Claire Smith

Scripture:

Hosea 11:1-4, 8e-9
Matthew 10:7-15

Reflection:

The Gospel of Matthew may be the most Jewish of the gospels. Matthew wrote for a Jewish-Christian audience living in or near the homeland. He structured his gospel into five discourses:

The Sermon on the Mount; the Missionary Discourse; the Parables; the Church; and the End Times. With this five-part structure, Matthew wants to mirror his gospel to the Torah and its five books.

Today’s gospel falls within the context of the Missionary Discourse. Jesus has just appointed 12 apostles, symbolic of the 12 tribes of Israel. He now instructs the 12 on what they are to say and do.

They are to go out to the “lost sheep of Israel,” all Jewish people, and proclaim the Good News: “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” That is, the Kingdom is near them, among them in the person of Jesus. “Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons.” These all are signs of the imminence of the kingdom among the people. And the 12 are to participate in Jesus’ mission.

Furthermore, they are not to be distracted by material needs that may distract them from their mission, that may give them a false sense of security. Instead, they are to demonstrate radical trust in Christ.

As it was for the 12, so it is with us today. By right and obligation of our baptism, we too are called to mission, to proclaim the Good News to a despairing world desperate to hear good new; to the poor, the marginalized, the forgotten who are left for dead, the sick in body or soul.

And how are we to participate in Jesus mission? By our words, our actions. We are to travel light, unburdened by the false securities of consumerism, materialism, and expectations of praise. This mission is not an easy one. No. It is fraught with challenge, rejection, and ridicule. That is why we are to bear witness to the Good News by the way we live, with radical trust in Christ.

One critical difference distinguishes us from the 12. Jesus sent them to the “lost sheep of Israel.” Not us. In Matthew’s gospel, the risen Christ tells us to go and make disciples “of all nations.”

That is our mission.

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

Scripture:

Hosea 10:1-3, 7-8
Matthew 10:1-7

Reflection:

During COVID, I doubted whether my business would survive. I had to scrape and scramble to keep enough income coming through the door to pay the bills. Last year, I didn’t have to scramble quite so much; I was even able to build up a little bit of an emergency fund (which I always try to keep on hand). This year so far has been better than the last. I was breathing more easily and feeling more confident that I will not only pay the bills, but maybe have some extra to put toward retirement.

Then everything fell apart at once. My lawn mower and trimmer broke, as did my dishwasher, my car needed an expensive repair, and I discovered that the concrete slab under my main floor had sunken down, which required a contractor to raise it, and then I needed new flooring. Aaaauuugh! My financial security evaporated as fast as my emergency fund.

I couldn’t help but think of the landowners in scripture who used the riches from the harvest to build their own altars, pillars, and storage barns. They placed great security and confidence in their wealth. But just as I’ve been painfully reminded, they eventually learned that money is not faithful, loving, loyal, wise, nor a proper source of security. Instead, it is fleeting, and everything I have can disappear faster than I want to admit.

People are not always a good source of security either. Sometimes people I loved have hurt and betrayed me. Sometimes we simply grow apart and don’t see each other much. Sometimes I think a relationship is deep and true, but when I’m in crisis and really need that person, I find out how limited the relationship actually is. Sometimes people with whom I do have a deeply loving and trusting relationship die, and I am without that reliable presence at my side. Again, in myriad ways, every person I love can disappear faster than I want to admit.

So where is my security? What is unfailing, true, ever-loving, and ever-present? Only God. And I don’t have to go search for God. Heaven is at hand. As scripture says, it is time to seek the Lord. Yes, the things of this world and especially the people of this world are often instruments of God, but they are not God. They are not that abiding source of my life and breath that will never leave me to face my life alone.

Where is your security? What can you do this week to build your relationship with the only One who is always and forever faithful, loving, wise, and true? Let the fear inside come face-to-face with the God who is ever by your side. Know that you are not alone. That is true security.

Amy Florian is a teacher and consultant working in Chicago.  For many years she has partnered with the Passionists.  Visit Amy’s website: http://www.corgenius.com/.

