Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Acts 28:16-20, 30-31
John 21:20-25

Reflection:

Glory to God, Now & Forever!

The combination of today’s two Scripture readings is “special”:  The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles concludes the Acts of the Apostles by St. Luke, and the selection from St. John’s Gospel concludes his sharing of the Good News of Jesus.  Both are “conclusions” – and today concludes the 2022 Easter Season, leading us to the Solemn Celebration of Pentecost.  Yes!

Still, these “conclusions” are not the end of the story…  They are indeed noble preludes to the unfolding of God’s Divine Plan.  Saint Luke concluded the story of the Acts of the Apostles with the apostles and St. Paul in Rome.  Yet we know that from Rome faith in Jesus Christ spread throughout the world…to you and I.  Saint John concluded his Gospel account by saying that if everything Jesus did were to be written about in detail, there would not be room in the entire world for the books to record them.  Yet his gospel was not the last word, for saints and scholars have blessed us with countless books and sermons about Jesus…for over twenty centuries!

The Easter experience of Jesus’ Resurrection is not a thing of the past.  The Risen Lord is with us today, helping us make the most of the opportunities and challenges of life — including the advances of the sciences and technology, as well as the dark challenges of today’s violence and fear and the destruction of our common home.  The Holy Spirit is Jesus’ gift to us, enriching us with the needed gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord … the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit.

With God there is no “conclusion” — only the eternal, limitless truth and beauty and love of God revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ.  As women and men of faith, empowered by the Holy Spirit and the very Body and Blood of Jesus, we look forward to our future, “the rest of the story.”  Praise God!!

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.  

Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and companions, martyrs

Scripture:

Acts 25:13b-21
John 21:15-19

Reflection:

Many readers will be familiar with the musical ‘Fiddler on the Roof.’ In this show two of the principal characters, Tevye and Golde, sing one duet. The song is Do you Love me. Tevye who is married to Golde asks her, after these many years of marriage, “do you love me?”. At first, she resists even answering; but he keeps asking and she then answers that for 25 years she has looked after him, cared for the family and done so many things, but she does not use the words he longs to hear. So, he asks again, and she replies, ‘I’m your wife’ and goes on to speak about the many aspects of their relationship – still stressing the actions she does for him – like being with him, sharing intimacy together etc. Finally, after he persists, she says the word ‘love’.

In the end they both sing that saying they love each other may not change the way they are together nor affect the many actions they do for each other, but it is ‘nice to know’.

Jesus and Peter might be said to have a similar dialogue. Jesus wishes to reassure Peter that he In close to him, that he and Peter will share a bond of no less than love itself and that Peter for his part only need to assent to this. We read this text in English, and so the word ‘love’ seems to be used equally by Jesus and Peter. But in fact, Jesus and Peter are using different words for ‘love’. Indeed, Peter cannot bring himself to use the same deep and intimate word for ‘love’ that Jesus is using, preferring instead to use a ‘softer’ word. Finally, it is Jesus who changes his terminology and uses Peter’s language so as to reach a point of unity and communion between them.

And the ‘assent’ that Jesus is seeking is one of the heart – not just an assent of mind and will. This is so that Peter may be a true leader for the people – for leadership in the vision of Jesus – requires not just competence, or energy and availability, true as they are, but it requires relational commitment to the people. For Jesus to be a leader is t be a person with a heartfelt love for others and someone who lives only to serve. This often also entails a sacrifice of self for others. 

What is more, Peter is being asked to now care for a flock that has become more sedentary and settled. That is, as this text unfolds, we see it reflects the life of a Christian community that has lived in the light of the resurrection for many generations already and who are at home with the Spirit’s influence in their lives. The church in the Johannine vision is more established and requiring more attention to its internal needs.  Peter is being asked to exercise a ‘pastoral’ role and not only a missionary one (more suited to the evangelising mission of the early church). Thus, we see in the scene the movement from fishing (missionary work) to a commitment of ongoing pastoral care (and thus the symbolic image of the church as a flock needing care and nourishment i.e., ‘feed my sheep’).

This balance of the church missionary, and the church pastoral is one we live to this day. Whether we serve the Lord in missionary outreach or in pastoral care of the community itself, let our actions always be a response to his call ‘Do you love me?”. Let us take consolation too in the reality that all our service will find its nourishment in the Eucharist – as does Peter in today’s meal on the beach with Jesus.

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

Scripture:

Acts 22:30; 23:6-11
John 17:20-26

Reflection:

In today’s Gospel we hear Jesus pray not only for His disciples seated at supper with Him, but for believers throughout time:

“I pray not only for these, but also for those
who will believe in me through their word.”

