Claire Smith

Scripture:

Exodus 20:1-17
Matthew 13:18-23

 

Reflection:

 A Jealous God

“I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.” Ex 20:5    Jealousy is a repulsive word.   Jealousy means my ability is resented by someone.   It means, if I am a married person, that my heart is not to be trusted and that I am seeking comfort from another and under suspicion of infidelity.   If I am a jealous person I want to control someone just for my purposes.    At any rate jealousy has an overwhelming negative flavor to it.  How in the world can Scripture call God jealous twelve times in Old Testament.   In fact it is an often repeated name for God:  El Kana.  “For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” Deut 4:24

I think there are basically two reasons why God is jealous in our regard.   First of all He knows how weak we are and are so easily turned away from Him.  Secondly, He knows we lose all hope of meaning, happiness and joy if we try live without Him.   At the very beginning of the Roman Catechism we find this beautiful text.  “God, infinitely perfect and blessed in Himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to share in His own blessed life.  For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man.” #1

God’s jealousy is His zeal and love for us so we are not deprived of the incredible joy he has planned for us.   What we experience as disappointments and broken dreams is often God’s gentle redirecting us to His wonderful plans fashioned in all eternity.  The world is constantly telling us in thousands of advertisements that happiness consists in wealth and materialism.  “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Lk 12:15

The Jealous God is the One who cares too much for us to allow us to walk away from Him without a fight.  He never takes away our liberty.  His love for us is beyond our imagination.  When things are not going well for me, it might be our loving God close by redirecting my life.

After all He is a Jealous God! The last thing He wants is to lose us.

 

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

Scripture:

Exodus 19:1-2, 9-11, 16-20b
Matthew 13:10-17

 

Reflection:

In today’s Gospel reading, the apostles ask Jesus, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” Jesus replies, “Because knowledge of the mysteries of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted.” And then Jesus quotes Isaiah about the unwillingness of the people to see, hear, and understand.

If we have been given “knowledge of the mysteries of heaven,” then why did the evangelists pass down the parables of Jesus? Is it because we are hard of heart and unwilling to be converted? Sometimes I think that’s true. We can often be unwilling to surrender to God’s will for us, stubbornly hanging onto the belief that somehow our plans and our wills are the ones to be followed.

But for me, the parables of Jesus are not meant to be obstacles for us to believe, but invitations to enter more deeply into the “mysteries of heaven.” Many people have remarked throughout history that the meanings of the parables can never be fully exhausted. Depending on what is going on in our lives and in our world, we can always learn something from them, even from the ones which seem to convey a single concept.

The parables of Jesus challenge us to let go of any preconceptions we have of how God operates, or any limitations we may be tempted to put on God’s love for us and for the world. Just as we are reminded by our first reading from Exodus, God’s ways are above our ways. But at the same time God chooses to reveal Himself to us, and continues to love us beyond any human understanding.

So, when Jesus says, “To anyone who has, more will be given, and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away,” He is promising us that the more we are willing to enter into the mystery of His love for us, the more understanding we will have, and we will “grow rich” in love and grace to be shared with others.

May we not be hard of heart, but willing to learn from the parables of Jesus.

 

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

Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene

Scripture:

2 Corinthians 5:14 – 17
John 20:1-2, 11 – 18

Reflection:

There is a multitude of movies which portray for us the presence, the power, the wisdom and the energy of women.  These are not necessarily women who stand out in a crowd like Joan of Arc, Queen Elizabeth I or Eleanor Roosevelt.  No, these are women who have been gifted by God and use these gifts to foster, promote and guide their loved ones, friends and neighbors.  I am thinking about portrayals of women in plays and movies such as The Color Purple, Not Without My Daughter, Mistletoe Over Manhattan, and Steel Magnolias.  This last movie gives us a vivid picture of women who live a deep and abiding friendship to the point that they live with a very conscious mission to be there for each other in every moment of life – joys, sorrows, storms and anxieties.  They live a “mission” to one another and to all who are part of their lives.

Saint Mary Magdalene is such a woman in our faith life.  She is cured by the Lord Jesus.  Actually, in one Gospel, Jesus expels several demons from her.  She in turn becomes a dedicated disciple and follower.  She travels in the Lord’s itinerant band and cares for the assembled faithful.  She is a steadfast presence to the Lord in the sufferings of His Sacred Passion.  She stands resolute with the Blessed Mother as Jesus hangs in agony upon His Cross and finally dies.  She shed her tears of sorrow and disbelief as they carried His body to the tomb and rolled the stone into the mouth of the cave.  She waited with heavy heart throughout the Passover celebration for a chance to return to the tomb to perform the usual burial customs.  The Gospels certainly present her to us a woman of strength, solid conviction and courage with a caring compassion born out of her own weakness and healing by the Lord.

