Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Genesis 17:1, 9-10, 15-22
Matthew 8:1-4

Reflection:

When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.
and then a leper approached, did him homage, and said,
“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”
He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said,
“I will do it. Be made clean.”
His leprosy was cleansed immediately.
-Matthew 8:1-3
 

Today’s reading from Matthew begins with Jesus coming “down from the mountain.” He has just completed his “Sermon on the Mount” with so many of our most cherished teachings: the beatitudes, the Lord’s prayer, the golden rule, as well as teachings on anger, almsgiving, false prophets, judging, money, shining our light–most of which turned traditional social and economic paradigms upside down. Love our enemies? Store up treasures in heaven?

So as we begin today’s gospel reading, “great crowds” are following Jesus “down the mountain” after hearing an astounding call to love as God loves us.  Yet, as we all know, it is one thing to hear a teaching, particularly one that stretches what we think is our reality.  It is quite another thing to take it in, to let it shape us, to be willing to let go of what we thought were the parameters of who we are and who are neighbor is.  And then to act.

So Jesus teaches us how to do that too.  Enter the leper.  Jerome Neyrey, SJ, a professor of New Testament at Notre Dame, explains that lepers were considered physically unclean and would have been on the margins of Israelite society. He goes on to say “it is safe to say that Israel was both intensely concerned with purity and with the appropriate lines and boundaries.” So it is particularly significant that Jesus transgresses these boundaries and touches the leper. This is no healing from afar, like the Syro-phoenician woman’s daughter or the centurion’s servant.  This is intimate, physical touch.  And rather than Jesus becoming unclean, in an extraordinary reversal, the leper becomes clean.

Mind blowing really.  Unthinkable.  Rather than contamination being transmitted, love and healing flow in intimate physical touch between Jesus and the leper.  Divine love flowing through human flesh, not accidentally, but as an action of will: “I will do it.”

For me, this is the model to which Jesus invites us all. First, we are called to listen deeply to his words, taking in as best as we can these teachings that still turn our social and economic paradigms upside down today.  Spend time on the mountain with Jesus. 

Then, we are invited to follow Jesus “down the mountain,” into a world which too often tells us who is clean and who is unclean.  My prayer today is for the grace to see the other, particularly those on the margins, as Jesus sees the leper–and to choose to participate in the divine love Jesus offers us all.  I think of Pope Francis’ invitation to work for a “culture of encounter.”  He describes it as “not just seeing, but looking; not just hearing, but listening; not just passing people by, but stopping with them, allowing yourself to be moved with compassion, and then to draw near, to touch…”

Lissa Romell is the Administrator at St. Vincent Strambi Community in Chicago, Illinois.

Feast of John the Baptist

Scripture:

Isaiah 49:1-6
Acts 13:22-26
Luke 1:57-66

Reflection:

John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. -Acts 13:24

Paul sums up the work of John the Baptist with the word repentance.  The word in the Greek original inspired word is metanoia.  It means one has to think of God in a much bigger and exciting way.  We must change dramatically our thoughts about the wonder of His love.  What God is going to do for us has not even entered into the mind and heart of man in His wildest dreams!  Biblical “repentance” means not so much that we look to our wayward sins, but to God’s startling love for us!  We are challenged with God’s amazing ways to call us into the wonderful love life of the Trinity.  

Jesus says the most astonishing things about this sharing of intimacy with God!  “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. John 15:9  I think this is one of the most astounding words spoken by Jesus!  So strong is Jesus’ love for us it is like the Father’s love for His “Only Begotten”.  How could Jesus say it more strongly than that?  When John the Baptist said: “Behold the Lamb of God” that was the most wonderful sight in the world! Pope Benedict XVI beautifully says: “EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON THE INTIMATE FRIENDSHIP WITH JESUS!”

Some years ago I visited the wonderful Basilica Sacré Cœur  in Paris in the evening when a teen age girl with her family came in and knelt behind me.  There is a giant mosaic of Jesus over the altar that is over 5,000 sq feet. It is the largest mosaic in France.  When the family of the girl first came in she cried  out: “look at Jesus”!  Maybe these words sums up the main wonderful point of John the Baptist.“Behold the Lamb of God”

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

Scripture:

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
Matthew 7:15-20

Reflection:

In our divided times, the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel reading are most challenging: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves. By their fruits you will know them.”

It seems to be a simple criterion for judging a prophet: by the “fruit” he or she bears. But right now, it seems difficult for people to even agree on which “fruit” is good and which is bad.

