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Feast of St. Charles Borromeo

Scripture:

Romans 11:29-36
Luke 14:12-14

Reflection:

We continue our journey through our annual November commemoration of saintly people, and today we thank God for the person of Charles Borromeo — a zealous man of the 16^th Century Church, credited for helping reform the Church in a variety of ways.

As a bishop and Cardinal, Charles was one to encourage the intellectual and moral growth of clergy and religious, especially in forming new seminaries.  He also helped author the catechism that was called for during the Council of Trent and started the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) for children’s growth in their faith.  He held many special meetings in his home diocese of Milan, seeking to incorporate the message and teachings of the Council of Trent.  In all this, he reached out to the poor and needy of his day, sacrificing wealth, honor and influence to serve them – even in the challenges of the plagues and famines of his day, ministering to the sick, the hungry, and the dying.  Truly a zealous man during his relatively short 46 years of life!

We have the same opportunity to renew ourselves, to grow and serve as God’s People, the Church.  We have to change from our old ways, and like St. Paul in today’s first reading to the Romans, we can help others change – if we first acknowledge God’s love and wisdom.  Change in both in word and deed, in our prayer and service of others is critical.  Jesus in today’s Gospel highlights a foundational attitude of openness and service, especially of the poor and crippled – a true change of attitude from that of the Pharisees!  Today’s readings highlight a change of heart and human growth as part-and-parcel in following Jesus – a rule of life for St. Charles Borromeo!

May the creative and zealous example of St. Charles Borromeo help motivate us as 21^st Century Christians:  called to personally grow and be women and men of prayer and action, building up the Church in our day, with the encouragement of our worldwide Pastor, Pope Francis.  Holiness and wholeness are God’s gifts to the Church of every age.

 

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

Scripture:

Wisdom 11:22-12:2
2Thessalonians 1:11-2:2
Luke 19:1-10

Reflection:

So, have you ever felt small, like insignificant, unimportant? Try this reflection on for "size:" The whole world before you, O Lord, is like a speck that tips the scales, and like a drop of morning dew that falls on the ground." (Wis. 11:22)  Contrast this "little" revelation with Jesus’ reflection concerning "faith" the size of a mustard seed can move a mountain! Yes, God does notice the most insignificant or tiny. "For your immortal spirit is in all things." (Wis. 12:1)

So, Jesus notices Zacchaeus out on a limb and searching for more and says to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." (Lk 19,7) Once Jesus is under his roof, Zacchaeus responds with a commitment to give half his wealth to the poor and commits himself to fourfold restitution to any one whom he has cheated. Jesus responds "Today salvation has come to this house, because Zacchaeus, too, is a son of Abraham. Zacchaeus has been saved. We have all been approached with the question, "Have you been saved?" Have I?  Do I understand with head, heart and feet? The fundamentalist contends that this phenomenon of "being saved" is based on experience -to be aware of, consciously and deliberately deciding to believe in Jesus in a moment of deep psychological awareness. It was an impactful moment in time.

In the Catholic understanding of "being saved" is it a life long process of dying to rising from ego to "others centered." Our being saved follows the pattern of Jesus’ relationship with Zacchaeus’ response. Jesus did not say what he did as regards salvation coming to his house until Zacchaeus responded to Jesus not only with trust in Him but enthusiasm, and generosity declaring half of what he owned  would be given to the poor, and four times the payout to persons whom he had cheated. Salvation is not what it should be until we are able to rejoice in it with an act of conscious and deliberate response to Jesus Christ. If I really am conscious, daily, of the gift we received at baptism I am generous, seeking to extend this same gift to others in every way that I can. Amen.

 

Fr. Alex Steinmiller, C.P. is president of Holy Family Cristo Rey Catholic High School, Birmingham, Alabama.

