Claire Smith

 

Scripture:

Acts 6:1-7
John 6:16-21

Reflection:

I well recall a time when as a teenager on holidays with my family we undertook a short sea voyage from the mainland of our west Australian coast to the smaller recreational island and National Park named Rottnest Island.

The island is quite famous for the presence of the small marsupial creature called the Quokka – a miniature kangaroo-like creature so small that the first Dutch explorers (of that part of the Australian coastline) having never seen a fully grown kangaroo either, mistook the little creatures for rats! Thus they named the island (in Dutch) “Rottnest” Island (literally Rats Nest Island). But have no fear we were not going to the island to see rats, but a truly remarkable little marsupial (and  member of the kangaroo family) – a species that had been preserved by nature to flourished on this same island due to the lack of any foreign predator like cats or other hunting animals.

However before I digress too far, it was the voyage back from the day’s excursion on the Island that probably proved to be the most exciting part of the day – at least to us boys.

The sea land between the mainland and the island is narrow and as such strong winds can whip up the ocean into tremendous waves with quite some force. The ferry taking us was one of the smaller ones and so it was rocked from side to side and stern to bow! Of course to the four boys in the family this was nothing but fun and a real delight since it seemed like a roller coaster ride. I am sure the ride back for my parents, who no doubt feared the loss of all the family to a drowning at sea, was in fact quite a fearful time!

I recall this moment in my life because I wonder if the phrase “the sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing” might provide us with an alternate hypothesis for the origin of the ‘fear’ the disciples experience in today’s gospel. Because strangely enough, the way our text reads for us, it is not the stormy seas themselves that provoke the fears; rather it is the fact that they see Jesus is coming to them across the sea. Despite the wind and waves it is the manifestation of such authority or power by Jesus that seems to generate the fear!

Of course we can speak of the symbolic meaning of the story too and see the boat as an image of the little church setting out to be faithful to Jesus and yet still finding itself caught in huge difficulties and fearful situations much like a storm. But the dilemma still remains – why become fearful only when their Lord and Saviour approaches?

So on either level we have this mysterious presence of fear.

Fear of course can be the dark enemy of faith. By contrast that other factor we call ‘doubt’ can be disturbing, but in fact often resides near and accompanies faith all through one’s life. If all were certain then there’d be little need for faith and so doubt has its place in our spiritual lives and we should not become overly anxious about it.

So not doubt, but fear can be the problem. Fear can paralyse us and turn us away from trust. It can prevent us from thinking clearly let alone acting strongly in the face of injustice or danger. What’s more if we do act, but act from fear, and then it can cause us to make awful decisions.

And fear can strike when we least expect it. Fear of danger – like my family’s stormy sea ride – is natural enough and a response to surprising or unexpected events.  But other fears arise from all sorts of dimensions – from ignorance, superstitions or even belief systems or from moments where we face naked aggression or unknown situations. While many or all of these fears can paralyse us there are moments where they can  also serve to warn us and even save us from dangers.

But there is another kind of fear too – the fear of intimacy, closeness and surrender of self to another. This kind of fear seems to work against to our very best interests and often our deepest desires.  This kind of fear can work against us in our relationships and prevent us working to enter into the very intimacy we deeply seek in life.

Such fear can also be at work in our spiritual life too.  Such fear, unexamined and unnamed – and thus untamed – and in opposition to the Spirit’s gentle prompting,  can  keep us at a distance from God’s loving hand or consign Jesus to the role of ‘friend at a distance’ rather than allowing him to be the true soul friend that he wishes to be to each of us.

So perhaps today, rather than seeking a solution to the origins of the fear in our gospel text, we might instead simply note the words of Jesus “It is I. Do not be afraid.

If we make these words a mantra for our own spirit and try to live close to them then we can trust that Jesus will always be near, even coming to us in the stormy times of life, and that we need not fear inviting him ‘in’. For in essence his Spirit lives within us already preparing the way and Jesus himself only seeks to know love and serve us. Let us not be afraid of entering into an intimate sharing with him each and every day of our lives.

If he is present to us, with us, for us and in us, then we have little to fear.

 

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:

Acts 5:27-33
John 3:31-36

Reflection:

The Gospel of John makes it clear there is a difference between the knowledge that Jesus possesses and that which John the Baptizer has.  John’s knowledge is grounded on the earth.  Jesus’ knowledge has its source in the Divine.  Jesus witnesses to the Truth of God and God witnesses to Jesus.  Jesus message that God is Truth, is the very heart of John’s Gospel.  Unless one accepts Jesus as being from God, one will never be able to grasp who Jesus is.

