Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Zechariah 8:1-8
Luke 9:46-50

Reflection:

I have amazing grandchildren. They surprise me every time I see them – they are so smart and funny, and they have the sweetest little hearts. But think about how simple their little minds are when they are young. Now, realize that, as you grew up, how that innocence and simplicity seemed to be a fleeting memory as you reached adulthood. There is an innocence to a child’s thoughts and actions; a simplicity that we may have long ago forgotten. 

So, when Jesus brings a child to him to sit at his right side, what an honorable place for this little innocent, humble soul. The least among you is the greatest. With a child, there is no pridefulness, no vanity or self-aggrandizement. Their hearts are pure, and we should empty ourselves of all those things that prevent us from having that pure and simply beautiful relationship with Christ.

Cleanse yourself of those things that prevent you from having a heart that is pure. Honor our God with your humility and serve Him as Jesus did.

Patty Masson supports the Passionists from Spring, Texas.

May the Passion of Jesus Christ be always in our hearts!

Scripture:

Numbers 11:25-29
James 5:1-6
Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

Reflection:

Where to start? So many contemporary themes and threads weave their way through the scripture readings for today’s Eucharistic celebration. These are themes that poignantly challenge us in our own day. Let’s look at a few.

First, how dare Eldad and Medad in the first reading from the Book of Numbers begin to prophesy when they were not in the tent when the spirit descended on the other seventy. This really upset some of the people who complained to Moses, “Moses, my lord, stop them.” But Moses answered, “Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets! Would that the Lord might bestow God’s spirit on them all!” I wonder who we would complain about “not being in the tent when the spirit was giving out the gift of prophesy?”

Then in the second reading from the Book of James we read this: “The wages you withheld from the workers who harvested your fields are crying aloud; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on earth in luxury and pleasure; you have fattened your hearts for the day of slaughter.” We profess our faith in Jesus yet mistreat or tolerate the abuse of others and say, “Thanks be to the Lord that we are not like them.”

And from the Gospel of Mark, Jesus chastises one of his favorite disciples, John, who complains that others not of the inner circle are preaching in Jesus’ name. More of the same…we are the chosen, not them. Jesus does not go for it.

We spend so much useless energy debating who’s in and who’s out. Who’s one of us and who is not, who looks like us and who doesn’t, or who speaks our language or not. We spend so much useless time demonizing others and not seeing our own insecurities and hurts that we cover over with riches or privilege. We are all children of God called to be welcoming and generous with all we encounter. To be a believer in Jesus and the Gospel is to include not exclude.

Robert Hotz is a consultant with American City Bureau, Inc. and was the Director of The Passion of Christ: The Love That Compels Campaign for Holy Cross Province.

Scripture:

Zechariah 2:5-9, 14-15a
Luke 9:43b-45

Reflection:

‘Pay Attention’ Jesus tells his disciples and us!

I used to teach RCIA sessions at Saint Agnes.  Each week the inquirers, team and sponsors gather in the prayer circle to check-in and pray.  Our prayer includes sharing where we have seen or experienced God in the past week. Oftentimes, the sharing is slow in coming as we all ponder our ‘God moments’.  Each week I remind everyone to begin to ‘pay attention’ to the ways God is being manifest in our lives and the lives of those around us.  In our busyness, we often miss these moments when we aren’t paying attention and it is good to be reminded of how even the smallest incident or encounter can become a ‘God moment’.

When we ‘pay attention’ to how God is working in our life, our hearts are opened and we are challenged to take more seriously our call to discipleship.  On a recent trip home to Michigan, I was blessed to enjoy many ‘God moments’ with family and friends and nature.  I was also reminded of the importance of taking time to listen and hear the stories and laughter as well as the respite of a beach walk and a Lake Michigan sunset!  It was easy to ‘pay attention’ and savor these God moments.

