Claire Smith

Scripture:

1 Kings 8:1-7, 9-13
Mark 6:53-56

Reflection:

Excessive pageantry and ritual are before us NFL fans as we now officially begin Superbowl week.  As the entire professional football season culminates toward the Super Bowl game, this week is filled with extravagance and excess in every area. Coverage of it is non-stop.  Pomp and pageantry I think are part of human nature.  We hear the same excitement in the first reading when the Ark of the LORD is brought into the newly constructed temple.  The author names all the significant people who are there including, the elders, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, the priests, the princes of the ancestral houses, and all the people of Israel.   As one reads this you can feel the excitement building.  And this reading concludes with the presence of the Lord filling the temple there in the dark cloud.

The Gospel picks up on this understanding of the presence of the Lord.  In today’s gospel we hear that when Jesus and his disciples get out of the boat in Gennesaret, the crowds recognized him.  Before they scurried off to bring him the sick, they first recognized him.

Why is it so hard to recognize Christ in our midst today?  Why do we so frequently turn our backs on the Holy One, neglecting and ignoring the sacred?  We might make excuses that we are busy people or the issues are political ones, or they are too overwhelming.  Why is it that we sometimes put a price tag on the value of human life?  For many, even the sacraments of the Church, where Christ promised to be present in these sacraments, have become routine.  For others, they are simply not valued.   Have we as a society become blind to the real presence of Christ in our world?

The simple recognition of Christ is a tremendous gift to society.   We see this stated by Mark in today’s Gospel.  Mark tells us that those who after recognizing him, brought the sick to Jesus on mats and they were healed.  Jesus changed the citizens of Gennesaret on that day.  It started with a group who recognized him.  How would that day have unfolded if they didn’t recognize him? When we neglect the ability to recognize Christ, we prioritize our own needs and desires and are more prone to selfishness, apathy and a lack of concern for others.

We can get pretty charged up over an event like a Superbowl to which the media will bring excessive hype, placing it right in front of us.  It is harder and even takes spiritual discipline to see the presence of Christ in the sacraments, in the marginalized, and in those who are suffering.  This has been the beauty for me of the Charism of the Passionists.  Good teachers and mentors have always challenged me to be attentive to the presence of Christ, especially in the midst of human suffering.   I know some days I am better at this than others.  And on the days when I am less blind, it changes the way that I pray.

Fr. David Colhour, CP, is the Provincial Superior of Holy Cross Province. He resides in Chicago, Illinois.

Scripture:

Job 7:1-4,6-7
1 Corinthians 9:16-19,22-23
Mark 1:29-39

Reflection:

No Rest for the Good…

Today’s Gospel has a very unique “mother-n-law” story.  Peter was worried about his mother-in-law, at home, bedridden with a serious fever.  Jesus is told of her condition, and He meets her, takes her by the hand and helps her from her bed – she’s healed!  And…surprisingly… she begins to wait on Jesus and His disciples who were hungry (perhaps road-worn?) young adults.  No rest for her!  Like Jesus, she was generous in “waiting on them”.

The Gospel continues with Jesus again being called upon to heal the crowds that came to the door…people who were physically ill — even possessed by demons.  And He healed them!  No rest for Him!  Rising early the next day, Jesus “needs” to get away and pray, perhaps to further ponder the physical and human suffering He constantly encountered for healing.  Again, “no rest for the good”; Simon looks for Jesus and tells Him that even more people are searching for Him and His healing love.  Jesus responds by saying He needs to move on and preach in the nearby villages…His mission, His purpose.  No rest for the good!

Saint Paul in his 1^st letter to the Corinthians notes that his missionary work comes from his stewardship of God’s love shared with him.  A sense of duty compels him to generously proclaim the Good News of Jesus; “woe to me if I do not preach it!”  …”to save at least some.”  No rest for the good!

Our Question:  As believers, how do we reflect the generous spirit of Jesus?  How do we spread the Good News in our time and place?  By virtue of our Baptism, we each have a vocation / calling (married, single, priestly / religious); our vocation is given further expression in the talents and direction of our lives (e.g. spouse, parent, teacher, manager, professional person, clergy, health care worker, etc.).  How do we witness God’s Love, Life, Joy in our 21^st Century world of violence and fear, of poverty and loneliness, of mistrust and selfishness?  The needs are great; healing is needed; our resources can seem limited; and often…no rest for the good!  Today we hear Jesus say: “let’s go!”

Let’s be grateful for our faith — however vibrant it is.  Following Jesus’ example and serving in His Name, God’s healing and exciting Love and Life can transform all of creation.  May it be said of us, as is said of Jesus:  No rest for the good!

