jacob/Israel. It is epic story because it tells the beginning part of the events that eventually lead to Joseph’s being sold by his brothers into slavery…

Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age; and he had made him a long tunic. When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his sons, they hated him so much that they would not even greet him.

 …Judah said to his brothers: “What is to be gained by killing our brother and concealing his blood? Rather, let us sell him to these Ishmaelites, instead of doing away with him ourselves. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed. They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.

At first unwelcome and imprisoned in Egypt, Joseph’s situation slowly emerged as a position of influence in the household of the Pharaoh; and, once revealed as the brother that had been sold to slavery, he invites his family to refuge in Egypt from the persistent famine that surrounds them.

The gospel passage that follows is another epic parable, requiring some dramatic twists to unfold the story of a landowner whose tenant farmers refused to pay the portion of the landowner’s rent that was his due out of the vineyard’s produce…and he even sent his own son!

…But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned.. Again he [the landowner] sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way. Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’ They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

To be candid about these readings, they are presented in the context of the unfolding of the divine plan for the salvation of the human race and its sustaining, created realm. Joseph is not a progenitor of Jesus, but reveals how even human history unfolds the story of salvation. The parable of the murderous mob that Jesus tells is the story of people being overcome by a greed that blinds the human heart and which needs the healing transformation that flows from the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus.

Every biblical story, every story (parable) that Jesus ever told is about us. I wonder how many of us, in good faith, would never think of ourselves as those plotting to kill, or of killing out of greed? Perhaps the recent tragic deaths and injuries at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school in Parkland, Florida, might help to awaken our consciences.  They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. What is the value of the life of a robust, enthusiastic, talented high school student today?

Fr. Arthur Carrillo, C.P.  is the director of the Missions for Holy Cross Province.  He lives in Chicago, Illinois.  

Scripture:

Jeremiah 17:5-10
Luke 16-19-31

Reflection:

In recent weeks I have been working on a book about the geography of the Holy Land and its impact on the events of the Bible.  For nearly forty years I have had the privilege of bringing groups to experience the lands of the Bible.  Seeing the biblical landscape first hand drives home the realization of how all of us are deeply affected by the landscape and climate where we live.  Growing up in the Rocky Mountains is a different experience than living on the Eastern seaboard.  And enduring the dry heat of Arizona leaves a different imprint than enjoying the winter landscape of Kodiak, Alaska.  We can understand many images of the Scriptures by keeping in mind the biblical landscape.

Geographical images are at the heart of today’s readings, particularly that of the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 17:5-10).  In this prophet’s customary sober way, he warns us about putting our ultimate trust in human beings and things “of the flesh” rather than in God.  To drive home his point, Jeremiah plunges into a series of images that reflect the diverse landscape of the biblical world.  Turning our heart “away from the Lord” is like “a barren bush in the desert” that has “no change of seasons” (the temperature in the Judean desert is nearly constant year-round) and stands “in a lava waste, a salt and empty earth”—phrases that describe well the barren, lifeless soil of much of Israel’s desert areas.  On the other hand, the one “who trusts in the Lord” and “whose hope is the Lord” is like “a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream.”  With abundant water such as found in the Sea of Galilee, such a tree does not need to fear the heat; “its leaves stay green” and even when faced with a drought, “it shows no distress, but still bears fruit.”

This image of fresh water is also picked up in the Psalm response for today (Psalm 1:1-4, 6): the one “who delights in the law of the Lord” is “like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season, and who leaves never fade.”

The longing for fresh water and the vitality it brings appears also in the gospel passage assigned for today, Jesus’ famous parable about the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31).  During his lifetime Lazarus suffered hunger and disease but his needs were ignored by the rich man who “dined sumptuously each day.”  But God would set things right and when Lazarus dies he is taken to the “bosom of Abraham” to enjoy abundant life with God.  But the rich man is met with fiery judgment and when he sees Lazarus in heavenly comfort (this is a story, of course, so we don’t have to wonder how the rich man spotted Lazarus!) he asks Abraham to tell Lazarus “to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue.”  It cannot be so, Abraham replies.  The rich man should have listened to Moses and the prophets during his lifetime and taken care of the poor when he had the opportunity.

