Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Titus 1:1-9
Luke 17:1-6

Reflection:

The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree,
‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”  -Luke 17:6

One of my most favorite songs (I would call it a hymn) of all times is the Lettermen’s “I Believe”. Looking back over my life, there have been two main forces, one that told me “You can’t do that” and the other that said “I’ll bet you can do that”. When I have listened to the voice of confidence, we did great things, things the first voice said were impossible.

I”m reminded of the first time I filled out the semester grades for my students. I completed the course books (report cards) and sent them down to the principal for his review. He later called me into his office and told me: “You can not give all your students A’s, you have to give some B’s, and C’s”. Mind you, I was a new teacher. I didn’t have tenure, and the principal could let me go (a nice way of saying fire me) for any reason in the first few years of my career.

I had kept a grade book and each Friday I would administer a test that I developed based upon the week’s lessons. As the students came into classroom. I would give them their test with the directions that once they finished it, give it back to me and then they could use the rest of the period to read, write or talk quietly with their chosen class mates. (I was a high school English teacher, teaching reading, writing, listening and speaking) All they had to do was hand in the test. As each student would hand in their test and I would mark the items they got right and then give it back to the student encouraging them to see if they could find the right answer(s). Newer students to the class would look at me in disbelief and ask: “But I already put down what I thought was correct—where am I suppose to find the right answer?” I suggested they might want to ask one of their fellow classmates or review the handouts or texts we had used to learn the material. They would look at me, and quickly follow my suggestions maybe having to come back more than once, but eventually getting all the answers on their test marked correctly. An so, when the principal challenged me, I showed him my grade book with each students’ scores and how they earned their A’s.

Many today continue to tell me that’s not the way to teach. My experience, told me and the principal, that it is the way. Not only did my students do well, they did so well, the principal eventually had me running the reading and math programs for the entire school where students who did not like to read were joining the “100 Book Club” whose requirements were to have read 100 books, writing articles for their neighborhood newspapers and applying their math skills in the wood, printing and other shops in our school. What is even more astounding, student who were sent to us because they didn’t like school, were coming everyday and having fun.

God, help my disbelief! Give me the faith, that even though I may be wrong, if I work with all those you put into my life, we will arrive at Your Good News.

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

Scripture:

2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14
2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5
Luke 20:27-38

Reflection:

Today’s dramatic readings give hints of the central mystery of human life: what happens when we are dead? It reminds me of a priest friend, reflecting on his father’s death years after the event, who observed, “we sure are dead a long time.” Yes, we are dead a long time, but as followers of Christ we know only our physical bodies are what is dead.

As people of faith, we believe we will rise, as reflected on the inscription on each monk’s head stone at St Anslem Abbey’s cemetery in Manchester, New Hampshire. Above each Benedictine’s name, dates of birth and death are the words “Here will rise.” What a beautiful statement of firm belief.

This belief in resurrection did not develop in the Jewish community until about 200 years before Christ. Every Jew didn’t buy it, including the priestly, aristocratic and merchant classes, collectively known as the Sadducees, who were the clever ones trying to embarrass Jesus in today’s Gospel. They seemed to want to box him in, to sham him and the movement that was developing around him. Maybe they felt threatened, wondering if his followers got the upper hand, they’d be left in a demoted social position.

But Jesus moves away from their literal thinking, which carries a misogynistic element, to a much more inclusive teaching, one that dismisses using a woman as a means to insure a legacy of children for each of the brothers. Jesus observes that Moses taught that life does continue beyond our last breath. And women aren’t just baby makers for men wanting to leave their mark.

No, the resurrection is real and the narrow-minded thinking of confirming one’s worth by fathering children doesn’t fit God’s ways. In fact, Jesus hints, the afterlife will include a transformation of ourselves into angelic creatures, heavenly messengers offering encouragement to the living during life’s most troubling times.

Seeing violence in our streets and in war-torn spots around the globe, witnessing the killing of our planet by global warming, experiencing illness, depression, stress and an inner sense of not- being-good-enough in a consumer, status-conscience culture, can leave even the most faith- filled person wondering if angels will support us, lift us up and sustain us.

In moments of darkness in our lives, only the grace of God can hold and console us. Our most frightening moment comes at the time of our own death, unless we are blessed with the gift Paul wishes for us in the Epistle today: “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace, encourage your hearts and straighten them in every good deed and word.”

