Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Acts 15:1-2, 22-29
Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23
john 14:23-29

Reflection:

As I read our first reading for this Sunday (Acts 15:1-2, 22-29), I found myself returning to some things that have been on my mind for some time: How do we see the “other?” Are we called to be more inclusive or exclusive? Must we always be in battle? The reading covers a time when some Christians were saying to others, “Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice, you cannot be saved.’ For Paul and Barnabas, who had been proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ to Jew and Gentile alike, this went against their understanding of the Gospel. And so, the apostles and other leaders in Jerusalem called a meeting to decide what the community would do. The full debate is not covered in our reading, but we do have the result. And the result was that the leaders discerned that the Gentiles did not have to be circumcised in order to be part of the church. In other words, the Gentiles didn’t have to become something they were not in order to join the Christian community.

When we read this, I think our natural reaction is to see the wisdom and compassion of the decision. And yet, I think the Church at times continues to struggle with the questions of identity and unity and diversity. Do we have unity only when everyone is the same, and so we are to try to make everyone the same? Or is there room for differences according to cultural understanding and expression? For example, when I visited India, most Catholic churches had no seats, not to mention kneelers. The congregation sat on the floor. Were they less Catholic because of this? I think many who are reading this would say, “Obviously not!” But still, there seems to be a strong temptation to judge people who are not like us.

Is there an answer to how we are to treat others, including those who are different from us? In our Gospel reading (John 14:23-29), Jesus says to the apostles at the Last Supper: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him…I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” For me, Jesus is telling me to heed and follow His words, many of which speak about love and not giving in to fear. Jesus’ words tell me to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit, not the prejudices I may hold in my heart or the stereotypes I may hold in my mind.

There may be limits to diversity that can be sustained in any group or institution, but there can be no limits on love. There are no limits on God’s love for us! That is what we need to remember when we wrestle with the issues of inclusion and exclusion, or when we’re tempted to condemn.

May the love of God in Jesus Christ keep us and open us to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P., is the local superior of the Passionist Community in Birmingham, Alabama. 

Scripture:

Acts 16:1-10
John 15:18-21

Reflection:

Providence of God

“They traveled through the Phrygian and Galatian territory because they had been prevented by the Holy Spirit from preaching the message in the province of Asia. When they came to Mysia, they tried to go on into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them”.   ACT 16:6

The Acts of the Apostles in the Scriptures for the Easter Season are not just a fascinating history of the early Church.  They guide us today as we are still in the business of preaching the Word!  Paul had his plans for evangelization, but like our plans, they were not always God’s plans.  “The Holy Spirit prevented” Paul’s plan.  The Greek NT word for “prevent” uses “eao” which means “did not allow it”.  Fortunate for us, our plans are often His wishes for us!  God is love! The only thing He can do is love us.

Divine Providence

When our designs are blocked after great effort, it might well be that God has something much better in mind for us.   This is more likely to be the case when something happens to us that we can’t do anything to change it.   I have been a priest now for 60 years, and many people have said very helpful things to me.  One I can’t seem to forget is this one.  Many years ago, a man in Detroit asked me, “Do you want to make God laugh? Tell Him your plans for tomorrow!”   It’s a spin-off of an old Yiddish proverb: “We plan, God laughs.” 

God’s vision for us is way beyond our dreams and hopes on this earth; He thinks forever!   This is what we call Divine Providence.  The word comes from Hebrew when God asked the near impossible of Abraham to sacrifice his only begotten son.  His son asks: “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” In Hebrew text, “God will see to it” Yahweh-Yireh!

 Our word in English comes from the Latin translation pro videre God will see to it or take care of it!  “Father, help us to rest our heads on the soft pillow of Your providence.” Alistar Begg

Fr. Bob Weiss, C.P. preaches Parish Missions and is a member of the Passionist Community in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Acts 15:22-31
John 15:12-17

Reflection:

In our first reading from Acts, we have the outcome from the meeting held in Jerusalem around the question whether Gentiles who had converted to Christianity had to become circumcised according to the Mosaic law observed by Jews. The apostles and elders discerned that the Gentile Christians did not have to be circumcised. In other words, the Gentile Christians did not have to be like Jews in order to be Christian

This account of a dispute in the early Church reminds us that conflicts can occur. And what is necessary to resolve such conflicts or debates is what we hear Jesus say at the beginning of our Gospel reading: “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.” 

