Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Ester C:12, 14-16, 23-25
Matthew 7:7-12

Reflection:

Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are the three traditional Lenten practices. And today’s readings are about the practice of prayer, specifically, prayers of petition (for ourselves) and intercession (for others).

In our first reading from Esther, we find the young queen begging God for her own life and interceding for the life of her people. The Jews are a minority group in Babylonia, and at the mercy of a capricious king. And in our Gospel reading for today, we have Jesus’ assurance that “your heavenly Father gives good things to those who ask him.” Mt 7:11

Esther lived in a community of exiled Jews in Babylonia, far from her homeland of Israel. She was an orphan, raised by her older cousin Mordechai, who was prominent in the Jewish community. When Esther was in her late teens, King Xerxes held a mandatory beauty contest to find a new queen, and Esther, who was very beautiful, was chosen. When she was moved into the palace to live in the king’s harem, Mordechai warned her not to tell anyone that she was Jewish.

A few years later, Mordechai refused to bow to the prime Minister, a man named Haman. To get revenge, Haman ordered all the Jews to be killed. When Mordechai heard of this, he went to Esther and asked her to intercede for the Jews with the king. Esther risked her life by revealing her identity as a Jew and going to the king to plead with him to have mercy on her people. Before she did this however, she fasted and prayed for three days.

Today’s first reading gives us a snapshot of Esther’s prayer: “ Save us from the hand of our enemies; turn our mourning into gladness, and our sorrows into wholeness.”

Esther’s prayers are answered. Not only are she and the other Jews in Babylon saved from death, but her cousin Mordechai becomes the new Prime Minister.

We may pray for the deliverance of a group of people from genocide, as Esther did. Or our prayer may be for ourselves: we may pray for the strength and insight to navigate a health problem or a difficult relationship. Sometimes the prayers are answered in dramatic ways, through the web of relationships in a community, as happened with Esther. Sometimes the gift we receive is the quiet and sure awareness that we are never alone.

This Lent, as we pray for ourselves and others, let us pray with confidence. Today’s responsorial psalm from Psalm 138 sums it up: “Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.”

Patty Gillis is a retired Pastoral Minister. She served on the Board of Directors at St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat and Conference Center in Detroit. She is currently a member of the Laudato Si Vision Fulfillment Team and the Passionist Solidarity Network.

Scripture:

Jonah 3:1-10
Luke 11:29-32

Reflection:

Deuteronomy 7:7 gives the breath-taking words of God spoken to Moses: ‘Moses, do you think I chose this people because they are the greatest of nations? No, quite the contrary, they are the least among the nations of the world. I chose them because my heart has fallen in love with them’. This chosen people will be a light to all people. God’s Word does not return to God empty. It bears fruit; it fulfills its mission.

What a strange prophet is Jonah, God’s word bearer sent to the people of Nineveh. He boards a ship going in the opposite direction to flee from God! Was he afraid the Ninevites would kill him? Perhaps not, because he asks no less than three times for death! Fear of death doesn’t seem to be a problem. Poor Jonah, he sleeps through God’s response to his desertion, and then how he must have cringed at the reverence of the pagan crew who cannot believe that he would do such a thing.

The whale spits Jonah on the shore and for a second time he is given his commission as prophet to preach God’s word of conversion to the Ninevites. We don’t know what Jonah says really. I imagine after asking the people on the beach for directions, he told them their whole land would soon be destroyed by God. His unhappy and unwilling presence, his uninviting personality did not bring hellos and smiles from the Ninevites, but to his surprise conversion was totally embraced. Even the king says, ‘let everyone renounce evil behavior and the wickedness they have done’. 

Could Jonah have skipped his short walk, his overreacting to God’s never-ending mercy, which triggers a new wave of anger and another request to die? Could it have been the people on the beach who saw Jonah come forth from the whale and who went to the King saying someone eaten by a fish just came out alive on our shore? Did they interpret his damp arrival as a sign from the God of Israel: Behold my best prophet Jonah who is for you a ‘sign of life’ if you change?

