Daily Scripture

Scripture:

2 Kings 5:14-17
2 Timothy 2:8-13
Luke 17:11-19

Reflection:

Dazzling Gifts

A woman shared with me the reason for her divorce.  On her birthday (and other occasions) she discovered her husband was sending his secretary to shop and buy his gifts for her! Gift giving is complicated. There are subtle rules best not to break.

Naaman brings Elisha a treasure of gifts in gratitude for saving him from leprosy. Elisha will not take them. He serves the God of Israel who is the giver and restorer of life. Naaman who has met God in this miracle takes with him two mule-loads of earth. He will use the holy ground of Israel in Syria. We learn that he is in a bind, he must accompany his king when he offers sacrifice to the Gods of his nation, but it will be on the Holy Ground of Israel where he met God that his true faith will be celebrated.

One of ten lepers falls at the feet of Jesus to thank him. He is a poor man, and this is his only gift. He is a Samaritan, but his gratitude and faith shows that he will never forget what Jesus has done for him. In the great miracle that gives meaning to all the other miracles that Jesus performed, he is also saved.

Naaman and the Samaritan leper do not know the God of Israel, but they meet God in their misfortune and respond to the gift that God gives them. We see their gratitude and faith. Last week Luke told the apostles that if they had faith the size of a mustard seed, they could say to the sycamore, ‘Be uprooted and transplanted it into the sea,’ and it would obey them. Today two men by their faith are transplanted into the boundless sea of God’s gift.

In a strange short story, ‘Parker’s Back’ by Flannery O’Connor we meet a man who loved tattoos so much that he has covered almost his entire body with them. While working on the farm he has an accident. His tractor hits a tree, and both tractor and tree go up in flames. Parker like Moses encounters God in this burning bush. He goes directly to the tattoo parlor and in the only open space on his body, his back, is tattooed with the face of Christ. He hurries home to share this ‘gift’ with his wife, who proceeds to chase him out of the house hitting him with her broom. The story ends with Parker sitting under a tree, crying.

Parker’s wife believed that God was only spirit, the very face of Jesus an idol. Parker is offering his gift, sharing his burning bush theophany. He wants to give her the gift of God’s love in the flesh, the God whose eyes look upon us with compassion. He wanted share what the prophets (like Parker himself) shared with Israel, and so often ended up beaten and rejected. He wanted to share what God gives to the non-believers in our readings today, a gift that binds them to the love of the God that Israel knows.

The poet Mary Oliver does not mention the word ‘gift’ in her poem, ‘Good Morning’, although it describes beautiful gifts around us. Her concluding words may be a wakeup call to us about God’s gifts: “It must be a great disappointment to God if we are not dazzled at least ten times a day”. One leper was, nine were not!

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

Scripture:

Galatians 3:22-29  
Luke 11:27-28

Reflection:

We are Blessed Because of Our Faith

As a child I always thought that being connected with the church makes you holy and justified to be a child of God. Go to church on Sunday, become an altar server, lector, hospitality minister, parish council member or join a church committee and you will automatically go to heaven, be blessed, and become a child of God. If you did anything associated with the church, you were a child of God, blessed, and you were going to heaven. Mary being the mother of God was automatic, right? But scripture tells us that just being the mother of God did not make Mary blessed. Yes, she was born full of grace, but she was justified through her faith and with her yes to God’s will.

A woman called Jesus’ mother blest in the Gospel, because her womb bore Jesus and her breasts nursed Him. Jesus corrected the woman by saying that we are blest when we hear the Word of God and keep it (Luke 11:27-28). When we hear the word of God and keep it, it is called faith. It is through faith that we can be called a child of God. It is through faith that we can ascend to heaven to partake of his divinity and of his glory. We are blest because we hear the Word of God and keep it. We are blest not because of our connections with Jesus but because of our commitment to Him. The Lord is calling us not to be merely connected with Him but totally committed to Him. He is totally committed to us and calls us to be totally committed to Him.

Deacon Peter Smith serves at St. Mary’s/Holy Family Parish in Alabama, a retired Theology teacher from Holy Family Cristo Rey Catholic High School in Birmingham, a retired soldier from the US Air Force, and a member of our Passionist Family.