 The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls)

Scripture:

Wisdom 3:1-9
Psalm: 23:1-3A, 3B-4, 5, 6
Romans 5:5-11 6:3-9
John 6:37-40

 

Reflection:

Our Scriptural wisdom has many descriptions to capture the event we all know as death, which is arrived to through a process of dying.  Dying can be a time that brings fear of the unknown into the heart of the person whose life is expiring; or it can be a time of solace and comfort to the loved ones of a person because death brings long-term suffering and pain to a close [Rev 21:4].

In the Jewish Testament, there is an ambiguity about the details of the "hereafter" because the Scriptural testimony reflects centuries of development of thought about death, and because of the many different cultural and historical influences that contributed to a popular understanding of death.  In today’s Jewish funeral prayers, there is a confidence that the soul of the deceased person will be "covered in the wings of the All-Merciful One forever," while "binding his/her soul to the bond of life" and resting in peace.  These Jewish prayers echo our reading for today from the Book of Wisdom, "Those who trust in him shall understand truth, and the faithful shall abide with him in love: because grace and mercy are with his holy ones, and his care is with his elect. (Wisdom 3:9)"

Our Christian tradition continues to place death in the context of the Resurrection of Jesus, "If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him (Romans 6:9)."  [See also: 1Thes 4:13-14].  Paul was reflecting the conviction of the first Christians, who had been nourished by Jesus’ own words to them:  In today’s Gospel, Jesus says to the multitude of John’s sixth chapter, whom he has nourished in the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, "For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day. (John 6:40)"

As we put aside many of the day’s regular activities to remember our deceased family members and friends on this Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, let us ask God to fill our hearts with the hope that unites us across the threshold of death.  It is the hope that God’s promises to his faithful, gathered in the Body of Christ by baptism, will be fulfilled for each of us, as they are for all of our departed faithful.

 

Fr. Arthur Carrillo, C.P.  is the director of the Missions for Holy Cross Province.  He lives in Chicago, Illinois. 

The Feast of All Saints

Scripture:                                                            

Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14
1 John 3: 1-3
Matthew 5: 1-12a   

Reflection:

On this Feast of All Saints the first reading assures us in visionary language and symbol that all the people of the Promise in the Old Testament will share God’s great glory in heaven.  God has been faithful to His promises and the 12 tribes of Israel, each numbering 12,000 members, will be sealed with the mark of their loving God.

Then the Visionary goes on to tell us of all the countless numbers of Gentiles from all over the world who withstood distress of all kinds upon this earth and have been saved by the blood of Jesus, the Christ.  Myriads upon myriads signed and sealed are now with their Lord, the Lamb of God 

This Feast of All Saints has really been opened up by Vatican II.  One of the most important messages of Vatican II, a truly foundational message, is that everyone is called to holiness.  Everyone – not just bishops, priests, and religious – each member of the laity is truly called to be holy with the holiness of God.  We are each of us called to be Christ.  These are the saints that we celebrate today. 

Robert Faesen, SJ, an authority on the spirituality of the Dutch Middle Ages, tells us that the common person is the woman or man who through a life of contemplative prayer and action, "is united with God and is an instrument of God."  The common person is the woman or man who does not seek after power, position, privilege or prestige, but rather learns to live for God and God alone.  These persons seek out and serve others in ordinary ways because they love God.  He is the old man who answered the Cure d’Ars question about what he does sitting in the church, "I just look at Him and He looks at me."  Or she is the woman who, like Dorothy Day, is kind and pleasant to the person she dislikes because she knows God loves and likes that person.  The common person is an ordinary person who does ordinary things for the love of God.

Our new General Superior, Bro. Edward Driscoll, a former principal of St. Xavier High School in Louisville, KY, has suggested that we Xaverian Brothers celebrate this feast in the following way:  "As we celebrate All Saints and All Souls Days, I invite you to spend time reflecting on the common women and men in your own life. The people who could easily be canonized but don’t need to be. What are their stories? How did they form you?"

I pass it on to you.  For me it seems both comforting and enriching to sit and look at Him and let Him look at me, as we both, He and I, recall and thank each of those many common ordinary persons who influenced me and formed me for good in Him.

