Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Acts 5:27-33
John 3:31-36

Reflection:

‘We must obey God rather than men’!  This is a profound statement of faith coming out of the mouths of Peter and the Apostles.  The Roman authorities were infuriated and wanted to put them to death!  I wonder if we would have the courage to make such a statement if we were in their position.  I hope so! This was a scary and daunting time the apostles found themselves in during these post-resurrection times.  Jesus had left them big shoes to fill.  They were not only grieving the loss of their friend and leader, but, at the same time trying to stay one step away from enduring the cross as he did.

I have always found the Acts of the Apostles as recorded in the Easter scriptures to be a source of hope for all of us called to follow in their footsteps.  We may not live in the same times as they did, but our world of 2022 is filled with just as much danger and challenge.  Preaching and living the Gospel message calls each of us to put our faith lives as well as our physical presence on the line as we work for peace and justice so absent in our world today.

The challenge to ‘obey God rather than man’ is ever before us!  The Easter message, Jesus has risen and is here with us should be our mantra as we actively spread this Good News!  I see this message being lived out as I drive through our neighborhoods shining with many green lights of compassion.  I hear this message as I join with members of our parish Sr. Thea Bowman Society for Racial Solidarity to celebrate Eucharist together with our black brothers and sisters in the disadvantaged and ignored parishes struggling in our city.  I hear this message as I join my book club as we make ourselves more aware of the injustices our Native American sisters and brothers suffered past and present in their struggle to enjoy the respect and dignity that all God’s children have a right to enjoy!

My prayer for all as we celebrate this Easter season is that we continue to be people of hope and promise as we spread the message Jesus Christ is Risen!

HAPPY EASTER!!

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

Feast of St. Mark

Scripture:

1 Peter 5:5b-14
Mark 16:15-20

Reflection:

“Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” ~Mark 16:15

What a wonderful charge.  And as human beings, we have so many possibilities of how we might proclaim–literally be a herald of–the Good News that is Jesus Christ.  Every day we have opportunities to speak and embody in our actions the coming into being of the Kingdom of God.  Every day we are invited to move more deeply into being the unique part of the body of Christ that only we can be, that is so necessary to the whole. Every day we have new opportunities to shine the light that is God’s gift to us and, through us, to the whole world.

Truly, we have set before us, each moment, life and death (cf. Dt 30:15).  What we choose matters not only for us but for all.  Our every word and action ripples out, carrying with it either life or death. We see that so clearly in the words and actions of our leaders.  And we are no different.

And if we need guidance, we have heard from Jesus’ own lips, that he himself has been anointed “to bring glad tidings to the poor…to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free” (Lk 4:18,21).  This is our work also, each of us and together, as heralds of the Gospel to every creature.

Who can you be glad tidings for today? 

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

Scripture:

Acts 5:12-16
Revelation 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19
John 20:19-31

Reflection:

Encountering Christ

“The doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews.  Jesus came and stood in their midst, and *said to them, ‘Peace be with you’.   He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.” JN 20:20 This this perhaps is the most beautiful encounter of the disciples and Jesus in the New Testament!  First of all, there is no locking the Risen Jesus out of our lives!   They not only feared the Jews, but they most likely also feared Jesus.   They heard He was alive and maybe thought He might not be too happy about them running away!

But when they heard the beautiful Jewish greeting of shalom, they knew His love for them was not diminished!  They were startled at first, especially in Luke’s account of His appearance.  But their anxiety quickly settled down and was transformed into incredible joy at the sight of “the Living One”.   Not only was He alive, but He chose to keep “on the Body given for us” the scars of the nails and the spear to be a perpetual and stunning reminder of His love for us.

Like Thomas, we are invited to touch the marks of the nails and the open wound on His side that leads to His Heart!   Somehow, we can only experience touching His wounds by experiencing our wounds.  Like the Apostles who rejoiced to experience suffering for Christ, we need to experience pain.   We must suffer to appreciate Christ who showed His love for us by pain.   “After calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them.So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.” Act 5:41

St Paul of the Cross in his letters had many beautiful sayings about the sufferings of Christ.  “The passion of Jesus is a sea of sorrows, but it is also an ocean of love. Ask the Lord to teach you to fish in this ocean. Dive into its depths. No matter how deep you go, you will never reach the bottom.”  Again, he writes: “The world lives unmindful of the sufferings of Jesus which are the miracle of miracles of the love of God.  We must arouse the world from its slumber.  His Holy Spirit will teach us how.”  Letters Vol 11 726

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

Scripture:

Acts 4:1-12
John 21:1-14

Reflection:

Lord, Your words today shame me.  

