Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Sirach 27:4-7
1 Corinthians 15:54-58
Luke 6:39-45

Reflection:

We have all heard the expression, “Walk the walk, talk the talk.” It is not for us to judge what we may see or interpret in others, but to take ownership of what we possess of ourselves. With a pure heart and sincerity of purpose, we can improve this world by our actions. But if we are burdened with sin, feeling righteous in our judgment of others, we are not serving God as we rightly should.

Think of going to confession, or not going to confession… When we sin, we should know in our hearts that, until that sin is removed, we should not place ourselves in services, such as distributing Holy Communion. We must enter into the sacraments with a pure and clean heart. And our hearts must be in the presence of God as we help others through their journey.

The same goes for any service that we give for the Glory of God. To enter into that service with a pure and clean heart is expected and allows both you and the recipient to receive the grace of both giving and receiving in its purest form.

God knows your heart, and no matter what acts you do, He always knows the sincerity of your heart. If we pass judgment on the faults and actions of others, we are weakening the gifts that God has intended us to share. So, change the world with your good deeds, and you will inspire others to do the same in the presence of God.

Patty Masson supports the Passionists from Sprint, Texas

Scripture:

James 5:13-20
Mark 10:13-16

Reflection:

The psalm response during the Liturgy of the Word too often is but an unremarkable interlude between the first reading and the gospel. But today’s Psalm 141 deserves some quiet consideration.

I can hear the sung refrain, “My prayers rise like incense, my hands like an evening offering” that monks chant at the end of the day. It is a quiet pleading, entrusting ourselves to God. We come as we are yet aware of who we want to be. Perhaps the day was not perfect. We did not love as we could have. Our words were more sharp than kind. But that does not keep us from surrendering ourselves to the love and mercy of God. Just like the children in today’s gospel selection.

We’re attracted to the kind of free expression as the children whom Jesus bids come to him. Can we imagine ourselves rushing up to Jesus and hugging him? Can we imagine, like Mary Magdalene, washing his feet? Or like John, laying our head on Jesus’ chest? Prayer too often is translated into “saying our prayers.” I like to think of it as “doing prayer.” Prayer begins with showing up, simply wanting to be with the Lord and opening ourselves to his love that melts away the sadness of sin and disappointment. Prayer is as simple as reconnecting with God who, as Jesus does in the gospel, “embraced the children and blessed them, placing his hands on them.”

Robert Hotz is a consultant with American City Bureau, Inc. and was the Director of The Passion of Christ: The Love That Compels Campaign for Holy Cross Province.

Solemn Commemoration of the Passion

Scripture:

Isaiah 53:1-12
Hebrews 2:9-18 or 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
John 19:17-30

Reflection:

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. -1 Corinthians 1:18

The online magazine WIRED talked to 16 people on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic, many of them in the medical professions, asking them a series of questions.  In the interview, they share their routines, their stress and nightmares, their sadness and exhaustion, the grief they share with devastated family members, and the death–death in incomprehensible numbers.

One might easily wonder why these 16 people would knowingly put themselves into such a life-threatening situation, why they would choose to share such suffering with patients and families. Certainly foolishness to some.

There really are no words to fully describe our Lord’s Passion, to make precise the Paschal Mystery.  There is only our shared human experience.  Our experiences of suffering bind us together in solidarity as brothers and sisters as perhaps nothing else does.

The Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh said in an interview with Krista Tippett, that “without suffering we have no way to learn how to be understanding and compassionate.” He continued, “The Kingdom of God is a place where there is understanding and compassion.”

The 16 people interviewed by WIRED also talked about witnessing awe-inspiring courage, about looking out for each other, about love. Their generous living of their lives in the shadow of death witnesses to the message of the cross alive today.

Our own lives may not be on the front lines, yet we all share in the experience of suffering. Hebrews 2:18 promises that “Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.” May we trust in these words, and embrace our own suffering and that of the world with tenderness, allowing the compassion of Jesus Christ to flow through us and the Kingdom of God to come alive among us.  The choice each of us makes matters.

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

Scripture:

James 5:1-6
Mark 9:41-50

Reflection:

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble (skandalizō), it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. MK 9:42

Jesus made great efforts to heal sinners.  He was greatly criticized for His welcome to sinners.  He kindly healed them if they “sinned no more.”  But in today’s Gospel, make no mistake about it, He speaks with utmost severity about the horror and the destructiveness of sin. “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into ^bhell, into the unquenchable fire”  

Humans do not determine what is or is not sin.  That has been determined by God when He created us.   Sin is always highly venomous and destructive even when one might not be guilty.  The judgement of God will be merciful when the person is ignorant, but terrible damage will be done.   If one swallows poison and believes it will cure him, he will still die.  One of the most dangerous things one can hear is “if you think it is OK.  it is OK”.

In Scripture one of the main names for sin in Hebrew is “awon”.  This word means iniquity, depravity.   It is a perversity that is an objective reality that does not change.   The whole nation for years has been terrified by Covid-19.   Sin can do infinitely more damage to us more than any virus.   It can destroy our loving relationship with God which is our most beautiful gift from God.