This section on the Gospel of John reminds me of the saying:  “We live half by faith and half by axioms!” Here are a few axioms that help me get through the day sometimes.

St. Pope John Paul II use to say that believers have two wings “Faith and Reason.”

Einstein said:  “Religion without science is lame.  Science without religion is blind!”  The theologian Johannes Metz said: “Contemplation without politics is sentimentality.  Politics without contemplation is tyranny.”

A few years ago, Edward Clark published a book entitled: “Five Great Catholic Ideas!”  These are the five ideas Clark postulates as the “greatest.” 1. God respects our freedom.  2. Sacred Scripture needs to be interpreted with the whole Church.  3.  The reign of God begins here on earth.  4.  We are saved by our community.  and 5. Great ideas develop over time.

Harriett Tubman, the abolitionist, who risked her life to win freedom for her people  tells us of the following episode.  Once while working in the fields, a team of mules collapsed.  The foreman, instructed his men to put two of the field hands in harness and let them continue the plowing of the field.  The men were unable to make the plow move. The foreman proceeded to scourge the men.  Harriet Tubman stepped forward that the men were not animals.  The foreman instructed his men to put the harness on her and to use the whip.   She collapsed.  The foreman instructed his men to throw her in a ditch and let her die.  Those working the field rescued her body and cared for her in her comma for several days.  All the time they whispered to her. “Tell what you see.”  “Tell us what they say.”  Eventually she regained consciousness and her health.  When asked about what she saw and what they said she replied.  “She saw several sets of hand reaching out to her.  And they were saying:  “We are more we are spirit.”

 

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

 

 

Scripture:

Acts 4:32-37
John 3:7b-15

Reflection:

Our readings today remind me of someone very important in the life of all Passionists, namely our “holy Founder”, St. Paul of the Cross.  In the last hours of his life he prayed for several very important things.  First, he prayed that all of the brethren in the community would love one another like real brothers.  Then he prayed that we would be faithful to the charism and way of life indicated by our “holy rule.”  And finally he prayed that we would never be powerful in the Church.  Paul prayed that we would live our vowed life as Passionists just as the early Church was inspired to do and is recounted for us in today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

In the 4^th Chapter of Acts we see that, “The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they had everything in common… There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the Apostles, and they were distributed to each according to their need.”

Wouldn’t it have been exciting to live in such a selfless and inspired time of the early Church?  And yet, today, the very same selflessness exists in so many ways in our Church and it is good to remember how true this is.  While we regret the paucity of vocations to priesthood and religious life worldwide there are thousands of men and women who valiantly continue to live out their vows and promises, living lives of selfless service, ministry filled with acts of kindness and charity, and a joy that is so representative of this Easter season.  And who can forget those countless people who are the very backbone of our parish communities, lay men and women who are there serving the poor, caring for the sick and elderly, visiting the imprisoned, and keeping the faith alive and vibrant day after day?

While we may at times be discouraged by events unfolding globally at the present time isn’t it refreshing and encouraging to remember how even today, as in those early days of the Church, we belong to a community of believers who are of one heart and one mind, who quietly live out lives of charity and walk humbly in the footsteps of the Master?

 

Fr. Pat Brennan, C.P. is the director of Saint Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat and Conference Center, Detroit, Michigan.

Scripture:

Acts 4:32-35
1 John 5:1-6
John 20:19-31

Reflection:

This Sunday has various significances. In the earliest faith communities, on this Second Sunday of Easter, the newly baptized no longer wore their white garments received when they died to the old self and “put on Christ.”  They were now in the Body, for the Body, working with the Body to restore the earthly life to its originally intended harmony of the Creator / Father God.

This Second Sunday of Easter has come to be known as Divine Mercy. With our Savior returning, appearing time and time again with the wounds of betrayal and a horrible death, He restores forgiveness, mercy and peace (which the world, alone, cannot accomplish). And so we, The Body of God involved in the Resurrection of the life of the world. And, thirdly, there is this whole story of Thomas’ growing into belief.  As one author puts it, “Thomas had to see Jesus in His presence before He would believe in his absence.” So Jesus had to appear again to convince Thomas. After his appearance to him, Jesus promptly disappeared again. He was more absent than present. Once they would recognize Him off he would go.

So the Easter story is more about his disappearances than of his appearances. It was as if he wanted to indicate to them: “All right, I am alive. Do not have any doubt about that, not even you, Thomas. But I will be absent. I will absent all the rest of your time. It will all be up to you!” Up to us? Yes. Taking up our responsibility to enter into the process, the mission, which he came to introduce to the world. So how does he teach them to react to His absence? His first gesture was without words. He blew over them. “forgive, change all those shadows of the past.” (I could talk about some of those evil shadows from the past that continue to haunt the state of Alabama but there is neither space nor time). And at His final “disappearance,” which was the most dramatic – His Ascension.

