Claire Smith

Feast of All Saints

Scripture:

Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14
1 John 3:1-3
Matthew 5:1-12a

Reflection:

In the Church’s liturgical calendar, each November begins with the great feast of “All Saints” and then turns to “All Souls.”  This year, All Saints occurs on Sunday and displaces the usual readings because of the importance of this feast.  The exuberant Scripture readings include the gospel selection from the beatitudes, the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew’s Gospel, one of the New Testament’s most well-known passages. Jesus blesses those who are poor and downtrodden and lifts up those who exemplify the very values and commitments that mark his own ministry: the peacemakers, the merciful, the clean of heart, those who hunger and thirst for justice.  The first reading today is a portion from the Book of Revelation where the author, John, is treated to a vision of a “great multitude” from “every nation, race, people and tongue”—a vast procession of those who worship God and have followed Jesus, the Lamb of God.  Wedged between these readings is a beautiful selection from the First Letter of John, reminding his “beloved” Christians that God’s love for them is so intense that may be called “children of God.”

Who are the people addressed in these biblical readings?  Who is included in this feast’s “all Saints”?   Surely, as the reading from the Book of Revelation illustrates, it includes the saints from all ages past—from Augustine, the great theologian to Theresa, the little flower, from Agnes the early Roman martyr, to the mystic Hildegaarde of Bingen.  Not all the saints are formally declared such—in his recent address to Congress, Pope Francis cited two such “unofficial” saints such as Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton.  And there are all the other “saints” in that great procession of the followers of the Lamb—family members and friends we have known and whose memory still inspires us.

But this feast of “All Saints” honors more than our beloved dead.  We the living should also be listed among the “saints.”  In his letters to his communities, Paul the Apostle repeatedly called his fellow Christians the “saints” or the “holy ones.”  For Paul every baptized Christian was imbued with God’s grace and therefore was “holy.”  In Paul’s view it was not a matter of a follower of Jesus having to try to “become holy”—a Christian was already graced by God, already a “temple of the Holy Spirit,” even now, a member of the “Body of Christ.”  That is the same view expressed in John’s letter: “Beloved, we are God’s children now.” The challenge is to “be ourselves”—that is to live a life expressive of who we truly are.  “Become what you are” is one way of thinking about what we seek to do in living a life in accord with the gospel.

This great feast—and the feast of All Souls that will follow—views the church as one innumerable assembly of people united and graced by God’s love.  A people that embraces those of us who live now in this world, who, in the words of today’s responsorial psalm, “long to see God’s face,” and those who have gone before us and now see the ultimate source of all life and all joy “face to face.”

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:

Romans 11:1-2a, 11-12, 25-29
Luke 14:1, 7-11                           

Reflection:

 The one who humbles himself will be exalted.

 In the First Reading, St. Paul writes to the Romans “Has God rejected his people? Of course not!” (Romans 11:1-2a)  And continues, “For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.” (v.29) These points are so strongly echoed in our selection from Psalm 94, “The Lord will not cast off his people” (v.14) and “When I say ‘My foot is slipping, your mercy, O Lord, sustains me.’” (v.18)  And then the Gospel.  Jesus instructs, “Do not recline at the place of honor.”  Instead he says to take the lowest place, so the host can ask you to move closer to the place of honor.

On the surface, this sure looks like a social-status-climbing chess game to me.  I could just hear people saying, “OK, I get it.  I’ll sit down there because that way I’ll get the greatness and recognition I’m after.”  That sounds pretty hypocritical and selfish to me, and I don’t believe that’s what Jesus really intended as his point.

How many times have you heard the saying “It’s better to give than to receive”?

Well I don’t know about you, but I remember first hearing that as a kid, and thinking to myself “Well, that’s pretty stupid.  It’s AWESOME to get stuff.”  As time passed, though, I began to accumulate so many things that I was running out of space to keep them.  So I did what any other normal person would do in that case.  That’s right – I built a shed to hold all my stuff… stuff I really didn’t need, or want.  Ultimately, it really weighed me down.

It’s funny, in a sad way, how that transferred to my spirit and emotion.  I also held on to pain and hurt.  I held on to mistakes and brokenness.  I made space in my heart to house the betrayal and horror I had experienced.  It was like a trailer, covered with a mountainous pile of the past, on top of which I was sitting, the ceiling right at the top of my head.  I was unable to take any more.  I had no more room, and there was no place to build a shed.

If I were a betting man, I’d wager I’m not alone in this experience.

And then one day in church I heard this Gospel (for probably the 100^th time), and it hit me.  It wasn’t at all about looking good in front of your friends.  I heard Jesus explain that by humbling yourself, you are actually becoming more open to God’s call.  Being empty means God has room to fill you up!  It got me off my mountain, brought me home, and helped me prepare a place in my heart to house love, care, compassion, forgiveness, and peace.  Ultimately, it gave me a gift so huge I’ll never be able to house it… it brought me closer to God.  And that, my friends, is a gift worth having room for.

So let me ask you… what space at the table do you need to leave behind?

