Claire Smith

Feast of St. James, Apostle

Scripture:

2 Corinthians 4:7-15
Matthew 20:20-28

Reflection:

A Countercultural Baptismal Commitment

Years ago, I was directing a parish mission in the northern part of the Archdiocese of Detroit named St. Mary’s. The pastor was an intense and zealous minister who loved his people, and who believed that our faith is passed on best through the formation of “Small Christian Communities”.  I thoroughly enjoyed conversations with him around the kitchen table — his stories, his vision of Church — and I clearly remember a phrase etched into the granite above the main entrance doorway of the Church: “There are no volunteers here at St. Mary’s. We simply take our Baptismal commitment seriously.”

Today’s Feast of St. James challenges me in a similar way. The world of St. Paul and St. Matthew wasn’t unlike our own: persecution, confusion, manipulation, heartbreaking violence and oppression. All of this seems more than our fragile minds and bodies — our earthen vessels — can endure.

And, according to Matthew, the community of disciples is at risk of being pulled into that culture, driven by the desire to be the first, to be admired and honored by others, the same temptations that Jesus resisted from the devil when he was in the desert for forty days: power, possessions, prestige.

To be successful and influential in today’s world, many management trainers or motivational speakers urge their audiences to develop their “killer instincts.”  Jesus, however, commands a counterculture, seizing countless opportunities to offer a powerful teaching on humility. “You want to be great?” questions Jesus, “Then change your attitude.”

Today might be that opportunity for “We simply take our Baptismal commitment seriously.”

Fr. Jack Conley, CP, is engaged in preaching parish missions and retreats, and serves as local superior of St. Vincent Strambi Community in Chicago, Illinois.

Scripture:

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

Reflection:

But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.
For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.  -Matthew 13:17

The other day, I heard that the average time it takes to see your primary physician is three weeks.   Jesus loved to see Himself as a physician.  Approximately one-fourth of the Gospels is devoted to Jesus’ healing.  We must see Him a whole lot more than once every three weeks! The beautiful truth is that Jesus is close, intimately close, 24/7!  But we are all too often not very close to Him. 

Without grace, we cannot contact Him!  Our hearts and minds are totally incapable of creating a relationship with Him without His revelation to us.   “Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” JN 14:6 And even more forcefully: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me drags him; JN 6:44  

St. Augustine speaks eloquently of our struggle to experience this beautiful presence of Jesus.  “O supreme and unapproachable light! O whole and blessed truth, how far art thou from me (my experience), who am so near to thee! How far removed art thou from my vision, though I am so near to thine! Everywhere thou art wholly present, and I see thee not. In thee I move, and in thee I have my being; and I cannot come to thee. Thou art within me, and about me, and I feel thee not.” 

Dear Lord, gift me your mercy and faith so I can receive the wonderful present of Yourself!  Open my eyes that I might see You. Enlarge my heart that it can receive You!

But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.
For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.  -Matthew 13:17

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

Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene

Scripture:

Songs 3:1-4b or 2 Corinthians 5:14-17
John 20: 1-2, 11-18

Reflection:

I’ve come to think of St. John’s Gospel as “color commentary” on the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. While the synoptic gospels give us factual details and timelines concerning Christ’s Resurrection and subsequent appearances, it is John who shows us Christ’s humanity. He does so superbly in illuminating the tender meeting of Mary Magdalene and Our Lord outside the tomb that first Easter morning. 

The depth of infused emotion Christ uses, calling Mary’s name animates a scene that resonates so strongly with our shared nature human nature that even two hundred centuries later, we are still affected by its intensity.  Christ sought out Mary first, before all others.  In her relief and joy, she attempted to hold on to Him, perhaps because she thought she had lost Him on Calvary. But Christ explained that she must not cling to Him because “He had not yet ascended to the Father”.  

Devil promises only after ascending to His Father does Our Lord then seek out His disciples: The men and women who had followed Him, and now have hidden themselves in fear of the Roman authorities, the leaders of the Temple who accused them of hiding Christ’s body, and even angry followers who feel betrayed by Jesus’s promises, expecting the arrival of a powerful, earthly king who would destroy the Roman occupation and subjection of Israel.   

I ask you Lord, please seek me out as well. I have gone all too far from Your path, then struggled in the darkness to find my way back.  Please light the way to follow you, ~ my Redeemer, my Lord, my God.

