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Scripture:

Hebrews 1:1-6
Mark 1; 14-20

Reflection:

Fish are a central feature in the Christian story. When Jesus feeds the multitude in the wilderness, fish are the entrée. When funds for paying the tax assessment are required, a snagged fish contains just the right coin. When Simon and his companions had worked all night with no results, Jesus instructed them to drop their nets into deep waters where they hauled in such a huge catch of fish that the boat nearly sank. When the morning of resurrection dawned, Jesus prepared and ate grilled fish for breakfast with his weary friends. And as the Gospel text of today explains, when the first disciples were recruited, foremost in their profession resume was their expertise at catching fish.

These aquatic creatures play an important symbolic role in understanding the development of spiritual consciousness. From the perspective of depth psychology, water is the element which represents consciousness and fish symbolize the content of the inner world. Living beneath the surface of water, fish are the contents of consciousness which are usually difficult to see and not easy to apprehend. Yet with patience and skill they can be netted, brought to the surface and eaten for nourishment.

In announcing "the kingdom of God is at hand," Jesus was not referring to a distant geographical location of heaven, but to a proximate reality. The kingdom where Spirit abides is an inner reality within each of us, like fish within water. Elsewhere Jesus explained that it is a great treasure lying buried within the field of our body-psyche. We access the hidden treasure of the kingdom by expanding our consciousness.

What usually dominates our consciousness is not the expansiveness of the kingdom, but the contracted murmuring ego with all of its petty demands of craving and aversion. The task of Christian discipleship is to engage in the often exasperating and exhausting labor of catching those inner-fish lurking beneath the surface of ego-consciousness in order to snag the rich harvest of the inner world. Once netted, the inner-fish can provide for the individual ego the nourishment necessary for it to become a radiant manifestation of Spirit.

 

Fr. Joe Mitchell, CP is the director of the Passionist Earth & Spirit Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

See his website: www.earthandspiritcenter.org

 

The Baptism of the Lord

Scripture:

Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7 or 55:1-11
Acts 10:34-38 or 1 John 5:1-9
Mark 1:7-11

 

 

Reflection:

The Exodus is the central event — the turning point — of the Jewish faith.  One becomes fully Jewish only as they cross the Red Seas, as they experience the Exodus. The Exodus is remembered daily in Jewish prayers and celebrated annually at the feast of Passover.  The Exodus is not a single completed historical event.  It transcends history to become a revelation that human beings are meant to be free, endowed with dignity as children of God. 

It is a sad fact of our Christian lives that we rarely give thought to, much less celebrate, our baptism.  Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, a day that calls us to remember our baptism, our own exodus.  The baptism of Jesus in the Jordan marks the beginning of his commission from God.  This is the turning point in the life of Jesus.  Now he begins his public ministry.  Now, standing hip-deep in the muddy waters of the Jordan, he demonstrates his solidarity with us mud-caked sinners. 

This is a Trinitarian moment.  Here the Father and the Spirit bear witness to the Son.  And here, the voice from heaven declares, with clear allusions to Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1, that Jesus is God’s anointed one, the messiah and the suffering servant.  This fusion of messiah and servant perfectly expresses the dual nature of the mission and work of Jesus.

Mark’s gospel tells us that Jesus, messiah and servant, humbled himself to pass through Jordan’s waters in order to lead the baptized through a new exodus — opening up the promised land of heaven for all who will follow him. 

At our baptism, we too cross of the Red Sea, a moment that transcends time.  Just as Jesus was consecrated  and empowered for his mission through his baptism, so too are we commissioned by our baptism as children of God to daily remember and celebrate our exodus, our turning point.  It is the Trinity that bears witness to our mission.  As anointed servants, we are called invite others to join us in following the new Moses who leads us from the slavery of sin and into the Promised Land, the land of our inheritance.

 

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

 

 

 

Scripture:

1 John 5:5-13
Luke 5:12-16

 

 

 

Reflection:

A Leper‘s Healing and Vocation

When I was a seminarian I was asked to respond to a letter from a missionary. In the letter the priest spoke of his work with lepers. Although I answered the letter we did not correspond further, but I remember my hand breaking out in a rash the day after reading his letter. I was a bit concerned and wondered if leprosy was contagious. I suspect this was an unconscious, physical voice yelling at me, probably setting boundaries that would influence the direction of future ministry choices I would make.