What things must you let go of in order to have space for God to work miracles in your life?

Let’s all pray to hear our Host say to us, “Come.”

“Dear God, thank you for all the gifts you offer us.  Please grant us the grace to always be empty enough to accept your call to rise, and sit closer to you. Amen.”

 

Paul Puccinelli is Director of Liturgy & Music at St. Rita Parish in Sierra Madre, CA, and a member of the Retreat-Team at Mater Dolorosa Retreat Center.

Scripture:

Romans 8:31b-39
Luke 13:31-35

 Reflection:

 “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

This bold and comforting statement from Paul’s letter to the Romans pretty much says it all!  We cannot be separated from the love of God.  However, we can ignore it and pretend our connection with God isn’t there.  Jesus confirms this in our second reading today.

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many times I yearned to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were unwilling!  Behold, your house will be abandoned.”

It would seem we each have to make a choice.  If we make a choice to affirm and accept God’s love, we clearly must reject the divisive nature of our times.  We are one with God and one with each other.  Separation from God’s love or each other negates our affirmation.

So, what I say to others matters.  Negative comments about others on social media, support for violence of any kind, absence of compassion for those without homes or countries, cursory judgments on the lives of others and bigotry towards those who are different from us do matter.  These behaviors are representative of a choice for separation and against unity with God’s love.

As a Passionist, I join with others at the foot of the Cross to affirm God’s love.  At the Cross of Jesus, we are all one in God’s love.

 

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

Feast of Saints Simon and Jude

Scripture:

Ephesians 2:19-22
Luke 6:12-16

Reflection:

We don’t know very much about Simon and Jude whom we celebrate today.  They were disciples of Jesus who shared a missionary journey to—and martyrdom in – Persia, a part of the world where faith in Christ remains a risk and martyrs are a contemporary witness.

Saint Paul tells us:

“Brothers and sisters:  you are no longer strangers and sojourners,
But you are fellow citizens with the holy ones
And members of the household of God,
Built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets,
With Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.”

As fellow citizens and members of the household of God, we are called to emulate Simon and Jude and all holy men and women gone before us as well as those present today.   The danger of suffering martyrdom in the same way as Simon and Jude is pretty remote for us in the current time.  At the same time there are other sufferings we are asked to endure for the sake of the gospel.  Oftentimes we are subject to ridicule or disdain when we stand up for gospel values or promote justice for all of God’s people.  We are called to be the face of Jesus on a daily basis as we come up against the world around us where injustice, violence and human suffering is so pervasive.

We are bombarded by the media and secular culture that oftentimes has a message that is countercultural to the gospel message we are asked to live as a follower of Christ.  Jesus gives us an example in the gospel today of a way to combat the sins of indifference shown not only in society,but in our churches and other institutions as well.  In preparing to name the 12 apostles, he went away and spent time in prayer.  In our fast-paced world we don’t always give God the due that God deserves.  We don’t take the time to spend in prayer or quiet ourselves enough to listen to that small voice of God within our very being.

Let us give thanks this day for the witness of Simon and Jude and challenge each other to take time to feed our soul and spirit so that we may be more effective ministers to God’s people.

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

Scripture:

Romans 8:1-11
Luke 13:1-9

 

Reflection:

Constant Call to Conversion

I was privileged to visit the excavations of Beit She’an, a 7,000 year old city near the Jordan River.  Over 3000 years ago the headless corpse of King Saul was hung on the wall of the city.  Being at the excavations was a powerful reminder that this talented charismatic leader was brought to a terribly horrible end because he foolishly turned away from God.

In today’s Gospel Jesus reminds us that most dangerous thing in the world is to turn away from God.  “Unless you convert you likewise will perish.”   The word for convert in the original Greek is metavoeo.  It means give an afterthought to the event.  It is difficult to translate in English.  It basically means to reconsider, have second thoughts about God’s concern about us.   The word occurs 58 times in New Testament showing its importance in the Gospel.  The Scriptures use a number of different terms for the same idea.  The OT Hebrew uses “turn”, “face”, “repentance”  and other words to express turning to God.

In our Gospel for the day the word for conversion is in the present tense indicating that the call to turn to God is ongoing.  There are special moments of grace which move us profoundly, but the call for turning to God with ever deepening understanding of His love for us is a daily command.  St. Paul of the Cross used to encourage his religious to turn to God a thousand times a day if possible.  Even in the best of us there is a certain aversion to conversion.  Trivial things take on an importance that far outweighs their significance.

Both John the Baptist and Jesus began their preaching career with:” “Repent (metavoeo), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Mt 4:17 The imperative of Jesus calls attention to the closeness of God.   Jesus Himself is the “autobasilius”.  Origen reminds us his presence is the kingdom.  When we turn to Him our action takes on an excitement like none other! He is “the living One”  “In His presence is the fullness of joy.”  Ps 16:11 When the young man departs from Christ in Mk 10:17 he is “gloomy”, and “he went away grieving”.   The ultimate sadness in life is to live unattached to Christ, “the Living One”!

