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Scripture:

1 Kings 21:17-29
Matthew 5:43-48

Reflection:

So be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48

One evening, the Community of Passionist Partners of San Antonio gathered to celebrate a Mass at Casa Pasionista Guadalupe, our residence here in San Antonio. Our theme for that Mass was forgiveness. Our custom is to share our experiences in light of our faith during the homily time. I don’t remember the Gospel we used for that Mass, but I do remember one of the reflections given at that Mass. In a hushed voice, someone in our group told us about the day his father was murdered a long time ago in another country. He comes from a large family. They lived on a ranch. After the shock wore off, the mother called the family together and made them promise on their father’s blood that they would not seek revenge. It was then, he said, that he began to understand the challenge of the commandment so clearly stated by Jesus in today’s Gospel, "You have heard that it was said: You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father." A few lines later, Jesus continues: "So be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking that the perfection that Jesus is talking about is doing things perfectly. But Jesus says: "Be perfect" and not "Do things perfectly". Being perfect is about loving our neighbors and our enemies, forgiving those who wrong us, accepting the gestures of reconciliation when offered to us, among other things. As we know, this passage comes at the end of the "Sermon on the Mount" which begins with the Beatitudes. This sermon is about changing our way of life. It is about conversion. It is about becoming a new person in the image of our Loving God. So, Jesus was not talking about perfection as doing things perfectly. Rather Jesus was saying that being perfect is being like God, a God who is loving, compassionate, just, merciful, forgiving.

Our behavior needs to flow from a new understanding of who God is, from a heart that is filled with love for God and for the other no matter how rude and mean they are and from a commitment to doing whatever it takes to be faithful, in good times and in bad, whether we are alone or with others.

We become perfect when we acknowledge that it is impossible to be perfect on our own. But with God, everything is possible. This is the moment that we realize God is asking us to live a mystery: Being perfect is really about being dependent upon God.

The vast majority of us have not had to face a violent past. But we all have had to face times in our lives when we had to choose between anger and composure, vengeance and forgiveness, retribution or reconciliation. It is faith in a God who loves, a God who forgives, a God who is compassionate, a God of mercy that allows us to become perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect.

 

Fr. Clemente Barron, C.P. is a member of the General Council of the Passionist Congregation and is stationed in Rome. 

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

Scripture:

Acts 12: 1-11,
2 Timothy 4: 6-8, 17-18
Matthew 16: 13-19

Reflection:

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Apostles.  Peter and Paul truly are two of the great leaders in the history of our faith community.  Peter and Paul obviously were gifted by God and then were called to share their gifts through their healing and preaching.  Yet even though they were leaders, they were humble and kept their focus on Jesus, not on themselves.  Today is an appropriate day to reflect on Christian leadership.

However my initial reflections are troubling.  Leadership in our faith community now seems to me to be too often focused on investigations, power brokering, needless attacks, politics and litmus tests for orthodoxy.  I find myself questioning the wisdom of those in leadership positions.  Yet at the same time I recognize how difficult and challenging leadership in our age can be and how different our times are from the times of Peter and Paul.  At the end of the day I find myself wondering what type of leadership I am looking for from those who are in authority.

Perhaps the words of Joan Chittister from her book "The Monastery of the Heart" can assist me in my search. 

"The leader must maintain the integrity of the community and encourage it to be what it is meant to be: a sign of the world to come, a bringer of peace, a haven for the homeless, the heart of the temple on the streets of the city, a light in the dark to those who seek peace and justice and human community…Identifying and choosing good leaders is of the essence of community building.  We will become what we choose."

I can’t always choose my leaders.  I can choose which leaders to follow.  I also can pray for and encourage the leaders I am given to keep their focus on Jesus and the poor, oppressed and powerless of this world.  As a Passionist I want to stand at the foot of the Cross with those who suffer and also ask those in leadership within the Church to stand with us there, focused on God’s message of love in Christ Crucified.

 

Terry McDevitt, Ph.D. is a member of our Passionist Family who volunteers at the Passionist Assisted Living Community in Louisville, Kentucky.

Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga 

Scripture:

Sirach 48:1-14
Matthew 6:7-15

Reflection:

Sirach recalls the memory of Elijah, a great prophet in ancient Israel.   He is one of the non-writing prophets, whose words have come down to us through others, such as, in this case, the wisdom figure, Sirach.  Elijah is the greatest of the non-writing prophets.

As we listen to Sirach’s recollection of him today, we understand why.   Elijah was a prophet whose ministry of the word went to the quick and cut to the chase.   He minced no words with those whom he addressed, usually those he was chastising.  Many of these were in positions of power.  But Elijah showed no fear.

He illustrates the role, and the advantage, of oral tradition in God’s revelation of Himself to us.  Were it not for the oral tradition that preserved the prophetic ministry of Elijah, Sirach would have had no source on which to fall back in recalling, and transmitting, Elijah’s testimony.  This strikes a chord in our contemporary society, enriched as we are by electronic media such as FaceBook and Twitter, which elevate the written word to a new level.  And yet some among us have second thoughts about this evolutionary development, realizing how vulnerable the written word in electronic format leaves us before those intent on doing us harm.   Leaving a trail of our words, whether paper or electronic, is not an unmixed blessing.   Perhaps Elijah early on realized this.

Elijah, in Sirach’s version of his legacy, kept his message short and to the point, and is much in keeping with today’s gospel from St. Matthew, as he records an instruction from the Lord Jesus on how to pray. 

We are not to babble when we pray, so as to gain a hearing before our heavenly Father.   Our prayer is to be short and sweet, first recognizing and acknowledging God, especially for His work among us, then listing our basic needs: bread, forgiveness, protection and final rescue or deliverance.

This kind of prayer seems to be in keeping with what Elijah would have advised us, if we had approached him: something lean and clean.    It counters the common wisdom that the longer we pray, the better our prayer.  It fits the pattern of the saint whose memorial we keep today, St.  Aloysius Gonzaga, the young Jesuit  scholastic  who died at any early age, prior to his  ordination, and whose life message to us is that a short life, brief and simple, is more than adequate to do what pleases God and serves our best interests.

 

Fr. Sebastian MacDonald, C.P. is a member of the Passionist formation community at Catholic Theological Union, Chicago. 

Scripture:

2 Kings 2:1, 6-14
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Reflection:

We live in a culture – in a world actually – where not talking about what someone/ somewhere is doing is nearly impossible! On the upside, when something good or positive happens and the media gets a hold of it, masses of people have their awareness tweaked and may want to roll up their sleeves and get involved.  

Today’s Gospel is cautioning against a very specific kind of public awareness, however, the kind that says, "Look at me while I’m doing something good or taking a position that is ‘righteous.’ Aren’t I great or holy or (fill in the blank)?"  We are being asked to avoid what is basically narcissistic behavior; the narcissism that elevates self over God.

There is a compelling image in today’s reading: But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. It’s difficult to forego public attention or praise! My ego loves it; maybe yours does, too. To let go of the world and the intoxicating effects of its regard in order to be formed in a quieter and deeper way is a choice based in humility but is also grounded in trust and relationship.

We have an "inner room" where God resides, and it is this loving connection that forms us as spiritual beings. The good we may engender flows from that intimacy and reflects back the image of God, not us.  Certainly the story of Elijah being taken to heaven in the first reading is not about Elijah’s power, but God’s. And Elisha’s request to receive a double portion of Elijah’s spirit is not so he can be more holy or powerful, but so that he can carry on in Elijah’s place doing the work that God commands.

Oprah, Facebook, the Nightly News: they have their place. But they do not create goodness or good people. God does; in God’s time, in God’s way.

 

Nancy Nickel is the former director of communications at the Passionist Development Office in Chicago.

Scripture:

Ezekiel 17:22-24
2 Corinthians 5:6-10
Mark 4:26-34

Reflection:

The readings this Sunday speak to the growth of the Kingdom of God through the idea of trees and plants. From the tiny mustard seed to the Cedar of Lebanon we are given earthly examples that give us solid ground to stand on. As the Gospel reading points out today, Jesus spoke to the people of that time and continues to reach us through scripture with parables and examples. "With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it." Mk 4:33

Cedar trees are prevalent in the bible and we see them twice in today’s readings.

