Claire Smith

Scripture:

Exodus 22:20-26
1 Thessalonians 1:5–10
Matthew 22:34-40

Reflection:

You shall love your neighbor as yourself. -Matthew 22:40

Love for God and Love for our neighbor are the two main themes for the readings today. They are also the foundation for building the Kingdom of God. In the Book of Exodus, we read about caring for those who are aliens, widows and orphans and when lending money to be fair and reasonable. It was so important to the Jewish people, that the poor were taken care of, that they had laws to guide them in this regard. They left some grain in the fields after the harvest so that the poor could glean the leftover grain to sustain them.

Today, we still have the poor and we give in different ways through donations to many organizations who assist those who are in need. In recent months we have had opportunities to help others due to natural disasters and war. Opportunities to give a voice to those with whom others have turned a deaf ear. Opportunities to assist those in our own communities, parishes or neighborhoods. A few years ago, I was able to witness someone take the opportunity to assist someone who could not afford their groceries. Not asking for anything in return, gave the person a hug and asked them to “pay it forward.” How many of these situations have we found ourselves in and turned away for one reason or another?  Jesus message to love our neighbor is a message to heal others through acts of kindness. Healing is what our neighborhoods, parishes, communities, state and country need at this time. Imagine what the evening news would be like if kindness, mercy and compassion were the headlines.

Linda Schork is a theology teacher at Saint Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Romans 7:18-25a
Luke 12:54-59

Reflection:

Lord, it is not easy to accept that I don’t understand something.  I mean, there are vast tracts of brilliant interpretations from timeless theologians who attempt to explain every word of the bible, especially the words of Christ.  But really, I struggle.  Today’s gospel, for instance…

As Christ’s audience subsisted through agriculture or harvesting from the sea, it would be more than logical that they would understand the signs of coming weather… If clouds rise in the West then showers could be expected, because the sea is that direction from Jerusalem.   Likewise, a Southern wind would dictate hot weather coming because South of Jerusalem lay the vast, dry deserts.

But why does that mean that You expected them to be able to ascertain the signs of both your coming and that of the final days? 

Each generation of mankind feels superior intellectually to the generations before their time because we stand on the shoulders of those who went before us who shared their gained knowledge which we then built upon.  One may smugly assume that we have two thousand years of knowledge, built up like Lego blocks, on which we stand to understand and see the signs You spoke of more clearly.

I think I must be missing quite a few of those knowledge blocks.    The people you spoke to, including your disciples, didn’t understand and all these centuries later, neither do I.  I know that real understanding is a journey, in which that journey is just as important as the destination.  So, I l don’t look for signs that point to the end of times but for signs that point out the right path.  It is your light on my path that I pray for today, for You are the way, the truth, and the light. 

I figure if I can stay on the path, then I don’t need to worry about the final days, the end of times, Your final coming.   The Path will get me where I need to be. 

Ray Alonzo is the father of three children, grandfather of two, and husband to Jan for over 45 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:

Romans 6:19-23
Luke 12:49-53

Reflection:

Jesus says to his disciples in today’s gospel from Luke (12:49-53):

“I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing!

Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division.

Most of us would prefer to hear Jesus encourage us to “love one another,” or “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart… For my yoke is easy.” This reference to fire and division sounds so discordant to us. Many of us prefer a “kumbaya” gospel to this one.

I recently saw a quote attributed to Pope Francis: “Pray for the hungry. Then feed them. That’s how prayer works.” We often hear politicians say they will pray for victims of gun violence. We read about the ravages of war and prayers for peace. But then what? What do we actually do about it?

Remember the lyrics from the 1960s song, And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love. Yeah, they’ll know we are Christians by our love? In his Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius of Loyola reminds the one making the retreat that “love is shown more in deeds than in words.”

Living gospel values can be unsettling. Maybe they ought to be unsettling. Those values can often clash with our political views or the privilege we have as Americans or enjoying a comfortable socio-economic status. In my experience, though, moments of discomfort are when growth begins. The discomfort can be a symptom of my needing to push beyond, to learn more, to explore new ideas, and reassess my assumed worldview. Let’s all be a bit more uncomfortable and see it as an invitation to grow in faith.

Robert Hotz is a consultant with American City Bureau, Inc. and was the Director of The Passion of Christ: The Love That Compels Campaign for Holy Cross Province.

Scripture:

Romans 6:12-18
Luke 12:39-48

Reflection:

Even though it is not explicitly mentioned, I see both of our readings for today looking at the implications of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In our reading from Romans, St. Paul speaks to his brother and sister Christians about how, in Christ, they are “not under the law but under grace.” And then he speaks to a very human response to this: “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Of course not!”

I think we would be tempted to “sin because we are not under the law but under grace” if our relationship to Jesus was merely a legalistic one, and we were only trying to push the “legal” boundaries of what we could or could not do. But if we were in a personal relationship with Jesus, and we truly grew to love Him, why would we consider abusing the relationship in that way? To me, thinking in that way is an abuse of a loving relationship, just as it would be between two human beings. We don’t take our loved ones for granted in that way, do we?

I think Jesus says something similar to His disciples when He uses an image of a master of a house and a thief coming to break in to talk about being prepared for when the “Son of Man will come.” When Peter asks if this is meant for them (the apostles) or for everyone, Jesus uses another image: that of a “faithful and prudent steward” who is found doing his duty when the master arrives. He also says: “But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the manservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely…” Again, if that unfaithful servant had a loving relationship with his master, he would not have been unfaithful.

If we get away from a legalistic or transactional kind of relationship and instead accept God’s love and seek to love God in return, we will be willing to be faithful servants. And when we do turn away from God, it will not take much for us to turn back. May we be willing to enter into that kind of relationship with God in Jesus Christ.

Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P., is the local superior of the Passionist Community in Birmingham, Alabama. 

Scripture:

Romans 5:12, 15b, 17-19, 20b-21
Luke 12:35-38

Reflection:

Welcoming Jesus

A new word in our modern English is “woke”.   It means a person is awake but with an extreme connotation to left wing philosophy.   I love the word “woke” but not the strong modern nuance!  The Gospel today beautifully shows us we must stay awake to the coming of Jesus!  Jesus was two thousand years ahead of our modern implication of this word,“woke”!  We are chosen “woke” people that Christ is everything in our lives!

In the Gospels Jesus tells us many times with different words to stay awake to His coming!  “Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast” Lk 12:36) The word in the original Greek text for wait is prosdechomai which means a lot more than waiting!  The biblical word comes from “dexomai” whichmeans to welcome.  It adds the preposition “pro” to welcome which means a very strong attitude and emphasis of yearning or longing.    For example, Jesus is criticized by the Pharisees and the scribes: “This man welcomes (prosdechomai) sinners and eats with them.” Lk 15:2   He receives them with understanding and deep love as a doctor to save people afflicted with the deadly cancer of sin.

In today’s Gospel we are to be like people with an intense loving expectation of the coming of Jesus’ A beautiful example of this in Lk 2:26’  “Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting (prosdechomai) for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.”  Simeon was among the first “woke” ones like the shepherds and Magi to receive Jesus in His arms like Mary and Joseph!

We must welcome Jesus “like men who are waiting prosdechomaifor their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks” (Lk 12:35) ! Karl Rahner beautifully expresses welcoming Jesus: “We’re actually, really, dealing with Jesus only when we throw our arms around Him and realize right down to the bottom of our being that this is something we can still do today.”

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

Scripture:

Isaiah 45:1, 4-6
1 Thessalonians 1:1-5b
Matthew 22:15-21

Reflection:

In our Gospel reading for Sunday (Matthew 22:15-21), the Pharisees, who have been trying to trap Jesus into saying something that would get Him into trouble, come up with a question they just know will work. They start out with some insincere flattery, and then ask Jesus, “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” It is an ingenious trap, because no matter how Jesus answers the question, somebody will get offended or angry, or take some action against Him.

But Jesus knows they are trying to trap Him. So, He doesn’t really answer the question. Instead, He asks them to produce a coin that pays the tax, and asks them, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” They reply, “Caesar’s.” And He replies, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”

I think it is fair to say that throughout the centuries, Christians have grappled with Jesus’ words. I think it is because Jesus seems to be challenging us to think about where our loyalties lie, or even ask the question from an old protest song, “Whose side are you on?”

In the U.S., and many other places, we uphold the value of loyalty to one’s country. When we see servicemen and women or veterans, we often say, rightfully so, “Thank you for your service.” Very often we see loyalty to our country and loyalty to God as almost the same thing.

But in these divided times, it seems to me that we are tempted to put so much a value on loyalty to our group, our “tribe,” our political party or political leanings, even our ethnic group, or our church, that we demonize and dehumanize those who are “other.” It’s almost as if we define ourselves by those whom we put ourselves against. We see ourselves as righteous, while we see “them,” (whoever they are) as the ones who are unrighteous and underserving of anything good. We know that throughout history there have been attempts at genocide, when this perspective is carried out to its logical and final conclusion. The question for us is does our loyalty to our group demand that we disregard God’s commandment to love? If so, are we repaying to God what belongs to God?

In His encounter with the Canaanite woman, which we heard a couple of months ago (Matthew 15:21-28), Jesus demonstrates loyalty to the people of Israel: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But He did not let that desire to save His people stop Him from helping the woman who was not of the house of Israel.

It seems to me that loving as Jesus loves, even to the point of showing mercy, even to the point of loving one’s enemies, is repaying to God what belongs to God. Just as Jesus continued to elude the traps the Pharisees laid for Him, may we avoid the traps of hatred and fear, and by God’s grace, put our trust in the love that God has for us and the world and repay that love by loving others.

Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P., is the local superior of the Passionist Community in Birmingham, Alabama. 

Scripture:

Romans 4:13, 16-18
Luke 12; 8-12

Reflection:

He believed, hoping against hope…  –Romans 4:18

Have you ever had days where nothing was going in your favor.  Things go from bad to worse.  Maybe you lost your job or received an unfavorable diagnosis, or your spouse asks you for a divorce.  In these circumstances how does one have hope and cope?  At these times God seems so far way or silent. And yet God is present within us even amidst the crisis. God never stops caring and loving us.  It is sometimes challenging for me to really believe that and act on that faith belief. 

St. Paul of the Cross, Founder of the Passionist Congregation encourages us to  “Walk in faith. The true way of holiness is the way of faith. He who walks in pure faith abandons himself into the hands of God, as a child in its mother’s arms.” (Summary of Christian Holiness in the words of Saint Paul of the Cross, Google)

When sad times or bad times occur and they will, take a few deep breathes and visualize putting your hands into the hands of God.  Image putting your hands into the hands of God just as when you were a child, you put your hands into your mother’s or father’s hands or arms. St. Paul of  the Cross tells us in the tough times to walk in faith that God never ceases to love us.  It seems that during these times God needs me “to have a little faith to hold on to the hope that all will be well” and God’s unending love will see us through. (Living Faith, Saturday, October 21, 2023, Vivian Amu, “Hold on To Hope”)

Loving God, when the times get tough and my faith is wavering, enable me to have a little faith and visualize putting my hands into your hands and being surrounded by your love.

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