We are called to love as Jesus loves, and we have an indication of what that means: “No one has greater love than this. To lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” I don’t see doing what Jesus commands us to do as a condition for Jesus to love us. I believe Jesus loves us no matter what. I see it more as saying, “This is what you need if you truly love me and want to be in a relationship with me: do what I command you to do.” 

Jesus also says: “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain…” We are called to go and bear fruit, not spend time passing judgments on others. However, we may resolve the disputes and conflicts that come up, even within the church, we are called to resolve them in love.

Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P., is the local superior of the Passionist Community in Birmingham, Alabama. 

Scripture:

Acts 15:1-6
John 15: 1-8

Reflection:

Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.
-John 15:5

Have you ever forgotten where you put your car?  In the Catholic grade school I attended, when we lost something, St. Anthony would help us find it if we just prayed to him.  One time, I couldn’t remember where I had parked my car.  I prayed to St. Anthony and suddenly I found my car.  I found myself saying, “Never mind St. Anthony, I found it.” How many times during confession or the sacrament of penance have you or I ever confessed the sin of self-reliance? 

Yet, today’s scripture verse clearly states: “without me you can do nothing”.  We Americans pride ourselves on “pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps.”  How many of us genuinely reflect upon today’s scripture passage and its implications for our daily lives?   Something inside of us wants to resist God’s help even when it is clear that we have received it. We like to think that we can take care of ourselves.  But today’s gospel is quite clear: “without me you can do nothing”.  (Kathleen Swartz McQuaig, Living Faith, April, May, June 2025, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, Bayard Publications.) 

In today’s first scripture reading, we learn that faith is not dependent upon self-reliance. Paul and Barnabas seek guidance from God, the Apostles and presbyters. (Acts 15:1-6) Let us not discount today’s Gospel.  We need the Lord’s guidance and assistance with all that we do. Let us take to heart the gospel message and rejoice that we are not in this life’s journey alone.  Thank you, Lord, for being with me on this journey of life and for sustaining and enabling me to bear fruit for you.

Carl Middleton is a theologian/ethicist and a member of the Passionist Family.

Scripture:

Acts 14:19-28
John 14:27-31a

Reflection:

A Pilgrim Church, But Never Alone

Acts can serve as a template for the Church of today. The Holy Spirit guides the growing Church as it makes its way to the ends of the earth – to the center of world power – Rome. It will not be Peter or Paul who are the main actors but the Holy Spirit.

Yesterday Paul and Barnabas were touted as Gods, to day brings them rejection to the point of being stoned to death, and what follows in Derbe is an ordinary back to work day of proclaiming the good news. As they then retrace their steps to Antioch they add something new to their previous preaching, something learned, ‘We undergo many trials to enter into the Kingdom of God’. They give encouragement. Once home they spend time with the disciples and share ‘all that God had helped them accomplish, and how God had opened the door of faith to the gentiles.

In the early Church these were the days of mystagogy. That is a word we should all add to our vocabulary! Just to explain it is to give someone a catechetical lesson. A rich word really, but simply put it is the way of explaining the presence of the Risen Christ during this Easter season. It points the newly baptized to the sacraments. Our Lord prepares to leave, his presence will not be as before, he can not be held onto neither by the disciples of Emmaus nor Mary Magdalene. The catechesis of the newly baptized, the so called mystaogical catechesis, pointed the newly baptized members of the Church to the sacraments telling them that here is where you will find the Lord Jesus.

The Risen One is with us these Easter days and we hear him in the Word, in the breaking of the Bread, the water that gives life, the community of the Church, those who bear his wounds of, the poor and the Crucified of today. One day the Church seems exalted on another day it feels pelted with stones. Those who proclaim the good news have good times and no less trials as they follow Jesus. And how important was the encouragement that Paul and Barnabas gave!

