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Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Scripture:

Revelations 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab
1 Corinthians 15:20-27
Luke 1:39-56

Reflection:

We have an abundance of riches to ponder in this feast of the Assumption of Mary.

As the ark contained the tablets of the Commandments, so Mary’s body contained the Savior of the world, the Son of God. In a vision of transfigured glory John sees a woman with child surrounded with the lights of heaven: the sun, the moon and the stars. She gives birth to a son destined to rule the nations. Our reading concludes with the resounding proclamation that salvation has come and God’s kingdom is firmly in place.

Paul notes that Jesus’ resurrection is the foundation of our hope for eternal life for our whole person, body and soul. The Church believes that Mary’s assumption is the first realization of the full impact of Jesus’ resurrection.

Luke recounts the visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth. Among the riches of this familiar passage we have an answer to why we call Mary blessed. Ordinarily we think Mary blessed because she is the Mother of God.

She has been assumed body and soul to heaven where her son has crowned her queen. But Elizabeth puts it at a more fundamental level, before Mary conceived Jesus. “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”  Mary believed in God’s promises to her and to her people.   May we have that same faith ourselves, faith that God’s kingdom has com and faith that we are destined for glory body and soul. May we proclaim as Mary did that “… the Almighty has done great things for us…”

 

Fr. Michael Hoolahan, C.P. is on the staff of Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 31:1-8
Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14

Reflection:

These past few days the Church has been fed by the Sacred Scriptures that remind us that Jesus is the bread of life and that anyone who is nourished by this living bread will never die.  Such a promise is almost too much to believe, isn’t it?  The interesting thing is that, in the Gospel for today’s celebration of the Eucharist, reminds us, on the heels of these “Bread of Life” passages, that “unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.”

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to celebrate Mass in the home of a wonderful young couple celebrating their thirteenth wedding anniversary.  Really it was just a chance to get all the family together and just celebrate being family!  This is something that this lovely couple, their brothers and sisters, and parents, are very accustomed to doing.  Any occasion means a celebration, a party, a chance to be together as family.  Naturally, being young families, there were about a dozen children ranging in age from fifteen to three months!  When I spoke to the littlest children sitting around the living room altar about Jesus being the bread of life and how wonderful it is to be able to (one day) receive him in Holy Communion, there was not the least look of doubt or skepticism on their innocent, accepting, and eager faces.  The little ones could believe in this great mystery of our faith in ways that we who are older and “more mature” could ever do!

Could this be what Jesus means when he says that we must be like little children?  Does he mean that somehow we must regain a simpler acceptance of the mystery of our faith?  I can’t tell you how refreshing it was to see such acceptance on the faces of the little children.  Now the question is, how do we get that back?  How do we become like the little children once again?

 

Fr. Pat Brennan, C.P. is the director of St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat Center, Detroit, Michigan.

Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord

Scripture:

Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
2 Peter 1:16-19
Mark 9:2-10

Reflection:

Today’s Gospel reading is better appreciated in context. In the preceding chapter, before Jesus took Peter, James and John up a high mountain, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” After being pressed, Peter said, “You are the Messiah, the Christ.” Before they could triumph in their close relationship with this “Messiah” and what glory that would bring them, Jesus reveals the future: suffering, rejection and death. This was such a terrible shock to the apostles; they couldn’t accept it. Peter cries out, “This cannot happen to you!” Jesus replies, “Get behind me, Satan.”

It is in this depressing situation of misunderstanding and disillusionment that the Transfiguration takes place, six days later. On the mountain Jesus is suddenly transformed. Moses and Elijah appear to be talking with Jesus. The message is clear: Moses and Elijah fully endorse what Jesus is doing and saying and the future he has foretold about his suffering and death. Then a cloud appears and covers them. This was not simply a change in the weather. For a Jewish person, it represented the presence of Yahweh. A voice from the cloud declares: “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” A supreme endorsement of the Son by his Father. Yes, listen to him even when he says things that you don’t like, things that you do not yet understand.

This special moment of encouragement will help the apostles through the difficult days ahead, though they will not fully understand until after the Resurrection and the experience of Pentecost, when they will boldly proclaim the Cross and not hesitate to carry daily their own cross.

The second reading invites us to meditate on this event, “as a lamp shining in a dark place.” May the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ be an encouragement to us to faithfully continue our journey, even when we don’t understand all that God is doing in our lives.

 

Fr. Don Webber resides in Chicago.

