Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Isaiah 8:23-9:3
1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17
Matthew 4:12-23

Reflection:

Lord, this is one of the gospels that really puzzles and challenges me. You walked along the shore of Galilee, passing by fishing boats with crews of men working with their nets. “Come follow me”, you said, and they dropped everything and began their journeys as disciples/apostles. I can’t fathom how young men walked away from their families, friends, careers, because you simply asked them to do so.   Were you that charismatic? Did they immediately see something extraordinary in you that was so over-whelming, so commanding, that they changed their lives that very day?

I think of my life and wonder how I can follow you?  Family, work, life challenges such as health all can push to a secondary consideration my desire to see you more clearly, love you more dearly, follow you more nearly day by day.      

I don’t believe you are asking me to “cast away my nets” in order to serve you. My way of serving you is doing everything while walking with you each day. I can embrace every challenge, difficulty, problem, each day as a gift from you to better myself. To find all the joys of children, grandchildren, my wife, my parents in my life as extraordinary of your Love for me. I must begin and end each day knowing I am trying to follow you.  

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.

Feast of St. Agnes

Scripture:

Hebrews 9:2-3, 11-14
Mark 3:20-21

Reflection:

Have you ever said or heard someone else say: “He or she is out of his or her mind”.  In today’s gospel the crowd that had gathered to hear Jesus said that of him.  Yet, when people state something that doesn’t make sense to us we say or at least think:  “He or she is out of his/her mind.”  Today’s gospel on this the feast of St. Agnes affirms those, like St. Agnes, who are willing to stand up for what they believe. The gospel would suggest that we think positively and respond compassionately to those courageous people.

In the first reading from the Hebrews cites the construction of a tabernacle behind the second veil called the holy of holies. Their tabernacle was moveable so that the Holy One journeyed with them.  In our Catholic churches we have tabernacles but they are stationary.  We bow or genuflect to show reverence. Sr. Joyce Rupp, O.S.M. in a reflection on today’s Hebrews reading writes: “What I did not learn, until later in life, is that each of us is also a tabernacle, a sacred dwelling place…The Holy One moves along with us throughout our lives. The challenge is to remember this wondrous Presence daily.  (Living Faith, Sr. Joyce Rupp, O.S.M. “The Tabernacle of the heart,  Saturday, January 21, 2023, January, February, March 2023.)

Psalm 47:2  instructs us : “All you peoples, clap your hands, shout to God with cries of gladness…” The psalm is expressing wonder, awe and gratitude for the giftedness of life and its magnificent beauty. The psalm reminds me of  Simon and Garfunkel’s song: “Slow down you move too fast, you got to make the morning last…”.  59^th Street Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy) 1966 Album: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.

Today, Lord give me the grace to refrain from rash judgment of  others, the grace to experience myself as a sacred dwelling place for the Holy One and  stop to savor the wonders of life.

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

Scripture:

Hebrews 8: 6-13
Mark 3: 13-19

Reflection:

I will put my laws in their minds
and I will write them upon their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they shall be my people. –Hebrews 8:10

For I will forgive their evildoing
and remember their sins no more. -Hebrews 8:12

Here we are in only the second week of ordinary time and we are already receiving encouraging messages to persevere and remain faithful.  In this part of the Letter to the Hebrews we are reminded that God’s new covenant isn’t written on clay tablets or hidden in the religious traditions that need “special” people to interpret them for us.  No, God’s laws are written in our minds and hearts.  And, of course, those laws are written in our minds and hearts through the profound love leading to total self-gift of Jesus Christ.  As we welcome and experience that total love, we are transformed and called to incarnate it into our world.

This letter was written to the Jewish Christians of the first century in response to the great suffering that Israel was undergoing.  Their country was occupied and oppressed by the Romans, their social system was breaking down, the religious leaders had lost their way and demonized those who followed Jesus, their economy was more and more fragile and the Christians themselves were still struggling to fully understand the meaning of Christ’s life, death and resurrection.  And, of course, the Christian Jews were struggling to survive in the hostile Jewish culture.  They are encouraged to trust in the hope that Jesus brought them and persevere in their following of Him. 

Most of us can resonate with the struggle of the early Christians to persevere given all the tensions they were dealing with.  We can resonate because we can recognize some of our own feelings and thoughts when we are battered by the violence and injustice, failures and disappointments that are part of our world.  Many of us have raised the question, “Where is God in all this???” more than a few times.   So, the message in this Letter to the Hebrews, encouraging perseverance and trust in God, is surely an important message for us as well.  Perhaps our prayer today can be, “Lord, help us always to trust in you and keep faith in following Jesus.”

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

Scripture:

Hebrews 7:25-8:6
Mark 3:7-12

Reflection:

Whatever happened to all those people?

In today’s Gospel, St. Mark goes out of his way to tell us that there were an awful lot of people who wanted to be with Jesus.  He tells us that “a large number of people” from Galilee came, as did a large number from Judea, as did a large number from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan River, from Tyre and Sidon.  People were traveling from north, south, east and west, streaming to hear Jesus, to be with Jesus to touch Jesus.