Ray Alonzo is the father of three children, grandfather of two, and husband to Jan for over45 years. He is a USN Vietnam Veteran, and a 1969 graduate of Mother of Good Counsel Passionist Prep Seminary. Ray currently serves on the Passionist Alumni Council.

Scripture:

Exodus 14:5-18
Matthew 12:38-42

Reflection:

Life’s journey can be confusing.  In our first reading, the Israelites are free from the enslavement of the Egyptians. The Egyptians paid the Israelites reparation for the years of forced labor.  The Israelites had both freedom and wealth. The king of Egypt reversed his decision to let the Israelites go. When the Israelites saw the Egyptian army coming after them, they panicked. Moses told them to fear not and stand still and God told Moses to move forward. Imagine how confusing! 

The journey of life is arduous, challenging and most confusing.  Like the Israelites, when that journey becomes challenging, do we panic and want to return to our old ways?  God’s message was “Don’t fear, move ahead.”   Our future is somewhat uncertain, but do we trust and have faith in God?

The first step to freedom is to realize that we are enslaved.  What does this mean for us?  This means that we need to be aware of and acknowledge those areas in our life where we aren’t free but enslaved to wealth, work, prejudice, fear,  and other addictions.  As we walk along the uncertain winding road of life it can be confusing. God calls us to freedom and to be free from sin and various forms of slavery. 

We can’t stand still, but with faith and courage we move forward. O God of the journey,  You rescued the Israelites, please rescue us from things of this world that might enslave us so that we journey in freedom with our faith and trust in you. (Sr. Melannie Svoboda, S.N.D., Today’s Good News, Living With Christ, published by Bayard, Inc. p. 154)

Carl Middleton is a theologian/ethicist and a member of the Passionist Family.

Scripture:

Genesis 18:1-10a
Colossians 1:24-28
Luke 10:38-42

Reflection:

The Gospel reading for this Sunday (Luke 10:38-42) teaches a lesson I often need to hear. Our reading is about a visit Jesus makes to a village where a woman named Martha welcomes Him. Marta has a sister named Mary. And so Martha is busy attending to the needs of Jesus along with other guests. But Mary sits at Jesus’ feet, listening to Him. When Martha sees this, she complains to Jesus: “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?” and Jesus replies, with an answer I’m sure Martha was not expecting, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

Now many of us, especially those who grew up with siblings, may be very sympathetic to Martha’s complaint. After all, at a big event, it’s usually “all hands on deck.” For me, Jesus is not choosing sides between working and not working. He calls us to action, otherwise we wouldn’t have the parable of the Good Samaritan we heard last week. But He also calls us to prayer, as He often went by Himself to pray.

I think the “better part” that Jesus is talking about is related to what He says to Martha: “You are anxious and worried about many things.” The “better part” that Mary chose was not so much resting instead of working, but resting in Jesus. Martha was so anxious and worried in her busyness that she could not listen to Jesus nor abide in His love for her.

There are times when I can get so caught up in worrying about what I need to do, or get anxious about how I’m doing, or whether I’m making too many mistakes, or if I’m doing enough, or if people appreciate what I’m doing, or so many other thoughts of self-absorption, that I forget to trust in Jesus’ love for me, which prevents His love shining through me to others.

When I can trust in His love for me, and let go of all those concerns about me, then I can do what He calls me to do, and serve Him and the world that He loves. The founder of the Passionists, St. Paul of the Cross said it well in one of his letters: “Do the things you have to do. Work, but without haste and anxiety. Work diligently, but with peace of heart and a quiet spirit, remaining in the presence of God.”

When we trust in the love of God, we are able to show the hospitality that Abraham and Sarah showed to the three visitors that came by in our first reading from Genesis (18:1-10a). We can even rejoice in our sufferings for the sake of the gospel, like St. Paul, in his letter to the Colossians (1:24-28).

These words came to me as I was reflecting on these readings: Listen-Trust-Love-Serve.

Fr. Phil Paxton, CP, is the Pastor of Holy Family Parish in Birmingham, and St. Mary’s Parish in Fairfield, Alabama. He is the Local Superior of the Passionist Community in Birmingham, Alabama. 

Scripture:

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

Reflection:

In today’s Old Testament and Psalm readings, we are drawn into the story of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. Scripture recalls the mighty works the Lord did to save His people from captivity. From the perspective of the Jews, God’s actions were glorious miracles. Yet, if we look at it from the point of view of the Egyptians, they were occasions of suffering and death. It is difficult to reconcile these two realities. Are the enduring mercies referenced in the Psalm only for certain people?