Scripture:

Galatians 3:7-14
Luke 11:15-26

Reflection:

Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste
and house will fall against house.  -Luke 11:17

I don’t know what possessed me, other than the fact that I was 12 years old, to join the Cardinals, a kids’ football team in my neighborhood. Looking back, it turned out to be a life changing decision. In the two years I played with them, I learned a lot, a lot besides how to rush the quarterback. I learned that in life there are winners and losers and if you wanted to be anybody, you had better be on the winning team. (The Cardinals never lost a game in those two years, 1957 and ‘58). I learned that there is a hierarchy of respect on a team. After the coaches (they were gods), the quarterback was top man on the pole, then came the running backs, the ends and then the lowly linemen—that’s what I was. Then there are the “strings”—I was second string. The girls’ job was to cheer us on to victory. Of course, no one ever voiced these life axioms and maybe the football field was really not more important than the classroom, but that’s what I learned.

Looking for a job after college, the fact that I played football always seemed to come up in the job interviews. I don’t ever remember the fact that I was a lineman or even second string discussed, just the fact that I played football.  I eventually ended up teaching at a school for “bad” boys (The principal said and I agree, they were boys with bad problems) and I can’t help think that I passed all the hurdles for that teaching position because of my having played football as a kid. I lost my teaching position after ten years and decided to try another field of endeavor, selling.  Salesman made much more money, and of course that makes them much more important on the greater world stage or so my thinking went.

Today at the ripe old age of 77, I realize that the most important people in my world were and continue to be, my teachers: my parents and church who loved and cared for me; my little sister who was “profoundly mentally disabled” and needed 24/7 care; the boys at the school where I taught, who intuitively knew they were not getting what they needed (respect and love) in the hierarchical school system they were forced to attend; the pets and animals in my world which only as a retired person have I had the time to really get to know; and finally the plants I’m learning more and more about these days. Did you know plants have twenty senses compared to our five?

I’m learning that what makes me godlike is not my superiority or how much money I make. That is divisive and as today’s scripture selection from Luke suggests leads to destruction.  What makes me godlike is my willingness to get totally enmeshed or in love (at one) with the world around me and to say: “Thank you God!” I pray that I might keep learning—it’s a lot of fun.

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

Scripture:

Galatians 3: 1-5
Luke 11: 5-13

Reflection:

I cringe when I hear a bad homily. Recently the celebrant preached on being persistent in prayer. Using a real-life example of someone pleading with God for a cure of a brother’s terminal cancer, the homilist sent the message that if you try really hard to convince God of what you want, God will eventually give in.

This is magical thinking, not Christian faith. In today’s Gospel, if read in snippets, you might conclude that sheer determination will get you what you want. This ignores the deeper quest Jesus wants us to have: to totally trust God.

In the few paragraphs before today’s Gospel Jesus teaches us how to pray. The first request of the “Our Father” is for God’s reign to come, not our reign. We plead to not be led “into testing” which, presumably, would lead us away or against what God wants. Both of these prayers of petition require total surrender our agendas in preference to God’s agenda.

Indeed, the core message of our faith is the cross. At the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus pleaded with his Father to escape the cross, to be spared the tortuous, cruel death on a wooden beam raised between two outcast criminals.

His plea went unanswered. His Father had a different idea. Jesus was slaughtered in a very public display before the people of Jerusalem, the same people who, a few days before, had welcomed him with a rally along the city streets, shouting praises and waving tree branches in joy.

The wisdom of God recognizes that we humans do not always perceive what is best for ourselves. We are “stupid” in Paul’s words from today’s Epistle reading (although I wish he had not used such a shaming word). Accepting what God hands us is sometimes very difficult, as with the man in the bad homily whose brother had terminal cancer. But, alone with God in prayer, a wisdom can be born, only by God’s grace, that draws us into a closer union with God as we accept sufferings, disappointments and even death as ways to resurrection.

Perhaps this is what Jesus means when he says, “Now if you, wicked as you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more your father will give the Holy Spirit from heaven to those who ask him.”

Let us pray today for the wisdom of this Spirit and for the grace to totally trust God in every circumstance of our lives.

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

Scripture:

Galatians 2:1-2, 7-14
Luke 11:1-4

Reflection:

Watching contemporary news and sports it is becoming more common for TV commentators to respond to stories of loss or tragedy by saying, “Our thoughts and prayers are with you.”   It appears the pendulum is shifting and it is more acceptable and tolerable for people speaking in public on behalf of their broadcasting company to mention prayer in a generic sense.  