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.  

Scripture:

1 Kings 3:4-13
Mark 6:30-34

Reflection:

Solomon’s prayer, “I serve you in the midst of the people whom you have chosen,” might well be a motif for every one of us. It is our prayer too.

We each serve God amid those to whom we are sent. At first one might think in terms of vocation and the myriad of ministries that accompany our life choices – be they associated with caring, education, leading, supporting, witnessing etc. 

There is however another layer of ‘ministries’ that we all engage in – partnering, parenting, befriending, educating, assisting those in need of special care. Much of this work takes place within relationships and particularly within family systems.

Solomon’s prayer sets a context for the wisdom contained within the secondary call offered by Jesus in today’s gospel.

We see here that for those who labour in the many fields of life, and tirelessly serve others, there is a need to ‘step aside’ from time to time and rest. Such rest can be merely recuperative, that is, rest that allows us to marshal energy again and to face the next day or period of service. There is a deeper kind of rest too, one that we might call regenerative, a rest that allows creativity, enthusiasm and generosity to refresh themselves and to hold sway over us once more. This is a deeper kind of ‘rest’ one that allows the best in a person to surface and breathe once more. It is this kind of rest that creates space for capacities like forgiveness, sacrifice and commitment to reassert themselves in our lives. In such manner we can live more deeply the original call of our vocation.

It’s not that recuperative rest is bad, it is at times fully necessary. However, as Jesus notices, there is a need for deeper rest, a regenerative rest, so that we can reorient ourselves and live as we were created to live.

Of course, the great temptation is that ‘work’ or ‘the needs of others’ dictate that we cannot step aside for the time we most need. Jesus gives us a wonderful example and image today – when we cannot be present, he will continue the mission, and while we rest, he will tend to the very people he has entrusted to us.

Fr. Denis Travers, C.P., is the Provincial Superior of Holy Spirit Province, Australia. 

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

Scripture:

Malachi 3:1-4
Hebrews 2:14-18
Luke 2:22-40

Reflection:

The Feast of the Presentation, forty days after Christmas, has been the traditional close of the Christmas season. In today’s second reading, we hear that Jesus “became like his brothers and sisters in every way.” The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews is speaking of the Incarnation, meaning literally to be “born in flesh”. And because Jesus “became like his brothers and sisters in every way”, He was born into a particular cultural, political, and economic situation. In recent years, as I have listened to the stories of Jesus’ birth and infancy during the Christmas season, I have been struck by the vulnerability of the Holy Family’s situation.

Mary had experienced labor and delivery in a stable, far from home. Jesus’ first visitors were also of low social status: the shepherds who came in from the fields. Jesus enjoyed a loving family and community, but His circumstances outside his home were precarious. He lived in territory occupied and oppressed by the Romans. In Matthew’s Gospel, we heard of Jesus’ escape from the murderous King Herod, by the Holy Family’s flight southward into Egypt. Today, thousands of Palestinian families are taking the same route to avoid violence and death.

And in today’s Gospel reading, we find Mary, Joseph, and Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem practicing the ancient customs of their culture: Mary’s purification after childbirth, and Jesus’ presentation: the offering of the first-born son. Since they could not afford a sheep, Mary and Joseph gave the offering of the poor: two turtledoves and two young pigeons.

In his 2016 Christmas message, Pope Francis tells us the power and meaning of Jesus’ Incarnation:

The power of this Child, Son of God, and Son of Mary, is not the power of this world, based on might and wealth; it is the power of love. It is the power that created the heavens and the earth, and gives life to all creation: to minerals, plants, and animals. It is the force that attracts man and woman, and makes them one flesh, one single existence. It is the power that gives new birth, forgives sin, reconciles enemies, and transforms evil into good. It is the power of God.
This power of love led Jesus Christ to strip himself of his glory and become man; it led him to give his life on the cross and to rise from the dead. It is the power of service, which inaugurates in our world the Kingdom of God, a kingdom of justice and peace.

Patty Gillis is a retired Pastoral Minister. She served on the Board of Directors at St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat and Conference Center in Detroit. She is currently a member of the Laudato Si Vision Fulfillment Team and the Passionist Solidarity Network.

Scripture:

1 Kings 2:1-4,10-12
Mark 6:7-13

Reflection:

What an experience for the young apostles when Jesus sent them out to preach for the first time.  His instructions were simple: take nothing but a walking stick, no extra clothing, and stay only where you are welcome. They were more prepared for their journeys than they could have imagined because, according to Mark, they made quite an impact by preaching repentance, driving out demons and anointing and curing the sick. Truth is that they had the best teacher since they had been following Jesus for some time before this moment and had witnessed how he ministered to those he encountered.