Today is the feast of St. Damien of Molokai. Damien, priest and later leper, who ministered to poor lepers on that Hawaiian island. The gospel on this memorial fits nicely, as Jesus heals a leper.

In this part of Luke’s gospel there are two stories of Jesus power – healing the leaper, and healing and forgiving a paralyzed man. There are also two responses to Jesus’ power: people seek to listen to Jesus, and Pharisees, who sit as judges observing Jesus, reject his works. At the end of these two stories Jesus will call the twelve apostles, confirming them in their vocations.

I wonder about the vocation St. Damien de Veuster who died at the age of 59. What a jolt it must have been for him to be live in a lush, beautiful world where people arrived as if coming to a penal colony to live their days until death. I see his face in the familiar photo, black cassock large brimmed black hat, looking at us through wire framed glasses, his bulbous nose quite prominent.

I don’t know of Damien curing any of those whom he cared for. Life went on among the lepers as it does among us, need for daily food, social relationships, celebration of the sacraments and strengthening faith, their mutual care and support. As he lived his vocation did he feel the choice of responding like the people in the gospel?  Did he listen to the voice of God in the events and people who surrounded him, in his prayer and Scriptures? Was he also tempted to sit in judgement like the Pharisees and see nothing good in God’s works except hopeless diminishment?

Where did Damien get such a vocation? Did he grow into it little by little? Was he not afraid of contagion? It is said that he stood before his community one day and announced that he was one of them, he was a leper. He must have always felt a gulf between those to whom he ministered and himself when he was a non-leper, and then one day that gulf was no longer part of his existence. Our gospel today may be more connected with vocation than at first seems apparent.

The people were catching on to Jesus, listening, taking him in. When our vocations call out to us they are invitations to a love that gives meaning to our life. Love is heard, and it invites us to an ongoing romance as strange, wild and indescribable as any can be. Damien responded to that love and we see where it led him. Remarkable. If we sit and judge we can find reasons to say, ‘no thanks’. But in the ‘yes’ the gulf disappears, we know we are one with God, and one with those to whom we bring God’s love.

 

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

 

Scripture:
1 John 4:19-5:4
Luke 4:14-22a

Reflection:
Today’s readings offer us a wonderful opportunity to reflect on our Catholic social teaching.  The U.S. Bishops tell us that Catholic social teaching is an essential and central part of our Faith.  Reading today’s scripture shows us the validity of the Bishops’ words.

The first reading is a reading from John.  John tells us that if we love God, we must also love our brothers. This is one of those lines that heard often, the implication can easily be forgotten.  Of course we know that we must love our brothers and sisters, but what does that mean?  Does it mean that we give to those causes that touch  our hearts, does it mean we give food to the local food bank, does it mean we simplify  our lives in order to be able to give to those with less, or is it all of these and something more?  When John talks about loving our brother, isn’t he challenging us to a change of heart, a new way of life, a whole new way of thinking? 

In the Old Testament, taking care of the poor, the elderly, the widowed was part of the obligation of an Israelite, but what Jesus asks is more.  He asks us to LOVE our brothers and sisters.  For some, it may be that we love our brothers and sisters by forgiving someone who has hurt us deeply, for others, it may be that working to correct the causes of social injustice are the way we express our love, and yet others may be called to volunteer at a soup kitchen, or take part in prison ministry, or volunteer at a pregnancy clinic.  Everyone is not called to be a missionary, caring for the poor in a far off country, but everyone is called to love their neighbor. 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus says clearly that he has come to bring glad tidings to the poor, to liberate the captives, give sight to the blind and let the oppressed go free.  He has come to love and serve each of us, and in following Jesus, we also must love and serve the Christ we find in our brothers and sisters.   

In the words of Pope Francis:  "… to love God and neighbor is not something abstract, but profoundly concrete: it means seeing in every person the face of the Lord to be served, to serve him concretely. And you are, dear brothers and sisters, the face of Jesus. (May 23, 2013)

 

Mary Lou Butler is a long-time friend and partner in ministry to the Passionists in California.

