Claire Smith

Scripture:

Joel 1:13-15; 2:1-2
Luke 11:15-26

 

Reflection:

A Spiritual Clutter Counselor

In today’s gospel we hear of the battle against a strong man who is secure, fully armed, and ready to defend his palace. But there is one stronger who will break him, take his armor leaving him defenseless, and make his possessions the spoils of victory.

Battles must be approached with caution and planning. Over confidence may leave an area of vulnerability unattended, our opponent may be experienced and prepared. Jesus introduces the story of the strong man after his action of casting out a mute demon. Our Lord is the victor over Satan; Jesus is the stronger.

St. Paul many times describes those who follow Jesus as sharers in the victory of Our Lord. We are clothed in the armor of light and have the gifts of the Spirit as a sort of spoils of victory. Satan takes us away from the fullness of life lived in the joy of God’s presence, Jesus leads us to intimacy and oneness with the Father.

If we think of this section Luke as a sort of text book on the battle with Satan, we can jump to John’s gospel that gives us like a news report from the battle front what happens when Jesus engages the enemy. We are on Calvary. As we approach the climax of the battle where we see Jesus about to die, Mary and John are on either side of him. To one side soldiers decide not to divide Jesus garment. Something of unity is foreseen. Then Mary and John are united, sent home together. But more than Jesus  providing for the future of his mother, Mary the woman totally open to the Word of God and John the disciple especially loved, are united. In the victory of Christ through his death those who are scattered are now gathered; there is oneness of God’s Word joined to love of God. In the battle we cannot be neutral. We choose to join with Jesus and know the unity of God’s Word and love, rather than to be scattered.

Luke ends with a scene reminiscent of a character in Anne Tyler’s book Saint Maybe. There we meet a professional clutter counselor, Rita. She was a character as unusual as her profession, but the one who provides a new life for the suffering hero of the book.

When a demon is sent on his way and the dwelling in which he lived cleaned and made new, the demon is happily surprised to see his old haunt cleaned and inviting, and he even invites his friends to enjoy it with him. We need Clutter Counselors in our lives! Rita would agree with Jesus who says it is not enough to tidy up. We all have visions of our houses in order. Is the secret somehow to not leave the place empty? Invite Jesus to be the guest and the house will not be empty. Is that what happens to the Women of Galilee to whom Luke gives special mention and has as the first witnesses of the Risen Lord? They all have their demons cast out but are attached to Jesus whom they follow and minister to. Do we need along with the occasional cleaning of our house that spiritual director or guide, honest friend or voice of the Spirit in our lives, so that our hard work isn’t for naught and our house gets run down once again?

Jesus asks for our allegiance and that we gather with him. On a practical level a spiritual clutter counselor, may also be a big help.

 

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

Scripture:

Malachi 3:13-20b
Luke 11:5-13

Reflection:

Today’s Gospel speaks to us of prayer and urges us to ask the Father for our needs.  Have you ever wondered why God doesn’t say yes to all your prayers?  I have.  Well okay, I understand that if I pray to pass an exam and haven’t studied, or to win a game but haven’t practiced or to be healed but don’t take care of myself I shouldn’t expect God to reverse the path I’ve chosen.  And I understand that some things that I tell God I want may not be best for me but there are times that I just know what I am praying for is a good thing and then I wonder and ask, “Why not, God.  Why not?”   Well, perhaps that thing we most fear happening is going to challenge us to grow or teach us to love in new ways.  Maybe we just aren’t ever going to know the reason why God doesn’t grant our request.  We have to remember and accept that God has a plan and it is not going to be our plan.  And our response should always be, “Thy Will be Done.”

The last verse of today’s Gospel gives us yet another way of looking at what we ask of God.

If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit
to those who ask him?”

This verse of scripture tells us that it’s not just anything that God will give us, but that God is going to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask.  That means that we will be blessed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Wisdom, understanding,  counsel, knowledge, fortitude, piety and fear of the Lord.  Wow!  That’s some pretty impressive stuff.

I think it’s good that we pray to God for all kinds of things.  Of course, it’s also a good idea to offer our prayers of gratitude.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all pray like they do in the Old Testament, approaching God as someone who is there with us all the time?  Telling God when we are happy, when we are sad, when we are angry?  Who better to share our lives with?  So it’s okay to pray to win that game (or at least to do my best) and it’s okay to ask God, why or why not.  But we need to remember that God’s ways are not our ways.  God is looking to give us the best of gifts; God wants to give us the Holy Spirit.