In our imagination we can see the constant stream of people gathering from all directions to be with Jesus.  And, Jesus was a bit intimidated by the huge numbers because he asked his friends to have a boat ready to give him an escape route so “they would not crush him.”  And this wasn’t the only time great crowds came to Jesus.  There were the 5000 fed on the hillside, the 7000 fed with 7 loaves and 2 fish, and don’t forget the crowds lining the road into Jerusalem who were singing hosanna and laying palms down in front to Jesus as he rode into Jerusalem.  Great popularity and adulation!  But, whatever happened to all those people?

We know they receded back into the countryside when the religious and political leaders began to demonize Jesus.  They were nowhere to be seen when Jesus went through his Passion and Death.  But when everything settled down again and the disciples continued to talk about Jesus and witness to His resurrection did many of these people return to their initial interest and become followers of Jesus once again?  It would not be a surprise to find out that some (many?) of them did.  From Pentecost on the number of followers of Jesus grew rapidly.  No doubt some of the people who were frightened off came back.

Being a Catholic follower of Jesus can be a difficult thing even today.  Sometimes we’re very fervent but there are other times when our hearts can grow distant.  The disapproval of our neighbors or our society, the scandals that happen in our Church, the experiences of personal disappointment, disillusionment, hurt or anger can all cause us to pull back from our faith, to recede back into the countryside.  The beautiful truth about Jesus is that though crowds of people came and went, Jesus stayed faithful to all of them.  Jesus stays faithful to us as well.  Perhaps our prayer today can be to ask the Holy Spirit to grace us with the desire to stay close to Jesus, even in difficult times.

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

Scripture:

Hebrews 6:10-20
Mark 2:23-28

Reflection:

Today’s reading from Hebrews exhorts us “to hold fast to the hope that lies before us.” Christianity is unabashedly a religion of hope, and Christians are called to be shining and resilient witnesses of hope, because Christians believe that the God who first blessed us with life wants us to share fully in the joy and love and beauty and goodness that is God. Our life is an unfolding journey to God—an itinerary to beatitude that culminates in joyous communion with God and the saints—and hope keeps us on the right path. But the very nature of hope reminds us that we are pilgrims on a journey toward a fulfillment that we can anticipate (and, in some way, already experience), but cannot yet completely enjoy. Hope orients our lives to a future good that utterly transcends anything we could ever give ourselves, but which, precisely because we do not yet possess it fully, can begin to doubt.

The passage from Hebrews warns us not to become “sluggish” regarding the object of our hope, but instead to keep our attention firmly fixed on it. It is a perceptive and timely reminder that affirms not only how easy it is to turn away from the good that God has in store for us, but also to begin to doubt its very possibility. Or, perhaps more likely, we fill our lives with so many distractions and attach our hearts to so many lesser goods that we gradually forget there is something greater, something far lovelier, and something infinitely more hopeful to which God calls us.

In order to avoid these woeful possibilities, there are two things we can do. First, as Hebrews reminds us, we must remember that we are heirs to the love, goodness, and mercy of God. God wants to bless every one of us in unimaginable ways by sharing with us everything that God is and God, as the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus testify, is faithful to his promises. Second, hope will anchor and steady us, keeping us on the right path, if instead of imitating the gloomy legalists in our gospel today who live to find fault with others, we seek, like Jesus, to do good in whatever way we can whenever we can.

Paul J. Wadell is Professor Emeritus of Theology & Religious Studies at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, and a member of the Passionist Family.

Scripture:

Isaiah 49:3, 5-6
1 Corinthians 1:1-3
John 1:29-34

Reflection:

Is it really true?  We’re already in ordinary time!  What happened to Christmas and all those special feasts that helped us celebrate the wondrous mystery of the Incarnation, the birth of Christ?  Yet, here we are, firmly planted in these many Sundays known as “ordinary time.”  Still, as I have heard so many times, there is nothing ordinary at all about “ordinary time.”

In our readings for this Sunday, we hear the words spoken by the Lord to Isaiah: “I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”  A ‘light to the nations,’ what amazing words, words that are spoken not only to Isaiah but to all of us who are people of faith, as well.  These words remind us of the star shining in the heavens, calling the Three Kings to the birthplace of the Messiah, wise men guided by the light, touched by the light, and, even driven to change their lives, by God’s holy light.  And many years before the birth of Jesus, Isaiah is told that, he too, would become a light, a “light to the nations” as he fulfills the mission given him by God, to restore faith and hope in Israel.

On this ordinary Sunday we, too, receive this message from the Lord.  We are called to be a light to the nations.  And how do we do this?  By witnessing our faith and sharing with all whom we meet the good news that Jesus is Lord.  We are invited to remind everyone that, when we walk in the light of Christ, it can make a real difference in day-by-day life.  Isn’t this what St. Paul means when he tells us in his letter to the Corinthians, that we have all been sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, even as we call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ?

