Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Isaiah 4:2-6
Matthew 8:5-11

Reflection:

Happy Advent 2022!  The word Advent comes from the Latin word ‘adventus’ meaning coming.  Christians around the world celebrate this time of preparation for the coming of the child Jesus into our lives and most importantly into our hearts at Christmastime and forward.  In our parish our theme for Advent is ‘Birthing Emmanuel in Our World’!  A banner containing this theme and a beautiful artistic rendition of a pregnant Mary surrounded by the world will greet parishioners as they enter church for liturgy.  As we move through advent, we are called to reflect on the ways we may be called to birth our savior Jesus Christ in our World.

In our reflection we also take time to notice the four candles on the advent wreath.  These candles represent the four weeks of Advent symbolizing Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.  The first candle represents Hope. We hear the clarion call to stay awake and to awaken others to the miracle of Bethlehem and how life-giving and hope-filled our lives and world is because of this great event.  During the second week we are given the challenge to work for Peace and justice as we continue to bring forth God’s kingdom here on earth.

The third week we rejoice and celebrate the Joy in the promise of the Christ Child and be patient and trust in that God’s kingdom surrounds all of us.  In the fourth week we witness to the faith and courage of the Virgin Mary as she consents to bring Love to birth.  We are called to be open and receptive to that love as modeled by Mary and Joseph.

Isaiah gives us that sense of hope in the first reading today as he reminds us of God’s protective care for us as our refuge and strength.  Psalm 122 speaks of peace and rejoicing as we journey to the house of the Lord, which is what this season is all about.  In the gospel message from Matthew, we witness the faith and love of the centurion which led to Jesus healing his servant.

During this season of Advent may we make time to reflect on how we will birth Emmanuel within ourselves, our family, community, and world.  May we come rejoicing to the house of the Lord on Christmas morning ever more hopeful, peaceful, joyful, and loving as we celebrate and live out the glorious message of the Incarnation!  Have a blessed Advent!

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

First Sunday of Advent

Scripture:

Isaiah 2:1-5
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:37-44

Reflection:

The day Noah entered the ark… At that point, everything changed. Before the flood, many people were living their lives in their own way, but not always in God’s way. Had those wayward folks paid heed to how they were living their lives, how different their world would have been! But, just as in today’s reading, the coming of the Son of Man will be a repeat of the great flood and the people will be caught unaware. 

We truly do not know the day or the hour of Christ’s coming, but we have this amazing opportunity to live our lives as Christ would have us. We should take this time to be compassionate to one another; loving everyone, whether they need love or not; accepting everyone with no judgment of politics or religion or preference. Christ is a lover of all, and he wants us to follow in his footsteps – to be a disciple for him! 

Don’t be passive about what you do in this life. Jesus wants us to live for now – not for five years ago, and he doesn’t want us trying to decide for ourselves what our future will hold. We can work toward what we feel called to, but in the end only He can give you what he knows you need.

Patty Masson supports the Passionists from Spring, Texas.

Scripture:

Revelation 22:1-7
Luke 21:34-36

Reflection:

It’s the last day of the year…of the liturgical year, that is. Tomorrow is the First Sunday of Advent, the start of a new cycle in the Church year.

The psalm response for today leans into Advent with its refrain, “Come, Lord Jesus.” It is hard to hear the exact intonation of these words. Are they pleading, a tone of imploring? Or are they intoned with confidence, a readiness to meet the Lord?

I choose to believe that on this cusp of Advent we can stand tall and confident. We stand in hope and not despair. Certainly, each of us can point to all the things that can drag us down and wear us out. The senseless murders of guiltless people who are just living their lives. The explosion of those experiencing homelessness because they can’t afford rent or because of addiction. The degradation of the Earth. Political paralysis and religious extremism.

The Gospel for today has Jesus encouraging us to not be weighed down by the anxieties of life but to “have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.” To live our faith is to live with joy. Why then do so many who profess their faith in God have so much anger and use so many vulgarities? Where is the joy that should be the outward sign of their Christian faith?

Amid the tribulations that are very real, I choose—even if imperfectly—to be joyful, confident in praying, “Come, Lord Jesus.”

Robert Hotz is a consultant with American City Bureau, Inc. and was the Director of The Passion of Christ: The Love That Compels Campaign for Holy Cross Province.

Scripture:

Revelation 20:1-4, 11—21:2
Luke 21:29-33

Reflection:

As I pondered over and prayed with today’s readings, the image of the book of life was slowly weaving its way through my mind and heart. Faced with apocalyptic pools of fire, it’s hard not to wonder “just how does one get written into the book of life?” My sense is, all is grace, even our ability to walk together as a community of faith in the light of Christ.  And yet, what each of us does matters, so it’s also hard not to look for those breadcrumbs guiding the way…

The first line of today’s psalm resonates compellingly.  “My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” Here seems a promising path of life: to become deeply aware of the longing within us for what alone will sustain, for what alone endures; “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Lk 21:33).

