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Scripture:

Colossians 1:9-14
Luke 5:1-11

Reflection:

Let’s step back a few verses where Luke begins to set the stage for today’s gospel. In the previous ten verses Jesus has been in the village of Capernaum teaching and healing everyone who was brought to him.  Moreover, he has cast out demons who reveal his true identity, crying out “You are the Son of God!” (4:34 & 4:41).   Luke says the crowd went out to pursue Jesus, “and when they found him they tried to keep him from leaving them” (4:42).  This is completely understandable.  Isn’t it highly desirable to keep the miracle worker in town?  These are people who have an agenda.  So the stage is set for today’s gospel.

The scene unfolds:  Two boats, a few tired and hungry fishermen, a large crowd pursuing Jesus who are now pressing in upon him.  Take notice, Jesus is standing in the midst of this mass of humanity.   The men who have been fishing have an agenda too.  Luke says they are there washing their nets, indicating they are done for the day.  It certainly hasn’t been a good day.    Simon later tells Jesus, “We have been hard at it all night long and have caught nothing” It’s clear, Simon is tired, hungry, and he doesn’t have anything to take home for his family.  When I am tired and hungry I become irritable.  Realizing I project that onto Simon, the situation gets worse. When I am tired, hungry, irritable, and I just want to go home, but someone commandeers my vehicle and I can’t leave, I become ANGRY!    Why would Simon and his companions be any different?   I suspect their initial plan was to finish washing their nets and return home.  Instead this man, who is at the center of these people’s attention, commandeers Simon’s boat and now he has to stick around and listen to this Galilean talk.   As he listens to him, Simon doesn’t understand who it is who is in his boat.  The Evangelist has Simon address Jesus as Master.   It’s in listening to Jesus’ words that somehow captivate Simon to act where it really doesn’t make logical sense.  He knows there’s no fish in this area. He has fished the area for hours and knows that it is a waste of time.  Yet all these people are before him; he is on stage before this crowd.  Yes, there is some social pressure as well.  Amazingly, it is in this moment of working with the Lord,  Simon will be forever changed. His vision shifts; he now sees who is the one in his boat.  His posture changes; he drops to his knees in an act of submission. His title for Jesus changes; “Lord”.   Before him is the sacredness, the holiness and the awesomeness of the divine.   Notice too, even when Simon sees his unworthiness, Jesus NEVER judges him.  He simply invites him into a new task and a whole new life.  And the Evangelist goes so far as to immediately give him a new name.  He is now Simon Peter.

For some of us, conversion starts as Jesus has to intercept our personal agendas.  And for some of us who are more stubborn, Jesus has to literally wear us down.  So many times peoples’ conversion stories are narratives of God’s persistence and patience up against our human limitations and our personal agendas.    What is your conversion story?  What has Jesus had to do to get your attention?

Have you noticed how Jesus entices us?  He frequently steps in where a person already has plans,  inviting a person to change their plans.   The enticement leads to intrigue and can frequently lead to  a shift in our agenda, doing something we would NEVER picture ourselves doing previously.  With the mind and heart enlightened, directly in front of us, in a profound moment of recognition, is CHRIST!!!   Paradoxically, in the end, we leave EVERYTHING behind and follow.  We are eternally different.

Fr. David Colhour, C.P. is the local superior of St. Vincent Strambi Community in Chicago, Illinois.

Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Scripture:

2 Corinthians 5:14-21
Luke 2:41-51

Reflection:

Today as we celebrate the Feast of The Immaculate Heart of Mary, we pause to reflect on Mary, the Mother of God and what place she has in our lives.  In the Gospel of Luke we hear the familiar story of the holy family going to Jerusalem for the Passover and after it was over, they traveled home thinking all the time that Jesus was with the group of family and friends they were traveling with.  It is not hard to imagine their fear and frustration they upon realizing that he was not with them.  What parent or friend having lost someone in that way does not immediately think the worst has happened and despair sets in.  Fear turned to relief when they were reunited with him in Jerusalem.  Even though they were a bit exasperated when Jesus did not share their concern for his safety.  Another one of those occasions that give parents fits.

