Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Acts18:1-8
John 16:16-20

Reflection:

You will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.  -John 16:20

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, this scripture verse was most relevant.  News broadcasts gave us the latest statistics regarding how many people are suffering Covid-19, the number who have died, the number of unemployed and the number of hunger-sensitive people. There is still a lot of pain and suffering and yet today’s gospel states that our pain and grief will become joy as part of our human condition.

The famed poet Kahil Gibran wrote of this interrelationship between sorrow and joy.  “Sorrow carves a container for joy…When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.  When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delights.” (Kahil Gibran  on Joy and Sorrow, http://www.katsandogz.com/gibran/onjoy.php)

What are we to do when we experience grief and pain?  Sorrow and pain ought to bring us closer to God and each other.  Today, as we experience pain and loss in the world let us stop and pray.  Let us pray and make it a time of noticing the good in everything so that our “grief will become joy”.  (Irish Jesuits, Sacred Space, https://www.sacredspace.ie/scripture/john-1616-20)

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

Scripture:

Acts 17:15, 22—18:1
John 16:12-25

Reflection:

“Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,
he will guide you to all truth.”  John 16:12-13

O Holy Spirit, guide us to truth.

According the USDA, more than 38 million people including 12 million children in the United States are food insecure. Hunger in African American, Latino and Native American communities is higher because of systemic racial injustice.

O Holy Spirit, guide us to truth.

In 2020, the most recent year for which complete data is available, 45,222 people died from gun-related injuries in the U.S., according to the CDC. Though they tend to get less public attention than gun-related murders, suicides have long accounted for the majority of U.S. gun deaths. In 2020, 54% of all gun-related deaths in the U.S. were suicides (24,292), while 43% were murders (19,384), according to the CDC. The remaining gun deaths that year were unintentional (535), involved law enforcement (611) or had undetermined circumstances (400).

The 45,222 total gun deaths in 2020 were by far the most on record, representing a 14% increase from the year before, a 25% increase from five years earlier and a 43% increase from a decade prior.

-Pew Research Center

O Holy Spirit, guide us to truth.

Climate change is a global problem with grave implications: environmental, social, economic, political and for the distribution of goods. It represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day. Its worst impact will probably be felt by developing countries in coming decades. Many of the poor live in areas particularly affected by phenomena related to warming, and their means of subsistence are largely dependent on natural reserves and ecosystemic services such as agriculture, fishing and forestry. They have no other financial activities or resources which can enable them to adapt to climate change or to face natural disasters, and their access to social services and protection is very limited. 

-Pope Francis, Laudato Sí’ 25

O Holy Spirit, guide us to truth.

There are so many truths that feel unbearable in today’s world.  Yet, as Pope Francis urges us, “Our goal is not to amass information or to satisfy curiosity, but rather to become painfully aware, to dare to turn what is happening to the world into our own personal suffering and thus to discover what each of us can do about it” (LS 19).  How else can we participate in the Passion of Jesus, “the greatest and most overwhelming work of God’s love”?

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

Scripture:

Acts 16:11-15
John 15:26-16:4a

Reflection:

In our Scripture readings for today, we have a stark contrast to how the early Christians were received. In our first reading from Acts, Paul and his companions arrive in Philippi. There they meet a woman named Lydia, “a dealer in purple cloth.” She and her household are baptized and she invites them to stay at her home.

In our Gospel reading, Jesus warns His disciples about the persecution they would be facing: “I have told you this so that you may not fall away. They will expel you from the synagogues; in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God.” Jesus tells His disciples to expect hostility and violence.

So, we read these readings in terms of what happened to those early disciples. But I think the challenge these readings present is not so much about how we are received, but how we are to receive others. Do we show hospitality or hostility to strangers, or those we consider “other?” In these times when people can get caught up in division and suspicion of those who are different, the question is not taken lightly. We as a church have such an opportunity to witness to something different than what is prevalent in our society.

May we follow the example of Lydia, and open our hearts to those who are searching, those who are hurting, and those who are desperate to find meaning in their lives.

Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P., is the local superior of the Passionist Community in Birmingham, Alabama. 