After working in ministries of retreats and parishes I ask the simple question, What causes someone to come to prayer?  Why pray? 

Frequently prayer begins where people are up against their limitations and find themselves falling short.  When there is little that we can do in the human realm we turn to God for assistance.  Other times we turn to prayer when we just need something from God.  Still another reason we pray is because it is a right and moral activity.  We pray individually and we pray communally in the liturgical setting as gatherings of people attend services and receive sacramental graces.  Yet prayer so often is a personal thing. 

“Lord teach us to pray.”   Simon requests, in today’s Gospel.  How would you answer that if you were asked to teach someone to pray? I am glad Luke includes this text in his gospel. For it gives a sample of what prayer is or could be.  Plus, to have it coming from the mouth of Jesus, how great is that!   Ministerially, I have found teaching a person to pray beyond some of the basic elements is difficult.  Prayer is different for each person.  It is different for introverts than for extroverts.  It is different for children than it is for adults.  And hopefully our prayer changes as we age.  When people engage in this conversation with me,  I frequently ask them how their prayer has changed over the last ten to twenty-five years.  If it really hasn’t changed then I’m left wondering how much are they truly growing?  I do believe our prayer styles and preferences change as we age and have more life experience to reflect upon.

Prayer shouldn’t be something which is a lot of work.  If prayer really is about spending time with God and we understand to even a small degree that God really cares about us, then prayer is about sitting in the presence of one who really loves you and cares about you.   Good prayer should be something you look forward to, and you relish the experience and commitment of God’s activity in your life.  

This past week I reconnected with a friend I hadn’t spoken to in over a year and a half.  We mutually agreed to set aside our Friday night just to catch up. As the week progressed, I found myself looking forward to Friday night.   And it was a wonderful, warm-hearted conversation.  It was truly a joy filled time to reconnect.  Throughout the following days I found myself relishing in the conversation.   To me this is a great lesson in prayer.  This was even the model St. Paul of the Cross used.  As he would return from his missions to his home he would retreat in prayer and hold the people from his missions in prayer before the cross.  These were people God brought into his life and he honored that gift and the sharing of faith. 

As Luke shares with us this day, good prayer begins by acknowledging the holiness of God.  May that holiness be found in your day today.

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

Scripture:

Galatians 1:13-24
Luke 10:38-42

Reflection:

Faith Coming Alive

Quite a familiar picture in today’s Gospel:  St. Luke’s account of Jesus at the home of Martha and Mary.  Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet listening; Martha active in her duties as “hostess” for their special Guest.  Thus…a picture of the struggle between the values of generous service and mindful attention and contemplation.  Jesus counsels Martha to be patient, to seek a balance and not worry, to set a good example for those of us who active “do-ers”.  As Jesus states “…Mary has chosen the better part…”  (But some of us still question:  what about the dishes and the dust-bunnies…?)

In his letter to the Galatians, Saint Paul adds to the portrait of discipleship.  He shares his conversion experience, how God helped him move from persecution to promotion of Jesus and those who follow His “Way”.  Paul’s new-found faith in Jesus led him on various journeys, meeting people, learning about them while he himself shared his growing faith – to the delight of those who he met.  Paul’s faith “came alive” and bore fruit in both prayer and missionary action.

Today we celebrate the life of St. Francis of Assisi who heard the personal call of Jesus in the 12^th Century to give himself wholeheartedly to a life of prayer, praise, sacrifice and service.  He surely pondered God’s Word shared by Sts. Luke and Paul, helping him embrace a new charismatic life of poverty and preaching.  Francis’ example inspired many others; in the 44 short years of his life, he shared the vitality of life dedicated to Jesus in both prayer and action.  Thankfully, Saint Francis continues to spark the faith life of many in our day, especially our beloved Pope Francis.

As 21^st Century followers of Jesus, we are hopefully inspired and challenged by the lives of Martha, Mary, St. Paul the Apostle, St. Francis – and our Passionist Holy Founder, St. Paul of the Cross.  They invite us to consider our daily lives as women and men of faith:  What about our prayer and contemplation?  Our service of others, especially the poor, those suffering?  The simplicity of our lives?  Our heartfelt respect for all Creation?  Our faith in Jesus coming alive…

May we be simple, balanced, faith-filled, compassionate followers of Jesus in our needy 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:

Galatians 1:6-12
Luke 10:25-37

Reflection:

Today we encounter one of the best known of Jesus’ parables – that of the Good Samaritan – a parable that Pope Francis suggests should be the model for the church in action in the world today.