Jonah will ask only one more time to die. Then he gets it together enough to realize that he has a long walk back home. No ship would dare take him. ‘Jonah’, the captains said shaking their heads. His story traveled fast, and so it goes even to this day. But he really didn’t ever want to go anywhere on a boat again.

In the end Jonah, perhaps an old, grandfatherly figure matured in faith who can laugh, realizes he was the indeed the message, God’s sign of life. God even enjoyed his ‘creative alternatives’ and his acting out. Apparently, they invited God’s playfulness with a prophet in the true Spirit of Israel, one of the least who was chosen. “How better to demonstrate to the simple Ninevites that God is a God of life, a God who brings life from the dead. What better way to show hope than for God choice of this hopeless prophet”? Jonah laughs. “God said he enjoyed praying with me. I said, ‘playing with me’? God said, “no, Jonah, all was prayer between you and I. Ours is a story of lavish mercy, of new life. Thanks for playing!” Jonah concludes: “I tell you as a prophet, my story only points to a greater story yet to unfold”. God’s Word does not return to God empty. It bears fruit; it fulfills its mission.

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

Scripture:

Isaiah 55:10-11
Matthew 6:7-15

Reflection:

How do we pray?

We are all familiar with the Our Father as Jesus gave us in today’s scripture.  It is a prayer most of us learned as a child.  In a trip to the Holy Land many years ago, I visited the Church of the Pater Noster (Lord’s Prayer).  Constantine had this church built on the top of the Mount of Olives where Jesus taught his disciples the Lord’s Prayer, foretold the terrible destruction of Jerusalem and revealed his last coming and the end of the world.(Mt. 24:1-3, Lk. 21:5-7).  Over the years, the Church of the Pater Noster was destroyed several times.  In 1868 Princess Aurelia de Bossi de la Tour d’Auvergne, purchased the land and donated it to France.  In 1875 she built a convent for the order of the Carmelite nuns.  Inside the church and on the walls of the cloister the Lord’s Prayer is written in 62 languages.  It is a moving experience to realize the vastness of the Kingdom of God at prayer!

How do we pray?

As I prepared to write this reflection, I call upon the Holy Spirit to give me wisdom and guidance that my thoughts and words may inspire and nurture those who meditate upon this message. She never fails!  Over the past several weeks and continuing to the present, we are witnessing a profound experience of the Holy Spirit at work in our area.  The site is Asbury University located in Wilmore, Kentucky.  Several weeks ago students gathered for a routine morning chapel gathering, but rather than head to class afterward, students stayed and continued to worship.  As the weeks go by people of all ages, from near and far have joined in this celebration.  For those who come they say they are experiencing an outpouring of the Holy Spirit!  Hundreds and thousands are tuning in on social media and in person to spend time in prayer! Wow!

How do we pray?

During this season of Lent, we are called to spend more time in prayer, to enter into the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We don’t necessarily have to travel to Asbury University or the Church of the Pater Noster, to experience life-changing prayer experiences.  During this season of Lent, we can set quiet time aside each day for personal prayer, we can attend Stations of the Cross, we can meditate on the Lenten scriptures, we can make a retreat or attend a parish mission.  We can fast from social media, playing games, texting, etc., and instead make a personal visit or place a phone call to a lonely or grieving person.  Whatever we choose to do this Lent, may it be a time of personal transformation, opening us to the Spirit who walks with us through the desert, stands with us at the cross, and ultimately joins us in celebration at the open tomb.  Have a Blessed and Challenging Lent!

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

Scripture:

Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18
Matthew 25:31-46

Reflection:

I was sitting in a parking lot late the other night, waiting for my husband’s vehicle to be towed. He had been trying to deliver a work van to a store, and the van died at the top of a ramp, so he coasted down into this parking lot. We were in a part of town that wasn’t familiar to us, with several people loitering around the area. As he talked with the wrecker driver, a man in a wheelchair rolled up to the passenger side of my car. He had this beautiful smile and was asking me if everything was ok. I nodded yes, smiled back, and figured he would roll along. But instead, he came to the driver’s side where I was sitting. He had a kind face (I know, those of you who are safety-minded like I usually am are now cringing). But he started talking to me about his name – they called him Futt (pronounced foot) – he said it was because he didn’t have any toes on one foot. I rolled my window down, as I tried to follow his story.