Scripture:

Hosea 8:4-7, 11-13
Matthew 9:32-38

Reflection:

Mary, Mother of Holy Hope

Samuel Hazo, who works professionally in advertising, ends an insightful article contrasting advertising’s goal with poetry. ‘Advertising is a means to a desired end, but poetry is an end in itself that supports no system, capitalistic or otherwise. It is in fact our true speech that makes us wonder why we all too rarely see the obvious until someone expresses it simply. Poetry creates for us what Robert Frost called “a momentary stay against confusion;” it safeguards not our sales but our souls’.

(Notre Dame Magazine, p.47, Winter 2022-2023).

We possess a gold mine of memories and the ability to bring them to light. Add to those memories our imagination. As we creativity play with them, mixing and matching we may end up with poems!

Today, the family of the Passionist Community founded by St. Paul of the Cross

celebrates the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Divine Hope. The roots of this devotion are traced to the preaching of an early Passionist, Thomas Struzzieri, C.P. To those in the villages and towns throughout Italy who came to hear him preach, he showed the picture of Our Mother of Holy Hope as a beautiful reminder of Mary’s assistance in our spiritual needs.

Blessed Dominic Barberi. C.P., a theologian who while working England would have  the grace of welcoming John Henry Newman into the Catholic Church, describes Mary’s roles as Mother of Hope:

Hope is that virtue that anchors the ship of our soul in the stormy sea of this troubled world…Though endowed with extraordinary graces and unstained by original sin, Mary never counted on any resource of her own. Rather, she knew God is the author of every good thing. She confided in God, fleeing from persecution from her own country. She hoped in God even when she saw her divine Son die on the Cross abandoned by his disciples. She stayed firm in what seemed disaster…She encouraged the weak, lifted up the fallen and urged the strong to ever greater trust…Even now, enthroned in glory, she reaches with a mother’s hand to those who go to her. She is always mother of holy hope.

It is with poetry that today’s liturgy teaches us: (‘Collection of Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary’, p. 55, Catholic Book Pub. Vol. 1, 1988). Mary, the Mother of Christ, is venerated today because she placed all her trust in the Lord whose coming she awaited, and in faith conceived, (preface). Assumed into heaven she becomes the hope of God’s people, the loving embrace of those who have no hope, and shows her love to those who seek her help. (Entrance Antiphon). Mary is the beacon of unfailing hope for the children of Adam, a New Eve who gathers the children of Adam until the Day of the Lord dawns in glory, (opening prayer and preface).

Mary the root, Christ the mystic vine;
Mary the wheat, Christ the Living Bread;
Mary the stem Christ the Rose blood red;
Mary the font, Christ the Cleansing Flood;
Mary the cup, Christ the Saving Blood.

Fr. William Murphy, CP, is a member of Immaculate Conception Community in Jamaica, New York.

Scripture:

Genesis 28:10-22a
Matthew 9:18-26

Reflection:

God’s Grace is at full display in today’s readings. God is so generous with his grace. We need only to have faith.

Imagine going to sleep and waking up with the promise of God on your mind. In his vision, Jacob was laying at the foot of the stairway to heaven. There were messengers going up and down the stairway to heaven delivering prayers and graces from God, but God took the time to visit Jacob in a dream and deliver His grace personally. God made a promise to Jacob and his faith in this promise completed the covenant. Jacob in return vowed that the Lord shall be his God and the stone shall be God’s abode, which represents the Holy Land.

In the Gospel of Matthew, an official’s daughter dies, and he seeks out Jesus for his healing power. He tells Jesus that he has faith that if only You will lay Your hand on my daughter she will live. Jesus follows the man home to answer his prayers and fulfill his wishes. On his journey to the official’s house, a woman who had been hemorrhaging for twelve years sought out the healing power of Jesus by touching His cloak. She touched his tassel and it was automatic. Jesus felt her faith and the power drained from him and was in awe at her faith. Jesus said, “Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.”

As Jesus reached the official’s home, He was met with unfaithful individuals who told him he was too late and to not even bother. Jesus immediately cleared the house of all the unbelievers. I think Jesus has no patience for those who have little or no faith. “He took her by the hand and the little girl arose and news of this spread throughout the land.”

God’s grace is enough. He heals our wounds and supplies us with our every need. We need only to have faith.