Let us, in our frightened, confusing and sad moments ask God for this grace to be encouraged and strengthened until the hour of our death.Jim Wayne is a board member of the Passionist Solidarity Network (PSN), and author of The Unfinished Man. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Philippians 4:10-19
Luke 16:9-15

Reflection:

“…for I have learned, in whatever situation I find myself, to be self-sufficient. I know indeed how to live in humble circumstances; I know also how to live with abundance.” -Philippians 4:11-12

Oh, that I could learn to live as Paul did. We are constantly bombarded with news that has many stories of both abundance and deprivation – billionaires (not just millionaires anymore!) with multiple yachts, houses on many continents, watches they wear on their wrists that are worth more than a year’s salary for most people. At the same time, we daily encounter those who are unhoused, that lack the basic needs for survival, for whom the price of a cup of coffee might sustain them for days.

And yet, Paul reminds us that at some level, we are all equal. Does this mean we should abandon our work for social justice? No! But we should be aware of our own desires. We can realize when we feel deprived that perhaps we are privileged.

I recently went to my local drive-through to purchase a cup of coffee (plain, no foo-foo drinks for me, thank you!). When I went to pay, I was informed that the person in front of me had already paid for it! I felt myself filled with delight and a sense of abundance. I told the barista I would like to pay for the person behind me to keep it going. It turned out to be three times what my single cup of coffee cost! I laughed in delight! Although it was much more than I expected to pay when I first turned into the parking lot, in no way did it seriously impact my financial situation.

The idea of sharing the feelings I experienced was well worth the few dollars it cost me. I said a quick prayer of thanks and went on with my day.

My prayer today is that I continue to experience God’s abundance and share it with others each and every day.

Talib Huff is a member of the retreat team at Christ the King Passionist Retreat Center in Citrus Heights, California. You can contact him at [email protected].

Feast of St. Charles Borromeo

Scripture:

Philippians 3:17-4:1
Luke 16:1-8

Reflection:

The Challenge of Stewardship

Today’s Gospel from Luke recounts Jesus’ parable regarding a “resourceful” steward who at first dishonestly squandered his master’s property, but then prudently tried to save face by dealing with his master’s debtors.  Though we might first be appalled at his dishonesty, in his moment of crisis he was decisive and acted quickly to prepare for his future.  Jesus highlights the steward’s “gifts” and limitations as a human person – and encourages us to be faith-filled and zealous in living out our faith in Him as “…children of the light…”

St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians encourages his followers to imitate his example as a convert-missionary, giving his life to help spread the Good News.  Paul’s many gifts, especially his ardent faith, were held up as a prime example to the many people he touched in his journeys; his last words of today’s scripture selection have encouraged many:  “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I Iove and long for, my joy and my crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, beloved.”  Stand firm in the Lord…

On this early November day, we also thank God for the person of St. Charles Borromeo.  He was a gifted and zealous steward of the 16^th Century, credited for helping reform and build up the Church in a variety of ways.

As Bishop and Cardinal, Charles Borromeo encouraged the intellectual and moral growth of clergy and religious, especially by forming new seminaries.  He helped author the catechism called for during the Council of Trent; he started the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) for children’s growth in their faith.  He held special meetings in his home diocese of Milan, seeking to incorporate the message of the Council of Trent.  He reached out to the poor and needy of his day, sacrificing wealth, honor, and influence to serve them – personally ministering to the sick, the hungry, and the dying.  Truly a gifted and zealous man who gave God his all during the 46 years of his life!

The Good News challenges us today:  zealously follow the words and deeds of Jesus; live as faith-filled, active stewards of God’s many gifts; learn from Sts. Paul and Charles Borromeo to share your gifts with the Church today, especially those most in need.  The “value” of such stewardship:  priceless…for ourselves and our world!!

Fr. John Schork, C.P. serves as the Province Vocation Director and also as Local Superior of the Passionist Community of Holy Name in Houston, Texas.  

Scripture:

Philippians 3:3-8a
Luke 15:1-10

Reflection:

One of the frailties of human behaviour is our incapacity to see ourselves in the full light of day. So many tests – both simple exercises and the more deeply searching psychological tests – are designed precisely to help us see those parts of our own life that are hidden from us.

