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Memorial of Saint Bernard,
Abbot and Doctor of the Church

Scripture:

Judges 6:11-24a
Matthew 19:23-30

Reflection:

"Who, me?  I can’t do what you ask because I’m a nobody.  I’m just another very ordinary person at the bottom of the society.  You’ve got to be kidding!"  Those aren’t the exact words but that’s what Gideon is saying to the angel who, in the first reading today, just asked Gideon to lead the Israelites out from under the oppressive rule of the Midianites.  "How can I save Israel?"  The response from the angel who speaks with the voice of God responds, "I shall be with you…."  Gideon believes in his call and as we read in the rest of the story, does exactly what the angel had asked.  Gideon becomes one the great liberators of Israel.

How about us?  Through our baptism we are called to live in Christ, to witness to Christ’s presence in the world, to be Christ for others.  Now that’s a huge challenge!  When we come to understand that’s our baptismal call, we tend to respond much like Gideon, "Who, me?  I’m just another very ordinary person and certainly can’t be expected to live up to that baptismal call.  That’s for the great saints…not for ordinary people like me."  Gideon was able to fulfill the call of the Lord because he believed God when God promised to "be with you."  God promises the same to us.  In fact, God has fulfilled His promise through the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Do we believe that God is with us?  That’s the question.  In remembering Gideon’s experience today, we ask God to strengthen our belief that in every situation in our lives, God always goes before us, so that we can be His presence in the world.

 

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

Scripture:

Judges 6:11-24a
Matthew 19:23-30

Reflection:

"Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?" Matthew 19:16

The readings for today’s Mass contrast expectations and experience. The first reading is all about the experience of God’s chosen people and their inability to hold fast to the expectations of being faithful to the One True God and God’s Covenant. The second reading is about the expectation of gaining eternal life and the good that one has to do to gain eternal life. This is the story of our lives. This is our faith journey. We expect to do better each day. Sometimes, we experience failure. We are unable to live up to our expectations to do the good that we need to in order to gain eternal life.

The one notion that stood out in the first reading is the idea of abandonment. Abandonment is used three times in the first reading. The people of Israel had crossed over the Jordon and had established themselves as a nation. They began to believe that it was their doing that made them successful. So fidelity to God, fidelity to the good was abandoned as a way of life and many people fell away from the Covenant that God had made with them. They abandoned God by following "the other gods of the various nations around them.  .  ." (Judges 2:12) But God did not abandon them, even though he disciplined them for their wrong doing. God sent them judges, men and women who brought justice and integrity back to the People of God.

I think that most of us ask ourselves the question, what makes us stray from God and the good God wants us to do? Our experience tells us that abandoning God will ultimately bring despair and hopelessness. We sometimes allow the bad things that happen to us to change our faith in God. Because bad things happen to us we think that God has abandoned us. Just because we experience hard times and personal suffering, we begin to believe that God is not found in the pain and suffering that we have. We begin to measure God’s presence by the absence of pain and suffering.

It is then that we are asked to learn from our experience. Our experience tells us that the more we abandon God, the less we are able to do the good required of us. We can pretend that life is good or that we are good, but we also believe that God will have the last Word. We forget that Jesus held on to God’s Love on the Cross. God did not abandon Him. We too can find God in our in our pain and suffering.

Sometimes we are tempted to measure our lack of personal success with the world’s standard of success, fame and money. We ask, "how come God doesn’t strike public sinners down?" We judge these people to be so bad, so public with our sense of sin that God should strike them down. Is it our role to be God and judge others? Or are we called to be faithful to the Covenant that we have made with God through our baptism and live in a manner that is faithful to God?

So, what good must we do to gain eternal life? Love God and love our neighbor without condition. We cannot do this on our own. Let us ask God daily to do the good that we need to do in order to gain eternal life!

 

Fr. Clemente Barrón, C.P. is stationed in San Antonio, Texas. 