And lastly, our beautiful passage from the Gospel of John, narrating that special moment when John the Baptist first saw Jesus walking toward him by the Jordan river.  We do not know if Jesus ever really knew his cousin as they were growing up before this extraordinary baptismal event, but we can only imagine how moved the Baptist was to finally see the one who was “filled with the Spirit,” the one who is truly “the Son of God!”  Here is Jesus, in plain sight!  Surely John’s heart would have been filled with the words spoken by his own father, Zechariah, when he cried out his song about his beloved child, John: “You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare His way, to give His people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.”  An extraordinary moment we are invited to think about on this ordinary Sunday!  We can all fall to our knees and cry out with John the Baptist:  “Behold, the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sin of the world.”

Fr. Pat Brennan, C.P. is the director of Saint Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat and Conference Center, Detroit, Michigan.

Scripture:

Hebrews 4:1-5, 11
Mark 2:1-12

Reflection:

One of the things I learned early on in my association with the Passionists is their ability to see new and deeper lessons and insights into the same Gospel time after time. I would have largely believed that there was one lesson from each story and had it all sewn up from the first hearing. Today’s Gospel would have been a prime example of the way I used to slot it into place in my mind from the very first word. “This Gospel is about the faith of friends who tore back a roof to see that their friend was healed.”

I was hearing it proclaimed every time, but I was not listening to the new insights. Somehow, I missed the reality of the Living Word of God that is constantly moving and inviting us into deeper relationships. It inspires us in every stage of our life as long as we are truly listening.

I will forever be grateful to those wonderful men—and women—who opened up Sacred Scripture in ever changing and new ways for me. It inspired me to pursue classes on my own and to trust in each message, daily given.

While today’s Gospel is about a deep faith in Jesus to heal and to forgive, a new insight for me is the whole drama. The bigger picture. We are invited to understand Jesus’ destiny as he lives between the tension of healing—and forgiving—and the “legal experts” judgments of his actions. They judged him to be blasphemous and just a traveling preacher. How could he forgive sins in the name of God?

A closer look at the text reveals there is no mention of any specific friendship, “they came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.” (V.3) This might suggest that the whole community was involved in this act. Might it have been the faith not just of the four but of the whole community? Perhaps this offers us one of the blessings of belonging to a faith community. And, what about Jesus’ words of forgiveness of sin? One commentary I read recently suggested that forgiveness was a sign of weakness in the ancient world. One might add, what has changed? We still have wars and strife and needless suffering. Lest we get too bogged down in the negative, we see that Jesus did heal the paralytic; he gave hope to his darkness. We know that Jesus obliterated sin—our sin—and opened up heaven for all. It is our choice to follow him and do likewise—forgive—and bring peace into our hearts and our world.

Sometimes we don’t hear that message very well. We may listen and assume we have the lesson already learned. Paul touches on this in our first reading. In the chapter before our reading, Paul goes into a bit more detail about the ancestors who didn’t hear and therefore may not enter into the Sabbath rest spoken of in Genesis. In a way, I was like that before my eyes were opened to the truth of our ever-changing and ever-new Word, even as he –the Word incarnate—never changes. We are the ones who need to change to whatever life offers us through the lens of faith.

The inspiration I heard today is the blessing of our faith community, to the gift of belonging and strength. We are not perfect, yet we journey together in faith, hope, and love.

May we always remember that we belong to God and each other. May we strive to listen to hear his voice in our hearts. He cares for us. We are worth everything because of his love for us. May we ultimately enjoy his rest. Amen

Jean Bowler is a retreatant at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center in Sierra Madre, California, and a member of the Office of Mission Effectiveness Board of Holy Cross Province.

Scripture:

Hebrews 3:7-14
Mark 1:40-45

Reflection:

Today’s first reading can aptly be described as a warning to periodically check the condition of our hearts lest, in ways we are scarcely aware, they turn us away from what is true, holy, and good. The passage from Hebrews speaks of “hardened” hearts, “erring” hearts, and “evil and unfaithful” hearts, suggesting that though it may be easy to develop each of these pathologies, such conditions of heart are fatal to our relationship with God and one another.

A hardened heart is a dangerous spiritual predicament because when our hearts are hardened nothing can touch them, nothing can enter into them; hardened hearts are closed to God’s spirit and life, closed to any possibility of healing and hope. Our hearts harden over time—sometimes so gradually that we have no idea what is happening to us—when we shut our lives to others, when we settle into self-serving routines that suck life from us and those around us, or when we become so comfortable with who we are and what we believe that we are no longer willing to grow and to change. With erring hearts we slip slowly away from God by letting other things (other persons, our own pleasures, money and possessions) take the place of God. With erring hearts it is not that we suddenly begin to love the wrong things, but that we love them in the wrong ways, giving lesser goods far more attention than they deserve. And with evil and unfaithful hearts we act as if we ourselves are gods, doing whatever we want and getting whatever we want no matter how much hurt and harm it brings to others.

And so maybe it is time for a heart checkup. Like people who are sick long before they receive a proper diagnosis, we need to periodically check the condition of our hearts to be sure we are not denying ourselves the love, healing, mercy, and wholeness that God wants to give us and that we need to truly live.

Paul J. Wadell is Professor Emeritus of Theology & Religious Studies at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, and a member of the Passionist Family.