Mary, for her part ‘kept all these things in her heart.” What does it mean ‘to keep things in our heart’?!  As spiritual seekers we must be aware that deep within, in our heart of hearts is where we meet the Divine, where we encounter the Mystery that is beyond words or explanation.  God invites us to come deeper, to trust more fully, to  enter into the silence. This is where we are fed and nurtured with the spirit of God.

We are surrounded with so much busyness these days, with family, work, community, and even church responsibilities and events that we don’t make the time to get in touch with our heart time.  Mary had many instances where she pondered many things in her heart.  She found peace in her heart of hearts, the space she alone could commune with God.  This was her holy space where she gained strength to meet the challenges of daily life as the mother of Jesus.

When we make the effort to set time aside to just BE, to enter into that holy space where we meet our God, where we receive nourishment for the journey, then we are truly at peace.  Summertime offers us a chance to enjoy life at a different pace.  Where are you going on vacation this summer?  Why don’t you spend some time resting in God’s loving embrace that can only happen deep in your heart of hearts.  Enjoy your vacation with God this summer!

Theresa Secord is a retired Pastoral Associate at St. Agnes Parish, Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

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

Reflection:

No sooner is Jesus baptized than he begins his public ministry with two actions: he teaches and he cleanses a man with an unclean spirit.

Mark tells us nothing about what Jesus said.  What is important is the effect of his words.  They have power.  They astonish the congregation in the synagogue because he speaks with authority.  Unlike the scribes and Pharisees whose authority and teaching came from their particular rabbinic school, Jesus taught on his own authority.   And Jesus’ teaching had the power of exposing and expelling evil – even when it dwelt in a holy place like a synagogue.

This passage raises several questions for us.  How do we react to the Word of God?  Do we interpret it on our own authority, that is, with self-serving rationalization?  Do we hear the Word of God, but respond with indifference – as in we know the stories, we’ve heard them before, and they have nothing new to teach us.  No surprise.  No astonishment.  No authority.  As with the man with the unclean spirit, not even a holy location will have the power to cleanse.

But, if we embrace the Word of God, it can have power in us.  If we study the Word of God, if we meditate on Scripture, it can comfort us when we’re discouraged.  It can give us encouragement when we’re ready to give up.  And in our self-satisfaction, it can expose with painful exposure who we really are – imperfect men and women with unclean spirit, the sin that stubbornly clings to us.  Ultimately, it brings us to a greater love of God.

When that happens, get ready to be transformed.  Get ready to be astonished by the Word of God.

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

Scripture:

Isaiah 26:1-6
Matthew 7:21, 24-27

Reflection:
As a young man, I found this Gospel reading challenging. I always questioned, “is Jesus speaking to me? Am I one who says ‘Lord, Lord,’ but does not do the will of the Father?”

But upon reading it a little more deeply and from a perspective a little further along in life, I find comfort in it, as well as challenge.

First off, looking at the Greek word that is translated as “to do,” I found it can also be translated as ‘to make’ or ‘to be the author’ of something. So another translation might be “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of Heaven. Only those who make the will of the Father their own.” Or, “those who hold the will of the Father in their hearts.” For me this seems more obtainable than “doing” the will of the father. One of my frequent prayers is to know the will of the Father. I find my ego can be very clever at laying my will over God’s. But to hold the desire in my heart to do God’s will, that I can do.

The next section of the reading took a little bit more life experience rather than academic research to understand. All and all, I had a pretty easy childhood. I had a stable home life, a loving family, and, although not well off, there was always enough. But, as with any life, as I grew older I was “buffeted by the wind and the rain and the floods.” The deaths of loved ones, loss of jobs, serious illness, have all swept through my life at one time or another. And yet I can say that my house of faith still stands. Holding the words of Jesus in my heart allowed me to move through these trials. And it’s interesting to note that in this reading the floods, rains, and winds come to both those who hold the words of God and those who don’t. None of us are safe from the storms that life brings. But by making God’s will our own, by making Jesus’s words our own, we can weather the storms that come stronger than before.