 

Scripture:

Exodus14:5-18
Matthew 12:38-42

 

Reflection:

The great adventure begins!  Moses had finally been able to convince the Jewish people, the slaves of Egypt, to seek freedom from their oppression.  He had also finally been able to convince Pharaoh that it was in the best interests of Egypt to let the Jewish people go.  So, the children of Israel have begun their great journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, from oppression to freedom, from living as slaves in Egypt to living as the Chosen People of God.  What a great adventure!

But such a momentous journey turned out to be a much more difficult one than anyone, including Moses, had imagined.  As soon as the Jewish people left Egypt, the Pharaoh changed his mind and sent his armies to re-impose his will by bringing back the slaves, at least those who would survive the confrontation.  The army caught up with the slaves as they camped by the sea.  The slaves were caught between the army and sea so there was no where to flee.

The Egyptians were elated and the Jewish people lost heart and were in despair.  They turned on their leader, Moses, with anger and berated him for bringing such calamity upon them.  Moses turned to God.  God responded, “Why are you crying out to me?  Tell the children of Israel to go forward….”  God created a path for them, a path that turned out to be a safe path for the Israelites but a path to destruction for the army of Pharaoh.

This story marks the beginning of the great journey (the forty year Exodus) of the children of Israel.  This crisis that marks the beginning of the journey, is only the first of many.  Again and again the people will lose heart and believe that their journey is impossible to complete because of outside forces: the hostility of their environment, lack of food and water, attack by other peoples, devastation by wild animals, and most tragically their infidelity to God.  But God remains faithful throughout, patiently responding to their cries for help by meeting their needs and encouraging them not to lose heart.

As we live our lives, we, too, often fear that the obstacles we meet, the betrayal’s we experience, and the frailty of our faith will destroy us.  This story of Exodus reminds us that God is always faithful, ever ready to hear our cries for help and give us new courage “to go forward” in our personal journey.

 

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

Scripture:

Exodus 3:1-6, 9-12
Matthew 11:25-27

 

Reflection:

Who finds God? The answer our scriptures give is that is that it is those who have lost much (Moses) and those who are “childlike” or as some translations say “like babies” or “mere children”.

Moses grew up in the palace of the pharaoh with all that it implies: fine clothing, social standing, education, power, and a life of security and comfort. Now he is presented to us in the lowly occupation of a shepherd of his father-in laws flocks. He is not wandering over lush green hills, but the semi-arid desert of Sinai under the blazing sun and choked with the dust and sand of that harsh land.

Jesus speaks out of his experience, the experience that the rabbis and the wise men rejected him, but the simple ordinary people of the land accepted him. In general the powerful and intellectuals had no use for him; but the poor and humble welcomed him. The most trusted of his disciples, Peter, James, and John were fishermen.

Yet it is not social class that matters, but the heart. Think of Nicodemus member of the Sanhedrin, the Roman centurion, Jairus the synagogue official, the well-to-do family of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, and Zacchaeus the chief tax-collector of Jericho. All of these had hearts that were open and ready to listen. What is the message we must hear? It is Jesus’ astonishing claim that only he can reveal the Father to us because he is the Son. If we want to see the mind of God, the heart of God, the nature of God, if we want to see God’s whole attitude toward us- Jesus says look at me!

And when we look we hear Jesus’ invitation: “..learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart…” Matthew 11:29.

 

Fr. Mike Hoolahan, C.P. is on the staff at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.

Scripture:

Genesis 28:10-22a
Matthew 9:18-26

 

Reflection:

In today’s gospel reading we get two for one. Matthew wraps one miracle story within another miracle story. The official receives his daughter back from death, and the bleeding woman (considered impure and therefore she had to stay on the outside) is healed and restored to her family. Jesus acts quickly, gently and compassionately on behalf of these two suffering adults. I would expect nothing less. The heart of Jesus, overflowing with compassion, moves him to action. These brief nine verses that contain the stories are wonderful, exciting and inspiring. But I find myself asking: Why doesn’t Jesus respond to my petitions just as quickly?

At times I feel like Jacob sleeping on a rock, a rather uncomfortable pillow. If only God would answer my questions or respond to my petitions, I would have peace of mind and heart. Yet many questions remain unanswered and petitions seemingly lost in space. Why? People are quick to give an answer. You don’t have enough faith; you don’t ask in the correct way; you are not persistent; your prayer is too selfish; if God responded it might have negative effects on other people; etc.