 

 

Scripture:

1 John 3:22 – 4:6
Matthew 4:12-17;23-25

 

 

 

Reflection:

There is an Irish Blessing that spoke to me as I read today’s readings:

"May those that love us – love us. And those that don’t love us, may God turn their hearts.  If God doesn’t turn their hearts, may God turn their ankles so we’ll know them by their limping."

Our world today is filled with misinformation.  At times, it seems that the most ridiculous and hurtful information circulates the fastest.  Harmful stuff… rumors, gossip, stuff that no human following Christ’s path has any business discussing about another human as 1) we are all created by God and God loves us all and wants us to love one another;  2) we are all going to mess up on occasion so why should I be more concerned about the splinter in your eye when I have a splinter or plank in my own eye;  3) why focus on the crap when so much beauty and goodness that exists waiting to be appreciated and acknowledged?

As humans our spirits are restless.  We are constantly looking for something to occupy our time- Something to fulfill us.  Show me where a person spends his/her finite resources: time, money and energy – and I’ll tell you what that person truly values/loves.

Lord, help me to remember and to intentionally choose where to put my finite resources.  Instead of wasting my time gabbing about others, please give me the determination and strength to act as you would act… For the good of others and to serve God’s plan.   And make no mistake our Jesus was a human of action – Jesus was no armchair quarterback – no behind the desk pundit – Jesus was out in the trenches of life with those who needed him and needed what he had to offer.  Jesus used the gifts God gave him.  For proof we need look no further than today’s gospel reading … Look at all those action verbs.. He taught. He proclaimed. He healed. He cured.  And later in the gospels… He died.  He rose.  "Oh sure… Jesus was the son of God," you say.  "I’m not Jesus," we lazily proclaim in self-defense and to preserve our status quo. But let’s consider the real Jesus as our faith teaches — Jesus was fully human.  Through his human birth, Jesus became a permanent member of our human family.

Consider that one during your daily meditation and in reaching your worthy New Years resolutions!

 

Nellie Draus-Stallings is a member of the Worship Committee at St. Agnes Parish in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

1 John 4:11-18
Mark 6:45-52

Reflection:

Did you ever feel like you "missed the boat"? On the day before Christmas Eve 1986, I stopped on my way home from work to visit my father in the hospital. This was getting to be a daily ritual. He had been in and out of the hospital for the previous couple of years and we all knew he was dying. I guess I was a bit anxious to get home and prepare his room that day. He was scheduled to come home for Christmas Eve, his favorite day of the year. We chatted for a while and talked about tomorrow when I said I’d better go home and take care of what needed to be done there. He did a strange thing then. He asked me to stay a while and chat some more. Looking back, I don’t ever remember him asking me to do that, i.e. sit and spend some quality time with him. We were both very business like in our relationships, especially with each other. I did stay a while longer. It was awkward, neither of us had much to say. We’d already talked about the weather, my busy day and all the usual stuff. I finally said I had to go and assured him I’d be back to see him in the morning on Christmas Eve and take him home. I did see him the next morning, but God had already taken him home. All I could think was: "Why didn’t I stay a little longer?"

So like the apostles in today’s Gospel selection, I had missed the boat again. Ah yes, the apostles were in the boat, but they also had just spent the prior day with Jesus as he multiplied the loaves and fishes. "They had not understood the incident of the loaves.  On the contrary, their hearts were hardened. "(MK 6:52) God I pray that You give me eyes to see and ears to hear Your daily workings in my life.

 

Dan O’Donnell is a Passionist Partner and a longtime friend of the Passionists.  He lives in Chicago.  