 I, too,will take from the crest of the cedar…It shall put forth branches and bear fruit and become a majestic cedar. Ez 17:22-23.

The just one shall flourish like the palm tree, like a cedar of Lebanon shall he grow. Ps 92:13-14.

Today, these cedars of Lebanon can still be found, some standing as high as 300 feet! These trees represent strength, majesty, stability and security, and it is no mystery why they were used by the great kingdoms to build and sustain.

How can we stand as tall as cedar trees daily? As I continue on my faith journey, I encounter many more stories about faithful men and women who lived and died for their faith. These martyrs stood and as members of the church triumphant continue to stand tall for the faith and Church in their own unique way. Blessed Niceforo of Jesus and Mary (Diez Tejerina) and his 25 martyr companions were all members of the Passionist Community of Daimiel. Their martyrdom took place against the background of the strong anti-clerical climate that was sweeping Spain during the time of the Spanish Civil War. Blessed Niceforo even called this their own "Gesthemene" because they knew what was to come. These men did not run or hide from their persecutors but faced them head on. Even the soldiers admitted that some of them died with the crucifix in their hands and crying out ‘May Christ the King Live! (Mercurio, Roger, 1991. The Passionists).

When I read these stories, I think to myself "If I could just have an ounce of that passion and courage."  We already all posses that passion and it has been instilled in our souls. God has implanted us with this spirit and it has the ability to grow and live. "It is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and through it all the seed would sprout and grow."Mk 4:26-27

Just as the tender shoot from the cedar of Lebanon possess the great qualities to become majestic and strong, we also are able to become and build up the kingdom of God.

While we are to be the great glory that God has called us to be, we are not to become proud in ourselves, but proud of our faith and to encourage that same growth around us. To lift up the lowly of spirit, mind and heart so that each person can flourish, and become strong in their faith. Even the smallest of all the seeds can sprout and become majestic. It is like a mustard seed that , when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown it springs up and becomes the largest of plants. Mk 4: 31-32

As we learn to become this great cedar, we aspire to be like our Creator, from which we came. Like growing children who are eager to please their parent, so we are to our Father. May we always strive to please Him and not solely ourselves. We are called to be strong and faithful, and as St. Paul says in the second reading "We are always courageous…for we walk by faith, not by sight." 2 Cor 5:6-7

Let us be like these trees, bearing fruit for the kingdom of God, encouraging growth around us, standing tall and securing a future for the Church.

 

Kim Garcia is the Pastoral Associate at Holy Name Retreat Center in Houston, Texas.

 

The Immaculate Heart
of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Scripture: 

1 Kings 19:19-21
Luke 2:41-51

 

Reflection:

The Letting Go and Letting God of Our God-Given Call to Serve

Sometimes I hear young men and women, who financially sustain their families, say how difficult it is for them to let go of things that hold them back from pursuing their vocation to consecrated life and/ or priesthood, and yet they express their willingness to let God be their guiding light and companion throughout their discerning journey.  Perhaps most, if not all, of us who are at the service of God and the Church have found ourselves in such situation discerning the way of life we are to live our faith. 

Today’s memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary indeed invites us to reflect on the "letting go" and "letting God" of our listening and responding to God’s call to serve, which entails an act of total trust in and self-surrender to God’s will and providence.  For the readings show us that, the more we trust in God, the more we are to surrender ourselves to God’s loving care and salvific will by both admitting and letting go of our own personal agendas, fears, doubts, refusals and unnecessary material possessions.  We may thus be able to say with the psalmist: "You are my inheritance, O Lord. . . for in you I take refuge. . . and my soul rejoices, my body, too, abides in confidence."

The first reading gives us a clearer notion of the human trust in and self-surrender to God’s will and providence by showing us how the prophets were given the divine capacity of conveying, interpreting, and responding to God’s call to serve in and through words, behaviors, aptitudes, and gestures. For Elisha’s response to Elijah’s invitation to follow in his footsteps proves his determination to serve the Lord and his people without reservation and returning to his past life.  No wonder he sacrifices "the yoke of oxen" and uses "the plowing equipment," which are the source of his livelihood, to serve his people.

