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Scripture:

1 Samuel 3:3b-10, 19
1 Corinthians 6:13c-15a, 17-20
John 1:35-42

Reflection:

There is a story told of the early days of California, where a group of Spanish explorers were hopelessly lost in the Sierra Madre Mountains. Try as they might, they could not find a way out of the myriad of valleys and were trapped in a maze of trails and pathways within the mountain ranges surrounding them.

Then, as if by a miracle, one of the men found an old map buried within a saddlebag of one of the mules. Now, armed with the map, and more so with the knowledge that someone had been there ahead of them, they were able to use the map to find their way to safety and home.

However it wasn’t until several months later, when they were safely home in Spain, that they realised that the map they’d followed was in fact a map for a different part of California!

Perhaps then it wasn’t really the map that saved them, but the notion that others had been gone before them and returned home to tell the tale (and draw the map) and so they could dare to believe and trust that there was a way ‘home’.

Certainly, ‘home’ is a word that evokes many powerful images. It’s a simple word to represent an essential reality that we can tend to take for granted, but in fact is one of our deepest desires and needs – for a home. A place we can return to and feel a sense of belonging, a place of safety and security, a place where one can relax and be oneself. ‘Home’ also represents that ‘space’ in my life where I can experience love, intimacy and live as I am, and not as others might expect or as my roles dictate.

I believe that the disciples approach Jesus in this same sense. As I read this gospel of today, I sense Jesus also recognised such needs in the disciples. Their whole conversation seems to be around finding a ‘home’ in Jesus.

"What are you looking for?" he asks. And in response they said to him, "Rabbi" – which translated means Teacher – "where are you staying?" And again in response, Jesus said to them, "Come, and you will see."

Their question "where do you live" seems to indicate a desire to ‘be with’ Jesus not just in a physical sense, but in a relational one as well.

In essence then today’s readings speak to us about finding our ‘home’ in Jesus, which really means to find ourselves in relationship to him. As Saint Augustine expressed ‘You have made us for yourself O Lord, and our hearts are restless till we rest in you’.

To find our home in Jesus is to find not just the relationship in which we belong, but in a true sense it is to find our identity also. In finding him, in knowing him, loving him – in being with him and following him – we also discover who we are. We are most truly ourselves in union with Jesus, who is our way, our truth and our life.

So in these early days of 2015, let us strive to find our home in Jesus who is endlessly inviting us into closer relationship. Let us listen in quiet moments for his invitation – often whispered at unexpected moments – "Come and see", and let us courageously do so.

 

Fr. Denis Travers, C.P., is a member of Holy Spirit Province, Australia.  He currently serves on the General Council and is stationed in Rome.

Scripture:

Hebrews 4:12-16
Mark 2:13-17

Reflection:

The word of the God is our driving force. It is His spirit that dwells within us and says everyday "FOLLOW ME". 

In today’s Gospel, we see Christ calling Levi. Levi left behind his life as a tax collector and followed Christ. We are called to do the same; to leave behind the worldly baggage that gets piled on us and do His will.

What is it that we need to leave behind? 

This Gospel also reminds us that Jesus went to the peripheries to call His followers. To those who were shunned and on the outer rim of society. No matter the baggage that we carry, the Lord works great things through us. All we need to do is rise every day and follow Him. From there He will lead us in the ways He has planned for us.

According to Pope Francis, we are to go out to the peripheries and evangelize. How can we go to those who are shunned, homeless, friendless and alone, and bring God’s love?

And as we reach out, we are called to not only use our words but our actions. The first reading reminds us "the word of God is living and effective" Hebrews 4:16. It lives in our words and actions, gestures, smiles, charity…the list goes on. By taking time every day to do one small act, we convey God’s love to the world and our former selves melt away. 

As we begin today and every day, let us remember God’s word and follow the example St. Anthony the Abbot – to leave our former selves behind and follow Christ.

 

Kim Valdez is a Pastoral Associate at Holy Name Passionist Retreat Center in Houston, Texas.

 

Scripture:

Hebrews 3: 7-14
Mark 1:40-45

Reflection:

Today! Today! How many more todays do I have? When you have lived eighty two years that becomes an existential question. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. This has hit home to me as news arrived this week that one of my seminary classmates is in hospice care and another rehabbing after a stroke. These are men with whom I have lived and shared meals with in community. We have prayed together and have supported one another in ministry.  They are in the Midwest and my assignment is in California. However, I can bring them to prayer and Mass and know that closeness in the spirit that unites us still.

