Daily Scripture

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.

Scripture:

Sirach 1: 1-10
Mark 9: 14-29

Reflection:

In our Gospel today we hear a remarkable, deeply human love story.  It is about a parent, in this case a father, who brings his son, who suffers from dreadful seizures, to Jesus for healing.  Just as the son is presented to Jesus, “the mute spirit immediately threw the boy into convulsions.
As he fell to the ground, he began to roll around and foam at the mouth.”  Jesus asks the father how long this has been happening to his son and he answers, “since childhood.” 

Jesus reassures the father that with faith it is possible to heal the child.  The father caught between despair and hope cries out, “I do believe, help my unbelief!”  Jesus then reaches out to the boy and says, “Mute and deaf spirit, I command you: come out of him and never enter him again!”  The boy immediately goes completely still.  Some bystanders whisper that he must be dead.  But Jesus takes the boy by the hand, helps him get up, and returns him to the care of his loving father.  What a beautiful story of a father’s love and Jesus’ great compassion…and power.

While this story reveals the deep love of a father for a son, it also has echoes in the lives of many of us.  Every one of us has experienced a time(s) when no matter what gifts, strengths, desires or love we have, it is just not enough to deal with the real life situation we face.  The father’s anguished cry, “I do believe, help my unbelief,” resonates with our own feelings of helplessness in resolving many of life’s most difficult situations.  The care and kindness of Jesus toward the suffering father and son, is a comforting reassurance that God will reach out to us in our own helplessness.  Faith is, indeed, the path to life.

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

Scripture:

Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18
1 Corinthians 3:16-3
Matthew 5:38-48

Reflection:

So be perfect!

Perfect is defined one way to be absolute; complete (used for emphasis). Today we hear Jesus telling his disciples, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” In today’s world many hear this and immediately give it up thinking it’s not possible to be perfect. Others go in circles trying to be perfect according to the world’s standards and fall into scrupulosity. They find themselves more concerned with the fear of not doing something exactly right and their focus becomes self-inclusive. Then they aren’t able to live in the current moment freely as intended. They are wrapped in their mind allowing fear to keep them occupied. For some they just might be terrified of doing something wrong, so they stay away from everything and everyone. This way of life is not what God intended for us. Our call to be perfect reaches deep within each of us uniquely.

Today, Jesus is calling you and I to live counter-culturally, to live in such a way that all that we do is in and for the honor of God Our Father. Jesus tells as how to do this and how to become who we were called to be. To live fully and most importantly freely as His Beloved Son or Daughter.

There is a song by Ed Sheeran called “Perfect” that starts off “I found a love, for me” and as the song progresses, he is watching her at a distance internally while still being there in the moment with her. His eyes fixed on her with love. There isn’t anything that can diminish this love. At one point he says, “When you said you looked a mess I whispered underneath my breath – But you heard it Darling, you look perfect tonight”. He simply just loves her. Period. I believe that is the key to being perfect to be loved as we are in all of our “worldly” imperfections and allow ourselves to be love so we can give the love we received to others as Jesus says.

So as we journey along in this gift of life when we “slip” or “get it wrong” sure we can stop and apologize but then instead of staying in that moment in that vicious cycle we move forward, reach out for Christ’s hand and return our gaze to His and not on ourselves knowing that even when we find ourselves in a mess we can be assured of God’s love and mercy.

Lori Kananen, LMC, is a lay Pastoral Associate at Holy Name Passionist Retreat Center in Houston, Texas.

Scripture:

Hebrews 11:1-7
Mark 9:2-13

Reflection:

“This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” (Mark 9:6)

The readings for today’s mass present us with a moving sermon on the nature of faith and the beautiful account of Jesus’ transfiguration on Mount Tabor. In our first reading from the book of Hebrews, we are reminded that “Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” In the Gospel, we see Jesus taking his closest friends, Peter, James and John, up a high mountain where he is suddenly transfigured before their eyes. Jesus is seen talking with Elijah and Moses, two of the great prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures. The disciples were overcome with fear and Peter began to talk nonsense. That is when God stops him cold. God simply says, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” Listening to Jesus is the same as listening to God!

Up to this point, the disciples were not good listeners. Jesus was going up and down Galilee and the surrounding countryside teaching and healing, feeding people when they were hungry and freeing people from unclean spirits and demons. Yet, the disciples were not listening to or understanding Jesus. On a couple of occasions, Jesus got upset with them He says in Mark 7:18, “Are even you likewise without understanding?” A few days later, in Mark 8:21, he says: “Do you still do not understand.” It seems that a stronger response was set off in Jesus after he told his disciples that he was going to Jerusalem to suffer and die. Peter takes him aside and rebukes him. At that point, Jesus turns to Peter and says bluntly, “Get behind me, Satan. You are not thinking as God does, but as human beings do.” (Mark 8:33) After that, Jesus ^“summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, ‘Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.'” (Mark 8:34)

Sometimes God has to enter into our lives in a dramatic way to tell us to stop what we’re doing and to stop our gibberish. We need to take the time to Listen to Jesus, the Word of God, and his message given to us in the Sacraments, the Church and in the cries of the Crucified of Today. We really need to learn to listen with our minds and hearts so that we can do what we need to do as followers of Jesus.