Jesus may not have had ‘tests’ through which to help people see themselves and their behaviour more clearly, but he certainly had a great gift for storytelling. In his stories and shorter parables, he not only revealed God’s love and mercy to us but helped his first audiences (and us today) to see themselves and our future safety in God’s loving embrace more clearly.

Today we see this dynamic once again. People were gathering to hear the Word that Jesus was revealing (notwithstanding of course, that apart from anything he said, Jesus was the Word of God).

The people divide neatly into two groups – those who would have seen themselves as outsiders on the one hand (the tax collectors and those labelled ‘sinners’) and on the other hand those who would have seen themselves as insiders (the Pharisees and Scribes).

Jesus gives two simple illustrations that do not favour the majority as one might have imagined but highlight the value of those who his society would have considered ‘lost’.

For our deeper consolation, and to strengthen our own trust and faith in God, we might notice two dynamics that Jesus highlights in the characters of the shepherd and woman.

The first is the great effort, energy, and commitment that they both bring to their search. The second is the joy the two protagonists exhibit upon finding the sheep or the coin. Jesus highlights God’s commitment to us and God’s delight that accompanies the return of the ‘lost’.

In faith, let us rest in the thought that every moment of conversion in our lives, every act of humility and reconciliation we enact is echoed in heaven by God’s delightful cry of ‘Rejoice with me for I have found that faithful part of my daughter/son’s life that had been lost for a time’

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

The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls)

Scripture:

Wisdom 3:1-9
Romans 6:3-9
John 6:37-40

Reflection:

How consoling and encouraging it is to hear a family member or good friend say, “I wish you the best,” or “I am rooting for you.”  When we know our loved ones desire the highest good for us, we are encouraged to do our best, and we rest in the love they give . And so it is in our relationship with God. God desires our highest good. At the most vulnerable times in our lives, and especially at the moment of our death, we can rest in God’s love, knowing the “Souls of the just are in the hand of God.,” as we hear in today’s first reading from the Book of Wisdom. And in today’s Gospel reading from John, Jesus confirms that God desires to share eternal life with us.

Today’s reading from Wisdom gives us two vivid descriptions of our souls, using the analogy of fire as a purifier. Fire is a symbol of the presence of God.

“As gold in the furnace, he proved them,
    and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.” (Wisdom 3:6)

The author of Wisdom shows how suffering can purify our souls of any selfishness and immaturity that would keep us from living in communion with God and others. Once a metal like gold is in its melted down state, the dross in the metal rises to the top and is then removed from the metal before it cools. And like our souls, what is left is pure gold that does not destruct.

“In the time of their visitation they shall shine,
    and shall dart about as sparks through stubble.” (Wisdom 3:7)

Using the analogy of purifying fire again, the author of Wisdom likens our souls to “sparks through stubble.” After the harvest of grain or corn, the farmers burn off the stems that are left, and the ashes become fertilizer for the next year. The farmers light the fire in the day and go back after dark to check the fire. Some embers might still be burning; and when the wind blows, those embers become bright sparks in the darkness, darting up from the burnt stubble in the ground. So too our souls, going towards God.

In the early days of Judaism, suffering was often seen as a sign of God’s displeasure; and material success and health were signs of God’s favor.  The author of Wisdom  sees our relationship with God differently: like our best friends, God is with us in joy and suffering. And if we trust God, God brings about the highest good in our lives in this world and in the next.

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.

Solemnity of All Saints

Scripture:

Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14
1 John 3:1-3
Matthew 5:1-12

Reflection:

In the Church’s liturgical calendar, each November begins with the great feast of “All Saints” and then turns to “All Souls.”  The exuberant Scripture readings include the gospel selection from the beatitudes, the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew’s Gospel, one of the New Testament’s most well-known passages. Jesus blesses those who are poor and downtrodden and lifts up those who exemplify the very values and commitments that mark his own ministry: the peacemakers, the merciful, the clean of heart, those who hunger and thirst for justice.  The first reading today is a portion from the Book of Revelation where the author, John, is treated to a vision of a “great multitude” from “every nation, race, people and tongue”—a vast procession of those who worship God and have followed Jesus, the Lamb of God.  Wedged between these readings is a beautiful selection from the First Letter of John, reminding his “beloved” Christians that God’s love for them is so intense that may be called “children of God.”