Scripture:

Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10
Hebrews 12:1-4
Luke 12:49-53

Reflection:

In Sunday’s Gospel reading (Luke 12:49-53), Jesus says some words that have always been challenging to me, but at this moment I find them downright disturbing: "Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division." These words are downright disturbing because I am tired of division. I see distrust in our own country between political parties, which leads, I think, to little getting done in Washington. But the distrust and division are not just in Washington. There is distrust between different levels of government. There is distrust between cities and suburbs, and I could go on and on.

If we take our attention away from the U.S., we see again a seemingly intractable impasse between Israelis and Palestinians. We see an outbreak of violence in Egypt. And there are many other places around the world in which hatreds and fears seem to be winning the day. So when I hear these words coming from Jesus, who is in my mind the Prince of Peace, and the One who can bring us together, I struggle to understand what it all means.

So what are we to make of Jesus’ words? I think part of what Jesus says has to do with discipleship demanding choices of us. If we are faithful to following Jesus, there will be times when we come in conflict with worldly wisdom. There may be times when we are in conflict even with the ones closest to us. As Christians, we do not simply "go along to get along." As Martin Luther King, Jr. and others have reminded us, true peace is not simply an absence of conflict, but comes about through justice. And so there are times when our stance brings us into conflict with others.

But before we saddle up on the horse of Righteous Anger, eager to do battle and destroy our enemies, we need to look at two people. One is Jeremiah, who is featured in our first reading (Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10). The princes of Judah tell King Zedekiah that Jeremiah needs to be killed, as he "is not interested in the welfare of our people, but in their ruin." The king lets them have their way, and they throw Jeremiah into a cistern to die. But Ebed-melech, a member of the court, pleads with the king on behalf of Jeremiah, and is sent to pull the prophet out of the cistern. Why are the princes so eager to kill Jeremiah? Because they didn’t like what he was telling them. They were the ruling elite. They knew best for the people. And they were in Jerusalem, God’s city, so anyone who told them something different from what they wanted to hear was obviously evil and a traitor. Sound familiar? But we know Jeremiah was sent by God, and God had already warned him that this was the response he would get (Jeremiah 1:17-19). In our righteous anger, we need to be careful about whether we are really following God or not.

I think one way to help us discern whether we are following God in our righteousness is to look at Jesus Himself. In our eagerness to do battle and vanquish all those who disagree with us, we may be willing to sacrifice ourselves for the cause. We may be willing to sacrifice ourselves for those who are with us. But are we willing to sacrifice ourselves, out of love, for those who are against us? For those who believe that we are the unrighteous ones? Because that is what Jesus did! Even though Jesus seemed to provoke some to conspire against Him, He did not choose to destroy them, but to live and die and rise again for them as well as for us.

Being faithful may lead us into conflict, but I am not quite sold that it is meant to lead us into violence against others. If I am called to fight in a holy war, I am not sure that it will be all that holy. At the same time, I hope that I will be faithful enough to stand up for what is right, even though it may go against the grain of everyone else. May God give us all the grace to discern His will!

 

Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P. is the director of St. Paul of the Cross Retreat and Conference Center, Detroit, Michigan. 

Scripture:

Joshua 24:14-29
Matthew 19:13-15

Reflection:

It is in keeping this over-riding theme in mind that the first reading today is then a bit easier to understand. God’s faithfulness should be Israel’s faithfulness, both collective as a nation and personal as individuals. And while faithfulness is not a transferable trait from father to son like blue eyes or brown hair, it can be learned, it can be communicated by example. Moral responsibility to God applies both to nations as well as individual persons.

The coming of Jesus inaugurates the new messianic age. More than words, God’s faithfulness takes flesh in Jesus. That faithfulness has a body, legs and arms, head and heart, hands to touch and bless. Children, a symbol of the Kingdom due to their innocence as well as their defenselessness, are brought to Jesus to have "hands laid upon them" and prayed over. Normally we think of Jesus just blessing children, but perhaps he was doing more than that…perhaps he was healing them or loving them or even just acknowledging their presence. As a modern society we acknowledge the power that touch can bring to any relationship…how much more the touch of God? Would that not perhaps open them up to the coming Kingdom in their midst?

God’s enduring faithfulness, personal as well as collective moral responsibility, the power of reaching out and touching others in the name of God, food for thought as we go about our daily routine.