Scripture:

Acts 15:1-2, 22-29
Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23
John 14:23-29

Reflection:

My Lord and Savior;

How often at mass have I reached out to someone in the next pew and said, “Peace be with you”? Or at least I did before the Pandemic.  Now we bow slightly to our left and right neighbors and smile, then wave across the aisle, then behind us and in front of us, and wish the whole church the Peace of God.  Lord, I think it’s an improvement!  I’m reaching out to a whole lot more people than I used to.  

John’s words today remind me that there was no peace for you.  You were forced to tell one of Your closest followers, sitting with You at your Passover table, to “go and do what you must”, then watch as Judas blended into the twilight to betray you.  Surrounded by your apostles, who each profess their love, you stand alone.   Even Peter, the  rock on whom you will build your church, refuses to hear the truth from Your lips as You tell him that he will, that very night, deny even knowing you, not once, but three times before the dawn.  

All the lessons you had tried to impart to your disciples.  The years you spent among them, and still they did not understand.  You promised them that Your Father would send the Holy Spirit to help them remember your teachings and give them strength and skill to take those words of life to all the world.  The terror you must have felt knowing the pain and degredation that was about to crash down upon you.  Still you offered your loved ones Peace. Not peace as the world gives it, but as You unreservedly offer to each of us, just for the asking.  

The suffering of loneliness, the pain of loss, the humiliation of a body that fails us in old age ~  forcing us to ashamedly rely on help from others. Concerning these sufferings, You told us to not be afraid or troubled. How do we know? Because You said, “… now I have told you before it takes place, so when it does take place, you may believe”.   Lord, I believe.  Help my disbelief.

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.

Scripture:

Acts 16: 1-10
John 15: 18-21

Reflection:

“They traveled through the Phrygian and Galatian territory because they had been prevented by the Holy Spirit from preaching the message in the province of Asia.”

If you are like me, I set daily goals and create my “to do” lists. On most days I am single-minded about getting those goals and tasks accomplished. I find myself being frustrated when things go wrong or when stuff happens to prevent or limit my accomplishments. Does this sound familiar to you?

In today’s first reading, from the book of Acts, the early Church was most focused on preaching and teaching the gospel message resulting in the people growing in faith and increasing in numbers (verse 5). I find it most interesting that when things went wrong or didn’t go the way they thought it should, the early Christians saw this as a sign of the Spirit leading or preventing them from proceeding. Usually, when things don’t go my way, I sometimes get frustrated or angry rather than discern that God’s Spirit is speaking to me and providing guidance. (Living Faith, April, May, June 2022, Saturday, May 21, 2022, Maria Ruiz Scaperlanda)

I remember in Catholic elementary school beginning each day with the morning offering: “O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart… (Written in 1844 by Fr. François-Xavier Gautrelet  found in Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers, pg. 48) 

What if you and I begin each day offering our day and our “to  do” lists to God and ask for attunement to the Spirit speaking to us. Lord, help me to slow down, to listen and discern your guiding and leading me this day.

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

Scripture:

Acts 15:22-31
John 15:12-17

Reflection:

 “…love one another as I love you…”

As we continue to experience the risen Jesus this Easter Season we are today encouraged in our discipleship and our stewardship of the Good News of God’s love in Jesus.  Love is to be our driving force!

The Gospel selection is a very familiar selection from John 15:  “This is my commandment:  love one another as I love you…no one has greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends…”  These powerful words reveal the Sacred Heart of Jesus that enabled him to minister, to suffer, and even die…for all of creation!  The passage goes on to remind the disciples (and us!) that we are divinely chosen to be God’s friends, so alive with the message of God’s love that we radiate God’s love in our words and deeds.  What a blessing!  And a challenge…

Paul and Barnabas and the early Christians were invited to let that love come alive as they travelled on mission to spread the News of Jesus and help grow the early Church.  Their love for God enabled them to creatively meet the challenges they had to face in addressing the complexities of life and culture and education; the gift of divine love transforms everything and everyone!

Divine Love is not to be a stranger in our lives as 21^st Century Christians.  Jesus’ words hold true for us:  Love…as He loves!  What about God’s love in us?  Are we patient with others, and ourselves?  Do we really listen to one another?  Do small things get in the way of healthy relationships?  Are we people of peace, of justice?  Does selfishness hold us back from truly loving, in and through Jesus?