This is sometimes referred to as Jesus’ “priestly prayer” because he prays for the world. As followers of Jesus, we too pray the priestly prayer when our love, concern and action encompass the entire world.

Jesus goes on to pray for unity, and the bond of this unity is the very Life of God:

“so that they may all be one,
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.”

We experience God’s unity in the bonds of love we share with our friends, family, faith communities, neighborhoods, and the whole created world. And this sense of unity, this communion is a beautiful and wondrous thing when we have it. But then there are times when we experience conflict and disunity in our family, parish, or workplace. Or we turn on the news. Because our love encompasses the world, we experience a tension between the loving unity we value and the violence, culture wars, and disagreements that tear us apart.

This tension has been in Christianity from the beginning. In today’s first reading from Acts of the Apostles, we hear that the Apostle Paul is in danger of literally being “torn to pieces” in a religious dispute between the Pharisees and Sadducees. Earlier this week, in Texas, little children and their teachers were “torn to pieces” by an assault weapon, and their community has been torn apart with grief.

How do we as Christians handle the tension between desiring the loving unity Jesus prays for, and the tragic realities we see and hear on the news and in our communities?

Fr. Ron Rolheiser, although not a Passionist, (he is a member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate) gives the Passionist family a profound message about living with tension in the face of suffering, at the foot of the Cross:

 “Jesus took away the sins of the world by holding, carrying, purifying, and transforming tension, that is, by taking in the bitterness, anger, jealousy, hatred, slander, and every other kind of thing that’s cancerous within human community, and not giving it back in kind…….Christian discipleship invites us, like Jesus, to become a “lamb of God”, a purifier, that helps take tension out of our families, communities, friendship circles, churches, and work-places by holding and transforming it rather than simply giving it back in hand.”
~~~~from Chapter # 9 “The Passion and the Cross” in “Essential Spiritual Writings”

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.

Scripture:

Acts 20:28-38
John 17:11-19

Reflection:

Today the church celebrates the memory of St. Justin, one of the earliest and best-known martyrs of the Roman Church who lived in the second century A.D.  A philosopher and theologian, he poured out his life in pastoral service and then gave the ultimate gift of love—his very life in testimony to the truth of the gospel.

The readings for this day stand in harmony with Justin’s spirit.  The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles is the famous scene of Paul’s farewell to the elders of the church at Ephesus.  Paul was returning for the last time to Jerusalem and there he would be arrested, held in prison at Caesarea Maritima for two years, and eventually taken on a prison ship to Rome where Paul would himself become a martyr.  Paul and his friends did not know all these details when he met them at Miletus (a promontory south of Ephesus) but he—and they—had a premonition that this would be an ultimate farewell.

Paul testifies that he gave his all for his beloved Christians and they, in turn, lavished their loving gratitude on him.  The scene ends poignantly as they “throw their arms around Paul and kissed him, for they were deeply distressed that he had said that they would never see his face again.”

The gospel selection from Jesus’ farewell discourse in John’s Gospel has a similar mood.  Jesus, too, on the eve of his passion, is aware that he will be leaving his disciples and so prays earnestly to the Father to protect them from harm.   A key departing gift is that Jesus empowers his disciples with the same mission of revealing God’s love for the world that had been entrusted to Jesus himself by his Father: “As you sent me into the world, so I send them into the world.”  This commission would be repeated by the Risen Jesus when he appears to his frightened disciples gathered in Jerusalem. He “breathes the Spirit” upon them and sends them into the world just as Christ himself was sent.

The reader of John’s Gospel knows that the evangelist had earlier succinctly described the ultimate mission of Jesus: God sent his son in to the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through him (John 3:16-17).

When all is said and done, in the commitment of martyrs like Justin and in the words of the Gospel, we know that the Christian mission to the world is a message of love—loved preached and love embodied.  In a world so fractured by violence and division, the gospel message is more compelling than ever before.

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.

The Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Scripture:

Zephaniah 3:14-18a or
Romans 12:9-16
Luke 1:39-56

Reflection:

Happy Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary!

In today’s passage from the Gospel of Luke (Luke 1:39-56), Mary, after hearing the news from the angel that she would give birth to the Messiah, traveled “in haste” from Nazareth to the house of her cousin Elizabeth and her husband, Zechariah, which was in a village in the hill country of Judea. When Mary arrived, she found her elderly cousin also pregnant.  Elizabeth’s greeting to Mary, “filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”

In 1987, I was a senior in high school and on retreat with my classmates in the hills above Malibu Beach, California. Wow, what a tough area for a teen to have to go on retreat!  Truly, it was a great weekend, though.  We discussed God and how he related to us as young men in the world, and as we played games and ate good food, and really had nothing to worry about.

Until it was time to prepare to receive the Holy Eucharist.

We were told to go to confession before mass. All the while standing in line I was thinking, “Let’s see… I can’t tell him that or that, oooh, and certainly not that!” I was so embarrassed of the things I’d done. I just couldn’t tell anyone… but especially not a priest! I was so ashamed of so very much, the least of which was that this was the first time I’d be going to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation through all of high-school.

Well, I finally went in.  I was honest and embarrassed, but the priest didn’t seem surprised or put off by anything I said.  He gave me my penance, which consisted of one Our Father and 3 Hail Marys, and then to think about what I’d done.  I diligently prayed those prayers, thought about what I’d done, and then I thought something else:

 “Confession is silly. 
I don’t need a middleman.
I’m just going to tell God directly.
That’ll be good enough.”

I’ll bet I’m not alone in that thought…  And I’ll bet I’m not alone in admitting that, at the time, I didn’t realize how so very silly that statement really was.

Fast-forward about 25 years, and I had not been to confession since that retreat.  But I’d grown incredibly weary of trying to ignore God’s call to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. And I was so broken I didn’t think anyone could put me back together again. But, friends, let me tell you something – I mustered up all my courage and went.

I was in the confessional for what seemed like a half-hour, and when it was done I went to perform my penance.  This time it was also one Our Father, and three Hail Marys, but I was directed to go and sit with the Blessed Sacrament, quietly, and ponder the words to those prayers as I offered them.  I’d prayed them so many times, though! What new things could there be for me to think about? 

Well, at that moment, I became the silly one…

Here are the three parts of the Lord’s Prayer that stung me most.

“Our Father…”                                    This means that everyone is my sister or brother.
                                                            Even that beggar on the freeway off-ramp and
                                                            the thief that stole my identity.

“Thy will be done…”                This means I must let go of my agenda and embrace
                                                            what God wants.  But I want what I want!

“Forgive us our trespasses,     ”Uh-oh. So, I’m telling God that I expect to be
as we   forgive those                           forgiven, but *only* to the extent to which I’m willing

who trespass against us.”                   to forgive that person that hit me? The person who
                                                            lied? Or stole from me? Betrayed me… destroyed me
                                                            to my core?

Pretty big thoughts. 

But it was in my reflecting on the Ave Maria – the Hail Mary – the simple prayer to our Mother of Sorrows, the Mater Dolorosa, that hit me most deeply.

“Hail, Mary, full of grace.
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb – Jesus.

Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us,
sinners,
now,
and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

Which part of that prayer, first uttered by St. Elizabeth, stands out most to you?  For me, it was these two lines: “The Lord is with thee.  Pray for us, sinners.”

We, sinners, who need all the help we can get, have it — if only we would ask. 

