Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Genesis 2:18-25
Mark 7:24-30

Reflection:

More Than a Woman’s Intuition

We meet two women in our readings today. We know the first not by name yet, but more in the marrow in our bones. The Syro-Phoenician woman we know just enough to admire.

An unknown commentary on Genesis that says after God created woman, God said to her, “Let’s not awaken Adam yet. Let’s you and I go for a walk in the garden”. The reflection ends when the woman seeing her reflection in some water, asks God, “What is that”? God replies “it is a reflection that will disappear when you leave, so now is the time to wake Adam from his sleep. “You will see in his love for you who you truly are, and Adam will come to know who he is in your love for him”. Powerful to think about what our love can do for another, our part in the ongoing creation of one another.

The commentary does not tell us what God said to the woman. It is left then to our imagination. For sure it was part of the creation process, this moment when the woman is most in the image of God. No woman would ever be more God-like, God in the feminine, and is making her in this divine image. She is made, filled with this image of God!  All of her daughters will share that, at least bits and pieces, but perhaps none can share what she shared so fully at that moment of her creation.

In the territory of the gentiles, Jesus looks for privacy. His reputation preceded him. “Right away upon hearing about him”, (as one translation puts it), a desperate woman falls at Jesus’ feet requesting a cure. Her daughter has a demon. She begs. Some say she is a woman of means; her daughter has a bed! Where is her husband? He may be working and she just chances to be where Jesus is. Does her freedom to invade Jesus’ privacy comes from her privilege or her personality or what else? Faith is not mentioned, but love is clear. The more so if she is a woman used to getting her own way and unused to being told “no.” What a humiliation.

Jesus knew the book of Genesis pondering the loving act of God bringing us to be. Jesus, one with the Father, knows the fullness of love given to the woman at the moment of her creation. Could Jesus have seen this gift of love passed on by the woman to her daughters in the Syro-Phoenician woman making a beeline for his feet? He knew she was a woman of love. Jesus could see and feel her words before they came to her lips.

Did Jesus know many gentiles? Perhaps not? His culture kept them at a distance, there was prejudice and disdain. Did the Syro-Phoenician woman play a part in the ongoing creation of the heart of Jesus, helping him to know and love those who did not know the Father? Jesus who brought food to the children of Israel will soon break bread for the gentiles on a hillside near the lake. Wouldn’t it have been something if the woman was in the crowd? Maybe her husband and daughter accompanying her? Jesus knew what God at creation saw in the first woman, that divine image created to love. And Jesus saw that beautiful image hidden behind prejudice, human limitations, and heart hardness. She helped Jesus show all of us how we are to love.

She reminds us that while not given the opportunity of the first woman, no daughter of that woman lacks the gift of the privilege of her unique sharing of God in whose image she is created. None of us heard the conversation between God and the first woman. But I bet every woman has an insight into what was shared that no man can know.

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

Scripture:

Genesis 1:20-2:4a
Mark 7:1-13

Reflection:

And so it happened.
God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.
Evening came, and morning followed–the sixth day. -Genesis 1:31

“I think LeRoy is trying to tell Dan something,” said Sister Margaret. I pondered Sister’s idea and thought to myself: “Well, I’ve heard everything I wish to hear from LeRoy—I don’t want to hear any more.”

It was the early ‘70’s; the Viet Nam War was raging and for the first time in history, the battlefield erupted in our living rooms via the rather new technology of television. This evening, we were gathered in a circle at our local parish hall discussing our “thoughts” on all this. Our thoughts were clear. I was against the war and evidently LeRoy was for it—we’ll never agree. Then someone pipe up with their take to Sister’s idea above: “Yes, I think LeRoy is trying to tell Dan that he cares about Dan.” “What? are you kidding”, I thought to myself.

We were engaged with a new program called “Sensitivity Training” which challenged us to deal with our feelings. Looking back on that today, it all seems rather mundane. Why of course we must deal with and recognize how our feelings affect us. In the 70’s that was a rather new idea brought to us by the likes of the popular psychologists Carl Rogers (1902-1987) and a whole host of earlier philosophers.

After more discussion, LeRoy admitted that he was concerned about what would happen to Dan and his future if he continued to resist the draft (I was of draft age as well as number 36 in the Draft Lottery). All along, I thought we were discussing the ethical issues surrounding the war, and Sister picked up that LeRoy really was more concerned about me than this issue, at least at this moment in time. I didn’t know how to respond. Back, in the ‘70’s men didn’t show any affection or care for other men—it just wasn’t part of our culture or milieu. We were both Irishmen—big tough Irishmen—who although full of feelings aroused by this daily assault witnessed on “The News” didn’t show feelings, we just did what we thought we were expected to do.