Peter and John were so strong and eloquent facing down the Sadducees in the temple and healing in Your name. To my dishonor, fear of ridicule or confrontation kept me from testifying to Your truth. I confidently call Your name when I am in pain or need, even being bold enough to remind You in those moments that it was You who said, “ask anything of the Father. He will give it to you in My name”.  But I was not strong enough to risk face-to-face opposition or hostile disagreement.  I was afraid that my friends might think I was naive, unsophisticated, or clutching for a spiritual crutch. A crutch which they, in the surety of their humanistic values, were in no need of. 

I am really sorry, Lord.  You calmed stormy seas.  Please calm my fears and vanity.  Help me to be gentle but sure in expressing my beliefs. Guide my tongue so that I may share the truth of You with those who scoff or deride my faith. Prod me to speak up, not so I may debate them, but that they might be drawn closer to You.  

Time and again You have chosen broken people to be Your instrument.  Choose me, Lord.  But next time, help me to be worthy.   

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 3:11-26
Luke 24:13-35

Reflection:

It’s really quite humorous. Peter addressing the crowd with such self-assurance, such self-confidence in today’s first reading… he’s almost condescending!  Not long before this speech before the Sanhedrin, however, it was poor Peter dropping the keys after being installed as prince of the apostle, given the keys to the kingdom of heaven, called by Jesus “rock” or Cephas!  Shortly after that Jesus calls him Satan because he tries to derail Jesus from his vocation (“Get behind me!”). So, when Peter proclaims, “Why are you amazed at this, and why do you look so intently at us as if we had made him walk by our own power or piety?” must we forget today’s Gospel when Jesus had just asked his disciples — Peter included — a question as well, “”Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts?”

But I know I am no different than Peter; my faith can swing from certitude to doubt in a moment.

So, I’ve come to reverence what I call the “second chance” narratives in the Gospels. Remember several weeks ago when Jesus told the parable of the unproductive fig tree? The owner wished to cut it down because after three years it still produced no fruit. But his servant offered to cultivate around it and fertilize and give it a little more time. A second chance.

I also like that story in Mark 8 when Jesus heals the blind man, but the man responds, “Yes, I can see, but people appear like trees walking!”  And Jesus must try again, healing the man for the second time.

I’m glad to be given a second chance. And a third, and…

Fr. Jack Conley, C.P. is a member of the Passionist Community of Christ the King in Citrus Heights, California.

Scripture:

Acts 3: 1-10
Luke 24: 13-35

Reflection:

On this third day after we have celebrated the great feast of the Resurrection of Christ, the scripture readings present us with two encounters with the Risen Christ.

In our Gospel we’re told of the encounter of two “former (?)” disciples of Jesus with the Risen Lord.  It takes place on Easter Sunday afternoon.  Clearly the disciples are discouraged, confused, perhaps even disillusioned.  Their state of mind becomes apparent when they encounter a stranger on the road.  He asks a general question about “what’s happening?” and they immediately pour out their painful story about the last days of Jesus.  They include the unlikely testimony of the women who found the tomb empty that very morning but they’re still heading home convinced that the story is over. 

The stranger turns out to be the Risen Lord and he chides them a bit for their lack of faith.  He then reminds them of all that had been prophesied about the Messiah and shows them how Jesus had fulfilled all that had been predicted.  They warm to the stranger and invite him to stay the night with them.  As they break bread together they suddenly realize who the stranger is, the Risen Lord.

Their encounter heals them and they rush back to Jerusalem to tell the others that Jesus has truly risen, He lives!

A different kind of encounter with Christ is described for us in our first reading that comes from the Book of Acts.  It happened months or even years later.  It was an encounter not with a stranger but with two of Jesus’ closest friends, Peter and John.  A man crippled from birth sees them about to enter the Temple and asks them for alms.  Peter tells him that they don’t have much money to give him but are willing to give them what they do have, a living presence of Christ.  In His name they heal his body and restore him to full health.  He is beside himself with joy and gratitude.  He witnesses to all at the Temple that day that his encounter with the Risen Christ restored him to a full life.