And then, he started singing this beautiful melody, and after a few seconds I started harmonizing to him. I prayed that I would remember the tune, but I cannot. And then he stopped singing and he said, “I wish everyone could have a Christian spirit like you. I wish everybody would stop seeing black and white people and just see people. I wish we could just all be one together.”

When my husband got back into the car, I shook Mr. Futt’s hand. He asked if I could spare a couple of bucks so he could get a burger, and I obliged. I shook his hand again and thanked him for the few minutes we got to talk to each other and share some music. I couldn’t stop smiling as we drove away – and I didn’t feel happy because I did something nice. I felt honored and blessed – honored and blessed that someone shared themselves in such a beautiful way with me and trusted me to be kind to them for just a few moments.

“For I was hungry, and you gave me no food, …  a stranger and you gave me no welcome.” Be Christ to others. Don’t worry about their color, their wealth, or their clothes. Let God bring people into your path who you can share even a moment’s joy with and give yourself the opportunity to feel the blessing of kindness to another human being.

Patty Masson is the Director for Adult Formation and Evangelization at St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Church in Spring, Texas.

Scripture:

Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7
Romans 5:12-19
Matthew 4:1-11

Reflection:

In our first reading for Sunday (Genesis 2:7-9, 3:1-7), we hear the account of the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. When the serpent asks Eve, “Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?” Eve replies, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, lest you die.’” Then the serpent says, “You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is evil.”

The serpent was right that Adam and Eve did not die on the spot when they ate of the fruit. But their sin, as St. Paul writes in our second reading (Romans 5:12-19), did lead to death. In the book of Genesis, after God realizes that Adam and Eve ate of the fruit forbidden to them, God casts them out of the garden, and prevents them from eating of the tree of life, so that they could not live forever (Genesis 3:21-24).

As I have reflected on this, I see how knowing what is good and what is evil has led to the death of many in other ways. Instead of trying to discern what is good and what is evil in certain situations, we human beings have often fallen into the temptation to play God, and have decided to take it upon ourselves to decide who is good and who is evil, and have felt justified in taking the life of others.

In our Gospel reading (Matthew 4:1-11), we are told that Jesus is led into the desert to be tempted by the devil. As was the case with Adam and Eve, the devil tempts Jesus to play God, but not God as God is, but God as according to a twisted notion of what it is to be God. This twisted notion of God has to do with a worldly understanding of what to do with power. Worldly wisdom says to use power to force others to your will and thus benefit yourself.

So, since Jesus is hungry after fasting for forty days and forty nights, the devil tempts Jesus to turn the stones into bread – bending nature to His will. Then the devil takes Jesus to the top of the temple, and tells Him to throw Himself down, knowing that the Father will rescue Him – bending the Father to His will. Then the devil takes Jesus to the top of a mountain overlooking all the nations of the world, and promises Him dominion over it all, if only He would prostrate Himself before him – bending others to His will.

Thank God that Jesus resisted these temptations! Instead of forcing us to do His will, Jesus offered Himself up for our salvation! Again, from our second reading: “Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned…But the gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one, the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many.”

How much does the grace and love of God in Jesus Christ overflow for us! If we get in touch with that, we can just be grateful. We can let go of trying to play God, and instead try to please God, lifting each other up instead of hoping to bend others to our will.

May we let God be God. May we open ourselves to God’s love, and may we share God’s love with all.

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

Scripture:

Isaiah 58:1-9a
Mathew 9:14-15

Reflection:

Lent 2020 began two days ago!  This time of fasting, praying and giving alms is upon us once again!  How are we going to ‘do’ Lent this season?!  Will it be less chocolate, more exercise, less grouchiness, more smiles, less busyness, more quiet and reflection?!  The list can go on and on, some of it is a carryover from what we did or did not accomplish last Lent or the ones before that!  Each season I renew my commitment to do Lent better!  I’m sure I am not alone in this regard!