And then, further on, like a keyhole suddenly appearing, a gap in the lines of today’s psalm becomes apparent.  I have always loved the image of finding refuge in God, that shelter of love which alone can respond to the longing of heart and flesh. So I was curious about the lines which follow, those not included in today’s reading. The complete lines 6-7 (translation from the Catholic Biblical Association of America) read:

⁶Happy are those who find refuge in you, whose heart are set on pilgrim roads.
⁷As they pass through the Baca valley, they find spring water to drink.
Also from pools the Lord provides water for those who lose their way.”

What a beautiful invitation:  to have our hearts set, not on security or stability, but on “pilgrim roads” where we must rely on our companions and on God–even as the road takes us where we would rather not go. The word baca has its roots in the Hebrew verb “bakah”, meaning to weep, mourn, lament.  To have your heart set on pilgrim roads means to pass through valleys of profound grief and lament, to have our hearts broken open in ways from which we cannot even imagine what healing would look like. In these times, companioning each other in shared grief is sometimes all we can do. Together, pilgrim companions, both strangers and friends, we trust in the promise of God’s “[living] water for those who lose their way”—which no doubt means all of us as we walk our life’s pilgrimage.

Scholars tell us that Revelation was composed as resistance literature to meet a crisis, most likely horrific persecution of the early church by Roman authorities.  In our own time we too are facing cataclysmic crises: a quick scan of headlines shows mass shootings, catastrophic earthquakes, mudslides, fires and hurricanes, war, species extinctions, political and climate refugees… What better time to walk together, companioning each other—both stranger and friend–through the valleys of grief, nourished by living water? Perhaps this is how we might write each other into the book of life.  Perhaps this is how we keep alive the memory of the Passion in our hearts.

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

Scripture:

Sirach 50:22-24
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Luke 17:11-19

Reflection:

Thanksgiving and Praise

As he was entering a village, ten persons with leprosy met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying,
“Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”

Lepers were desperate men.  They were experiencing a living death.  They were not allowed to live with their families, nor to pray in the Temple.  But for all their problems somehow they learned about the merciful Jesus who could work wonders.  

It is interesting to note how they addressed Jesus.  ““Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”  Only Luke uses this name, Master, for Jesus,  The word in the Greek inspired text is Epistata  whichcan be a military term like chief or commander, or more likely someone in charge.  Only the Apostles address Jesus by this term.  The only exception occurs in this text used by the lepers! 

“Have mercy on us!”  Their prayer is a beautiful and a powerful one in the New Testament.   I have not noticed that this prayer was ever denied by Jesus in the Gospels! At the beginning of every Mass, we use it three times!  To appeal to God’s mercy can work wonders not only for lepers but for the millions of people who participate in the Eucharist.

Jesus does not heal them right away as usual.  He tells them to show themselves to the priests to declare they are cured.  They start on their way before they are healed.  This shows they had great faith in Jesus.   It would be very embarrassing if they showed up unclean.  “And as they were going, they were cleansed.”

“Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks (eucharisteō) to Him. And he was a Samaritan.^”  

In the Greek text we find this beautiful word eucharist for thanksgiving.  It is used 38 times in Scripture.  It means in Greek a “beautiful gift” that is acknowledged.  Of course, the beautiful gift is Jesus Himself.  That is the heart of Thanksgiving!

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

Scripture:

Revelation 14:14-19
Luke 21: 5-11

Reflection:

Herod rebuilt the temple using huge stones weighing between two thousand and fifty thousand pounds apiece; engineered fifteen stories tall, so precisely fit that no mortar was necessary. Each stone was seated a half inch back from the face of the one beneath it to both stabilize it and avoid the optical illusion that the wall would appear to be falling over on to a viewer looking up from its base. The inner walls were sheathed in marble and gold and adorned with precious stones and costly gifts, which projected the sense of majesty felt by onlookers.  

Lord, I wish I could have walked with you through the temple. To see the holy monument Herod reconstructed to demonstrate his piousness and political power.  And while dazzled by the beauty and wonder of this majestic construct, hearing You predict that it would be so completely destroyed that not one stone would be left standing on another. I would have looked skeptically at the massive stones and wondered how this prediction could possibly come true.