Epiphany of the Lord

Scripture:

Isaiah 60:1-6
Ephesians 3:2-3, 5-6
Matthew 2:1-12

 

 

Reflection:

The Gift of God’s Love Made Manifest

Today we celebrate the "manifestation" of God’s Love in the person of Jesus, the newborn Savior.  The earliest recipients of that manifestation were the simple shepherds, then the elder Simeon and the 84 year old widow Anna.  In today’s Gospel Matthew recounts the star-lit manifestation to the magi, whom we’ve come to call the kings or the wise men — noted as well for the special (and pricey!) gifts they brought Jesus and the Holy Family:  gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Our practice of Christmas gift-giving derives from the action of these "wise men" of times past.  Gifts can be practical, necessary, creative, simple, pricey, even fun – but the significance of the gifts is found in the personal meaning they bear.

Years ago I came across a short story by the American author, O. Henry, called "The Gift of the Magi".  The story features a young married couple who were very poor but deeply in love.  The wife had long, beautiful, dark hair.  For Christmas her husband wanted to get her a set of expensive decorative combs to wear in her hair, and despite their poverty he was determined to get that gift for her.  The husband treasured a gold pocket watch handed down from his grandfather.  The wife found an elegant (and expensive) watch chain, and despite their poverty she was determined to get that gift for him.  Come Christmas eve, they both had bought their special gifts for the other.  In exchanging the gifts, they discovered that she had cut and sold her hair to a wig maker to buy the watch chain, and he had sold his treasured watch to buy the decorative combs.  After their initial "shock", they both broke into laughter and fell into each other’s arms, realizing that elegant watch chains and expensive hair combs mean nothing — it’s their love for one another that really counts!

Today, the greatest "gift" for each of us and our world is Jesus himself, the Word made flesh.  Nothing, nothing is more perfect or more precious or more practical or more necessary.  Jesus comes to us and our world, enfleshing and sharing unconditional, eternal L O V E …

Like the early Magi, may we do Him homage by faith-filled lives of love and service — rooted in simplicity, wisdom, and openness.  With the psalmist we pray, "may every nation on earth adore you."

 

Fr. John Schork, C.P. is the local leader of the Passionist community in Louisville, Kentucky. 

 

Scripture:

1 John 2:29-3:6
John 1:29-34

Reflection:

"but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me. . ." John 1: 33

I believe with all my heart that God wants to speak to each of us, just as He did to John the Baptist in this reading. There are many ways He can communicate with us, such as through nature, through the words of another person, through scripture, through circumstances, and through music. But I also believe that we can hear Him in the quiet of our hearts.

One of the most profound times this happened to me was when I was grieving for my mom. She died the year I turned 40, nine years after my dad had died. I thought to myself, "I know how to grieve, I did it before, I can do it again." But my grief was debilitating and seemed overwhelming at times. It would surprise me suddenly and I’d find myself sobbing in a grocery store or at mass. Maybe it was losing my Mom, or maybe it was losing my second parent that made it more difficult. I’m not sure. What I do know is that I cried often, and a lot. I was still trying to call her on the phone two years after she died.

That year as I was on the road driving to my yearly women’s retreat, I heard the Lord say to me in my spirit, "I’m going to help you deal with your Mom’s death." I was hopeful and grateful, because it had been so hard, and I didn’t seem to be making much progress. The minute I got to the retreat center, I ran straight to the chapel, knelt at the altar and looked up at Jesus on the crucifix and said, "I’m here Lord, tell me what to do."

And I heard, "Close the casket."

"What?"

"Close the casket."

"What do you mean Lord?"

"The last picture you have of your Mom is seeing her dead in the casket. But she’s not dead, she’s more alive than you are! She’s here with me. See her dancing with your Dad. See her playing cards with your kids. You need to change the picture you have of her in your head."

"I can do that! Thank you Lord!"

And I did do that. I closed the casket in my mind and changed the way I thought about my Mom from then on. I saw her sitting in her brown chair holding my kids, or standing at the door to welcome us when we came to visit. It was the turning point in my grieving process. I still miss my mom, but now I recall my favorite memories of her, and I thank God for the blessing she was in my life. And of course, I look forward to the day I will see her again in heaven!

One more thing. . .I had been grieving for over two years when God spoke these words to me. Give yourself time to grieve, but when that time is over, let God help you "close the casket" too. "There is an appointed time for everything. . . a time to be born, a time to die. . . a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance." (Eccl 3:1a, 2a, 4)

 

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].