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Scripture:

1 Kings 18:20-39
Matthew 5:17-19

Reflection:

The message was simple for Elijah the prophet.  There is Just One God, more powerful than any forces of this world, who is at work fashioning a New People of faith.  But Elijah was a lone voice against some 450 prophets aligned with as many alien gods.  Today’s delightful story of how Elijah, with God’s help, of course, totally vanquished his opposition must have been embellished and enjoyed at thousands of campfire gatherings in those ancient biblical days.

In today’s Gospel selection from St. Matthew, Jesus associates himself with the same simple message of all those authentic prophets before him.  The God whom we worship is the same God, the Almighty One who is still busy building a nation of believers.   Our life with God is indeed a simple and straightforward affair.  Some people try to make religion very complicated.  For many, superstition and idolatry are not far away.  The idols today, as in the time of Elijah and in the time of Jesus are many.  But the call to simple fidelity is the same.

I am reminded of a hymn that has made its way into many of our parish Liturgical collections. “Simple Gifts” was written by Elder Joseph while he was at the Shaker community in Alfred, Maine in 1848. The song was largely unknown outside of Shaker communities until it became world famous thanks to its use in Aaron Copland’s ‘s score for Martha Graham’s ballet Appalachian Spring, first performed in 1944. These are the lyrics to his one-verse song:

‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free,
‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain’d,
To bow and to bend we shan’t be asham’d,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.

In the spirit of today’s Scripture readings, we might listen to this hymn in our imaginations now and let it be the background music for the rest of this day.

 

Fr. Jim Strommer, C.P. is a member of the Provincial Council and resides in Citrus Heights, California.

Scripture:

1 Kings 17:1-6
Matthew 5:1-12

Reflection:

 

Opening and Using the Gifts of the Spirit

Our words may not be sufficient, but the spirit will give us words; he will make known to us all that Jesus has taught us, and will enable us to do the things that Jesus tells us are even greater than what he has done. The Spirit will be companion, advocate; source of life and joy.

The Beatitudes of Matthew teach us to live every day as if we possess the fulfillment of the kingdom of heaven. We can live comforted, gentle when daily life calls us to be hard, merciful and with a vision of God, satisfied and happy. But still those things that take away our living of the ‘blessings’ of the Beatitudes are also at work among us. But we can draw upon Jesus victory and the fullness of the Kingdom for our strength to try and live the Kingdom now, and to try to make the Kingdom present as Jesus did. As we hear this familiar gospel of the Beatitudes proclaimed today following the Pentecost celebration, we can clearly connect the Spirit who is with us always, as our  helper and guide to draw the strength of the Kingdom into daily life.

The Old Testament reading from the First Book of Kings introduces one of the most important figures of the Old Testament: the prophet Elijah, and with him some great stories! He will uphold the worship of the God of Israel against the worship of Baal; as a one-man army he takes on the wicked Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, who introduces this worship. Elijah, as a prophet is called to listen to God’s word. But he will also be taught how to do that. He is a victorious warrior but he also gives up and asks to die, a request God dismisses when he reminds Elijah that he did not do all that he did just by his own talent! ‘Go back to work, Elijah, and stop complaining (even though an army is chasing you) you work for me’. And Elijah is a man of prayer, the dialogue type between God and himself, one that speaks of injustice, the poor, failure, endurance over the long haul, intimacy and surrender. God’s voice comes to us in all of these situations of live also, we can ask the Holy Spirit to manifest the gifts we are given so we can open and use them as we need them in these situations of daily life.

Fr. William Murphy, CP is the pastor of Immaculate Conception parish in Jamaica, New York.

Scripture:

James 5:13-20
Mark 10:13-16

Reflection:

“Then he embraced the children and blessed them, placing his hands on them.” Mark 10:16

Both readings and the responsorial psalm today are about praying. This seems very fitting to me as we are invited and encouraged to deepen our prayer lives. I was especially drawn to the last line of the gospel today because I love the idea of laying hands on our children and blessing them.