Once Easter morning arrived and she was standing at the open tomb, all of these great dimensions of this wonderful woman become magnificently amplified.  She is the first to whom the Risen Lord appears and reveals His resurrection.  Incredulous with joy, Mary Magdalene tries to hold onto to Him.  She discovers in a flash this will not be possible.  She will not be able to relate to the Risen Lord in the same way that she did when she walked along with Him, listened to Him teach, and watched Him heal.  The Risen Lord has fulfilled the promise of salvation in a manner which exceeded her wildest expectations.  She becomes the first to understand that all of life must now be seen and understood through the prism of the Resurrection of the Risen Lord.  All of life is now made new.  All of life is now understood in a different, exciting and dynamic way.  Our destiny to live as citizens of the New Jerusalem is now made clear.  Mary Magdalene is the first to hear it, the first to begin to see it, the first to begin to unravel the marvels of the Father’s love given to us in the Risen Lord.

With this new knowledge, this new understanding, this new heart, Mary Magdalene becomes what Blessed Pope Paul VI called “the Apostle to the Apostles”.  She was the first witness, the woman of strength, love and courage, who would announce the Resurrection to the Eleven and the Blessed Mother.   In accepting this mission, Mary Magdalene began the unfolding of the missionary dimension of God’s People.  She helps us to see, understand and accept our faith reality that we are indeed made daughters and sons of the same Heavenly Father who sent Jesus to redeem us.  She continues to urge us to see and share the glory of the new life which burst forth that blessed Easter morning.  She continues to guide us toward an understanding of all of our lives seen through the power of the Resurrection.   In our faith life, she continues to be for us our very own “Steel Magnolia”.

 

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

 

Scripture:

Jeremiah 23:1-6
Ephesians 2:13-18
Mark 6:30-34

Reflection:

“His heart was moved with pity for them.” (Mark 6:33)

When was the last time your heart was moved with pity? Not the kind of pity that has been defined for us by Western philosophy, by Hollywood movies and Reality TV. Not the kind of pity that flows from a contemptuous and cynical heart. Not the kind of pity that judges the character or social condition of a vulnerable person.

But Biblical pity. A pity that moves you to exclaim: “By the grace of God, I am what I am.” (I Cor. 15:10) A pity that is born out of the realization that we all share a human condition, we all share human weaknesses, we all share a need to be saved by a power who is greater than I am, a pity like that of Jesus of today’s gospel. In today’s Gospel, we see Jesus’ heart stirred with pity. It was a pity that came from a heart that saw suffering, not as a sign of sin or weakness, but as an opportunity for grace and healing.

How many times did we not see Jesus’ heart moved with pity? When he saw the widow mother burying her son. When we saw Jesus crying over the city of Jerusalem. When we saw Jesus stop in front of a beggar who cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” Jesus was not afraid to let his heart be moved with pity. He was not afraid to cry when he saw people suffer. He was not afraid to do the unthinkable and touch the leper, lay his hands on a dead body and bring it back to life, to respond with kind words and uplifting teaching.

If we are looking for compassion, understanding, love and appreciation, and who of us isn’t, then we would do well to fill our own hearts with pity. We need our hearts to be moved by the suffering and the downtrodden. We need our hearts to ache when we see someone being kicked and stepped upon, no matter the reason.

The readings for today invites us to be good “pastors.” In our first reading, the prophet, Jeremiah, talks about the shepherds that mislead God’s people. For the prophet, a shepherd is anyone who assumes the responsibility leadership. In our society, we have people who are civic and religious leaders. We have people who want to be leaders in government and business. We have people who want to have the power to impose their will on others, just because it’s their will.

The prophet goes on to say, “I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear and tremble.” God has appointed such a leader for us, Pope Francis. When the Pope speaks, he does not condemn. He does not divide. He does not talk about those who are worthy and those who do not deserve basic human rights. He does not put civil law above Divine Law. He does not impose his will but invites us to follow God’s Will. His heart is truly moved with pity as he walks the streets of the barrios and the favelas, as he visits the prisons and hospitals, and as he embraces the cripple and the lame. He carries within him the heart of Jesus.

We, too, are shepherds. We, too, lead by word and deed. We, too, are called to have hearts that are moved with pity, even as we, ourselves, are hurting. Just because we are hurting and are in need of God’s love and mercy, does not mean that we should have stony hearts. As God touches our hearts with love and mercy, may our hearts be filled with pity toward who need our love and mercy. For all of us, indeed, are God’s beloved.