Would I have believed my eyes or your words, Lord?  Is my faith subject to the same incredulous doubt of St Thomas, who arrogantly insisted that he would not believe St Peter, Mary of Magdala, or any of the other apostles unless he personally could inspect Your wounds?  Peter expressed his faith in You even before Your crucifixion. When questioned about his willingness to stay with You, he said, “Where would we go Lord? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6: 68-71)   That is the faith I pray for; to know and love You so strongly that I never doubt You.

Saint and Bishop, Richard of Chichester, in the 13th century composed a prayer, the words of which we have become familiar with.

        Thanks be to Thee, my Lord Jesus Christ

            For all the benefits Thou hast given me,
            For all the pains and insults Thou hast borne for me.
            O most merciful Redeemer, friend and brother,
                        May I know Thee more clearly,
                        Love Thee more dearly,
                        Follow Thee more nearly
                        Day by Day.

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.

Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Scripture:

Revelation 14:1-3, 4b-5
Luke 21:1-4

Reflection:

An apocryphal source recounts that Mary’s parents, Joachim and Anne who had been childless received a message in a dream that would have a child. In thanksgiving for the gift of their daughter Joachim and Anne brought their three-year-old daughter to the temple to offer her to God. The feast entered the Western calendar in 1585.  Today, we celebrate Mary as the temple of God where God dwelt within her in a special way through her role as the Mother of Jesus”. (Living with Christ, November 2022,)

What does it mean for you and me to be a temple of God?  St . Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:16 “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you.” In the scriptures the word “temple can be used in two ways.  The first usage can refer to all the temple precincts.  The second use of temple refers to the temple sanctuary, the place of the very presence of God.  The use of the word temple for St. Paul was referring to the local church where people gather together, and God is in their midst. The New Testament in other sections speaks of the Holy Spirit indwelling in individual believers. (https://versebyversecommentary.com/2002/07/27/1-corinthians-316/)

Have you ever stopped to think that God dwells in you? You and I are a sanctuary where God dwells. Since we are temples where God dwells do we act like it? Are we consistently compassionate, forgiving, kind and loving especially to our family and friends? St. Paul’s calls our bodies temples of the Holy Spirit.  Do we respect our bodies and care for them with diet, exercise, prayer, and meditation.  Or do we abuse our bodies through alcohol and drugs, sleep deprivation or improper diets.

Throughout this day stop a couple of times and look in the mirror and remind yourself that you are a temple of God. 

God, our creator, thank you for creating our bodies to be your temple.  Enable me to honor my body with your presence. Assist me to love my neighbor and myself and my body. Amen.

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

Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Scripture:

2 Samuel 5: 1-3
Colossians 1: 12-20
Luke 23: 35-43

Reflection:

On this last Sunday of the year, we celebrate the solemn feast of Christ the King.  This feast is the capstone of the liturgical year, using the image of the King as the fullness of Christ’s triumph. 

I’ve often reflected that we Americans don’t respond very well to the office of “King.”  We have no experience of an earthly king so it’s a bit difficult for us to fully appreciate the message of this feast.  Nonetheless, we do have some notions about it.  We know that kings are respected.  They live in rather grand palaces, have servants to take care of many of their human needs, and exercise authority over their kingdom.  They usually lead the good life and embody many of the aspirations of their subjects.  When they treat their subjects with justice and their people prosper, they’re considered “good” kings.  When they are unjust and selfish, they are considered tyrants.

Still, our Scripture readings today invite us to reflect on the various ways in which kingship is exercised.  In the first reading from the book of Samuel we recall the moment Israel first established a King.  Strangely enough it was young David that God chose.  I say strangely because David proved to be an adulterer and a murderer.  Yet, God was able to use his gifts at leadership to unite the twelve often squabbling tribes of Israel into one nation.  Not everyone was thrilled with this development but it was a transforming moment for Israel.  For all David’s very real weaknesses, his gifts of unshaking faith in God and extraordinary leadership ability brought together God’s chosen people in a unique way.  They became an economic and military power in their region of the world.  Though they continued to struggle with their fidelity to God, they truly thrived as a nation.   

Then, in the Gospel we are presented with a very different King of Israel.  We see Jesus on the Cross, mocked and ridiculed, rejected and beaten, enduring the pain of his wounds and struggling for breath.  Yet, from the throne of his cross he forgives his persecutors, welcomes a thief into paradise, entrusts the Church into the loving care of his Mother, and then, surrenders his life with complete trust into the hands of his loving Father.  Christ’s kingship was not built on economic or military power, but on total, unconditional, self-giving love.

As we search for our path into Christ’s Kingdom, we are called to model ourselves after the One who is our King.  He gave his life so that we could have life.  We are called to give our lives so that our brothers and sisters can have life.  Christ is a unique King, indeed.  And, we are called to aspire to be (like) him.

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