When our kids were little, we started doing that after we attended a family church camp. At camp we were taught to make the sign of the cross on the child’s forehead, lay our hands on their head, and then pray a simple prayer for them. We practiced at camp, on adults as well as children, and it is still one of my favorite experiences… having someone lay their hands on my head and pray for me!

You can’t bless your children too much! Just the power of touch has been studied, and affirmed. What a wonderful way to remind your kids that God is with them and that you love them no matter what! We prayed over our children through the years when they were sick or when they had something big coming up at school. When they got to high school, we prayed with them for tests, and whenever they were driving anywhere. We even blessed the van they drove back and forth to school and activities.

Because the Lord has no hands now on earth except ours, I truly believe that when we bless someone in this way, the Lord is touching them through our hands. We can pray for anyone, not just children, and be an instrument to let the Lord bless others through us. What a privilege we have to pray for one another. May we be willing to let the Lord use us in this way whenever we have the opportunity. Just do it!

Janice Carleton and her husband Jim live in Portland, OR and partner with Passionist Fr. Cedric Pisegna in Fr. Cedric Ministries. She is the mother of 4 grown children and grandmother of 6. Janice also leads women’s retreats and recently wrote her first book: God Speaks to Ordinary People – Like You and Me. Visit Janice’s website at http://www.janicecarleton.com/ or email her at [email protected].

Scripture:

Acts 22:30; 23:6-11
John 17:20-26

Reflection:

No doubt the Chief Priests and whole Sanhedrin were excited to have a chance to get Paul condemned by Roman authority but surely they must have also been a bit nervous.  After all, the top Roman military commander of their area was personally bringing Paul before them to hear their complaint.  And, the Pharisees and Sadducees had no great love for Roman authority.  But, now was their chance to get Paul condemned and hopefully executed.  So they were ready.

Paul, too, was ready.  He knew that while they were united in their desire to get him condemned, their unity was a fragile thing because there were many other issues about which they vigorously disagreed.  So, as soon as he stood before their condemning eyes, he launched his plan.  “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees; I am on trial for hope in the resurrection of the dead.”  Resurrection of the dead was a belief firmly held by the Pharisees but hotly denied by the Sadducees.  So the in-fighting began.

The argument became so heated that the military commander grew fearful for Paul’s life so had his troops rescue Paul from the room and bring him to safety, leaving the mayhem in the Sanhedrin going full blast.

Every time I read this account of Paul’s quick thinking, it reminds me of the many internal disagreements we experience in the Church.  We have our factions and our arguments about sometimes important but often enough not essential issues.  We condemn those who don’t agree with us and sometimes treat them with disrespect and even contempt.  We wrap ourselves in our convictions and are confident that those who don’t share our every belief are unworthy.

Paul was a man of deep conviction and strong beliefs.  Yet, he could acknowledge that he had been wrong in his beliefs about Jesus and he could embrace those he had once condemned.  At first he was convinced that the followers of Jesus were heretics and should be condemned, even to death.  After his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus, he realized that Christ was the fulfillment of God’s revelation.  And that was just the beginning of the changes in his life.  He continued to grow in his understanding, changing his views on the law, moving beyond the Jewish community to the Gentiles, and recognizing in the sufferings and death of Christ the path to true life for all believers.  Paul is a remarkable example of someone with strong faith who could still really listen to the voice of God coming to him through the people in his life.

We are challenged everyday to give an account of our faith.  Unlike the Pharisees and Sadducees, we must not get caught up in internal squabbles and self-righteous condemnations of others, but give visible witness to God’s love for all peoples.   May God give us a loving heart.

 

Fr. Michael Higgins, C.P. is the director of Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.

Scripture:

Acts 7:55-60
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20
John 17:20-26
Reflection:

Today the church celebrates the Ascension of Jesus into heaven. The Ascension of Jesus is part of the fulfillment of the promises He gives to His disciples. During the Easter season we have heard Jesus telling His disciples that He has return to the Father, and then the Holy Spirit will come to them. The Ascension, then, is another point in salvation history, and another demonstration of God’s faithfulness.