As we reflect on the meaning of Christ’s Resurrection that we are celebrating, these two stories invite us to realize that the Risen Christ comes into our lives even to this very day.  He could be the stranger that restores our hope with his compassion and wisdom or even two friends or acquaintances who share so generously what they have, their faith in the Risen Lord.  The two disciples on the way to Emmaus figured it out even though they didn’t recognize Christ at first.  As did the man crippled from birth as new strength and energy flowed through his ailing body.  Perhaps our prayer for today could be that we have the grace to recognize Christ in whatever way He comes to us in our daily life. 

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

Scripture:

Acts 2:36-41
John 20:11-18

Reflection:

In today’s Gospel reading, Mary of Magdala is outside of the tomb where Jesus was. She is weeping because even though the tomb is empty, her only conclusion at that point is that someone has come and taken His body. And even though she sees two angels in the tomb who ask her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” she is still intent on finding Him.

When Jesus does appear, she doesn’t recognize Him until He calls her by name: “Mary!” and then, at least in my imagination, she hangs on to Him for dear life. And so Jesus says, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father, but go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” And so she goes and announces to the disciples that she has “seen the Lord.”

The founder of the Passionists, St. Paul of the Cross, would often counsel those who were receiving spiritual direction from him not to get too attached to the feelings they had when they had a “mountaintop” experience” of God. He would invite them to focus on the Giver, not the gifts. Their goal was not to capture or recapture good feelings, but to seek God’s will. I see some of this between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Jesus tells Mary not to hold on to Him because there is something He still needs to do: ascend to the Father so that the Holy Spirit may come. At the same time, she is not to hold on to Him, because there is something she needs to do: to tell the other disciples what she has seen and heard. Mary could not be “the apostle to the apostles” unless she lets go of holding on to Him.

And so, we are not to get too caught up in our feelings that we miss the signs that God sends indicating God’s will for us. Instead, we continue to seek and do God’s will, always in the hope we have in the Resurrection of Jesus.

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

Scripture:

Acts 2:14, 22-33
Matthew 28:8-15

Reflection:

In my life I’ve seen the rise of sensationalism, conspiracy theories, and the like in the media.  I can’t speculate the degree which the internet has contributed to this spreading of alternative theories.   Is the news getting more slanted and the conspiracy theories growing, or have they been there all along and I’m learning to be more attentive to them?   I know the latter is true. 

Have you ever noticed conspiracy theories in the scriptures?  I have.  Today is good example.    St. Matthew writes, “The chief priests assembled with the elders and took counsel; then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.’”  Why believe that someone could rise from the dead when the story that the disciples stole his body is far more plausible?   And to protect the lie, there is the added component of “hush money”.   If this isn’t already twisted enough Matthew says that if the governor hears about it these conspirators will make sure everything is smoothed out.  Conspiracies, as we know, are not based on truth.   The difficulty is the truth in this story doesn’t make sense in the first century context.  It is far too new of an idea.  The invitation of the resurrection asks a person to believe the unbelievable.  This is so difficult when it goes directly against what we would like to believe with rational thought and our core programming.   As previously stated, the conspiracy theory certainly seems more plausible. 

Yesterday, Easter Sunday, Christians around the world wished their friends and family an enthusiastic and Happy Easter. But what does that mean?  When we share this greeting, are we really wishing another person the incredible joy of the resurrected Christ?  Or maybe we are offering the confusion of an empty tomb?     Looking specifically at the totality of the liturgical Easter day readings, we have gospels which are empty tomb stories, but there are no appearances of Jesus to people.  No one actually has an encounter with the risen Christ.  Today, we begin hearing the second phase.  This is the first opportunity to hear how Jesus reveals himself and it is to the two Marys.  As I read all four gospels Jesus reveals himself to those whom he is closest.  He doesn’t go to the religious or civic leaders. These revelations are to people who are seeking for him or confused and can’t seem to put the pieces together.  And the resurrected Jesus likes being with his friends.    Reread the end of all four gospel accounts and take note of the people to whom Jesus reveals himself.  Where do you fit in that list? 

Believing the unbelievable, allowing God to surprise you, opening the vulnerable parts of your heart to God, these are some truly incredible resurrection moments.   Then our testimony is the truth of Jesus’ resurrection and its impact in our world.  And Christian history reveals our testimony in the risen Christ always carries more weight than someone’s untruths.   

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