The first reading from Hebrews hits home quoting psalm 95: "Oh, that today would hear his voice!" That is the question. Do we really believe that God speaks to us each day in the circumstances of life? If we answer "yes", then we recognize the gift of each day. We need to encourage ourselves daily while it is still TODAY. Tomorrow may never come.  Another truth we need to recognize is that "we have become partners of Christ".  In the gospel we see our partner in action. He walks the roads of Palestine and is moved with pity at the plea of a leper. He reaches out his hand, touches the leper, and says to him: "I will do it. Be made clean!" With a partner like Jesus today is all we need.  Tomorrow will take care of itself.

 

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

Scripture:
Hebrews 2:14-18
Mark 1:29-39

Reflection:
What strikes me most about our readings for this Wednesday, just as we begin what the Church calls "ordinary time", is that there is a very poetic contrast between the Letter to the Hebrews and the account presented in Mark’s Gospel.

St. Paul reminds the Hebrews that Jesus is one of them, that he shares in the very flesh and blood.  And yet, as much as he is like them the extraordinary will happen through him: he will destroy the power of the Devil who can wield on death and not life; who offers slavery and freedom.  This Jesus who is of their very blood did the unimaginable, the unbelievable.  And the great freedom and life that Jesus so generously bestows is given to "the descendants of Abraham" and not to the angels who had no need of his salvation.  Jesus is seen in Hebrews to be the merciful and faithful high priest who removed the sins of the people because he himself suffered greatly and endured the greatest test possible, his passion and death on the cross.

All of us who hear this message proclaimed are reminded that we share with all of Israel this same common bond: Jesus, who came among us to suffer and die, was like us in all things but sin.  Our Savior, so joyfully welcomed in his nativity, is just like us; Jesus is not a stranger to the suffering and brokenness that is so much a part of our human experience and condition.  Our "Savior" is just like us; he knows what we endure; he knows the crosses we carry.  As St. Paul says so beautifully, "Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested."  How well, then, does Jesus know in such an intimate and personal way what it is like for us to seek to be free from sin and free from the pain and sorrow of daily life!

In Mark’s Gospel we see Jesus in a whole new way: Jesus is healer who walks among his people curing them of their illness and disease.  Here Jesus is totally other than us and we can only imagine the amazement of those who would see him defy death and the limitations of human life by simply raising his hand and lovingly assist Peter’s mother from her bed of pain!  We are reminded through the poetic contrast in today’s readings that Jesus is totally one with us yet, in the amazement of the Incarnation, totally other and we thank God for the fullness of the life that Jesus brings to us each and every day.

 

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

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 18:15-20
1 Corinthians 7:32-35
Mark 1:21-28

Reflection:

Each of the evangelists chooses a different scene to begin their account of Jesus’ public ministry.  Matthew portrays Jesus ascending the mountain and sitting down to proclaim to his disciples and the crowds his great Sermon on the Mount (Mt 4:23-5:1).  Luke describes the dramatic scene in Jesus’ hometown synagogue of Nazareth where he reads from the text of Isaiah 61, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…" as the keynote of his mission and holds his fellow Nazarites spellbound (Luke 4:16-30).  John begins with the miracle of Cana where Jesus changes the water into wine, the first of his great "signs" (John 2:1-12).

For Mark’s Gospel-the Gospel that will dominate the Sunday readings throughout this liturgical year-Jesus begins his ministry in the synagogue of Capernaum, the gospel account that occurs this Sunday.  It is a dramatic scene, told in quick strokes as is Mark’s usual style.  Jesus enters the synagogue on the Sabbath and begins to teach.  Mark underscores the power of Jesus’ teaching ("he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes")-an emphasis that will also appear at the end of this account: "All were amazed and asked one another, ‘What is this?  A new teaching with authority…"

What is striking is that Jesus does not teach with words at all, but by what he does.  As he enters the synagogue, he encounters a man who is tormented by an "unclean spirit," thrown into convulsions and suffering terribly. The power of evil aggressively challenges Jesus, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us?  I know who you are-the Holy One of God."  Curiously in Mark’s Gospel more than once the demons know what they are up against, while the human witnesses are baffled at Jesus.  In this instance, the demon tells what, in fact, is the truth: Jesus has come to destroy the evil that is a scourge for human beings.  Jesus’ silences the demon and drives him out of the man.  And the story ends with the crowd amazed and acclaiming Jesus-"His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee."