As I was reflecting on Jesus’ Ascension, I found myself thinking about the “ascension” we hope to make. We don’t expect to ascend to heaven as Jesus did. But we do hope that when we leave this earth, we will be in heaven with Him.

What about between now and then? In a way, we are invited to make an “ascension” in our life now. We are called to come closer to God. We are called to be more faithful disciples of Christ. We are called to “ascend” to holiness.

This kind of ascension is not done just by looking up toward heaven. As the apostles are still looking up as Jesus leaves their sight (Acts 1:11), two angels say to them, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?” To ascend to holiness, it is true that we need to be mindful of the “things of heaven.” But we need to look at what is going on in the world with our brothers and sisters and indeed with all of creation, and respond with the love of Jesus Christ.

We also know that ascension to holiness does not happen in one, uninterrupted, straight line of spiritual progress. There can be obstacles, setbacks, and surprises. Recognizing this has led me to reflect on how important the Easter season is. During Lent, we may ask ourselves why we find ourselves bringing the same issues to God every year. Although it may look like we’re traveling in circles, dealing with the same things, what we hope to be doing is actually travel in a spiral, in which we may deal with the same issues that turn us away from God, but on an ever deeper level. And so we need Lent to come around every year.

Perhaps we could look at Easter the same way. Every year, we come to the hope, joy and peace of Easter, but hopefully on an ever deeper level. Hopefully we come more and more in touch with the truth of Easter, and the victory of life and love over sin and death. And so we need Easter to come around every year as well.

To ascend to holiness involves trust in the love that God has for us in Jesus Christ. As it says in our second reading from the letter to the Hebrews (9:24-28, 10:9-23), “… let us approach with a sincere heart and in absolute trust, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope, for he who made the promise is trustworthy.”

To ascend to holiness involves a willingness to let go of whatever takes us away from God. Before Jesus ascends to heaven, the apostles ask Him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” It seems that they were still hanging on to the idea of Jesus as a worldly king, even with all that had happened. Sometimes we hang on to worldly ideas about Christ, even when we know what Jesus did for us on the Cross, and that we have the promise of everlasting life in His Resurrection!

To ascend to holiness also involves reaching outside of ourselves. We are not to be only concerned with our ascent, but the ascent of others as well. We are called to lift others up, as we have been lifted up. Too many people in our world are struggling just to ascend to survival. Others are struggling to ascend above despair and anxiety. Still others are trying to ascend to sobriety. We are called to share the hope and joy, and most importantly, the love that Easter shows us. Might we even say that our ascent is tied up with the ascent of others? What kind of a world would we have if we acted on that belief? Would that be too much to hope for? Not for an Easter people!

Happy Mother’s Day!

 

Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P. is on staff at St. Paul of the Cross Retreat and Conference Center, Detroit, Michigan. 

Scripture:

Acts 16:1-10
John 15:18-21

 

Reflection:

Keeping the Word

“If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. “ John 15:29

A frequent exhortation in the Gospels is “to keep the word”.   The word in Greek is a lot more nuanced than keep.  In the original language of the New Testament the word is terao which has the connotation of guard or treasure.    We should prize God’s words to us.   Mary held the words of the angels in her heart that first Christmas.  “But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” Luke 2:19

The Library of Congress holds an estimated twenty million books and serial volumes. The most valuable book in whole collection is the Gutenberg Bible.  The price of a complete copy today is estimated at $25-35 million.  Individual leaves now sell for $20,000-$100,000,   For us Christians the Bible is precious and beyond value not because of its’ historical and cultural value, but because it contains the word of God.  It’s message is full of the power and intimacy of His word.

The word is prized for its power.   “For He spoke, and creation was done;

He commanded, and it stood fast.” Ps 33:9  We are assured that the word “is living and active,” Heb 4:12  When we open our minds and hearts to listen to God’s word in SS we are exposed to the same  power that called  a rotting corpse out of the grave! “Lazarus come here!”

This is why the Church has always held in extreme reverence the place of Scripture in both its devotional and its liturgical life.