Deacon Peter Smith serves at Our Mother of Sorrows Parish, in Tucson, AZ. He is a retired Theology teacher from Holy Family Cristo Rey Catholic High School, a retired soldier of the United States Air Force, a Grad student at Xavier University of Ohio, and a member of the extended Passionist Family.

Scripture:

Ezekiel 2:2-5
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Mark 6:1-6a

Reflection:

My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is made perfect in weakness.
I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses,
in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.
Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults,
hardships, persecutions, and constraints,
for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong. -2 Coriinthians 12:8-10)

There are winners and losers in this world, and you, you are…

OATS (Openness, Awareness, Togetherness and Separateness) a prayer group I was part of, had been planning a CLAM digging (digging for CHRISTIAN LIVING AMONG MEN) camping weekend for months and we had finally made it up to the entrance of the campgrounds. We arrived late in the evening. The ranger at the park met us at the entrance of the grounds and asked us to be quiet in setting up our site. He explained there were groups already bedded down for the night and our site was on top of a hill which would broadcast any noise we made throughout the whole camp.

We drove up to our site, quietly set up our tents, built a fire and sat down for a bite to eat starting our time together with sharing a prayer of gratitude for our safe arrival and the many gifts we have been given. Finally, we had completed the first day of our time together. I was tired, so I didn’t stay up much longer, but chose to go to my tent and get some sleep. I fell asleep immediately upon hitting the ground. I woke up to a bunch of loud singing of folk songs I knew too well. That was our group. I came out of my tent, walked over to the campfire and at the top of my voice delivered a speech that would live on in infamy, or at least that this group of clamdiggers would never let me forget: “There are winners and there are losers in this world.” and with one sweep of my arm finished with: “And you are all losers.” Then I went back into my tent.

Today, fifty plus years later, I and several of the members on that weekend can still laugh about that disaster. Today, I realize, life is not about placing blame, a weakness I still grapple with fifty years later. If is as St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Corinthians, about learning or digging to hear what God is telling me in dealing with the many gifts, or fellow clamdiggers in my life. God, help me accept my weaknesses, my limitations, and realize that You are in charge and that all will be ok. Help me further realize The Good News that I (we) are loved and we can love one another, one day at a time.

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

Scripture:

Amos 9:11-15
Matthew 9:14-17

Reflection:

Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on war than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

Dr. King was a prophet for our times, as Amos was a prophet for the people of the mid- to late 700s BCE. Both saw all of God’s people as equal. Both recognized that when we exploit the poor and most vulnerable among us in favor of the comfort and security of the wealthy, when we arm ourselves with weapons of death, the survival of humankind is threatened.

Today’s reading from the last chapter of the Book of Amos essentially states what happens when we listen and act on God’s plan to create a brand new way to live: “I will bring about the restoration of my people Israel; they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities, plant vineyards and drink wine, set out gardens and eat fruit . . .”

My friend Jane Sammon, long-time editor of the Catholic Worker and friend of Dorothy Day, once gave a retreat for the Catholic Workers in Louisville. Sitting under a big maple tree on an early June afternoon, she began her reflections by reading the entire Psalm 85, today’s psalm, which builds on the words of Amos. Psalm 85, a recipe for human interaction, has been lost in the trash bin of out-of-fashion wisdom.

It is high time we did a dumpster dive, found it, and applied it to our troubled planet.

The saber-rattling among nations, in our streets, and in our homes has reached frightening decibel levels. The Cold War is re-heating with threats of more nuclear arms testing, larger nuclear stockpiles, and direct threats of nuclear war. Guns saturate America, from small towns to wealthy suburbs to inner city pockets of deep poverty, resulting in a steady stream of killings day after day. More children now die from guns in our nation than from any other cause.

Thinking that arms…whether weapons of mass destruction, bombers, fighter jets, tanks, cannons, and battleships…or personal guns… will bring peace is a lie. They will not secure what we own. They will not keep us safe.

The “old wineskins” of vengeance, “national security,” “protecting the American way of life,” will not hold the new wine of Christ’s emphatic calls for justice, mercy, and love.

If we choose to follow Christ, we must surrender the mindless illusion that we will finally achieve peace when the “enemy” is contained or destroyed. The enemy is us. The conversion Christ demands requires we fully trust in the power of love to conquer evil.