Talib Huff is a volunteer and presenter at Christ the King Retreat Center in Citrus Heights, California.

Scripture:

Titus 3:1-7
Luke 17:11-19

Reflection:

When I was young and we visited the dentist or doctor’s office there would always be a copy of Highlights Magazine in the waiting room.  In it I loved to read the comic strip “Goofus and Gallant”.

In the comic, two boys are given a situation in life in which they need to respond.

Goofus would always do the thing we knew to be wrong while Gallant would respond with the right value called for, be it telling the truth, helping a neighbor, or saying thank you.  Figuring out the right thing to do in the examples did not take rocket science, and yet, we all knew as we read the comic strip, that we occasionally acted more like Goofus than Gallant.

In today’s Gospel Jesus comes into the lives of ten lepers and answers their prayers by lovingly healing them. If this happened to us, we all would know the right thing to do.  What Gallant would do.  Return and give thanks. This is not difficult to understand.  Yet I know there are times when Jesus is present in my life, when he answers my prayers or heals my brokenness and I am too busy, too distracted, or have already moved on to my next need or worry to even acknowledge His miraculous presence in my life. Giving thanks requires me to slow down, to pay attention and to humbly accept that God loves me so much that He desires to be part of my life.

I think there is also more to the Gospel than the basic value of gratitude.  Jesus’s love acted very powerfully in the lives of the 10 through their healing, and yet only one chose not just to give thanks, but to return to Christ in a more meaningful way.

We have been given much by Our Lord and our hearts should respond with giving thanks, but also by returning to Christ with more than just our words. The Gospel says the leper returned, fell at Jesus’s feet and thanked him.

What might that look like for us?  Maybe in this year of faith returning to Our Lord could include reading the bible more, spending time in front of the blessed sacrament, or receiving the sacraments more often.  Then we would truly be responding with our hearts and our lives to the way He heals us in our life.

Steve Walsh is a retreatant at Mater Dolorosa Retreat Center in Sierra Madre ,and a good friend of the Passionist Community.

Scripture:

Philippians 2:5-11
Luke 14:15-24

Reflection:

“It’s too good to be true.” That is what we think when we are informed that we have received a free gift from a telephone call, a letter in the mail or an invitation on the internet. “Nothing is free in this life,” we tell ourselves. This is normally a smart and safe reaction. The Gospel reading today, though, reminds us that there can be an offer that is too good to be true and is also trustworthy.

Jesus asks us to see our gracious God as the banquet host. God has fixed a great banquet and invited many to the party. After sending out invitations and getting all the arrangements made, the host then sends a second invitation to remind all those who have been invited.

What a gracious God we have. God constantly calls us to come be with him, having prepared everything for us to enjoy. God gives us an invitation “too good to be true.”

Jesus describes people who refused the invitation to the banquet because they were too busy with possessions, profession or people. The excuses we hear are rather dim-witted. Would any one buy land or animals without first inspecting what he desired to purchase? The third man blames his future wife for setting the date of their marriage. All had plenty advanced notice of the banquet, but none wanted to attend and thought up dismal excuses.

Each of us is invited to a banquet, to spend time with God. Sometimes possessions keep us from attending the banquet. We have something in the house to fix, the new car to clean or the lawn to mow. It seems there’s always something else that demands our time and attention. Sometimes our work keeps us too busy. We want that overtime and so we can’t make it to church. We work all day and we’re tired so we just want to sit in front of the TV and not be disturbed. Sometimes people keep us from time with God. We get too busy with friends, going places doing things, and God just sort of ends up being neglected. We have good intentions and plan to spend time with God, but we never quite get to actually taking some quality time with God.

If I am too busy for God, I am too busy! I set my priorities! I find time to do that which I believe is important. Would my life be different if I set a priority in my life to accept the invitation to spend some time with God, to strengthen my relationship with Jesus, to listen to the gentle whispers of the Spirit? “Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God.”

Fr. Don Webber, C.P., is the director of the Office of Mission Effectiveness and resides in Chicago.