Who are the people addressed in these biblical readings?  Who is included in this feast’s “all Saints”?   Surely, as the reading from the Book of Revelation illustrates, it includes the saints from all ages past—from Augustine, the great theologian to Theresa, the Little Flower, from Agnes the early Roman martyr, to the Medieval mystic Hildegard of Bingen, from St. Monica, the mother of Augustine to Mother Theresa, the mother of the poor.  Not all the saints are formally declared such. When Pope Francis spoke to the Congress on his visit to the United States, he cited two such “unofficial” saints such as Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton.  And there are all the other “saints” in that great procession of the followers of the Lamb—family members and friends we have known and whose memory still inspires us.

But this feast of “All Saints” honors more than our beloved dead.  We the living should also be listed among the “saints.”  In his letters to his communities, Paul the Apostle repeatedly called his fellow Christians the “saints” or the “holy ones.”  For Paul, every baptized Christian was imbued with God’s grace and therefore was “holy.”  In Paul’s view it was not a matter of a follower of Jesus having to try to “become holy”—a Christian was already graced by God, already a “temple of the Holy Spirit,” even now, a member of the “Body of Christ.”  That is the same view expressed in John’s letter: “Beloved, we are God’s children now.” The challenge is to “be ourselves”—that is to live a life expressive of who we truly are.  “Become what you are” is one way of thinking about what we seek to do in living a life in accord with the gospel. 

This great feast—and the feast of All Souls that will follow—views the church as one innumerable assembly of people united and graced by God’s love.  A people that includes those of us who live now in this world, who, in the words of today’s responsorial psalm, “long to see God’s face,” and those who have gone before us and now see the ultimate source of all life and all joy “face to face.”  At a time of pandemic and much social distress and violence in our world, this feast reminds us of our dignity as daughters and sons of God, a cause for joy and hope.

Fr. Donald Senior, C.P. is President Emeritus and Professor of New Testament at Catholic Theological Union.  He lives at the Passionist residence in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.

Scripture:

Philippians 2:1-4
Luke 14:12-14

Reflection:

Happy Monday in the 31st Week of Ordinary Time!

Call me eccentric (Ok, Paul, you’re eccentric), but I’ve always been one to leave little notes or flowers or gifts on people’s cars.  It’s almost like a secret mission!  I plot a course to wherever they’re working or living and go at a time I knew they wouldn’t be around.  Then I park around the corner, sneak up, and place a little envelope under their windshield wiper, slip a small bouquet in the door handle, or hang a little gift-bag on their side-view mirror, and then quietly slip away, hopefully unnoticed.  Often, I don’t even sign my name.

I suppose it’s silly, but for my heart, it’s joyful and uplifting.  It’s a strange type of happiness, knowing someone’s day might be made just a little bit brighter because of a small effort from my time and body, and boatload of love from my heart.  And when they don’t know it was me, well, that’s the most fun of all!  The surprise lets them feel loved with no rhyme nor reason.  I know I long for that, and I sure enjoy giving it when I can.

In today’s Gospel (Luke 14:12-14), Jesus is having dinner with one of the “leading Pharisees,” and said to the host, “When you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.”

We all know Jesus’ instruction to care for the people on the fringes of society.  But what are they?  “The poor, the Sick, the crippled, the lame, the blind.”  (Luke 14:13) What these people are is an important distinction.  But -who- are they?

Who are the invisible people in our life?  Whom do we pass by daily?

The poor could be our sister, struggling to pay her bills this month.  The sick could be our brother, in body or in mind.  The crippled or lame might be our mother, needing help with her walker or wheelchair.  How about the person with a different skin color or ethnic background.  The gay person, longing to be accepted.  The person reeling from a brutal separation or divorce.  The convict.  The adult just recently orphaned after their final parent dies.  The person trapped in the recesses of mental illness.

And the list goes on and on.

These are all beautiful souls, worthy of the little notes, flowers, and gifts of our heart.  And the sharing of that love only doubles as it floods not just one, but two.

So, who are the people that need to be invited to our table?

Who will be blessed with a little surprise from us today?

Dear God,
thank you for the invitation
to dine at your table.

Please,
grant us the grace
to carry that invitation
to those on the fringes.
Help us open the door of our hearts,
especially to that person
most in need of our acceptance and our love. Amen.

Peace, joy, and surprising love to you all today, and forever.

Paul Puccinelli is Director of Liturgy & Music at St. Rita Parish in Sierra Madre, California, and a member of the retreat team at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center.