Solemnity of the Assumption
of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Scripture:

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

 

 

Reflection:

These readings may take on a little more significance in the light of Pope Francis’s comments to a question on his flight back to Rome after World Youth Day. He was asked about the role of women in the church. His thoughts immediately went to Mary and her role as the Mother of Jesus and her place in bringing about the foundation of the early church. He went on to say that the church needs to develop a theology of women that will give them their rightful role in the life of the church. Do we really understand the implications of the church as the bride of Christ and Mother of the Church?

The scriptures for this feast of the Assumption is a place to start.

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. The 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 come 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 10:12-22
Matthew 17:22-27

Reflection:

Last year at this time, we celebrated 25 years of consecrated life of three Religious Indigenous Women: Sr. Fabiana Arcos , Sr. Micaela Lopez and Sr. Marialena Mendez, from the Congregation of Eucharistic Missionaries of the Infant Jesus and Our Lady of Fatima. During one of my conversations a few days ago with Sr. Fabiana, I asked what the best thing was of celebrating 25 years of religious life. Very bluntly she answered, "I am glad that at this point of my life I can still be amazed by God." Her ministry as a religious is helping her grow, and her spiritual life is still open to the Spirit. Her routines were filled with God’s iconoclastic presence. After 25 years of consecrated life there is still more.

The imagery described in Ezekiel of the Cherubim in God’s throne speaks of God’s awesomeness that brings awe to the destiny and history of the people of Israel. The payment of the Temple Tax by Jesus speaks of God’s greatness. God reaches beyond Israel into the great human family from which people of all tongues and all nations will witness and proclaim God’s Greatness.

It is my hope that Sr. Fabiana’s experience of seeing her life and relation to God and her ministry as still having more to offer may become a reality for all followers of Jesus. May we never cease to be amazed by God’s Greatness in our life, for indeed God is great!

 

Fr. Hugo Esparza-Perez, C.P. is a Passionist of Holy Cross Province now working in Mexico with the Province of Cristo Rey.

Scripture:

2 Corinthians 9:6-10
John 12:24-26

Reflection: 

The over-riding mentality of scarcity and competition in our society is troubling. As a nation, as companies, and too often as individuals, we assume that the only way I win is if someone else loses. The only way to get ahead is to keep someone else from doing so. The only way to have what I want is to ensure someone else doesn’t get it before me. I must put myself first because no one else will, and others are out to take me down. Admittedly, these are not unrealistic assumptions given the world we live in. Neither are they the path of discipleship.

Interestingly, there is emerging research from the secular world that promotes a different way. Wharton professor Adam Grant devoted the last decade to discovering the characteristics of people who achieve extraordinary success. Though not intended as a spiritual study, his conclusions strongly reinforce biblical values like "Sow bountifully". "God loves a cheerful giver", and "It is in giving that you receive".

Grant says there are three stances we can choose when interacting with others – takers (who seek to come out ahead, receiving more than they give), matchers (the "you owe me one" people who expect something commensurate in return), and givers (who go out of their way to help others regardless of an easily foreseeable payback.)  Counter to expectations, the most highly successful people operate as givers without thought of return.

Grant acknowledges that givers can also sink to the bottom of the pack. This occurs if they are martyrs (often wracked with insecurity) who give so much they cannot do their own work, care for themselves, or maintain focus. The key, and an overriding characteristic of those who rise to the top, is a healthy dose of self-interest combined with authentic generosity of spirit and a desire to see others succeed as well as themselves.   

Grant distilled the wisdom from these highly successful leaders into a four-step prescription for success, each of which easily translates into faith terms:

1. Recognize the full potential in people. (Acknowledge each person as a uniquely gifted child of God, expect the best of them, and help them achieve it).

2. Share your knowledge and expertise freely. (Think of your talents and knowledge as gifts meant to be used in service and shared for the common good.)

3. Communicate positively, offer gratitude, and show deep respect. (Build up the body and all its members, frequently offering thanks and reinforcing each person’s inherent God-given dignity.)

4. Identify and reward giving tendencies in performance evaluations and job interviews. (Look for and explicitly praise patterns of generosity, acting to support, promote and strengthen those patterns.)