 

Fr. Clemente Barrón, C.P. is a member of Immaculate Conception Community in Chicago, Illinois. 

Scripture:

Exodus 12:37-42
Matthew 12:14-21

 

Reflection:

As distinct from taking a life in a moment of unbridled passion or anger, to actively plot to murder someone reveals a stark, evil capacity lurking within a life that might on the surface look ordinary or even noble. To murder someone merely to protect one’s position or privilege or to silence a critic or one who knows a truth about oneself seems even more callous and cold blooded.

Yet sadly this is an age old pattern of behaviour and the judgement that one life is worth less than one’s own is a temptation to which men and women have surrendered over time and history. Thus we hear today that Jesus too lived in a world no less calculating and violent as we so often read about today in our own society and in those far beyond our shores.

We learn that the Pharisees are plotting against Jesus and Jesus’ response is to withdraw from both the place of danger and from a public profile. Nevertheless people seek him out and perhaps unaware of the danger to him, or perhaps unable to restrain their own needs, come to him seeking healing. In spite of the danger such a public role might entail Jesus responds to their needs and the only requirement he places upon them is a request that they not make his presence known.

Jesus balances his deep compassion and his instinct to help others with the very human predisposition for safety and self-preservation.

We get an insight into the inner world of Jesus in this text. In his use of the words of the prophet Isaiah we see Jesus placing images around his inner compassion – images that help us to understand its force and depth. For Jesus compassion is an uncontainable force within, moved by the very Spirit of God and oriented completely to the care of others. It flows out to heal, to cry out for justice, to support the broken and uphold the weak. It is a force that does not place burdens on people, but rather is exercised gently and often quietly. And perhaps most importantly, it not only brings healing in the present moment, but it brings hope for the future.

Like those in today’s gospel story and indeed like God’s people all through history, and imaged for us in the exodus story, we often find ourselves in deserted and isolated places where we do not have ‘food for the journey’ – a situation we can find ourselves in through illness, failed projects, social rejection or through our own selfishness. Such losses can leave us depleted and feeling a deep need for healing so that we might ‘enter’ into life in a more holistic way once again.

Thus the great power of hope. We need this powerful inner force all through the journey of life and in today’s gospel we see evidence to encourage us. No matter what the need, no matter how desperate feel and no matter how unprepared, he is ready to meet us and to heal us.

With such assurance, fuelled by hope, we know that we will be nourished and sustained for the journey, even for the journey though the valleys of darkness and violence that we see so often in our world. He is already there in its midst, and he awaits us with compassion and healing.

 

Fr. Denis Travers, C.P., is a member of Holy Spirit Province, Australia.  He currently serves on the General Council and is stationed in Rome.

 

 

 

Scripture:

Exodus 3:13-20
Matthew 11:28-30

 

Reflection:

Matthew in this passage portrays Jesus as the Wisdom of God. Matthew does not present Jesus as saying that he would put his disciples in touch with God who will give them peace.  Rather he tells them that he “will be their peace and rest!

The Rabbis in the time of Jesus spoke of the “yoke of the Torah.”  They had another saying “My yoke is my song!” The yoke and burden of Jesus is to submit to the Will of God.  It is also the surest way to the knowledge of the Father.

Readers of the Scriptures are stunned by this passage.  John the Baptist did not get it.  He knew his own unworthiness.  The scribes and pharisees did not understand what Jesus was saying about his yoke and burden.  The towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, where he performed his greatest miracles didn’t get it either.  Rather the unpretentious, the humble, the little ones did get Jesus and his message, which came from God.

Jesus does not promise to remove our burdens or yoke.  Instead he will refresh us and make it light.   Jesus speaks to all who are burdened.  Jesus promises grace is there whenever our yoke and burden becomes overwhelming.

The poet W.B. Yeats had this to say:  “Can one reach God by toil?  He gives himself to the pure of heart.  He asks nothing but our attention.”  The way to find God is by attention to Jesus Christ.

Victor Frankel, the holocaust survivor, tells us #1.  To live we must choose life, #2.  To love we must encounter life, and #3.  To grow we must suffer.  Henri Nouwen tells us that we have been given disciplines to help us with the yokes and burdens in our life.  #1.  The discipline of the Book, in other words the Bible is great source of understanding the Will of God in our life.  #2.  The discipline of the Sacraments which support us in our challenges. #3.  The discipline of the Heart, spiritual directors who accompany us on our journey of life

Jesus is the source of our peace and rest.  He it is who makes our yokes easy and our burdens light.

 

Fr. Ken O’Malley, C.P., is the local superior at Holy Name Passionist Community in Houston, Texas.