Acts ends today with a gathering of the community; the Church is here a safe haven. The sowers have gone out into the field and labored, the seed is sown. Our response psalm sums it up nicely, “Your friends tell the glory of your kingship, Lord”. They hear from the lips of Paul and Barnabas “all that God had helped them accomplish, and how he had opened the door of faith to the gentiles”. Like us in the Easter season these friends rejoice to hear the words that will be written as the Acts of the Apostles, and they are nourished and refreshed in the breaking of the bread.

In John’s gospel Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit and the Father. Let us hear an invitation to pray to this Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Praying to the Trinity may not be your usual approach to prayer? As we the Church journey with trails, are generous with encouragement, both sowers and reapers who savor the sacraments, let us pray to the Trinity whom Jesus introduces to us a pilgrim Church but one that is never alone.

Fr. William Murphy, CP is a member of Immaculate Conception Community in Jamaica, New York.

Scripture:

Acts 14:5-18
John 14:21-26

Reflection:

Today’s first reading from Acts begins with a crowd wanting to murder Paul and Barnabas and ends with another crowd wanting to worship them like gods. This is a dramatic illustration of the fickle nature of human respect. Every person has had experiences with this inescapable reality, but perhaps none more so than those devoutly seeking to live the Christian life. In some circumstances, we are mocked and even hated for moral stances that are labelled “out of touch” or “intolerant.” At other times, we are lauded for our charitable acts and patient acceptance of others. Unfortunately, despite how capricious it can be, we often allow the pursuit of human respect to dictate our choices. When we remain silent when God’s laws are being disrespected, we put the opinions of men over divine truths. When we do good works to get praise from men rather than to give praise to God, human respect has become our god.

In the Gospel, Jesus makes it very clear that He wants us to follow His commands for love of HIM. If love for Christ is our motivation for all we do, it matters very little what the crowds think. If we seek only the promise that loving obedience will result in Jesus and the Father coming and making their dwelling with us, both worldly rewards and derisions are meaningless in comparison.

Not to us, O Lord, but to your name give the glory! Amen.

Megan Silas is a Lay Passionist at Holy Name Passionist Retreat Center in Houston, Texas.

Scripture:

Acts 14:21-27
Revelation 21:1-5a
John 13:31-33a, 34-35

Reflection:

During the height of the Covid pandemic, there was a lot of discussion around living under a “new normal.” In some ways, I wanted there to be a “new normal,’ not in the way necessarily that people were talking about at the time, but in the way of the kingdom of God. So, I had a sign made that I put up when I would pray on the corner, where the community garden is, across the street from Holy Family Church: “Praying for a New Normal.”

I bring this up because in our Gospel reading for Sunday (John 13:31-33a, 34-35), Jesus is speaking to His disciples at the Last Supper: “My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Every time I hear those words, “new commandment,” I realize that even though those words were spoken centuries ago, they are still new. They are still new because we have trouble embracing them unconditionally, even as Jesus embraces us unconditionally. We want to put some fine print on them, or find some loopholes in them, or seek some restrictions so that they are not so inconvenient for us.

But what if we were to strive to fully obey Jesus’ commandment to love? Maybe we could be open, as Paul and Barnabas were to the Gentiles (Our first reading: Acts 14:21-27), to the truth of God’s love extending to all peoples. Maybe we could be like John in our second reading from Revelation (21:1-5a), able to visualize “a new heaven and a new earth.” Maybe we could actually welcome “God’s dwelling” with “the human race.”

I’m sorry if I sound a bit strident. It just seems that we need to take the commandment to love to heart now more than ever.

May God open our eyes and ears, our hearts and minds to obey this “new commandment” to love one another as Jesus loves us, leading us not only to acts of charity but also working for justice and peace. May the “old order” of hate and fear and the use of violence pass away.

Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P., is the local superior of the Passionist Community in Birmingham, Alabama.