 

Br. Peter A. Fitzpatrick, CFX, a Xaverian Brother, is a Passionist Associate at Ryken House, across the creek from the Passionist Monastery, in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Roman 8:31-39
Luke 13:31-35

Reflection:

There are easy scriptures and there are hard scriptures:

It is easy to write a reflection on John 3:16 — "For God so loved the world."  That is reassuring, and people like to hear it.  
 It is easy to write a reflection on Psalm 23 — "The Lord is my shepherd."  It is lovely poetry and lovely theology.  It assures us that God is with us in life and in death.  
But it is not easy to write a reflection on scriptures like our Gospel story today… scriptures that spell out warnings….that pronounce judgment.

We are happy to know that God is a God of love, but we don’t like to hear that God is also a God of judgment.  Some say that the Old Testament portrays a harsh God, a God of judgment… but the New Testament portrays a God of love.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  God was a God of love from Day One… and is a God of love throughout the Old Testament. 

And God is a God of judgment… even in the New Testament.  The purpose of God’s judgment, however, is a loving  purpose…it is always to redeem… to bring us back into the fold. 

In our Gospel today, Jesus warns Jerusalem that it will be destroyed.  Jerusalem has rejected God’s ways and God’s son, and God is going to abandon it.  God protected Jerusalem in the past, but now, because of its sin, God will withdraw his hand — leaving the city open to its enemies…. ripe for destruction.

And that, in fact, is exactly what happened.  A few years after Jesus’ death, a group of individuals revolted against Rome, and Rome responded by leveling Jerusalem and slaughtering its people.  

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem!  How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing."

It is interesting to note that Jesus grieved and lamented over the city of Jerusalem, because people were offered God’s message of love, forgiveness and salvation, but rejected it. I can only imagine that nothing in this world would hurt Jesus more than when people reject God’s love after it has been freely and unconditionally offered to them. 

The tragedy didn’t end with the people of Jerusalem rejecting God’s love either.  We too, in our sinful, ungrateful ways can also rejected God’s love. We have been offered God’s love, forgiveness and salvation and yet, how often do we rejected it?

We have received countless blessings in our lives from God. So, how do we receive them?  Hopefully, we recognize them as such and are grateful for them. 

Or, maybe we take them for granted; maybe we don’t appreciate how valuable they really are; we may even deny the fact that our blessings come from God and in a twisted way, we might even take credit for them ourselves. So, in a sense, God’s love is lost on us; Christ is lamenting over our rejection of him and his love that has been offered repeatedly to us. 

Jesus longed to transform the heart of the people of Jerusalem, but the truth was they were unwilling.  Jesus looks at us, his children, and he too reflects on what our hearts look like……….Our Scripture passage concludes today with Jesus’ words:

 "But I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."  And all God’s people said…Amen.

 

Deacon Brian Clements is a retired member of the retreat team at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center in Sierra Madre, California

Scripture:

Romans 8:26-30
Luke 13:22-30

Reflection:

When I was ten and my sister was 12, our mother passed away from cancer.  A tragedy for us and for our father.  But in due time our father remarried.  He married my mother’s sister.  This second mother helped my sister and I get through our teen years, and was a great support to us for the rest of her life. (She died at age 93.)  And from this second marriage came my step-brother and eventually his two beautiful children.  What a blessing they are.

I knew a woman who was born with a birth defect.  As a result she was in a wheelchair all her life.  As an adult she became an unofficial counselor for me and scores of other people.  We helped her and her wheelchair over curbs and she helped us over mountains of trouble in our lives.  I think her handicap lead her to be a very wise, understanding, compassionate and loving person.  What a blessing she was.       The mother of Jesus cried her heart out at the foot of the cross as they laid his dead body on her lap.  She must have wondered, "Why did this happen to one who was so good?  Why is this happening to me."  But Mary already knew in her heart what St. Paul was to tell the Romans, and us, "God makes all things work together for the good of those who have been called according to his decree."  So Mary waited.  Mary trusted.  And Easter came!  What a blessing for all of us.       