Jesus, in telling this story tinged with wry humor in front of his Pharisee host, makes his point: people whose heart is dried up and closed like this rich character would not be persuaded to change even “if someone should rise from the dead”!

The Lenten message for us who hear these Scriptures today is clear: we need to open our hearts and refresh them by having a spirit of compassion and care for those in need.  The hearts of those who become so absorbed in their own welfare that they close their hearts to the vulnerable will wither and fade.

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:

Jeremiah 18:18-20
Matthew 20:17-28

Reflection:

Jesus asked the sons of Zebedee, ‘Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?’  They replied, ‘We can.”

During this season of Lent it behooves us to reflect on what our answer to Jesus would be when asked this question.

LORD, HOLD US IN YOUR MERCY?

When we turn away because of fear.
When we say, let me think about it and never do.
When we really want to say YES, but find it just too hard.

It was not easy for Jesus to embrace this chalice.  Remember in the garden when he prayed, ‘Father, if it is possible take this cup away from me!’

Recently I was privileged to hear the witness of several women in various stages of recovery who say yes daily to drinking the chalice of Jesus.  They are living through the pain of addiction, homelessness, prostitution, poverty, abuse, neglect and so much more.  Their recovery is filled with uncertainty, loneliness and fear.  Their courage and strength comes from a new found faith in a God who loves them unconditionally even when they are unable to love themselves.

Lent calls us to suffer and die to our pride, greed, selfishness, irresponsibility.  Jesus is asking us ‘Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?’  Our answer can only be YES!  May our Lenten journey open our minds and hearts to embrace the suffering of the cross thereby gaining everlasting life in the Lord.

Have a grace-filled Lent!

Theresa Secord is a Pastoral Associate at St. Agnes Parish, Louisville, Kentucky.

Feast of Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, Passionist

Scripture:

Isaiah 1:10, 16-20
Matthew 23:1-12

Reflection:

Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Gabriel, Passionist.  When I was a student in the Passionist Seminary (long ago) we prayed a prayer to St. Gabriel every day.  The prayer began with the phrase “O angelic youth, St. Gabriel”.  I never found it easy to identify with an angelic youth!  At the end of the prayer we prayed “so that living continually as good Christians in all the adversities of the present life, we may one day be happy with thee in our heavenly home.”  I could identify with this prayer!

Lately we have seen several good members of the Passionist Family depart for “our heavenly home.”  Maybe today is a good time to remember them, along with St. Gabriel.

Denis McGowan, C.P., was a person who gave everything up in his life to go to Japan as a Passionist Missionary.  At Denis’ funeral Mass, Fr. John Day, C.P., spoke lovingly of Denis’ sacrifice in leaving his mother, to go off on a journey into the unknown where he would become a beacon of Christ in a Japanese parish for many years.  Fr. Denis was beloved by his parish family and his Passionist Family.

Barry Rankin was a person who co-founded one of the great theological schools in the United States, Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.  He was also described at his funeral Mass as a theologian and mystic.  As the homilist said “The desire for communion with God drove Barry throughout his life.  This desire brought him to the Passionist community.  The motto of the Passionists is “May the Passion of Jesus Christ be always in our hearts.”  Barry had that passion, that love in his heart.  It was love of God and other.”

Harry Watson was a person who loved his family completely.  He also was a former member of the Passionists.  Harry loved music, his friends and his family and had a knack for generously assisting anyone in need.  Recently he assisted Fr. Simon, a senior Passionist in Louisville, with the publication of Simon’s ministry newsletter “Think Life” for the elderly.  Harry spread joy and comfort with his music ministry throughout the archdiocese of Louisville.  Many tears fell last week for this true Passionist and our good friend.

Angelic youth?  Yes, St. Gabriel certainly lived up to that description.  Passionist Family members who lived and loved in an angelic way?  Yes, Denis, Barry and Harry all fulfilled the highest aspirations of our Passionist Family.

Gabriel, Denis, Barry and Harry, pray for us.  Help us to keep the Passion of Jesus Christ always in our hearts!

Terry McDevitt, Ph.D. is a member of our Passionist Family in Louisville, Kentucky.