The parable certainly encourages us to be alert to those who need our care and calls us to put into action the deep love and compassion God has planted in our own hearts. However today let us reflect on one of the hidden dimension of this story. Apart from the obvious messages, what other ‘colours’ or messages did Jesus paint into this word-picture of compassion in action.

We might begin with the image of the lone traveller. I can image the first audience gasping in shock at the mere thought of someone setting out alone along this road – notorious as it was for robbery (as the story itself suggests). One did not venture along this route without companions and most travelled in caravan.

So, in the figure of a lone traveller we might well see an image of the many in our society who try to live life ‘by themsleves’. The capacity for self-actualisation, independent thought and resilience is one thing, but loneliness and isolation in life is another more dangerous and damaging reality. It is said we have an epidemic of loneliness in western society these days, and perhaps our lone traveller might just represent those people in our midst today. He calls our attention to those who feel they are without support, without networks of friends and good companions in life.

In fact, there is a lot of isolation in this story isn’t there? For as the story unfolds, we see that the Levite, the Priest and indeed the Samaritan all appear to be travelling alone along this road.

Such aloneness is a concern, and we can take from the parable a clear reminder to be of service and outreach to those who face life’s struggles by themselves.

The response of the Samaritan, immediate and far above what might be expected, tells us that there are dramatic situations of real and acute need that must find a response in the moment, just as his provision of money and the promise of a return also tell us that an effective response also calls for ongoing care.

The story Jesus told also ends with a question – one for our reflection too. It is not so much that the wounded traveller is our neighbour – rather that Jesus wants us to be a neighbour to all who are in need. Being neighbour is a giving role, not a receiving one.

Let us, “Go and do likewise.”

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

Scripture:

Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4
2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14
Luke 17:5-10

Reflection:

The more we love the world, the more some conditions in our world can be disheartening and depressing. We might begin to doubt our faith, and ask where is God in this? Just watching the news on TV can lead us into asking the same questions Habakkuk put to God centuries ago:

 How long, O LORD? I cry for help
 but you do not listen.
 I cry out to you, “Violence!”
 but you do not intervene.
 Why do you let me see ruin;
 why must I look at misery?
 Destruction and violence are before me;
 there is strife, and clamorous discord. -Habakkuk 1:2-3

Pope Francis, in his encyclical Laudato Si’ also expresses his grave concern for the world: “The spiral of self-destruction engulfs us… I have attempted to take stock of our present situation pointing to the cracks in the planet that we inhabit, as well as to the profoundly human causes of environmental degradation.” (Laudato Si’ 163)

In the last two weeks we watched three very strong hurricanes, fueled by global warming, destroy ecosystems and human communities. The war in Ukraine continues to expose the hardships, horror, and (lately) the atrocities of war. People are killed because of the color of their sin, or their religion, or sexual orientation. Where do we get the courage to continue to witness suffering and be moved by it? We Passionists call this stance “standing at the foot of the Cross.”

Like the apostles in today’s Gospel reading, we may be asking Jesus to “Increase our faith”!

Today’s readings have some profound messages about the nature of faith:

When God answers Habakkuk, God tells him to “write the vision clearly” …”so that one can read it readily.” (Habakkuk 2:2) We need to articulate for our own times what it means to be faithful followers of Jesus AND find ways to share this vision with others.

St. Paul, knowing he will never leave his prison cell alive, writes to encourages his young protege Timothy: “Guard this rich trust with the help of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.” (II Tim1:14) We do not stand at the foot of the Cross alone. Along with our companions in faith, we have the Holy Spirit in us and among us, with all the Gifts of the Spirit we have been promised: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and awe and respect for God.                                                                     

And Jesus says to his apostles: “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) Mustard seeds are very tiny; the quality of faith is more important than the quantity. Our surrender to God’s will and God’s working in our lives makes all the difference.

We often are alone when we view TV news displaying all the world’s problems. Today’s readings tell us our faith in the face of suffering grows through our relationships in community: articulating and sharing the vision, living Spirit-filled lives with others, and surrendering and cooperating with God’s movement in our personal and community lives. We are so blessed to be part of all this in the Passionist family!!

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.