He told them from above, “Go out into the whole world and bring them all together: one Father, one Mother, and one brother one sister, One Spirit, one family, the life of all!”   “It is all up to you.” That is why he blew over them, giving them His Spirit before He left, leaving us in His absence, as long as we will be here in this world.

 

Fr. Alex Steinmiller, C.P. is president of Holy Family Cristo Rey Catholic High School, Birmingham, Alabama.

 

Scripture:

Acts 4:13-21
Mark 16:9-15

Reflection:

“After this, he appeared in another form to two of them…”

Faith came no easier for first century Christians than it does for us today. No matter how many times the Eleven were told by disciples that they had seen the Risen Lord, they refused to accept their testimony. Jesus finally appears to the Eleven and strongly rebukes them for their “unbelief” and “hardness of heart.”

In this longer addition to the his gospel (Mk 16:9-20,) Mark reports that Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene. But then, the evangelist adds a curious observation: “After this, he appeared in another form to two of them…” What does Mark mean by “another form?” We need to recall that even those who saw the Risen Jesus did not recognize him at first. Somehow, the risen body of Jesus is such that he is not recognized until he makes himself known.

To Mary Magdalene, in her profound grief and loneliness as she searches for the body of Jesus in the garden, she recognizes the Risen Jesus at the moment he calls her by name.

To the two disciples, running away from Jerusalem and into the despair of Emmaus, it is at the moment when the stranger breaks bread with them that they recognize the Risen Jesus.

To the Eleven, including Thomas, in their woundedness, no longer whole and complete, no longer “The Twelve,” it is at the moment when Jesus shows them his wounds that they recognize him.

To Peter, who after the crucifixion returned to his old ways as a fisherman, followed the instruction of a stranger on shore on where to cast his nets, and at the moment he caught a miraculous number of fish, he recognized the Risen Jesus.

We are able to recognize the Risen Jesus, it seems clear by now, most often in the midst of our deepest need, where we are most broken.

But not always. Sometimes we are challenged to believe in the Risen Jesus even when we are unable to recognize him at all. In the older, shorter version of Mark’s gospel — that is, the version that does not include today’s reading, 16:9-20 — the women fled from the tomb in terror, even though they were told by the young man dressed in white, that the tomb was empty; Jesus had risen. This ending is abrupt, sudden, open-ended. Mark is reminding us there will be times when we will be called to believe in sheer and radical faith, even without the consolation of a resurrection appearance.

To the Risen Lord, however, it doesn’t matter how strong, how tentative, how shaky our faith may be. He has a commission for us. Just as Mark’s gospel began with the message that it would proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to us, so now here at the gospel’s conclusion comes the Risen Lord’s charge to us. We are to proclaim the Good News of the Paschal Mystery to others. And how will others recognize the Risen Jesus? By our wounds, the wounds of the Body of Christ.

 

Deacon Manuel Valencia is on the staff at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.

 

Scripture:

Acts 2:36-41
John 20:11-18

Reflection:

The older I get, the more I go looking into the tomb like Mary Magdalene in today’s Gospel selection, wondering what has happened to the good old days. I reminisce about being a young man ready and eager to face the world. I romanticized then, that I would make a fortune, become independently wealthy, retire from the world of work and enter politics where I would straighten out this crazy world. I would set everything right

Supposing you live in the same world I do, you know I didn’t succeed. “I” couldn’t do it. I do believe the world is a bit of a better place because I’ve lived. That’s not so much because I changed others, but because I have changed. For one thing, I’ve learned that if the world is going to change, it is because we will come together and as Mahatma Gandhi says, be the change we want to see in the world. I see that happening all over my world today.

I see it in Pax Christi USA. I see it in my fellow Passionists, paragons of compassion. I see it in the struggling of my friends to live simple honest lives in common, retelling time and again, the story of Jesus, a story of not only hope, but one also of realized resurrection. “This is the day the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it.” (PS 118:24) I need only open my eyes and hear the Lord’s voice.

I hear the Lord’s voice in the ear-piercing play of the children frolicking when I pass by the local school yard, when I share lunch with my fellow seniors at the local Golden Diners and of course, when I take the time to notice the earth’s bursting forth in bewitching smells and colors, and oh, the sound of the robin who has at long last returned to my neighborhood. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!