Sometimes it is more challenging to ‘pay attention’ to how God works in our life when the message is one that challenges us or calls us to do something we don’t necessarily want to do. As I remember the return to the busyness and blessedness of parish ministry, my heart was sad and my spirit lagged as we began the process of changing leadership. Our parish had been blessed to have a pastor who faithfully listens and pays attention to God’s call and I have been blessed to be a part of a pastoral team that continues to embrace the gifts that each brings to ministry.

It is my prayer that in the days and weeks ahead I will have the courage and faith to ‘pay attention’ to how God is calling me to live out the paschal mystery as it unfolds before me.  I pray that I will not miss the many ‘God moments’ that I know will come.

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

Scripture:

Haggai 2:1-9
Luke 9:18-22

Reflection:

Rejection and Invitation of Christ

The ultimate sin that a person can commit is to reject Christ. The New Testament Greek word for reject is apodokimazō. It means to examine something first and deliberately reject it. It is sort of a premeditated repudiation! In modern times we have many more sources of information than our forefathers had. We can get very arrogant and think if I don’t understand the great mystery of the Incarnation then it is not true.

Another Scriptural word for rejection of Christ is exoudeneō. This word has rejection with strong idea of contempt. It comes from the Greek word for nothing. The most wonderful work of God in Jesus in whole universe is treated as nothing. Mk 9:12.  What an incredible insult to God!

I think one of the most common ways in our times for rejection of the massive love of God for us is agnosticism. An agnostic is a person who excuses himself from responding to God because he does not know Him.  But even pagans raised an altar to the “Unknown God”.

Agnosticism is a very dangerous way of losing the greatest treasure of our lives!  It is seemingly a valid excuse for rejecting God’s wedding invitation inviting us into Divine intimacy! In reality it is prideful answer that ignores our small brains and hearts from the ability of ever receiving such a great God by our own abilities. We must beg God to open our eyes and enlarge our hearts as He did to the disciples at Emmaus.  In short, we must humble ourselves before the mighty hand of God. James in 4:10 tells us: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

Pope Francis in his beautiful exhortation “Joy of the Gospel” writes: I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord”

“The Lord does not disappoint those who take this risk; whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there, waiting for us with open arms. Now is the time to say to Jesus: “Lord, I have let myself be deceived; in a thousand ways I have shunned your love, yet here I am once more, to renew my covenant with you. I need you. Save me once again, Lord, take me once more into your redeeming embrace”.#3

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

Scripture:

Haggai 1:1-8
Luke 9:7-9

Reflection:

In our Gospel reading from Luke, Herod hears about Jesus, and what the people are saying about Him, that He was one of the prophets risen from the dead, including John the Baptist. But Herod knows that he had John killed, so he’s curious about who Jesus really is. And Luke tells us that “he kept trying to see him.”

As it turns out, Herod doesn’t see Jesus until Jesus’ Passion, when Pilate sends Jesus to Herod because He was a Galilean. When they do meet, Herod wants to see Jesus perform some sign (Luke 23:6-11). It seems that he is only interested in some kind of performance. He doesn’t seem to be really interested in what Jesus has to say about God or the kingdom or the “least of these.”

The challenge for us is not so much to consider what we want God to perform for us, but to open our hearts and let God in. We are invited to come to know Jesus’ love for us from the Cross. We are called to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit in loving God and loving our neighbor in response to all that God has done for us.

May we take the risk and come ever closer to Jesus. Unlike Herod, may we not so much wonder about Him, but be willing to let Him more and more into our hearts and our lives.

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

Scripture:

Ezra 9:5-9
Luke 9:1-6

Reflection:

Our readings today give us a great summary of discipleship and what it means to be church. In our first reading Ezra is overcome with the guilt of his people, and acknowledges that guilt before God, describing what happened to the people in exile after the Babylonians conquered Israel and destroyed the Temple that Solomon had built.

But Ezra also acknowledges that even though the people were in exile as a consequence of their sins, God had not abandoned them! And so, after the Persians conquered the Babylonians, they allowed the Israelites to go home. As Ezra says, “Thus he has given us new life to raise again the house of God and restore its ruins. God has shown mercy and given new life to the people to rebuild the Temple.