Lent is always a favorite season of the church year for me.  It challenges me to step back and take some personal time to refresh my inner spirit so that I may truly be an instrument of God’s peace and love!  It is not easy because I feel I always fall short of what God expects of me.  The following words from the scriptures of today remind us that God takes care of all.

‘A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn’

‘Seek good and not evil so that you may live, and the Lord will be with you.’

Isaiah reminds us that we are to be about helping the poor, hungry, oppressed, homeless, naked and all others being victimized and treated unjustly.  This time of Lent is calling me to be present to those in need, to pray with and for them, to try and relieve their suffering in whatever small way that I am able to do.  Today we took members of our RCIA community to visit one of our many shelters that help the homeless find housing and support.  In this way, I believe we are also called to support these programs that provide hope and comfort to our brothers and sisters in need.  Once a month some friends and I volunteer to serve soup and sandwiches to the hungry who come to our cathedral. In a homily given recently, our pastor encouraged us to pray daily for a two-week period for someone who has wronged us or whom we just don’t like.  He said it will change our hearts and help us to be more forgiving and loving.

My prayer this Lent is that I will be more contrite and humble, that I will focus on the goodness around me and not succumb to evil ways that move me away from God’s love and goodness!  May your Lenten experience offer you these same experiences.  Happy Lent to all.  Peace.

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

Ash Wednesday

Scripture:

Joel 2:12-18
2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Reflection:

Good morning, Lord. Today’s gospel is so vivid, and alive in describing the emotions of the apostles that I feel like I am walking with them. Jostling in the crowd, feeling the grit of the streets in my sandals, the sun’s blinding glare in my face, the heat against my skin, the sounds of the footsteps of those around me,  we follow you into the desert

We are too timid to ask You to help us understand Your words of death and resurrection. But no one asks for an explanation or seeks enlightenment.   Perhaps because we fear looking foolish or less than clever to those around us. We crave social standing, respect, power, authority, and even the desire to be appointed your favorite. Who is to be the most important one among us, the one You will choose to lead in Your place?  With jealousy and ambition, we follow you in small groupings, plotting how to best attain Your favor, even being bold enough to speak to You directly about which of us is to lead.  

Your answer is eloquent simplicity:   Embracing a child, You show us that we must become childlike to truly know You ~  joyful, innocent, seeking Your guidance and protection, and lacking the guile and machinations we were engaged in.  Following you, Lord,   I must strive to become more selfless,  more trusting, and seek my Shepherd to protect and guide me.  In those moments when I stray from your footsteps, Lord please seek me out.   

Ray Alonzo is the father of three children, grandfather of two, and husband to Jan for over 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.

Feast of St. Peter Damian

Scripture:

Sirach 2:1-11
Mark9:30-37

Reflection:

Historically this day was called Fat, Shrove or pancake Tuesday.  The word Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday and is most frequently used to refer to this day in the United States.  In some countries pancakes were served as a main meal. When I was a child, as did many Catholics, throughout the world, we abstained from meat throughout lent.  Obviously, meat would not last the entire lent so a few days before Ash Wednesday we would start eating all the remaining unused meat.  Of course, our dinner conversation, the night before Ash Wednesday, would be about what we were giving up for Lent.  My father would joke that he was giving up watermelon and cantaloupe.  In those days we could not access fruits and vegetable year-round as we can today so that would be an easy thing for my father to do.  

Lent is a 40-day season of prayer, fasting and almsgiving.  By fasting one saves money so as to give that money to poor persons.  This lent is an opportunity for a fresh spiritual rejuvenation.  Today’s reading from the book of Sirach provides us with a daily Lenten examination of conscience to be used on our spiritual journey.  Am I a just person? How sincere and steadfast am I?  To what degree do I trust in God?  How patient am I in times of trial and tribulation? How well do I accept whatever befalls me and trust God to get me through? The response to these questions will provide me ample opportunity to grow in my faith throughout the Lenten period.  Take a few moments today to think about where you might need to grow spiritually this Lent.  Plan to improve your spiritual development during this year’s Lenten journey. As I begin Lent, Lord, assist me to focus and center my life on you more fully. 

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