This is the message of Martin Luther King, Jr. It is the message he learned by praying over the Book of Amos, Psalm 85, and the Gospels of Jesus Christ.

There is no other way to peace.

Jim Wayne is a board member of the Passionist Solidarity Network (PSN), and author of The Unfinished Man. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Amos 8:4-6, 9-12
Matthew 9:9-13

Reflection:

Yes, days are coming, says the Lord GOD,
when I will send famine upon the land:
Not a famine of bread, or thirst for water,
but for hearing the word of the LORD. -Amos 8:9

Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.  -Matthew 9:13

Today’s readings have some pointed words for those merchants who seek excessive profits. And in a very prophetic statement, Amos speaks of those sellers who “will diminish the containers for measuring.” Who of us has not gone into the store only to find our favorite box of cereal or laundry detergent packaged in a “new, space-saving container,” supposedly for our convenience, that offers us less product for the same (or greater!) price? The news seems filled with stories of profit being prioritized over people’s well-being. Amos goes on with some dire predictions of what the consequences will be. The greatest of these is the famine for “hearing the word of the Lord.” It’s as if when we forget to care for each other, we slowly slip away from our connection to God.

In the gospel, Jesus reminds us of the line from Hosea: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” This was directed at the Pharisees who were well known for being fastidious regarding their prayers, sacrifices, and performance of prescribed rituals. And yet, this is not God’s desire. While our prayer life is very important to our growth as Christians, it is there to support us in doing what God wants us to do: love one another, show mercy, welcome the stranger, feed the hungry, and clothe the naked.

Finally, we have these hopeful words from Jesus. After the Pharisees call Him to task for including sinners in His ministry, He assures them that that’s why He is here. We are all included in God’s plan, both sinners and saints. All that is desired of us is that we turn away from that which keeps us from God, as Matthew did, and follow Jesus on the Way.

My prayer today is that I learn to recognize those things in myself that keep me from fully entering into communion with God, and that I make a concerted effort to put them behind me.

Talib Huff is a retired teacher and a member of the retreat team at Christ the King Passionist Retreat Center in Citrus Heights, California. You can contact him at [email protected].

Scripture:

Amos 7:10-17
Matthew 9:1-8

Reflection:

The Ongoing Call to Renewal and Healing

The ongoing human need for renewal, a change of heart, healing, freedom, and life… Today’s two Scripture readings challenge us to quality discipleship in the 21st Century—to follow the example of the ancient prophet Amos and our Lord and Savior Jesus, who want us all to be free from our “slavery,” our prejudices, and our illnesses of both mind and body.

The Old Testament prophet Amos was considered obnoxious by the people of his time because he preached the need of repentance, a change of heart.  His words angered many leaders of his day, and his background as a shepherd and a “dresser of sycamores” gave him little credibility for the words he bravely spoke openly.  Amos was living out his vocation, being called by God to speak the truth to his world gone awry.  And he did!

The portrait of Jesus in the Gospel is that of a healer of a paralyzed man who had friends who brought him to Jesus, carrying him on a mat.  Jesus cured the man because of their faith and went on to challenge those who questioned his authority and his background – they even accused him of blasphemy.  Beyond Jesus’ human appearance lays His divinity…Jesus IS God in the flesh!

Amos and certainly Jesus reveal the all-embracing love of God for humanity.  That love calls us to renewal and healing, to a faith-filled following of Jesus in all of life – both the “ups” and the “downs”.  Today’s celebration of July 4^th, America’s independence, encourages us to deeply reflect on our God-given gifts, to give thanks as we celebrate the blessings of life today and our hope for the future.  And, both Amos and Jesus challenge us to look deep into our hearts, to embrace the challenge of actively addressing the injustice and violence and poverty that is evident today, to respond as faithful citizens to our sisters and brothers who share our “common home” both down the street and across the globe. 

Let’s work together for renewal and healing, for a change of heart, for freedom and life!  God is at work in our midst!  God bless us all!

Fr. John Schork, C.P. serves as the Province Vocation Director and also as Local Superior of the Passionist Community of Holy Name in Houston, Texas.