Even though God may let us suffer the consequences of our actions, He does not abandon us! God shows us mercy time and time again, and continually offers us new life. But this new life is not meant to be lived just for ourselves. In our first reading the Israelites were to rebuild the Temple. In our Gospel reading, Jesus sends out the Twelve to proclaim the Good News and drive out demons and cure diseases. He tells them to take nothing for the journey except themselves, and so rely on God for what they need. In a way, Jesus is sending the Twelve out to do what the Israelites did earlier. He sends them out to help people not rebuild the Temple, but rebuild their lives. If there are some who are not ready to be healed or refuse to have their lives restored, they are to simply move on and shake the dust from their feet as testimony.

God has given us not openly a second chance, but a third and a fifth, and maybe even a hundredth chance, and we are called to be instruments that God uses to give others another chance as well. May we be about building up, not tearing down, and may the Good News be always proclaimed through us!

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

Feast of St. Matthew Apostle and Evangelist

Scripture:

Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13
Matthew 9:9-13

Reflection:

Today is the feast of St. Matthew Apostle and Evangelist.  Little is known about St. Matthew.  He was a tax collector and in other synoptic gospels, he is referred to as Levi. The story of Matthew’s call is found in Matthew 9:9 “As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.  He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him”.

The renowned painting above is the  “Call of Matthew” by the famous Italian Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610).  Caravaggio focuses on the first shocking moment that Matthew realizes he is being called. 

Do you remember when Jesus called you to follow him?  In our first reading, St. Paul urges us to ”live in a manner worthy of the call you have received…Do what God has called you to do no matter how big or how small.  God needs you, me and all of us to embrace and live our call.  Take a moment today to discern what is God calling you to do.  Like St. Matthew and St. Paul that ought to make a significant difference in our lives and influence how we behave.  St. Paul continues by saying that God has given all of us gifts.  Are we living in a manner worthy of our call?  Are we humble and gentle, caring for one another through love? Are we daily building up the Body of Christ by our mercy, and compassion including self-compassion?

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

Memorial of Saint Andrew Taegon and Companions

Scripture:

Ezra 1:1-6
Luke 8:16-18

Reflection:

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Andrew Kim Taegon and Companions.  For many of us, St. Andrew is a “new” saint, canonized by Pope John Paul II.  Though new to the liturgical calendar, St. Andrew and his companions are fellow Christians that we need to know because they are powerful witnesses to living the Gospel in real life.

St. Andrew is tied closely to the foundation of Christianity in Korea.  He wasn’t the first Korean Christian by a long shot.  By the time he was born in 1821, Christianity had been growing in Korea for about fifty years.  It is believed that Christianity had been brought into Korea by some Christian Japanese soldiers in the latter part of the 18^th century.   The Christian Japanese soldiers baptized the first Korean Christians and the Christian community began to grow quickly.  By the time the first foreign priest arrived in Korea in 1836, there was already a substantial Christian community flourishing there.  It’s the only known Catholic Christian community that first developed completely from the witness and work of lay Christians.

The rulers in Korea were not at all pleased to have this foreign religion thriving in their country.  At first, they just discouraged it but soon enough outlawed this practice and began to actively persecute anyone who took it up.  As Christians were arrested, tortured and put to death the Church quickly moved underground

St. Andrew’s parents, members of the Korean nobility, were an important part of that early community and secretly remained faithful to their life with Christ.  Andrew was baptized at fifteen and soon expressed his desire to become a priest.  He traveled to Macau to attend the seminary and was ordained in 1845.  He was the first Korean to become a priest and returned home shortly after his ordination to help organize the Church and bring the sacraments to the faithful.  He ministered in Korea only a year before he was arrested and put to death.

There were intense persecutions of Christians in Korea in 1839, 1846, 1866 and 1867 and 103 Christians were martyred for their faith.  We celebrate these heroic martyrs on this day.

May their faith and courage inspire us to live our lives faithful to the Gospel and have the strength to be fearless witnesses for Christ in our everyday lives.

Fr. Michael Higgins, C.P. is the director of retreats at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.