 

Mary Lou Butler is a long-time friend and partner in ministry to the Passionists in California.

 

Scripture:

Jonah 4:1-11
Luke 11:1-4

Reflection:

Since I retired eight years ago, I’ve had a lot more time to pray. Sometimes, when I pray, I wonder if I’m doing it right or if there is something more I could do to make my prayer time more effective. I wonder if some people have a much better grasp on how to do this.

Then the other day I watched Pope Francis addressing a joint session of the United States Congress and what was he telling all these powerful men and women? He’s telling them to find inspiration in four Americans, two of which are numbered amongst my favorite people, Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton. Wow! I met these people through their biography’s many years ago. In 1963, my novice master, Fr. Fred gave me Thomas Merton’s “Seven Story Mountain” and one of my great mentors, Fr. Clancy gave me Dorothy Day’s “The Long Loneliness”.  These were people of prayer, Fr. Fred, Fr. Clancy, Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day…and so is Pope Francis.

I am happy and blessed to have had these people in my life. Along with my mother, father and many teachers and friends, I guess I don’t need to wonder how I’m praying so much as to be grateful and still continue on my journey of learning to pray. Thank you to all my teachers and to the disciple who asked in today’s scripture passage: “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” (LK 11:1)

 

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

Scripture:

Jonah 1:1-2:2, 11
Luke 10:25-37

Reflection:

Jonah …. lay there fast asleep.

You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.

Our readings today contain two very well-known stories from Scripture. First, the story of how Jonah comes to be in the belly of the whale. Second, the story of Jesus sharing the parable of the good Samaritan. These two stories are so well known that they have become part of our culture, even among people with no religious background. Why, there’s even a travel club called the Good Sams.

Unfortunately, as with many oft-repeated scripture stories, we can forget to listen with our hearts as well as our minds when they’re read. We find ourselves in danger of falling “fast asleep,” just like Jonah in the hold of the ship when we hear them.

It is common in church circles to hear someone say, “I’m trying to discern the will of the Lord.” I have often found myself in the position of knowing I need to do something different with my life, but wondering what that could be. How we wish to be in Jonah’s position of having the Lord come and just tell us what to do. And yet, I suspect, that if this were to come to pass we, too,  might try to flee from the Lord. There’s a saying I’ve heard that goes something like this: “I know the Lord only gives us as much as we can handle, but He must think I’m some kind of superhero if He thinks I can handle this.” This seems to sum up Jonah’s attitude. And Jonah seems to come to some sort of redemption here, because he instructs the sailors to throw him into the sea that they might live. He admits it is because of his fleeing from the Lord that they are in dire straits. This is the first step towards his fulfilling the will of the Lord.

Then there is the reading in the Gospel of the scholar who stood up to test Jesus. He essentially asks, ‘What is the will of the Lord?’ Jesus, knowing it is a test, turns the question back to the scholar. When the scholar correctly answers that it is to love God and care for each other, Jesus says, “That’s it.”

But the scholar, pressing the point, asks, “But who is my neighbor?” In the parable that follows, Jesus casts as the neighbor a member of a group considered unclean to the Hebrews. To remain spiritually pure (read “close to God”), Jews had to avoid any interaction with Samaritans. The Samaritans were considered so impure, that mere proximity would require ritual cleansing.

So when we read this parable, we need to remember that the Samaritan represents those people we would refuse to invite to our own dinner table. A member of the opposite political party? The homeless? A jihadist? When you find someone that makes you squirm in your seat to think of breaking bread with, you’ve found your Samaritan! This is the one who Jesus says is your neighbor–the one you are to love as yourself.

 

Talib Huff is a volunteer and presenter at Christ the King Retreat Center in Citrus Heights, California.

Scripture:

Genesis 2:18-24
Hebrews 2:9-11
Mark 10:2-16

Reflection:

Loving Like Jesus

Today’s Scripture selections are “rich”!  The Genesis reading provides the creation story of men and women with a “dose” of the sacred beauty of human sexuality and desire.  The Hebrews selection highlights Jesus’ mission as the Suffering Servant.  And the Markan Gospel selection presents Jesus’ teaching on the value of marriage, and a touching picture of Jesus’ love for children and his desire that we all become child-like in our humility and openness to God’s Kingdom.