Perhaps we can take our cues from Jesus. Jesus often spoke about forgiveness and mercy, and He demonstrated both of those things time and time again, even from the Cross. He spoke about coming so that we might have life and have it abundantly. He criticized the scribes and the Pharisees for brow-beating the people without lifting a finger to help them. He ate with the tax collectors and the sinners, those who were considered outcasts and not worthy of God’s love or time. And He spoke to foreigners!

So, when I hear someone indulge in judgement and condemnation, in stereotyping those considered “other,” or even maintaining the status quo so as to benefit one group of people over another, I tend to view the message as a false one. When the message calls for repentance and justice and reconciliation, then it seems true to me.

Before we rush to judgement about “them,” ready to characterize them as true or false prophets, perhaps we ought to take a longer look at the “fruits” they bear.

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

Scripture:

Genesis 13:2, 5-18
Matthew 7:15-20

Reflection:

“Beware”.  The word is usually encountered upon entering a Halloween haunted house. In today’s gospel our Lord uses this emphatic warning to alert us to the false prophets all around us who are always the greatest threat to the Church and its teachings 

“You will know them by their fruits”, Mt 7: 16.  The message of false prophets is so successfully propagated because people are like drops of water, they seek the path of least resistance. “That Old Time Religion” was way too confining and too much work!  They want to be free to do as they wish and so they seek out a belief system that has no consequences or demanding effort.  We are living in a post-Christian/Judeo world where Secular Humanism and Prosperity Gospels are some of the more glaring bad fruits the false prophets promote.  The message is simply a narcissistic self-delusion of grandeur where it is smugly assumed that the modern intellect is superior in knowledge than those who came before, as if they were the first that believed this always modern fallacy.  Because of their astonishing understanding of the universe, past spiritual writers and Christian theologians can be rejected and abandoned as intellectual peasants whose time is long been over.   St Paul recognized this parochial thought pattern even in the time of Christ.  He mocks these self-professed intellectual superiors by saying, “Professing to be wise, they become fools”, Romans 1:22.  Their self-possessed beliefs gives rise to a system where there is no God, and the concept of human worth is achieved without religious dogma, structure or requirements.    Human value is recognized by adhering to the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.  

Perhaps some can remember a 60’s era t-shirt which highlighted the problem of using human nature as a value judgement criteria:    Emblazoned on the chest of the shirt in a bold, Gothic font, (which best resembled the title card for the movie, “The Bells of St Mary’s”)   was the phrase:   “Do Unto Others,  Then Split!”   

Since the beginning of our species, we have been programmed to place the needs of our tribe above all others, even to the detriment of other tribes.  We are driven to provide for ourselves and our loved ones without regard for others.  Charity, empathy and compassion, (which we used to call Humanity) are concepts that have their root in our faiths and belief in God.   These concepts have no place in a Post Christian/Judeo world.

A true prophet is one who leads by example, word, and action, back to our Father.  “You will know false prophets by their words”.  It is they who promote the idea of a Universe without need of an uncreated creator. They no longer need the protection of sheep’s clothing.  The false prophet’s secular thinking is now more accepted as correct by society than any Christian or Jewish premise.  While they might be college professors, members of the media, government officials or classroom teachers, false prophets can still be identified by their words because they do not lead back to God.  Bad trees can only produce bad fruit.   And whatever their status, they must be identified and confronted, both for their own benefit, and for our world.                                                                                                                                                   

Ray Alonzo is the father of three children, grandfather of two, and husband to Jan for 45 years. He is a USN Vietnam Veteran, and a 1969 graduate of Mother of Good Counsel Passionist Prep Seminary. Ray currently serves on the Passionist Alumni Council.
                                     

Scripture:

Genesis 12:1-9
Matthew 7:1-5

Reflection:

Imagine you are 75 years-old and God tells you to pack up and begin a new life in the wilderness. Instead of cosmic beginning stories, Genesis, chapter 12  focuses on Abram (Abraham) and his family.  Why should God choose this unknown Mesopotamian making him promises?  Rabbinical scholars believe that Abram was the first monotheist, a believer in one God. What were the promises made to Abram:  descendants, land, and blessings. (Working Preacher, Commentary on Genesis 12:1-9 by Katherine M. Schifferdecker) The moral of this story: being faithful to the One True God has its rewards. Today’s psalm confirms: “Blessed the nation whose God is the Lord”. (Psalm 33:1)