The gospel also shows us Jesus’ obedient commitment to his heavenly Father’s affairs and his earthly parents’ care.  For Mary and Joseph were faithfully committed to bringing about God’s saving plan by taking good care of God’s only begotten Son, although Mary was to keep in "her heart" the unfolding, mysterious events of such divine plan.  We are therefore invited to let go of everything that hinders the fulfillment of God’s saving plan in our lives and let God reveal it in and through our unreserved and total commitment to our call to serve God and God’s people.    

 

Fr. Alfredo Ocampo, C.P. preaches and is a member of the Passionist Community in Houston, Texas.

 

Scripture:

1 Kings 17:7-16
Matthew 5:13-16

 

 

 

Reflection:

"You are the light of the world." – Matthew 5:14

Thomas Merton had a sudden insight on the corner of 4^th and Walnut Streets in Louisville, Kentucky. He was stunned with a deep realization that every person walking on the street was "shining like the sun."

Each of us has an inner radiance of Spirit. Yet few of us realize it. We so often seek God in the distant and beyond. Generally we imagine God looking down upon us from heaven. Thomas Berry makes the observation that this identification of the Divine as transcendent to the natural world negates the natural world as the place where we can meet God.

In a lecture to his novices, Thomas Merton asserted: "Men, before you can have a spiritual life, you’ve gotta have a life!" According to Merton, the spiritual life is not about scrambling toward another realm of existence or bypassing what is at hand. Similarly, Meister Eckhart put forth the proposal: "If the soul could have known God without the world, the world would never have been created." Both mystics are telling us to stop fighting with reality and do something more difficult – embrace the life we have. Reality, including one’s own being, radiates the divine.

 

Fr. Joe Mitchell, CP is the director of the Passionist Earth & Spirit Center in Louisville, Kentucky. See his website: http://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/

Memorial of St. Barnabas, Apostle 

Scripture:

Acts 11:21b-26; 13:1-3
Matthew 5:1-12

Reflection:

Today, we celebrate the Memorial of St. Barnabas.  His name was actually Joseph, but Barnabas – the Son of Encouragement – is the nickname the Apostles gave him.  It’s a great nickname.  His warmth and way of bringing out the best in others was infectious.  That’s why he was tagged with that name.  But I think I might have given Barnabas a different nickname – The Body-Builder.  I don’t mean the kind you find in gyms and exercise workout rooms.  I mean a Church Body-Builder.

The Apostles saw this virtue in him.  Antioch, 200 miles from Jerusalem, was a fledgling community.  They may have felt forgotten.  They needed help.  So the Apostles sent Barnabas.  What happened next was this:

"When he arrived and saw the grace of God,
he rejoiced and encouraged them all
to remain faithful to the Lord in firmness of heart,
for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith.
And a large number of people was added to the Lord."

That’s body-building.

Soon after, Barnabas went to Tarsus "to look for Saul."  This is the Saul whom the disciples feared because of his fierce persecution of them.  But Barnabas, unlike the others, discerned something special in Saul, discerned his deep conversion. It was Barnabas who introduced Paul, to the Church and to the world.  That’s body-building.

A young man, John Mark, later accompanied Paul and Barnabas on their missionary journey, but his fears got the better of him.  He cut short his journey and returned home.  Paul rejected Mark for the next missionary journey, but not Barnabas.  Where Paul saw only temerity in Mark, Barnabas saw great potential.  He took the young man and together they embarked on their own missionary journey, one that would be life-changing for Mark.  That’s body-building.

But soon after, Barnabas would recede into the background.  At first, Acts referred to "Barnabas and Paul."  But later, it became "Paul and Barnabas."  And unlike Mark, his more famous protégé, Barnabas wrote no Gospel.  This is typical of Body-Builders.  They see great potential in others and accept them, even though it may involve risk.  They rejoice in the success of others.  They don’t mind working behind the scenes.  In today’s Gospel, Jesus challenges us with the Beatitudes.  Many may say they’re impossible to fulfill.  Not Barnabas, not the Body-Builders.

We each need a Body-Builder to help us develop our spiritual muscles, especially when we feel forgotten, rejected and fearful.  But having been built up, we too are then called to be Body-Builders for others, to encourage, speak a kind word and lift up spirits.  That’s what it means to be Church.  That’s Body-Building.

 

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