 

Fr. Bob Weiss, C.P. preaches Parish Missions and is a member of the Passionist Community in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Romans 7:18-25a
Luke 12:54-59

Reflection:

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus points out to the crowds that they can look at the clouds and the sky and be able to predict the weather, but they can’t see Him for who He is: “You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”

Why indeed? It seems to me that an answer to Jesus’ question might have something to do with assumptions being made. When the people could see a cloud and predict rain, or feel the wind and predict heat, they still knew they could not assume when and how those signs would appear. But for some reason, they thought they could assume how the Messiah would appear, and Jesus did not match their assumptions. So, their preconceived notions about the Messiah blinded them to the reality of the Messiah before them.

Thinking about assumptions may help us understand the second half of our Gospel reading, too. Jesus also says: “If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate, make an effort to settle the matter on the way; otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the constable, and the constable throw you into prison.” When we are in a conflict with someone, we often assume that we are in the right. But maybe that isn’t so. Perhaps, then, we need to find out. We may learn something. It has been my experience that when I have encountered or even tried to help people who are different from myself, that I needed to let go of a lot of assumptions about them.

Letting go of assumptions can help us see things and people as they are, and enables us to love others as Jesus loves us. May our eyes and ears be open to interpret the signs of the times.

 

Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P. is on staff at St. Paul of the Cross Retreat and Conference Center, Detroit, Michigan. 

Feast of Saint John Paul II

Scripture:

Romans 6:19-23
Luke 12:49-53   

Reflection:

As we read or hear the scriptures for today’s Eucharist, perhaps we hear the crashing together of several seemingly different dimensions of the New Testament message.  We have often heard Saint Paul talk to us about living in the freedom of God’s children while today we wrestle with an understanding of our being “enslaved” to God rather than sin. We hear crashing!!!

We reverence and hold dear  the Last Supper discourse of Jesus in the Gospel of John in which Jesus speaks eloquently of the Peace He leaves with us and His Peace which is His gift to us  (John 14 : 27).  Today, Jesus in Saint Luke fires up the skies with His bold proclamation that we ought not to think that He has come to bring peace.  Rather, He has come to bring division and enmity and He cannot wait until it is all in motion.  Are we hearing crashing?

Sometimes we see these Scriptures and take a deep breath in the hopes they will quickly pass us by so that we need not go into too much troubled search for some sense from them.  We prefer living in the freedom of God’s children and basking in the peace Jesus says He left behind.  But here we are looking into the eyes of a thought provoking daily scripture.

I remember studying the Canon Law of Sacred Orders at Catholic University.  We were looking at the moment when a man was enrolled or inscripted into the clerical state.  The original code carried the meaning that a man “enslaves” himself to God and the service of God’s People at that moment.  I always thought that this was a very expressive understanding of the calling that a deacon or priest receives and undertakes in responding to that call.  Then it occurred to me that actually, this is very expressive of the undertaking of every baptized believer and disciple.  By virtue of our baptism, we are “enslaved” to the Lord and the Lord’s People.   This is a slavery of love, of joy, of a perpetual union leading to everlasting happiness.  The more we empty ourselves for God and God’s People, the fuller we become.  We grow to full stature into the person God always intended us to be by placing ourselves in service to God and all of our brothers and sisters.  No crashing here – only discipleship seen from a different vantage point.

We are lead straight into the message of Jesus today.  Jesus is talking about a commitment so intense that He aches for it to be fulfilled with every fiber of His being.  What commitment?  Jesus came to be our Savior.  His commitment is to fulfill that promise to redeem us which God make in ages past.  Jesus is here to reveal that God is true to His promises, God fulfills His promises.  As the journey toward Jerusalem continues from this point forward in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus sees Himself moving headlong into a fray that will result in His violent and unjust sufferings and death.  All who follow Him and announce the Good News of salvation by their words and lives will follow in His footsteps.  That intense commitment will inevitably cause others to question, reject, move away from, and even become hostile toward one who is faithful to the commitment.  Jesus will experience it.  He warns the early disciples they will experience it – and they did.  He warns us we will experience it in our own lives – and we sometimes do.  If we “enslave” ourselves through baptism to the Good News of salvation and announce it with joy, we very well may experience division and enmity on the part of others but the Word will be out there.  It is an “enslavement” of love and of joy to God and God’s kingdom.  No crashing here – only a union and labor of love that can never be broken or set aside no matter what storms arise.

Through it all, we follow the example of the Lord Jesus who looked to His heavenly Father for strength and companionship in the journey and in the labor.  We cannot do it alone.  We need divine strength and the support of one another in the life of discipleship.  We have a wonderful twentieth and twenty first century inspiration in the person of Saint John Paul II.  His persistence and intensity in announcing the Good News of salvation captured the world’s attention for decades.  May each of us be blessed with joy, peace and persistence in our call to do the same.

 

Fr. Richard Burke, CP, is a member of St. Paul of the Cross Province.  He lives at St. Ann’s Monastery in Scranton, Pennsylvania.