In a touching manner, Jesus teaches us about the deep realities of love and life.  We humans thrive on both of these realities.  Jesus lovingly witnesses that marriage is a spiritual commitment of love for a lifetime of growth – and a vocation today’s world challenges on many levels.  In a deeper way Jesus reminds each of us, in our respective vocations, are called to love as God loves … faithfully … unconditionally … fruitfully.

Jesus also highlights the love and life that are hallmarks of children and the child-like.  The Gospel pictures children being brought to Jesus that he might touch them in blessing.  The disciples had tried to keep them away, to not be a “bother”, but Jesus wanted the children to come to him that He might embrace and bless them.  In fact, Jesus reminds us all to be child-like throughout our lives!

The Scriptures highlight Jesus as the model for the love of spouses, parents, and children – all of us!  We of the Passionist Family realize His love was boldly enfleshed for as Jesus reached out to us in his sacrificial death on the Cross, witnessing the sacrificial dimension of all love.  Love isn’t easy in any vocation in life – but Jesus witnesses that love is possible, critical, life-giving – and definitely worthwhile!

Today, as Pope Francis convenes the special Synod on the Family in Rome, let’s be grateful for our faith, for our vocation and the growth we’ve experienced thus far, grateful for children, and for God’s love present in the people of our lives.  In a spirit of child-like openness, may we seek God’s help in a deepening of our faith and our love, a deeper appreciation of the beauty of human sexuality and human relationships, and a greater respect for all life.  For Jesus lovingly calls us to come and be blessed, and to live and share that blessing every day with our sisters and brothers — especially the least, the last, and the lost.

“May the Lord bless us all the days of our lives!”

 

Fr. John Schork, C.P. is a member of Sacred Heart Passionist Community in Louisville, Kentucky. 

Scripture:

Baruch 4:5-12, 27-29
Luke 10:17-24

Reflection:

You provoked your Maker with sacrifices to demons, to no-gods; you forsook the Eternal God who nourished you, and you grieved Jerusalem who fostered you. Baruch 4:7-8a

How do we provoke our Maker today? What are the no-gods that we bow down before? There are many things in America that we worship. We worship money, or the happiness we think money can buy for us. We worship status and power and beauty. We worship freedom and food and drink and pleasure and choice.

As we look closely at our lives, let us see if anyone or anything has taken first place before God. He alone is worthy to be praised, adored and worshipped. So, how can we keep God on the throne of our hearts?

We can look at where we spend our time and energy. If we spend all of our time working to make more money so we can buy things, but we don’t take time to pray and help others, we are out of balance. Loving God means that we also love our neighbor, and God will use us to bless them. Many of us are simply overcommitted and by cutting back on activities, we could make more time for God. It may be helpful to remember that by saying yes to one thing, we are saying no to others. Pray before you say yes, even to good things!

How do we spend our leisure time? The average American watches four hours of TV per day. That adds up to two months/year and by age 65 you will have watched nine years of TV! If we fall into that category, surely we can take one of those hours and spend it with God instead, or use it to be involved in a ministry to help others. Our time on earth is very short indeed!

Later in Baruch we read: As your hearts have been disposed to stray from God, turn now ten times the more to seek him. (Baruch 4:28) May we seek God above all else, and let Him use us to do the most good we can while we still have time.

 

Janice Carleton and her husband Jim live in Portland, OR 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].

Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels

Scripture:

Baruch 1:15-22
Matthew 18:1-5,10

Reflection:

Today’s Gospel account brings to mind the challenge that Baptism must have been for the early Christians. In a way, it is still a challenge for us today.

We have no doubt that as the sacramental system was unfolding in the history of the Church, there must have been some who asked whether it was right to baptize children/infants. Jesus often had spoken of the choice that he expected his followers to make. “If you would be perfect, sell what you have, give to the poor, and come follow me. (Mt 19:21)” That citation seems to require an adult choice to become a follower of Jesus.

Others were asking whether or not it was possible to return to union in the Church after one’s betrayal through apostasy. Was forgiveness possible without a “re-baptism”?