In this opening scene of the public ministry of Jesus, Mark’s Gospel presents its fundamental understanding of the mission of Jesus (see Mark 1:9-13).  The Spirit of God descends upon Jesus at his baptism, triggering God the Father’s tribute: "You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased."  And "immediately," Mark notes, the Spirit drives Jesus out into the desert to confront the power of evil and to overcome it.  The Jesus of Mark’s Gospel is full of the Spirit of God, a Spirit that brings life, healing, reconciliation, restoration of justice.  The God of the Scriptures is the God of life and Jesus, God’s beloved Son and the Messiah, comes to eradicate all forms of death and to bring life to our world.

At a time when all the world is distraught with the threat of terror and where some seem to trample on the rights of other and ignore the beauty and sacredness of human life, Mark’s Gospel reminds us that the God revealed by Jesus is a God who brings life not death.  And we cannot fail to recall that the same Spirit that animates Jesus in the Gospel of Mark is the same Spirit that has been given to us as Christians through our baptism.  More than ever we need to realize the gift of the Spirit we bear and strive to live our everyday lives as an expression of that life-giving Spirit.  We are Christians and we bear not only the name of Jesus but are entrusted with his same mission.

 

Fr. Donald Senior, C.P. is President Emeritus and Professor of New Testament at Catholic Theological Union.  He lives at the Passionist residence in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.

 

Scripture:

Hebrews 7:25 – 8:6
Mark 3:7-12

Reflection:

In the nineteenth century biography of Edmund Gosse called Father and Son,  we are privileged to journey with Edmund from his birth, through his childhood, and into his young adult life of faith.  His father was a rather strict believer and raised his son in this framework of religion.  Edmund passed through his grammar and early high school days believing firmly that only the elite of Christian believers would make it to their heavenly reward.  These were few, they were chosen by God, and they adhered to a strict understanding of their profession of faith in the Lord Jesus.  His father was one of them and so was he.  Edmund had the highest regard for his father, so much so that his father was practically perfect in his son’s eyes.  Then it happens.  Edmund begins to see the human side of his father.  He discovers that his father is fallible, he makes mistakes and some very serious ones at that.  As a result, Edmund has a crisis of faith  which leads him to an understanding of the Christian faithful as a much wider reality than his father’s understanding.  All were called to faith, all were called to holiness, all were called to the life of heaven.

Edmund’s young adult insight into his call to faith may well have stemmed from today’s scripture readings.  When we read the scriptures, especially the Gospels, details can be important to understanding the meaning.  It is just so today.  In his Gospel, Mark gives us a fascinating vision of a great crowd of people gathering to see and hear Jesus.  In yesterday’s gospel we saw how Jesus’ healing of the man with the withered hand caused hateful thoughts and actions by some Pharisees and the Herodians.  But word has gotten around and the people want to see and hear for themselves.  They follow Jesus.  And where do they come from ?  Some make their way from the synagogue and the surrounding area, others from Jerusalem, Idumea , from beyond the Jordan River, and from Tyre and Sidon.   In these details, Mark is making a very important point for us.  Jesus has begun his mission to announce the Good News of the Kingdom of God to the people of the Chosen Race first but He does not stop there.  Jesus, in this passage, is reaching out to the Gentiles, to those beyond the expectations of the Pharisees and Herodians.  Jesus is creating by His Words and Actions an inclusive People of God to which all are invited.  All may not come but all are invited to the Kingdom.  Jesus is interested in everyone including the poor, the outcast, the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the sinners and yes, even the Gentiles.  In this passage, Mark makes it clear for us.  The call to faith in Jesus, the call to live in companionship with Jesus, the call to live eternally with Jesus is a universal call.  Once we respond to that call, once we accept companionship with Jesus and come to know Him in ever more loving a deeper ways, we might, in an odd sort of way, share just that one small characteristic with the unclean spirits whom Jesus drove out of the human hearts.  We might not be able to keep quiet about who Jesus is for us and for everyone.  We might just have to proclaim our faith in and our life with Jesus in ever clearer and bolder ways.  We might enthusiastically desire to be identified as a believer in the Lord Jesus whose daily walk with the Lord in life makes all the difference in how we understand ourselves as sinners before God, how we see each other with more loving and compassionate eyes, and how we understand the presence of God in our hearts, in our lives and in our world. 