LeRoy’s gone now, but I still remember that moment and share it, realizing so many of the “issues” I argue over are more a result of my feelings of concern, either for another person(s) or our dear Mother Earth. My problem is I just express what I think, and don’t take the time to feel or even, God forbid, express my feelings around what is happening in “my” (really our) world.

God, thank you for another day today. Help me see that all you give me, give us, is gift! I don’t deserve it, I am gifted with another day and as I read in today’s scripture selection from Genesis, it is all good.

Dan O’Donnell is a Passionist Partner and a longtime friend of the Passionists.  He lives in Chicago.  

Scripture:

Genesis 1: 1-19
Mark 6:53-56

Reflection:

Recent research on the neurological effects of trauma and its healing reveals something psychotherapists have struggled with for decades. The restoring of wholeness to victims of trauma…whether major traumas suffered by soldiers, slaves or battered family members, or multiple micro-traumas like repeated bullying, ostracizing, discrimination or other forms of devaluation…occurs in relationship with a caring person who connects emotionally with the victim. The affective experience of being understood, valued and loved can begin to heal the neurological and emotional damage done by the trauma.

Further, current research focuses on how the body carries the hurt of trauma, resulting in physical as well as emotional illnesses.

The God-given authentic self, seen in fully alive people, becomes buried when people are damaged by shocking events and people hurting other people.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus comes ashore in the land of Gennesaret, a territory of Gentiles. There he connects with the suffering, the outcasts, the physically and emotionally sick. He cuts across class lines, religious lines, geographic lines and cultural lines to heal his fellow brothers and sisters.

But these healings upset the social order of Jesus’ time. He is drawing crowds to himself, no doubt because he carries with him the profound love and emotional connection he has experienced with his Father. It is a deep, penetrating love. The kind of love one experiences when understood, respected, nurtured and listened to in the core of the soul.

By his out-of-the-norm acts he also delivered a strong message to the Jewish establishment of his time. The keepers of the Jewish norms are the trend setters for their community, the ones who control the lives of the Jews by their interpretation of the Law, the ones who see themselves as chosen by God to interpret God’s will for the people.

Jesus is not obliged to their power games or their hypocrisy. He IS obligated to the will of his Father, which is to destroy the boundaries between people and heal the brokenness of everyone, including Jews and Gentiles.

He invites us to follow him in being radical in our love for everyone in our circle and outside our circle…the filthy rich, dirt poor, straight and non-straight, men, women, gender discerning, powerful, homeless, doubters, seekers, flexible, inflexible, self-assured, timid, angry, kind, bullies and saints. And especially those who suffer the deep internal bruises and bleedings caused by trauma of any kind.

He calls us to imitate him by paying close attention to one another. When someone wants to talk, whether a family member, co-worker, clerk, friend, enemy, outcast or ally, we put down our phones, turn from our computers and TVs, stop our rush to finish our task and look the other in the eyes, quiet ourselves and listen to what is being said. This seems to be a lost art in our noisy, distracting world of technology, but it is absolutely essential if we are to support the healing of one another from whatever hurt each of us carries.

Jesus assures us we will do greater things than he did, by God’s grace. We are healers too. It is up to us to choose to go out into the world and imitate the Great Healer.

Are you ready?

Jim Wayne is a board member of the Passionist Solidarity Network (PSN), and author of The Unfinished Man. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Isaiah 58:7-10
1 Corinthians 2:1-5
Matthew 5:13-16

Reflection:

Today’s gospel immediately follows that classic, all-familiar, sermon on the mount from Matthew’s Gospel which we heard last weekend.  After looking over the crowds and calling them blessed, in today’s gospel he looks at the exact same people and says do you know who you are?  You are light for the world. You are the salt of the earth.   First, who was Jesus talking to?  Notice it’s not the religious leaders. 

 If you back up to the end of the fourth chapter, Matthew tells us who’s gathered there on the hillside that day.  Matthew describes the scene as all those who are afflicted with various diseases and were racked with pain: the possessed, the lunatics, the paralyzed. Matthew adds he cured them all.  This is quite an image.  The group would even include all those who brought and carried their loved ones out there. These are not the group of people society would hold up as the model citizens you want your children to be as they grow up.  These are probably people who have heard from the cruelness of society look who you are.  You don’t contribute to society, what good are you?  You don’t even count. 

And to these people, Jesus says you are the light of the world, and you are the salt of the earth.   I highly suspect for many hearing these words out of Jesus’s mouth after listening to the rumblings of their villages may have found Jesus’s words hard to believe. How can I be light or salt?  I’m a nobody.    Jesus is actually asking them to think differently about who they are. Do you know who you are?  You are a person who was created in the image in the likeness of God.  Therefore, you have the inherent goodness of God. 