In the search for answers, new pragmatic policies would be determined by the Church’s magisterium. For example, once baptized, even after apostasy, “yes,” one could return to the flock…following periods and practices of penance.

Or, “yes,” infants and children could receive baptism because as a sacrament, it is the work of the Holy Spirit through the Church which gives the sacramental character to the child or infant, and not the action of the child which confers/gifts the sacrament of baptism to himself/herself.

Out of this sense of baptism as “conferred upon the individual by the Church,” came the baptismal understanding of the expression “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.”

Jesus was not saying that we should be naïve and irresponsible, infantile, as His followers; but that just as children are best cared for by the provident love of their parents, and just as the family has the primary responsibility of nurturing the life of the child, so a member of the Body of Christ should live under the provident love of God and the surrounding care of the Church.

It was in this context of the care derived from the community and the divine oversight which would guide the newly baptized into their full participation in the life of the Church that Jesus’ words about Guardian Angels are derived. No longer speaking of little children (paidion), he speaks of the “little ones” (micron), i.e., those who are new to the faith, as being watched over by the angels of God in heaven.

Whether we associate Guardian Angels with infants and children, or with those who are beginning their lives in the Church, we celebrate today the wonderful interaction of love and concern which is showered upon us by those who bring us to the Faith, who baptize us in the Faith, and who guide us in our discipleship of Jesus.

 

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

Feast of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus

Scripture:

Nehemiah 8:1-4a, 5-6, 7b-12
Luke 10:1-12

Reflection:

Today is the feast of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, popularly known as the “Little Flower.”  Theresa had a brief yet remarkable life.  When she was only 15 she was fiercely determined to enter the Carmelite convent at Lisieux and with the permission of Pope Leo XIII managed to do so.  She would live the cloistered life of her order until her death from tuberculosis in 1897 at the young age of 24.  She was “fast tracked” to canonization as a saint in 1925.  Pope Pius X called her “the greatest saint of the modern era,” and Pope John Paul II declared her to be a “doctor” of the church.  Theresa was not an academic or great teacher, as most “doctors” of the church have been.  The pope was recognizing Theresa as a “doctor” or “teacher” for the beauty and simplicity of her “little way,” as she called it.  In reflecting on her spiritual life, Theresa emphasized the need for humility and of being without pretense in any way.  She was driven by an ardent love for Jesus and strove to live everyday with intense fidelity and authenticity, bringing a sense of devotion and purpose to even the most ordinary tasks of her life.

Yet Theresa’s spiritual vision ranged far beyond her convent walls.  She had strong missionary zeal and longed that the gospel could spread to every corner of the earth.  She declared that she wanted to be the “apostle of the apostles” and desired to help save “thousands of souls” for Christ.  Remarkably, even though she had traveled any significant distance only once in her life—a trip to Rome to plead with the Pope for permission to enter the Carmelites at such a young age—and lived a brief life in a strict cloister, Pope XI in 1927 declared her to be co-patron of the missions along with St. Francis Xavier.  She prayed everyday for missionaries and corresponded with some of them.

The readings for today are not special to the feast of St. Theresa, but providentially the gospel passage is the account in Luke’s Gospel (10:1-12) of Jesus sending seventy-two disciples out on mission, entering the towns where he would come and preparing for his presence. They were to travel light (“no money bag, no sack, no sandals…”).  They were to cure the sick and proclaim that “the Kingdom of God is at hand for you.”  This is the kind of text that inspired Theresa’s life and, even though physically confined, her spirit roamed the world.

Another Pope who has a special devotion to St. Theresa is our current Pope Francis.  He, too, embodies the missionary spirit of Christ—reaching out beyond the boundaries of the church to embrace the world and those in need.  In a brief speech he gave on the eve of his election as Pope he told the assembled Cardinals that sometimes people poetically speak of Jesus knocking on the door of the Church and wanting to get in…but, the Pope suggested, perhaps Jesus is knocking on the door in order to get out—out into the world to bring the joy and peace of the gospel to everyone.  In his first major statement, entitled the Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis reminded us that we are not just “disciples” but “missionary disciples”—ready to bring the witness of our faith and words and actions of healing, forgiveness, and compassion to our troubled world.

St. Theresa of Lisieux embodied that missionary spirit and the gospel today invites us to do the same.

 

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.