When Edmund Gosse discovered the universal nature of Jesus’ call to life in the Kingdom, his life opened up to a new view of the people in his life and in his world.  He discovered a much richer and more joyful life lived in Jesus.  Perhaps Mark has the same hope for us as we come to a deeper understanding of God’s immense love in calling everyone to life in the Kingdom of God.

 

Fr. Richard Burke, CP, is a member of St. Paul of the Cross Province and also serves on the Provincial Council of Holy Cross Province.  He lives at St. Ann’s Monastery in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

 

Scripture:

Hebrews 4:1-5, 11
Mark 2:1-12

Reflection:

Jesus returns to Capharnaum and enters the home,of Peter. Immediately a large crowd filled the home and even filled the entrances to the house.  Everyone was eager to hear Jesus preaching and healing. 

Among the people four men came carrying a friend on a mat who was a paralytic.  These four men who were friends tried without success to bring their friend to Jesus hoping he could be cured.  Access to Jesus was impossible.  So these men carried the man up to the roof of the house, removed the tiles and lower the man down to lay him at the feet of Jesus. 

Jesus is surprised not just at the man afflicted with paralysis, more so at his four friends.  Jesus saw their affection and friendship for this man and their faith. Jesus forgives the sins of the man.  Then he tells him to pick up his mat and go home.

In this periscope we can see in Jesus how much he respects and honors friendship. Aristotle grounds friendship in the values of goodness and beauty. I could imagine the mind of Jesus seeing these gentlemen and thinking how deep down and over flowing is the goodness of these men.  Is there anything more beautiful this man could ask for other than the untarnished friendship of his four friends.  This is supported and sustained by their faith. 

Their faith showed them their faith and friendship resembled the friendship their ancestors had for God. These were called friends of God: Abraham, the wandering Aramean filled with faith and fidelity, Moses, who could speak and argue with God, and from whom God could keep no secret, Joshua, the man from Nun, the young apprentice of Moses, and David of the generous heart.    

The artist Columba said:  "A friend is someone who hears the song in your heart and whispers it to you when your memory fails."  Shakespeare said: "The friends thou hast and their attention tried, grapple them to your soul with loops of steel."

Thank God for friends they are the one who will carry you through thick and thin, They are the ones who will lift roofs and place you at the feet of Jesus when our prayers need bolstering.  They are always there when we are most in need. 

 

Fr. Ken O’Malley, C.P., is the local superior at Holy Name Passionist Community in Houston, Texas.

 

Scripture:

Hebrews 2:5-12
Mark 1:21-28

Reflection:

In today’s Gospel there is a sense of a heightened awareness of something new. As we read, perhaps we can see this from the context of what has just passed for us both liturgically in the feast of Christmas and secularly in the celebration of the New Year. With the promise of new life in the form of the Christ Child-the Word made flesh-and new hope for our world as 2015 dawns for us, we are invited to hear the newness spring from the text.

If we could imagine ourselves there in this first century synagogue in Capernaum sitting with the people assembled to listen to the teaching on the ancient Hebrew Scriptures. It seems clear from the text that Jesus is here for the first time. Can we imagine the heads turning in the room, eyes intently focused on Jesus as he speaks? Who is this before us?  

Something new is dawning among the people and they begin to recognize it. Jesus teaches with "authority" and all are "amazed".  The Gospel of Mark wastes no time in getting to the important details; we are still in chapter one and already we have the announcement that Jesus is the "Holy One of God". These words are placed in the mouth of an unclean spirit. With echoes of the first reading "subjecting all things under his feet" Jesus controls the unclean spirit. Interestingly he uses the same word, "quiet" in calming the storm (4:39).

The people assembled sound surprised-this is no ordinary day after all. So begins the journey to a new day even for us, perhaps it has not quite dawned yet but we can feel the possibility. Our God of surprises once again breaks into our everyday lives with the promise of eternity. A light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it! (John 1:5) May our hearts be ready to receive his Word as each new day dawns throughout 2015.

 

Jean Bowler is a retreatant at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center in Sierra Madre, and a member of the Office of Mission Effectiveness Board of Holy Cross Province.