Every day comes with its share of problems.  There are personal problems, family problems, national problems, church problems and world problems.  Let us wait.  Let us trust.  All things will work together for the good of those who are faithful.

 

Fr. Alan Phillip, C.P. is a member of the Passionist Community at Mater Dolorosa Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.   http://www.alanphillipcp.com/

Scripture:

Romans 8:18-25
Psalm 126
Luke 13:18-21

Reflection:

In today’s passage from Luke Jesus answers the question "What is the Kingdom of God like?  To what can I compare it?"  Jesus then compares the Kingdom to a tiny mustard seed which grows into a large bush, sheltering the birds of the sky in its branches.  Let’s reflect on this comparison.

The Kingdom of God is Dynamic

The Kingdom of God, like the mustard seed, is constantly evolving and growing, it is not static.  It is not rigid and is very responsive to its environment, to the signs of the times.  We can’t make the mistake of trying to codify or envelop the Kingdom of God with our own definitions, terms and restrictions.  The Kingdom of God is full of surprises!

The Kingdom of God is Systemic

The Kingdom of God, like the mustard seed, is an inter-connected reality.  Any one part of the Kingdom is connected to and impacts every other part.  This is why one Kingdom-building action from me will result in a favorable impact on our growth as a whole Kingdom.  My smile, touch, word of encouragement will impact the entire Kingdom of God!  We suffer, triumph and pray together as one and nothing can separate us from each other and the love of God.

The Kingdom of God is Sensitive

The Kingdom of God, like the mustard seed, is easily impacted by our every thought, feeling and action.  Remember the physicists’ favorite reality; the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in one part of the world can lead to a hurricane in another part.  The Kingdom of God is sensitive to initial conditions.  Like "paying it forward", one small action such as a kind word, a simple gift of time or an earth-friendly gesture can provide a place for others, like the birds of the sky, to have shelter and peace.

Today as we reflect on the mustard seed and our role in building the Kingdom of God, we proclaim with Psalm 126, "The Lord has done marvels for us"!

 

Terry McDevitt, Ph.D. is a member of our Passionist Family who volunteers at the Passionist Assisted Living Community in Louisville, Kentucky.

Feast of Saints Simon and Jude

Scripture:

Ephesians 2:19-22
Luke 6:12-16

Reflection:

In Luke’s gospel today, we hear how Jesus went up to the mountain to pray.  Taking time for quiet and meditative prayer can help us regroup and come away refreshed for the task at hand.  I was privileged to have the opportunity over the past year to participate in two nature retreats at Living Waters Retreat Center, Maggie Valley, NC  I spend one week in the Fall and another in the Summer in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.   Each day we took time to hike the trails, sit by mountain streams, observe wild life near and far and in the evenings enjoy the warmth of a campfire, watch the sunset go down as the moon and stars brought forth a dazzling carpet of brilliant light and quiet solitude.  TO BE one with God’s creation in nature is an awesome experience.  I experienced prayer in many different ways, all of them nourishing.

Jesus often spent time in prayer before making tough decisions or entering into difficult and challenging situations.  In this case, it was choosing the apostles who would carry on the Good News of the kingdom.  This was a daunting task requiring wisdom and courage.  Two of these apostles, Saints Simon and Jude, we celebrate with today.  Simon and Jude traveled throughout North Africa and the Middle East spreading the message of salvation.  Undoubtedly they spent a good time in prayer and reflection asking for courage and strength for the journey.

It is an honor as well as a challenge to be a follower of Jesus Christ.  We encounter many joys and sorrows along the way.  The past will be less troublesome if we remember to follow the model laid out for us by Jesus and Saint Simon and Jude.  May we be attentive to the Spirit of God found in the stillness of our mountain top moments.

 

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