 

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

Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord

Scripture:

Acts 10:34a, 37-43
Colossians 3:1-4
or 1 Corinthians 5:6b-8
John 20:1-9 or Mark 16:1-7

Reflection:

“You know what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached.”

“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

“So she ran… They both ran…”

And so, we have come to the conclusion of another great season of Lent, Holy Week, and Triduum. The journey we have been on for over forty days is concluded and tomorrow we all return to our “normal” lives. Today is the great festival of Easter in which we take so much joy.

I have a memory that always arises around Easter. I was in the fourth grade at Immaculate Conception School in Monrovia, California. Monsignor Dee (of whom I was terribly afraid) came to speak to our class regarding Church history and feast days. He put the question to us, “Which is the greatest holy day of the liturgical year?” And I, sure of my answer and wanting to impress, waved my hand wildly in the air. When called upon I quickly spoke out my answer with great confidence: “Christmas!”

Monsignor Dee glared at me with an imperious eye and declared, “No! Easter is the greatest holy day! For that was when we were all saved! You only say Christmas because you like the gifts and presents you receive!” “But,” I countered with all the wisdom of my 10 years, “Without Christmas, Easter could not have happened!” Needless to say, Monsignor Dee was not impressed. The grades on my report card for both Religious studies and Behavior reflected that incident that semester.

Although as an adult I have come around to Monsignor Dee’s way of thinking, it still seems to me that what comes before Easter Sunday is what makes it the greatest event in our Church year. For to hold the joy of Resurrection Sunday without remembering all that led to it is to deny the reality of Christ’s teaching. The gospel for today does not tell a story of quiet reflection, of sitting in the joyful afterglow of a wonderful event. No! The gospel is filled with running here and there, going in and out of an empty tomb, of not understanding what has been done for us. For it says clearly the disciples believed but do not yet understand. It is only by sharing in the death of the Son, as Paul instructs us in the epistle, or contemplating all of Jesus’ life as, Peter does in the first reading, that we can come to understand what has been accomplished by Christ.

So in my joyful reflection today, I pray that the Father send me understanding of the great gift of His Son. I pray that as I take a break from all my running around to be with family and friends, I remember all that has brought me here. And I give thanks for the greatest holy day in our liturgical year.

 

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

Scripture:

Genesis 1:1-2:2
Genesis 22:1-18
Exodus 14:15-15:1
Isaiah 55:1-11
Baruch 3:9-15, 32-4:4
Ezekiel 36:16-17a, 18-28
Romans 6:3-11
Mark 16:1-7

Reflection:

Today is a time for deep, spiritual pondering – helping us celebrate the true meaning of our lives as followers of Jesus Crucified.  We’ve just celebrated the Lord’s Passion, and the words of St. John’s Passion narrative are all-too-real for us, inspiring and challenging us as they have for countless others.

The power and beauty of the Easter Vigil celebration await us later today; the words and water, fire and light, song and incense and flowers will help each of our senses to transition to the glorious Love Message which is our Risen Lord.  Until then……we watch and wait and ponder.

An annual dimension of my Passionist reflection on Good Friday and Holy Saturday is a 1974 poetic meditation by Joe McCarthy in a book he wrote.  I offer you a share in my prayer this Holy Saturday, as McCarthy reflects on “Good Friday”:

The park was named Gethsemane
A human figure shivered there
Lonely in the dark
His sweat turned red
Ran down upon his cloak
Was it nerve?
Or was it fright?
Not for nothing do men sweat blood
The night was quiet
Except for the snoring of his friends
And the hammering of some men
Setting up a cross
Upon a distant hill
His zero hour had come
The count-down had begun
He had to do the lonesome thing
He had to die
Like any other human
His heart recoiled
The usual concern occupied his mind
The question why?
Father let this pass,
He prayed
Not my will but thine be done
His prayers were heard
But nothing happened!
The soldiers came and carried him away.
And late the next day upon the cross
At three o’clock he passed away.
The whispering people whispered ‘round
Indeed, He was the Son of God
Frightened by the dread of what was done
They all ran home their separate ways.
That night they woke in awful dreams
Crying in their sleep
Kneeling at their beds
They prayed to God that Jesus wouldn’t
Haunt them.
But He did, not only them
But also us,
The rest is history!

Yes, Jesus Crucified “haunts” us as members of the Passionist Family!  His love is real, his arms reach out from His Cross to embrace you and I, inviting us to accept His love – and share that love with our sisters and brothers.  May Jesus’ love be a way of life for us all!

The word is “Easter”…Good Friday didn’t spoil the weekend…

 

Fr. John Schork, C.P. is the local leader of the Passionist community in Louisville, Kentucky.