In our Gospel Jesus instructs : “Stop judging, that you may not be judged…Remove the beam from your eye and you will be able to see the splinter in your neighbor’s eye.” (Genesis 7: 1 and 5)

Rabbinical teaching laid down six great works which brought credit to a person: study, visiting the sick, hospitality, devotion in prayer, educating children in the Law and thinking the best of other people. Jesus and his audience was well aware of this teaching.  (William Barclay, The Gospel of St. Matthew Revised Edition, Volume I, Daily Bible Study Series, Westminster Press, 1975, pp. 263-265)

Scripture Scholar, William Barclay, states there are three reasons why no person should judge another:

1) We never know the whole facts or the whole person.

2) It is almost impossible for any person to be strictly impartial in his or her
    judgement. 3)  No person is good enough to judge any other person.  (Ibid. pp. 264-265)

The gospel challenge: improve our own faults and failings and leave the faults of others to God.  This week, let us practice kind and loving thoughts toward others.

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

Father’s Day

Scripture:

Job 38:1, 8-11
2 Corinthians 5:14-17
Mark 4: 35-41

Reflection:

Fathers Day honors the man in the family bearing resemblance to God the Father, ”from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named”. (Eph 3.15)  This places dads in good company.  Why?  Because they do many good things for the rest of us, three of which are presented us today in our bible readings.

Dads are the outdoorsmen of the family, while moms are the indoors keepers of the family—more or less.  Dads are into lawncare, tree trimming, gutter-cleaners, building maintenance, garage and basement supervisors, snow removal—we get the idea.  How do we come upon all these good ideas for dads get all these ideas?  Perhaps from Job, of whom we hear today as he presents his own understanding of God as Father, engaged in more or less similar kinds of activities, like setting boundaries for the sea, deploying clouds as frills (decorations) around the seas edges, and darkness suggesting the depths beneath, keeping it land-locked so as to prevent it invading areas where it doesn’t belong.  This is God the Father’s job-description in His version of being a maintenance man: keeping things running smoothly and in good order.

Like His human counterparts, God the Father wants His (human) family to be off to a good start.  This is St. Paul’s take on God the Father today.  He leaves His imprint on the human family He has gotten underway, sending us Someone in His own image and likeness: Jesus.  Every father takes pride in the family He leads, seeing traces of his own image in the children swelling the family ranks.  His name (and ours, if faithful Christians) is as good as gold in certifying the trustworthiness of family transactions: accounts, purchases, taxes.  He is the designated family spokesperson, who are distinctive by the rules, customs and practices of the house (God has done this too with His ten commandments).  The family reflects the father’s value system, and this becomes evident everywhere: in the neighborhood, the school and parish, in recreational venues and workplaces.  Jesus recognized this in predicting: “By this shall all men know you are my followers, by your love for one another.”  As St. Paul says, family members operate on a different level, their own unique traits and characteristics: whoever is in Christ is a new creation: old ways of identifying the family may have to pass away, and be replaced by new things that do it better.  The father is the major influence in setting the family tone, just like God the Father and the Christian family.

And then there’s the fear factor insinuating itself into everyone’s life.  And fathers are made to offset such fears.  This is how Jesus His Son, His own image and likeness, saw it in proceeding in today’s gospel by going to sleep in the boat struggling to hold its own against a fierce storm on the Sea of Galilee.  Jesus’ trust in His Father’s oversight and loving care and presence was more than equal to the storm’s fury threatening His band of followers.  And dads carry on that same protective concern against taunts, bullying, put-downs for the clothes children wear, or the kind of food eaten or the entertainment enjoyed.  Dads also offset the dangers of a flat tire, or a broken scooter or malfunctioning skates, or a threatening pit bull: all potential threats needing someone to take charge and calm fears down.  And that’s the father of the family.  With God the Father’s care always close at hand, the father of the family has an image at hand to be the take-charge guy, assuring that all is well.

The sense of fatherhood provides the security of management and control, of identity, of protective care.   It embodies a pathway for coming to know God as Father.  And it identifies a major help in appreciating the man of the house as someone standing in for the comforting and protective assurance that help is always nearby, especially when we remember to pray: OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN…

This reflection was written some years ago by our late Passionist brother, Fr. Sebastian MacDonald, C.P., who passed away on January 1, 2021.