We believe that God hears our prayers. “The Lord will hear when I call unto God.” Jesus told his apostles: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.” That is the basis of our Prayers of the Faithful at Mass. We place our cares in the hands of God, hands strong and large enough to hold any of our concerns. We surrender our need to figure out how and when God will respond as we speak our prayer to the Lord. Now it is time to give thanks to God who loves to listen to us. In gratitude we can sleep peacefully at night.

 

Father Don Webber, C.P., resides in Chicago.

Scripture:

Genesis 16:1-12, 15-16
Matthew 7:15-29

Reflection:

A woman was enthusiastically telling some friends about the value of a first-aid class she had just completed. “Why only yesterday,” she said, “I was driving down the street when I heard this awful crash. I jammed on the brakes, ran back and found a car wrapped around a telephone pole. When I got to the injured driver, I saw a horrible sight. My knees went limp, and I didn’t know what to do. But all at one I remembered something from my first-aid training. Immediately I bent down and put my head between my knees, and it worked! I didn’t faint!”

Jesus said to his disciple: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,” will enter the Kingdom of heaven…”

While the Sermon on the Mount begins with Jesus calling his disciples to him and sitting down like a Rabbi to begin to teach them (5:1-2), it ends with Jesus addressing the crowds as a prophet (7:29) . The last part of the Sermon, which forms our text for today, is about action rather than words. It’s not just any kind of action, rather a prophetic one.

If the foundation of our lives is strong, then what we build on it will also be strong. If we have a strong sense of values and know what our priorities are in life, we can continue to be focused on what we have to do. The examples of the one who built his/her house on rock and the one who built his/her house on sand reiterate this point. We have a strong foundation in Jesus. The Sacraments empower us to be prophets in our own times. We are called to live the ‘Eucharist outside the Eucharist’. Each day provides us with ample opportunities the world to put the ‘Word’ into ‘Action’.

Sister Nirmala, former Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity and the successor of Blessed Mother Teresa, passed away on Tuesday, June 23, 2015. Born Nirmala Joshi to a Brahmin family, she joined the Missionaries of Charity after converting from Hinduism at the age of 17. She was impressed by Mother Teresa’s work among the poor and the needy. Her life was a great example in response to Jesus’ invitation to ‘act’.

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.”

 

Fr. Bruno D’Souza, CP, is on the staff at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.

 

Scripture:

Genesis 12:1-9
Matthew 7:1-5

 

Reflection:

In today’s first reading we are told of one of those “critical” moments in human history.  Abram, a good and mature man who had for a long time lived comfortably among his kinfolk, accumulated many possessions, established a large household with wife, nephew, and numerous servants, was asked by God to move his whole family “to a land that I will show you.”  God promised that if Abram did this, God would make Abram’s name great, bless him and make of his family a great nation.

Abram did as God asked.  And, that is a wonder.  After all, Abram was already a highly respected member in his community.  He had already achieved great human success.  He was comfortable and secure and was, no doubt, looking forward to living out his life in the safe environment he had created.  And, of course, he had no children, was past mid-life and his wife, Sarah, was past her child-bearing years.  Yet, he set forth at God’s promise, not knowing where he was going or how long the trip would take…or how it would be possible for him and Sarah to have a child.  And that was just the beginning of the adventure.  No wonder Abraham is called our “father in faith!”

I’m not 75 yet as Abram was, but I am well past 65!  I can’t help but wonder whether I would have the courage to respond to such a call from God.  Could I let go of my comfortable and familiar world to respond to God’s call?

Yet, isn’t it true that each of us, no matter what our age, is invited by God to travel to a place far different from where we are?  In today’s Gospel, Christ tells us not to judge others so harshly.  In the Gospels over the past week we’ve been called to go the extra mile, to offer the other cheek, to hand over our cloak as well when asked for our tunic, to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us, and to store up treasures in heaven rather than on earth.  Clearly, Jesus is constantly inviting us into a place far away from our usual world.  Yet, so often we are afraid to leave our familiar attitudes and travel to the land Jesus shows us.

Abram risked all and won all.  God was faithful to him and fulfilled His every promise.  God will do the same for us.  Let’s pray for the courage to follow Jesus wherever He leads us.

 

Fr. Michael Higgins, C.P. is the director the Development Office for Holy Cross Province  and is stationed at Immaculate Conception Community  in Chicago.