These steps seem so simple and entirely in line with our call to discipleship. Yet in my experience, whether in churches, businesses, schools, or sports, people who live by Grant’s prescription are the exception rather than the rule.  How many parish and diocesan staffs operate thus? How many pastors and ministers have a primary concern to help others succeed? How many Christians in the pews actively seek to mentor others, helping them reach their potential regardless of personal benefit? Unfortunately, when I examine my own life I realize that I, too, fall far short of the ideal. I also realize how deeply the reign of God could penetrate our world if we collectively changed.

My prayer today is that God will crack open the hard shell of scarcity, competition, and self-centered ambition that lurks in my heart. I choose to direct my energy to generosity, sharing, nurturing, and mentoring. I pray for wisdom to determine the line between giving and martyrdom in order to care for the person God created me to be, while developing an attitude of abundance, joy, and delight in helping others recognize and fully use their talents. And as secular research reinforces the value of changing our prevailing attitudes, I pray that others will join me in this pursuit. Will you?

 

Amy Florian is a teacher and consultant working in Chicago.  For many years she has partnered with the Passionists.  Visit Amy’s website: http://www.amyflorian.com/.

St. Edith Stein, Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 4:32-40
Matthew 16:24-28

Reflection:

Edith Stein, Carmelite sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, died on August 9, 1942 in the gas ovens of Auschwitz. A renowned scholar who studied under the founder of Phenomenology, Edmund Husserl, and who early in her career did much to teach and explain his philosophy. Edith was from a practicing Jewish family, but in 1922 became a Catholic. She did not rush to become a Catholic out of great sensitivity for her mother. Eleven years later she entered the Carmel of Cologne, Germany.

The tenor of the times as the Nazi’s grew to power deprived her of a teaching position due to her Jewish ancestry and also because she was a woman. It would seem that the world has rejected her. In the Carmel shortly before her arrest she wrote a final book, "Science of the Cross". This contemplative, soon to be martyr, embraces the Cross and in so doing would join Christ in the salvation of the world. Perhaps it is here that we would find a close association with the Passionist vocation? In an essay she writes,

The world is in flames…Are you impelled to put them out?…Do you hear the groans of the wounded on the battlefield?…You are not a physician and not a nurse and cannot bind up the wounds. You cannot get to them…[But] bound to the Crucified, you are as omnipresent as he is. You cannot just help here or there…You can be at all the fronts, wherever there is grief. Your compassionate love takes you everywhere.

[Carmelite News Vol.17, No3 http://www.baltimorecarmel.org/.  Sept-Nov 2010]

The life of this mystic explodes with meaning especially when laid against the gift of her Jewish faith with which she was born. She may well have escaped arrest had she escaped to the Carmel in Switzerland where there was room for her. She chose not to go because her sister Rosa who had joined her would not have been able to stay there. Rosa would be arrested with Edith. The words of Ruth to her mother in law Naomi fit well: Do not ask me at abandon you. Wherever you go I will go. Wherever you die I will die.

Her train passes through the transit camp of Westerbork on its way to Auschwitz on August 6. Another Jewish mystic, [Etty Hilesum, "An Interrupted Life"] who herself will follow the way of Edith and is a martyr of charity, makes mention of that mysterious train. Perhaps her religious sense is attuned to a holy woman, or like Ignatius of Antioch as he made his way to martyrdom in Rome, people were moved by grace?

When arrested Edith is supposed to have said to Rosa, "Come, Rosa, let us go for our people." Does not Edith Stein stand like Joshua whom we meet in the first reading today? Moses encourages him, "Be brave and steadfast, for you must bring this people into the land which the Lord swore their fathers he would give them; you must put them in possession of their heritage" There is something of the ‘child’ that we hear in Matthew, although we meet a brilliant, brave and self giving woman. Is she not a Good Shepherdess who resembles Jesus as his Passion approaches, who prays, ‘may they all be one Father as you and I are one’. Edith Stein draws her strength from the Cross; appearing to have been overcome by the world, in fact she  has overcome the world by making herself one with the sacrificial love of her Savior.

 

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