Scripture:

2 Corinthians 12:1-10
Matthew 6:24-34

Reflection:

Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” II Cor. 8 – 9

Today’s readings reminded me of an insight I had that emerged over time when I began my ministerial priesthood. From the first times I heard confessions to the times when troubled people wanted “a word” with me, I noticed something in their personal struggles that resonated with me, we carry with us needless burdens and necessary sufferings. This was brought home to me when a recently married woman whose devoted and prominent Catholic family I knew well came to me for some help. She discovered her husband to be very abusive. Yet, she didn’t want to divorce him because of her strong Catholic faith. After months of struggle, she did divorce him. A couple of years later, the husband remarried and eventually killed his wife.

Needless struggles are those unresolved issues in our lives that we are unable to let go of even though we think God wants us to carry them. Some of these issues emerge from our sinful lives, infidelity, dishonesty, personal gain for economic and political purposes, unjust practices in our dealings with others. We put up with some of these practices, though sinful, because we think that the “end justifies the means.” We convince ourselves that we are doing this for a greater good. Eventually, we may find that we have dug ourselves a hole too deep for us to crawl out without causing great shame on us or our families. Ridding ourselves from needless struggles does not mean that it will be painless and easy. But making that decision to walk away and to make amends is the kind of grace that Paul talks about in his letter to the Corinthians. It is also an example of carrying our cross, seeking for forgiveness and redemption.

We also face necessary struggles that we cannot get rid of, just by walking away. For example, we cannot just get rid of an incurable illness or a chronic condition by ignoring them. These are our life-long sufferings that we unite to Jesus Crucified. Besides these kinds of life-long suffering, we sometimes choose to do the right thing by witnessing to Gospel values, knowing full well that we may suffer greatly socially, economically or personally. Gospel values are clear: we are all God’s children, love our enemies, we live by truth and justice for all, we are all responsible for one another, we are to love God and one another as Jesus has loved us. These are examples of God’s grace alive within us and also examples of picking up our cross daily and following Jesus.

Jesus, in today’s Gospel, says: “No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Mat. 6:24). So often, we try to be more clever than God. When we strive to live in both worlds, we find ourselves converting to that other way of life, easier to be dishonest, to be disrespectful, to be mean and uncaring, to be deaf to the cries of those who plead for justice and fairness.

But St. Paul says, the grace of God is stronger and more persistent than our sinful ways. When our conscience speaks to us in the depth of our hearts, to leave behind our sinful attitudes and ways, that is the grace of God lifting us up to the Cross of forgiveness. Yes, God’s grace is enough for us!

Fr. Clemente Barrón, C.P. is a member of Mater Dolorosa Community in Sierra Madre, California. 

Scripture:

2 Corinthians 11:18, 21-30
Matthew 6:19-23

Reflection:

“…do not store up for yourselves…where your treasure is, there also will be your heart…the lamp of the body is the eye”

Oh how ‘things’ can control our life!  Things we ‘need’, things we ‘want’, things to ‘make life easier’, things to prove ‘status’, ‘wealth’, ‘happiness’, ‘achievement’.  Things to fill our time, our homes, our workplaces.  Things to obsess over, worry about, and sometimes hoard!  I sometimes think ‘things’ are the American way!

In today’s gospel, Jesus shows us another way, the way of God, the way to open us to the ‘treasure’ of living in God’s kingdom.  Be careful, he says, pay attention – pay attention to your behaviors, to your longings and to true awareness.

He warns against pleasures that will ‘wear out’ or can be ‘eroded away’…don’t collect, gather or hoard that which can be ‘stolen away’.  These kinds of treasures will only lead to disappointment – things like that cannot last forever!

Jesus reminds us that while ‘things’ are not unimportant, they do need to be kept in perspective!  Some questions may be ‘do I need this…or want this’?  How can I share this?  How does this change me – does it feed my ego or open my heart?  

If the eye is the window that lets in the light – what smudges do I need to wipe away to see more clearly what is being taken in?  The smudges of prejudice, bias, jealousy, self-centeredness can prevent us from seeing clearly, just as ‘things’ can isolate us from the truth and reality that envelops us. We are called to live in harmony with ourselves, others and God.  What ‘things’ or ‘smudges’ might be preventing this harmony within you?  Today is a good day to spend some time with the Lord – what might he be saying to you or trying to point out to you?  Where your treasure is, there also will be your heart…

Faith Offman is the Associate Director of Ministry at St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat and Conference Center in Detroit, Michigan.