The reason why we are not listening is because something is causing us to block God’s message to us. That would be our sin. To strip ourselves of our sinful ways is not easy. We may be able to cast aside the veneer, the façade but to do the inner work of finding the root cause of our sinful ways takes a great deal of dying to self and of taking up our cross to follow Jesus. This is ultimately a faith stance, something that we do in complete faith, not because we know the outcome, but because we just believe. It is not irrational faith, but a faith that goes beyond reason, beyond the senses, beyond the intellectual games we play to get around doing the inner work that strips us of our core sin.

We are so grateful that we follow a Jesus who knows and loves us so well, that he will not give up on us, just as he did not give up on Peter, James and John, when they were not listening. So, we do not give up. We get up. We follow Jesus. We try harder to listen to God’s Beloved Son. This is indeed our faith!

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

Scripture:

Genesis 8:6-13, 20-22
Mark 8:22-26

Reflection:

I still find myself navigating a post-pandemic world. Still taking in the shock of what was so deeply lost. But also so aware, maybe for the first time, of how tactile Our Lord was to anyone that asked. Jesus used His Voice, but he also used His Hands. Touching, holding, healing, continually moving place to place to open the doors within each heart. During a time when the world was changed, is still changing, many of us were asked to go deeper inward. Are we still carrying those feelings of loss?  Am I?  Or have new ways risen from within? 

There are two ending places I have known, where I now see as a new beginning. 

“Go in peace, lo love and to serve the Lord”
“And to amend my life. Amen.”

We know these words as Catholics.  Many times, said so completely heartfelt in the moments after receiving the Body of Christ the final words from the priest, and His Absolution in Confession. 

But what happens in how we meet the world again when we walk out the door? Or when we leave the door of confession after laying down the sorrow we carry? Struggling to follow the ways we so hoped as we move back into the world. 

As I read this unique and short Gospel, new words arrived in my heart this time.
I am learning the small parts of a greater story hold so much more than we can imagine. 

Jesus takes the blind man out of the village and tells him to return to his home after laying his hands on his eyes twice and gifting sight. Then saying, “Do not even go into the village”

How many times have I left confession truly feeling the grace of what was shared. Yet the hardest part can be to carry it forward. I had never seen this until today.  We are asked over and over by so many around us to be a part of the world that in some ways no longer makes sense.

Once we let you in Dear Lord.  Once we welcome You fully.  Once we say “yes”!
How then can we remain quiet, patient, trusting and still?
Eyes opened to all You have gifted.

For some, this may take a lifetime of returning.  For other’s a single day.
But sometimes the gifts are heard when they are not easily seen. 
Jesus is already fully open to the wideness of God’s Love. But we, like the disciples, need to find the courage to see. 

“Then He sent one who was healed to his home. Saying, “do not even go into the village.”
This passage I believe had Jesus preparing His chosen apostles to prepare for all to come.  

I imagine Him now saying to me.  I am giving you the Gift above all gifts.  
My Love and tender Mercy for each human being on earth. 

How can we learn to fully gift from our hearts knowing I have Jesus Christ truly within me.  
After Communion.  
After Confession. 

New ways rising always, new beginnings.

M. J. Walsh, laity, with deepest thanksgiving for all the Passionist community. With a prayer for vocation.

Scripture:

Genesis 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10
Mark 8:14-21

Reflection:

Recently I heard a recording from a Fr. Richard Rohr presentation called the “Beginners Mind”. It reminded me of how a child reacts to the world. When we arrive in a room with small children, the child looks for the adult with a smile, the one who is open and friendly—the simple detective work of one hunting and searching for love.

Children detect hostility, unfriendliness, and those who are unauthentic in a way that is beyond words. Their agenda is simple; there is no agenda. There is no duality in their thinking, just looking for the one who is most friendly, open, and willing to love. Come play with me is mostly present in their eyes. 

How much of this can we learn again in our relationship with God? How many have fallen prey to following the tradition rather than the love? Our Catholic tradition without love is meaningless. Particularly if we start to “preach” tradition in a way that divides us from others rather than unites us in the community of God; the Body of Christ. The Church is universal.

We sometimes need a reminder the word Catholic means universal. For us, this is universal love, and there is nowhere we can feel and hear that word more soundly than in love expressed by a child. A child cannot fend for themselves; they survive only with love. So do I. Without love, I am nothing, just someone looking for a cave to dwell in with a warm fire and a loving friend.

The loving friend we seek is the same one the child in the room opens their heart towards. The love expressed by the adult in the room is filled with the grace of God. And one willing to communicate it freely, willingly with the smile which requires no repayment. Just gift. Pure gift.

Let us return to the “Beginners Mind”, let us unlearn the prejudices and offer ourselves openly to listen to others, even offer love to those we dislike, without scowls or pretense. The child in us all brings us back to the Beginners Mind, when we did not judge, but loved.

And sat silently on the floor waiting for God to come and play with us. Forever.

The disciples need this reminder in today’s Gospel. To trust in God.

Michael Cunningham, OFS, is the Director and CEO of Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center in Sierra Madre, California.