Isaiah the prophet, who wrote more than 500 years before Jesus was born, illustrates some of the challenges of his society.  People turned their heads away from those who are hungry. The oppressed and the homeless were mistreated. Even fellow countrymen were ignored.  This is why Jesus’s ministry was so profound.   He was the light who had come to people in darkness.  And then he said to those on the hillside, “Now you,  go be light!”

Every year the week before the Super Bowl, the NFL has a most prestigious gathering by which they name one particular NFL player as the Walter Payton Man of the Year.  Because the NFL highly encourages its players to be involved in the local communities, each team is allowed to nominate one player for their excellence off the field.  Of the 32 nominees, there’s always a couple of stories that grab at my heartstrings.  While each story is unique and different some of the most profound and memorable stories are from players who grew up in such utter poverty and heard those negative voices every day.  Now that they found success and affirmation, they haven’t forgotten the difficulties of their childhood, and they know a small investment of their time can change a young person forever—especially when that young person has been programmed with negative voices.   Some of these stories are textbook on the contemporary passion and the power of redemption.  It is obvious when the motivation comes from the depth of the heart.  For then the kindness and goodness of the person shine, and they are truly a light for the world. 

Fr. David Colhour, C.P. is the local superior of St. Vincent Strambi Community in Chicago, Illinois.

Scripture:

Hebrews 13:1-8
Mark 6:14-29

Reflection:

Today’s reading has been the subject of numerous theatrical and cinematic interpretations – understandably perhaps given the weakness of Herod, the deviousness of Herodias and the allure of Salome’s dancing – all ingredients for great drama and spectacle.

While we might profit from reflecting on the frailty of the human condition as manifested by Herod acting from fear, Herodias’s self-protective behaviours and Salome’s unreflected compliance to the will of others, we must not lose sight of the deeper truths revealed in the reading.

By contrast to the other protagonists, John has acted with courage, has not sought to protect himself from criticism and has not followed anyone’s will other than that of God. John has stood for the truth in the face of opposition and stood steadfastly for fundamental values – and it has led to imprisonment, and as we learn, will now cost his very life.

Mark weaves all four characters, and their respective behaviours into this account, and while artistic interpretations of Herod, Herodias or Salome may be entertaining, only John’s witness to steadfastness and faith is genuinely influential. Today’s gospel highlights the fact that truth is greater than deceit, that truth will endure whilst selfish behaviour will ultimately be ineffective, and that knowing one’s truth and acting from it, is enduring.

Fr. Denis Travers, C.P., is a member of Holy Spirit Province, Australia. 

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

Scripture:

Malachi 3:1-4
Hebrews 2:14-18
Luke 2: 22-40

Reflection:

People who have helped me grow the most have been very blunt with me about my shortcomings; and they have challenged me to do things I never thought I could do. They had difficult conversations with me because they loved me and they believed in me.  I now realize that some of these people were modern day prophets.

We hear from three prophets in today’s readings: the prophet in Malachi, and Simeon and Anna in the Gospel of Luke. The prophet in Malachi delivered scathing speeches decrying the sins of the people, terrible sins like selling the poor into slavery. And then he reassures the people of his love for them and God’s love for them as well.

The vocation of prophet is often difficult, confronting people with a message they don’t want to hear. Many prophets were killed. Prophets see things as God sees them, and love as God does—they feel the suffering and misery of their people. They speak the truth and take the consequences. Why do they do it?

Dominican priest Albert Nolan spoke against apartheid for decades in South Africa, alongside fellow prophets Bishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela. Fr. Nolan says prophets experience not only a special calling from God, but also a special closeness to God that enables them to understand God’s “feelings” and “thoughts” about what is happening or will happen in the future. It is this mystical experience of union with God that enables them to speak on God’s behalf. 

In today’s Gospel, when Joseph and Mary take Jesus to the temple to be consecrated to God, they meet two prophetic people, Simeon and Anna, who are very close to God. We read in Luke’s Gospel that Simeon was “righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.” We are told that Anna was a longtime widow who “never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.” Simeon and Anna’s close union with God enabled them to recognize Jesus when they met him, and to joyfully and prophetically announce Jesus’ mission to the people.

Today we pray to the Holy Spirit for the gift of prophecy, so, like Simeon and Anna we will recognize Jesus in our midst, sometimes in unusual circumstances. We pray for eyes to see, and hearts to understand the signs of our times as God sees them. We pray for the courage to prophetically speak up, like the prophet in Malachi, when we see injustice that offends the heart of God, and for the courage to take the consequences.

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.