God’s word has not only God’s immense power behind it but it is an extension of his very self.  The closest we can get to each other is by communication.  God has an immense investment in us when He speaks to us.   He shares what is deepest in His heart and mind with us and enables us to respond to Him from our minds and hearts.   When we are sincere in our desire to be friends with Christ, one of first places to which we turn to a God who is intensely concerned to speak to us!

One of the amazing lines in Scripture is when Jesus said: “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”  Lk 8:21   Communication by listening to the word brings us to a wonderful family intimacy with Christ!   This family inclusion goes right into the Father’s bosom.  “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Jh 14:23

 

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

Scripture:

Acts 12:24-13:5a
John 12:44-50

Reflection:

And Jesus cried out and said, “I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.”   John 12:44   Jesus shouts that He is the light of the world!   In this scream heard around the world Jesus, the faithful witness, loudly proclaims that the biosphere will be in a frightful deadening  darkness without Him.   The original word for shout or yell in the Greek New Testament is krazo.   It means to yell with the possible implication of the unpleasant nature of the sound-‘to shout, to scream.’

Jesus is bold in proclaiming the truth as were His early followers.  “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” Act 4:13  Boldness is used for the Greek word parrēsia which means with all (pan) speech (reo).  We might translate it “say all”.

Is it possible that we Christians are too timid to speak openly about Christ?  Is there too much of a false tolerance which comes from a lack of faith and convictions?   Are we in reality more influenced by fear of rejection than by a genuine search for truth.  True tolerance comes from a deep respect of others and of the truth, not from an anxiety of being disparaged by others for telling the truth.  Having an open mind hopefully does not mean that our brains fall out!

G. K. Chesterton puts it so well when he observed: “Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.”    I guess truth is risky.  It separates us from the crowd.  We are tempted to seek  safety in an anonymous  state!   “Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.” John 12:42

 

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

Scripture:

Acts 9:31-42
John 6:60-69

Reflection:

An article in the local newspaper a few years ago detailed the case of a young, healthy father of three who succumbed to a particularly nasty case of H1N1 flu. He was put into a medically induced coma, and three times the doctors told his wife to gather the family because they didn’t think he would survive the night. In the end, he not only survived but returned to full, active living. Many people in and out of the medical community called it a miracle. The young man reported that his faith and that of his family and friends is so much stronger now as they praise and thank God for the blessing of his renewed life.

In the Gospels, belief is often likewise prompted by a miraculous occurrence that affects not only the person involved but their entire social network. Someone is raised from the dead or healed of a long illness, and the entire town enthusiastically converts. Indeed, it would seem foolish not to, given the hope that similar miracles might result for oneself.

It is easy to have faith as long as it “works” for you – as long as the people you love are healed, the people you hang around with share your belief, and things go well in your life.  Yet that type of faith is superficial, centered on self, and too frequently short-lived. If the young man had died, would his family still come out of it with strengthened faith and conviction of God’s blessings? What about when others become disillusioned, and begin attacking with arguments and doubts that are hard to answer? Can faith be sustained when the Gospels’ difficult sayings and profound challenges grate against the status quo and demand personal sacrifice?

Countless people left Jesus when the going got rough, when they realized their discipleship would ensure the cross instead of health, wealth, and ease. At times, in fact, the popular thing to do was to renounce this man and his tough teachings. They wanted a Messiah who would bless them according to their own definition of blessings, and follow their will instead of God’s.

The reality of faith is a paradox. Jesus does not promise an easy life – in fact, quite the opposite. Instead, he promises faithfulness, strength to endure whatever happens, and resurrection in this life and the next. Jesus is not a prosperity evangelist; he is a realist. He does not negate or erase the experience and suffering of this life; he brings meaning to it.

Jesus has accompanied me through so many tombs. Despite all odds, in the reality of death, even when all seemed hopeless, God continues to bring new life. So I will continue the journey, consciously working to deepen my dependence on and belief in the God who is my rock and stronghold, the source of my existence, the One who calls my name and whom I serve. I hope that no matter what may happen or what others may do, I can join with the disciples and say, “Lord, to whom would I go? You have the words of everlasting life.”

 

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/.