The answer comes to us in the Gospel reading. Here, we find the descendants of the very people the Lord saved in the time of Moses seeking to put Jesus, the Giver of Life, to death. As awful as this seems, the prophet Isaiah tells us why it is God’s will. In Jesus’ death at the insistence of the Jews, he will bring victory and hope to the Gentiles. The death that was allowed to free Israel from Egypt will be atoned for by Jesus, God’s Beloved Son, in His Passion. In His death, we come to know that God’s love is for all people.

In our own lives, when suffering comes, let us remember that the sorrows of the present time are not the whole story. The Lord is at work for good even in our pain. No matter how dark a situation might seem, there is a greater truth that exists. For every people, in every circumstance, God’s mercy endures forever.

Megan Silas is a Lay Passionist at Holy Name Passionist Retreat Center in Houston, Texas.

Scripture:

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

Reflection:

“I love you. I care about you. I will be with you.” These are words all of us hunger to hear because they offer the heartfelt reassurance we need to get through life, and they are powerfully proclaimed in both of today’s readings.

In the first reading from Exodus, a clearly rattled Moses asks God to reveal his name and God answers: “I am who am…I AM sent me to you.” God’s response is not a philosophical riddle designed to baffle the Israelites, but a pledge of faithful love. In Hebrew, “I am who am” essentially means, “I will be with you, I will accompany you and never abandon you.” In ancient Israel, to know a person’s name was to know their innermost identity and spirit, it was to glimpse into their soul; thus, faithful love is who God is. Faithful love is not peripheral to God but is the very being of God.

Later in the reading, God says to Moses, “I am concerned about you and about the way you are being treated in Egypt.” It’s pretty astonishing, isn’t it? The God of the universe, the creator of all things, is not a distant, indifferent deity who is too far removed from our lives to care about us, but a God of faithful love who draws near to us, walks with us, and is so intimately close to us that the slightest details of our lives don’t go unnoticed by God. We matter to God. A God who says, “I am concerned about you,” is like the loving friend who offers us compassion, encouragement, and support whenever life is hard for us, whenever we feel overwhelmed, shaken, and uncertain, and especially whenever we are suffering.

Maybe that is why all of us love today’s gospel so much, this familiar but tremendously reassuring passage where Jesus says, “If you are troubled, if you are having a hard time, if you feel tired, burdened, and maybe even hopeless, come to me and I will help you, turn to me and let me refresh you.” Jesus is the care, concern, and compassion of God in the flesh. Jesus is God’s befriending love in person. Jesus is the incarnate confirmation of God’s everlasting faithful love. That, too, is something pretty astonishing that we should never forget.

Paul J. Wadell is Professor Emeritus of Theology & Religious Studies at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, and a member of the Passionist Family of Holy Cross Province.

Memorial of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin

Scripture:

Exodus 1:8-14, 22
Matthew 10:34-11:1

Reflection:

The Enduring Shadow of Cruelty

When we look back at history, as far back as the oldest writings of the Old Testament, the patterns of human cruelty are stark and undeniable. From the ancient Egyptians’ subjugation of the Jewish people to the systematic genocide perpetrated by the Germans in the last century, the echoes of injustice reverberate. We see it in the brutal enslavement of Africans by 17th and 18th-century plantation owners in the Americas, and in the genocide inflicted upon indigenous peoples by settlers across the continent. Today is no exception. Tyrants and the people who support them unleash invasions and bombs, indiscriminately murdering innocent civilians.

A Call to Action: Choosing Compassion

Given this enduring legacy of cruelty, how can each of us contribute to nudging human behavior away from it, starting within our own families and communities? Is it truly so difficult to love both our neighbors and our enemies?

Every moment presents a choice. When we have a stressful thought or when someone causes us stress, what can we do to transform our thinking into positive thoughts and action? Or when we feel offended, don’t we have an opportunity to transform that offense into deeper understanding? We can choose compassion over contempt, and empathy over animosity. By making these conscious choices, we begin to dismantle the roots of cruelty, one interaction at a time.

.Jack Dermody is President of Share Our Gifts, Inc., a Passionist alumni organization dedicated to assisting those who live in poverty; he is also editor of CrossRoads, the Passionist Alumni Association’s newsletter.