We may not receive a simple, bold exhortation as was delivered by Paul and Barnabas to the Church in Antioch; Jesus’ encouragement to love may not always seem so bold and convincing – and yet our renewed Easter Faith strengthens our hearts and gives direction to our lives.  Our 21^st Century world desperately needs the love of Jesus and our love as His disciples.  As family and friends, let’s take Jesus’ message to heart…and to life!  To God be the glory…Amen!

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:

Acts 15:1-6
John 15:1-8

Reflection:

What is John saying to us in this Gospel? This is an amazing and profound read, like much of John’s Gospel. Today, I would like to concentrate on two sentences.

Remain in me, as I remain in you.   

Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit,
because without me you can do nothing.

Remain in me, as I remain in you. The declaration is clear. God is within you and within us, whether we recognize it or not. The presence of God is steady and available continuously.

This permanence shows the importance of a God which is resident in the vine, and we are attached to the vine. However, we also have the gift given to us of free will. We can decide how much we want to be open to God and His love and will.

Therefore, it is the first part where God entreats us, welcomes us, to participate in our residence of the vine. “Remain in me”.

This verse is a call for us to recognize the presence of God and participate in the work together. Of course, as soon as we do, the vine bears fruits. It’s a simple call but sometimes seems hidden because we don’t understand our role. What do you believe is the part you are asked to play?  

The second sentence which jumps off the page in this Gospel is:

Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit,
because without me you can do nothing.

In particular, the without me you can do nothing. It could sound like an aggressive statement if read literally. However, this is not the case. Rather, we are being asked to recognize that all love, gifts, and talents come from God. Yes, it may be up to us how we use them. We have this gift of free will mentioned earlier, however, we cannot achieve anything without the gifts.

It is interesting to note that this would apply even to an atheist or agnostic. Everyone has gifts, skills, and the ability to love one another. A question might then be for the non-believer, who gave them to us? So perhaps, for them, it is more an issue of recognizing the source of those gifts.

Do you believe you are in control? That you can do things on your own without God’s help?

I certainly had times when I suffered from a stupid amount of self-confidence. When I believed outcomes directly resulted from my skills and capabilities. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe in God; I just thought it was more me than Him. I grew out of the notion over the years.

Co-residing in the vine is where we are in our lives, but we have to recognize that we are “co-resident” in the vine. In the word. In the work. In the World.

God Bless.

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

Scripture:

Acts 14:21-27
Revelation 21:1-5a
John 13:31-33a, 34-35

Reflection:

In the 13^th chapter of John’s Gospel we read the following profound words:

“My children, I will be with you only a little while longer.
I give you a new commandment: love one another.
As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.
This is how all will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.”

Jesus spoke these words to his beloved followers in the upper room on the night before he died.  We call these special chapters of John’s Gospel, chapters 13 through 17, the “farewell discourse” of Jesus.  In these special chapters Jesus is opening his heart to those he loves and to whom he will entrust the task of proclaiming the Gospel and forming the early community of the faithful itself.  As one preacher put it years ago: “When a person is about to die, he or she doesn’t talk about sports or the weather; rather, he talks about what is most precious in his heart.”  And what did Jesus share with his disciples when he poured out his heart to them…and to us?  “As I have loved you, so you should love one another.”

This is Jesus final farewell and the roadmap he bequeaths to us and his apostles.  The foundation of the Church, about to be born on Pentecost, must be a foundation of love.  We will be known by all around us that we are disciples of Jesus if we have love for one another.  Of course, there are other messages being proclaimed these days; other roadmaps that some think will “make America great,” for example.  And of course, with one heart and one voice we all say, “Yes, we must make America great once again, as in days past.”  And how is this to happen?  Surely not because we have more weapons of destruction than anyone else.  And surely not because the stock market is soaring upwards!  And not even because gas is as cheap as it was three decades ago!  No!    That is not our roadmap; that is not the pathway that Jesus shared with us on the night before he died.  Rather, he simply said to his most beloved, as he says to us this very day: “I give you a new commandment: love one another.”  That’s it, there is the path we must follow no matter what else happens around us.  It’s that simple, and that terrifying, as well.  We must love one another.  And if we do, then all will know that we are his disciples.  But only, dear friends, if we have love for one another.

Fr. Pat Brennan, C.P. is the director of Saint Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat and Conference Center, Detroit, Michigan.