That day, this prayer we read about on the beautiful Feast of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary reminded me that I’m not alone, even if I feel like I am, even if I want to be.  If only I would just tear down my walls and open my heart, I’d have the space for  God, my Father, Jesus, my Brother, the Holy Spirit, my very breath.

Well, after I pondered all this, and more, I experienced the most amazing thing… Friends, there is nothing I’ve felt more powerfully than when I’ve received Jesus during communion after receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The intimate and powerful meeting with God is amplified so deeply when we acknowledge our failings and our brokenness, and then get to actually hear someone tell us, “Your sins are forgiven.”

The peace and lightness are palpable, and staggering.

Now I hit the confessional pretty regularly… and boy do I need it.  And the Ave Maria is one of my favorite prayers.  But perhaps when I next pray the beautiful Hail Mary I’ll be reminded that she’s waiting to visit me, to help me, to ask God to be with me when I’m most in need. 

Like right now. 
And tomorrow. 
And at the hour of my death. Amen.

Peace and love to you, 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.

Scripture:

Acts 19:1-8
John 16:29-33

Reflection:

Jesus said, “Take courage: I have conquered the world.”  As I continue to reflect on my daily struggles, my decisions and events in my own life, I can now appreciate what he did for me – for all of us – as he suffered through his Passion and arose in the Resurrection. 

In this world of political and social unrest, of faith being abandoned, when the sanctity of marriage and parenthood is under attack, we must remember Jesus’ words – take courage, I have conquered the world. He says he has conquered the world, and he did it for us – as soon as his body was hung from the cross and he took his last breath, this is the moment he conquers the world for every one of us. 

Those of us who have worked in retreat venues know about coming down from the mountain. The excitement and “Holy Spirit” moments begin to fade with time, and you may find yourself slipping back into the way things were before the retreat. But this is another opportunity to look past what is bringing you away from the mountaintop, to stand apart from those things that remove you from that special place, and to remember what Jesus did for us so we could sustain that mountaintop experience!

We can lose courage when we fail; we allow our weaknesses to dominate our thoughts and ideas; we allow the evil one to influence us, intrigue us, tempt us to feel less than what we really are. Jesus sacrificed the ultimate for us –  he gave himself –  for us. This is when we need to remind ourselves that he conquered the world for us, long ago. 

Patty Masson supports the Passionists from Spring, Texas.

Scripture:

Acts 1:1–11
Ephesians 1:17-23
Luke 24:46-53

Reflection:     

                “They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy,                
and they were continually in the temple praising God.” -Luke 24:53

The Ascension of Christ marks the end of his time with the Apostles on earth and his triumph over Satan. Christ takes his place in heaven where he will soon send the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. The last line of the Gospel of Luke, which is quoted above, has the Apostles celebrating, praising God. Sounds like they finally understand what Christ has been trying to teach them. It is also a reminder that the Easter joy is not over.

The Gospel of Luke begins and ends in the Temple. This was a sacred place for the Jewish people during Christ’s presence on earth. It housed the Holy of Holies, the place where the Ark of the Covenant was and only the High priest could enter. This place was where they could be closest to God. This was the place where heaven and earth met, the axis mundi. What other place would the Apostles celebrate what they had just experienced?

Today we have the Eucharist, the presence of Christ! Why would we not be filled with joy and praise God?

The Ascension also mirrors the Transfiguration only this time he shows his glory to all of the Apostles. Why wouldn’t they be happy? All was revealed to them. Seeing God’s son ascend into heaven must of given them great hope in all that he taught them.

We too need to be aware of the hope we have in the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ. The messages have been clear this past week as sections of John 15 were given to us. “Do not be afraid”; “I am sending the Advocate” “You are the vine and my father is the vine grower . . “

Today we have access to the Holy Spirit through the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation,
again, why would we not celebrate?

We are an Easter people! Why not continue to praise God and celebrate?

Linda Schork is a theology teacher at Saint Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Acts 18:23-28
John 16:23b-28

Reflection:

Apollos was a Jew, a native of Alexandria, an eloquent speaker and an authority on the Scriptures.  We are told he had been instructed in the Way of the Lord and with ardent spirit, spoke and taught accurately about Jesus. Wow, he sounds like a person we could all benefit from knowing.

There is something even more important about Apollos that could make us be more successful in spreading the message of Jesus Christ if we follow his example. Apollos was well educated and successful in his preaching and teaching, nevertheless, he was open to learning from those more experienced than himself.  When Priscilla and Aquilla took him aside to offer advice he was grateful and saw it as a learning experience.  When the brothers opened a pathway for him to continue to spread the good news of Jesus the Christ, he was excited to expand his travels and was highly successful in bringing more followers into the fold.

Jesus reminds us in the gospel today of the importance of being willing to ask God for what we need.  Sometimes we do this in prayer, other times we are called to listen to the people that God places in our lives. Oftentimes these are the people we call family, friend, teacher, pastor, spiritual director, etc.  They support, challenge, teach and love us into the person we are called to be.  We don’t often want to ask direction, to be challenged, or to ask advice of others, because in our humanness we may think we know it all.  Sometimes the degrees we proudly earn become the beacon for our success and give us a false sense of security, sending a message to others that we have all the answers.

 When I reflect back on my forty plus years I have spent in serving God’s people as a pastoral minister, I know my success in pastoring and mentoring has been due in large part to all of those pastors, colleagues, teachers, parents, students and so many others who mentored me and taught me that it was okay not to have all the answers, and even more importantly, to listen to those who have walked the path before me.  I earned my degrees through hard work and a few sleepless nights, and I am proud of those experiences, but the best teachers have been those I met on the road, the ordinary folks who invited me into their homes, hospital rooms, classrooms, sanctuaries, soup kitchens, justice marches.

I asked God for what I thought I wanted, and God has always given me what I needed!  Apollos was a faithful disciple of Jesus along with the sisters and brothers throughout the early church. They all enjoyed tremendous success in building up the early Christian communities because they were open to listening to one another and keeping an open mind and a loving heart before them always.  We would do well to do the same!  Amen!

Theresa Secord recently retired as a Pastoral Associate at St. Agnes Parish, Louisville, Kentucky.