The Passionists of Holy Cross Province

The Love that Compels

Claire Smith

Daily Scripture, March 1, 2015

Second Sunday of LentLent week 2 - reflection

Scripture:
Genesis 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18
Romans 8:31b-34
Mark 9:2-10

Reflection:
The Scriptures for this Second Sunday of Lent are exceptionally beautiful. In the first reading we hear the foundational story of Abraham’s readiness to sacrifice his only beloved son Isaac to prove his obedience to God’s commands. The killing of his son is stopped at the last moment and this test of Abraham’s faith became an important marker for Israel that saw Abraham as the exemplary father of God’s chosen people and for Christians who saw in the sacrifice of Isaac a harbinger of the sacrifice of Jesus, God’s only and beloved Son.

The second reading is from one of Paul’s most ardent passages in chapter 8 of the Letter to the Romans. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” This leads into one of the most lyrical and hope-filled statements of Paul at the end of chapter 8: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor power, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

But it is the gospel selection—Mark’s account of the Transfiguration of Jesus—that most defines the tone of this Lenten Sunday. In this unique scene, Mark presents us with a luminous vision of Jesus—seen now by his trusted disciples Peter, James and John as he truly is. The dazzling white light that shines from Jesus on the mountaintop reveals the transcendent, divine character of the Son of God. The scene becomes a vivid biblical icon—the high mountain and the cloud that surrounds it recall God’s thunderous appearance on Mt. Sinai; the figures of Moses, the great leader and lawgiver, and Elijah, the first and greatest of prophets, bring all of the Old Testament and God’s care for Israel into view, and the voice from heaven—God’s voice—identifies Jesus as “my beloved Son.” No wonder Peter and his companions are confused and overwhelmed.

But the point of this scene comes with God’s command concerning his beloved Son: “listen to him.” The transfiguration story occurs in Mark’s Gospel as Jesus begins his fateful journey to Jerusalem and the cross. All during this journey, Jesus, the one who gives his life in ransom for the many, instructs his disciples that they, too, must follow him and be willing to forego being absorbed in their own needs and concerns and reach out in loving service to others. This is the point of our Lenten journey, too. However one chooses to express it, the heart of the Christian message is one of generous love and compassion. This is the gospel message that Pope Francis has been reminding us of in his words and actions. As a church we are not to be turned in on ourselves but to reach out in a mission of loving service to the world.

The gospel for this Sunday reminds us that this fundamental gospel value is given to us by one who speaks with divine authority and one whose own life and death embody compassionate love.

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.

Daily Scripture, February 27, 2015

Feast of St. Gabriel Possenti, C.P.St. Gabriel Possenti, C.P.

Scripture:

Ezekiel 18:21-28
Matthew 5:20-26

Reflection:

Sometimes when I hear Jesus criticizing the Pharisees in the Gospels I can get on my religious high-horse. I might think Jesus is condemning their hypocrisy, perhaps their arrogance or self-righteous indignation, and I distance myself from that, thinking I am OK. In fact, the Pharisees were good and holy men. They were socially just, they observed the law scrupulously, and they were faithful to their rich heritage. It seems that just wasn’t adequate in Jesus’ eyes, however; Jesus’ teaches his disciples they must surpass the holiness of the Pharisees.

When ancient Israel finally entered the Promised Land, it was not an uninhabited territory. The many Canaanite tribes — Jebusites, Hittites, Amorites — were a violent people. Anthropologists and historians tell us that the punishment for stealing, for example, could be the severing of the perpetrator’s right hand! Israel transformed that culture: the severity of punishment could not exceed that of the crime. Israel’s law stipulated “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” And nothing more. The culture further evolves when Jesus instructs, in today’s Gospel, “…you have heard it said, ‘though shall not kill,’…but I say, whoever is angry with his brother is liable to judgment.” You see, the trouble with “an eye for an eye” is that this “justice” quickly deteriorates into tooth for tooth, hatred for hatred, murder for murder. This kind of “low-level” religion never evolves. But Jesus tells his disciples that “greater things than these we will do.”

Our imaginations can be filled with this kind of vengeful thinking, low-level, tit-for-tat religion. Or, as Franciscan Fr. Richard Rohr speaks, “If we don’t transform the violence, we will transmit it.” Perhaps this Lent might be a time, instead, to ponder the holiness of a Gandhi or Pope Francis or someone like Kayla Mueller, the American aide worker, who was killed earlier this month in ISIS captivity. Another contrast might be the life of today’s feast, St. Gabriel Possenti, a 24-year-old Passionist seminarian who died of tuberculosis. “Leave your gift at the altar, go and first be reconciled with your brother or sister, then return to offer your gift.”

Fr. Jack Conley, C.P. is the director of the Office of Mission Effectiveness. He is a member of the Passionist formation community at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.