We, too, have our moment of being sent out each time we participate in the liturgy of the Mass. Possibly our reaction after the final blessing is that Mass is over, and I can be on my way.  Actually the final blessing is the end of the beginning!  We are not sent out to go home. We are sent out to witness the Gospel through our lives. 

Putting ourselves in place of the apostles, what does Jesus ask us to bring on our journey, and what does He want us to leave behind? 

We are asked to simply bring a heart open to loving God and all His creation, and to live our lives as witnesses to the Gospel message.

We are asked to leave behind our closed-mindedness, our preconceptions and judgment of others, our personal pride, and our dependency on our possessions and belongings.

If we approach our journey in this manner, we will be worthy missionaries like the apostles. 

Mike Owens is coordinator of the Passionist Alumni Association and a member of the Migration Commission of Holy Cross Province.  He lives in Louisville, Kentucky. 

Scripture:

2 Samuel 24:2, 9-17
Mark 6:1-6

Reflection:

Happy Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time!

Do you ever wonder what Jesus was like as a kid? I do.

I wonder if he walked around in flowing robes blessing people. Did he stand on the top of his bathwater, refusing to get in?   If Mary and Joseph ever ran out of food, did Jesus just miracle up all the wine and fish and bread he wanted? When one of his buddies hurt himself in the playground, did Jesus touch and heal the sore? And in school, when asked a question, did he answer in eloquent and perfectly crafted parables?

Or, I wonder if he was the Class Clown, like me?

I imagine Jesus had to learn to walk, like the rest of us. He probably made mistakes growing up. Maybe he lost some friends, and even had to deal with human emotions and fears. I can hardly begin to understand what he must have had to process as he himself began to understand who he was, and what he could do, and what he was going to have to do.

He must have had a hard time accepting who he was, and his mission.

The Gospel (Mark 6:1-6) has Jesus in his hometown, revealing himself to the people who know him best. They’ve seen him grow from that little guy learning to walk and making mistakes, and now he’s calling himself a prophet and teaching in the synagogue with great wisdom and might! The people in his city, his neighbors, know him as the kid down the block… just an ordinary carpenter, and yet he teaches in the synagogue as one with learning and power. He could not possibly, in their eyes, be a prophet. Their lack of faith, though, limits his ability to perform and “mighty deeds” that reveal the presence of God’s kingdom in their midst.

I’ll bet they had a hard time accepting who he said he was, and his mission.

The people in today’s Gospel were a lot like me. Here is the Son of God himself, standing right in front of them, talking to them. God comes to heal the sick, bring sight to the blind, shower peace and love to all people, share the message of Eternal Life, and these folk were just too closed to see him at work in their lives. In fact they were so angry, they refused to let him do any mighty deed there, tying the hands of God, refusing all the love and grace Jesus offers!

There’s quite a foreshadowing of Jesus’ end of life in today’s Gospel. It begins with people praising him and being amazed at his speaking and depth, but ends with them taking offense at him. First loved and accepted, but then pushed away. It’s like those who praised Jesus on Palm Sunday, and became the same people that would scream “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

And yet, even fully knowing what would happen, God still pursued us. He sent his Son as one of us to reach out, to call us home, even though he knew we would tie his hands and turn our backs on all the healing and love he has to offer.

Such love. Such amazing love… to hold out a hand of care and forgiveness, even though those very people would slam a spike through it.

Pursuit. Chase after. Hound. Dig for. Leave no stone unturned. Do whatever it takes.
How has God pursued you?
How have you turned your back on Jesus?
What was it that led you to finally accept God’s hand reaching out to you,
waiting for you?
And, how have you been God’s hands, reaching out to others?

God waits for us. Jesus is right here, in our midst. The signs and messages are always there… if only we could be open enough to recognize him.

The refrain of a pop song, which was recorded by the artist Richard Marx, titled “Right Here Waiting,” says it pretty well.

Wherever you go, whatever you do,
I will be right here waiting for you.

What a perfect description of God. All we have to do look, listen, and be God’s beloved.

—————

Dear God,
thank you for the gift
of your most amazing
and ever available presence.
Please grant us the grace
to always open the door
and let you in. Amen.

Peace and love to you today, and forever.

Paul Puccinelli is Director of Liturgy & Music at St. Rita Parish in Sierra Madre, California, and a member of the retreat team at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center.