“And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.
Better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye
than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna,
where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.”   -Mark 9:47

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

Scripture:

James 4:13-17
Mark 9:38-40

Reflection:

In our Gospel reading for today, we have a lesson that speaks very much to our times. John the apostle goes to Jesus and tells Him, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” And Jesus replies, “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us.”

To say, “For whoever is not against us is for us” seems so foreign to our ears today. There seems to be so much of “us vs. them” in our country and in our world. But the danger in that is that we can get so caught up in identifying who we are in terms of being opposed to who “they” are, that we actually get in the way of doing good. I doubt that John saw it that way, but that is what he and the others were doing. They found themselves trying to prevent the driving out of demons, in Jesus’ name, just because the person doing it wasn’t part of their group! And Jesus had to tell them not to do that.

Personally, I have had experiences of working with ministers of other churches to do some good for the wider community. It was a real way of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. Even in these times of division, there are groups making the effort to bring people together. With the threat of war looming in Europe, and conflicts going on in so many parts of the world (look at our first reading from the Letter of St. James), is it possible that Jesus is calling us to work together to drive out the demons of fear and hate with the love He has for all of us?

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

Scripture:

1 Peter 5:1-4
Matthew 16:13-19

Reflection:

Lord, it seems so counterintuitive to love my enemy.  Somedays I feel surrounded by the opposite message.  

News outlets, social media, neighborhood protests, someone screaming over the back fence…  The way information is communicated is irrelevant.   Marshall McKuen way back in the 60’s stated eloquently that “the medium is the message”, which if you buy into that…  then the subject matter becomes irrelevant as well whether it’s Gun Control, Pandemic responses, Parental control over school curriculums, or politicians who placate rather than lead.     

What it’s really all about is fear, right Lord? The fear of loss of control, loss of security, loss of comfort, even the loss of freedom from fear. You say that we must love our enemies and be good to those who hate us.    But we fear to do so because of what we may lose, just as some may fight against us for fear of what they may lose or not be able to gain.   And yet, You want us to let go, to trust in You, our perfect loving Father.  We must keep your greatest commandments:  To Love God with our whole minds, hearts, and all that we are.  And to love our neighbors as ourselves.   (Never has it been more obvious than with instant global communication that we are all truly neighbors).  

We must trust that life is not a zero-sum game, as if I can only gain if you lose, and you gain only when I lose.   Isn’t this, in essence, the same message you gave us in the Sermon on the Mount?  Blessed are the meek, those who hunger, mourn, long for righteousness… for they will gain. 

Help me to see, Lord, that You ask me not to just seek understanding, but to understand, not to just speak but to listen, not to only wish for acceptance but to accept, and to share what I have without the fear of loss.  Because in this way I can love my enemy.  I will fear no loss because I know You love me, beyond understanding.  

Ray Alonzo is the father of three children, grandfather of two, and husband to Jan for 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.

Feast of Saint Peter Damian

Scripture:

James 3:13-18
Mark 9:14-29

Reflection:

In the first reading from the letter of St. James there are some key take aways. 1) It is important to pray for wisdom daily as an important element in my life. 2) When we are in love with our ideas and in promoting ourselves, we will not be perceived as having wisdom. 3) Believers with true wisdom avoid envy and selfish ambition and focus on being persons of peace and love. 4) Wisdom from God is pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant full of mercy and good fruits”. (Seeking Our God: A Journey in Seeking Jesus James3:13-18 by taylor.matthew.n July 2, 2020?

How would you grade yourself in consistently living these four elements of living wisdom?

In the Gospel reading Jesus and his three disciples leave the Mount of Transfiguration and on the way down encounter an epileptic boy.  The father is desperate because the child is now throwing himself in to fire and water.  The disciples who did not go with Jesus, Peter, James and John are unable to exorcise the evil spirit and heal the boy.  The father says to Jesus “…if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.  Jesus said to him, “ If you can!’ Everything is possible to one who has faith.” (Mark 9:22-23)

Examine the quote in italics and notice the use of the word “if” which showed the father’s doubt. How many times do we have those “if” moments doubting whether God will hear us and come through for us? Read the first italicized line again and this time strike the word ‘if”.  It now reads “you can do anything.”  Is our faith a “can do anything” faith with God’s power and grace.  “Lord, I do believe, help my unbelief! Let me pray with courage, confidence and faith because “You can do anything.”  (Living Faith, January, February, March 2022, Monday, February 21, 2022, Kathleen Swartz McQuaig)

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

Scripture:

I Samuel 26: 2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23
I Corinthians 16: 45-49
Luke 6: 27-38

Reflection:

The readings today really do pull us way out of our comfort zones! 

In the reading from Samuel, we have the story from the early days of David.  A time before he has become King.  He has been serving Saul who was first to unite the people of Israel and begin to mold them into a nation.  But God, through the prophet Elijah, has rejected Saul as the king and has favored David.  Saul is not planning to go peacefully into retirement and has begun to hunt David down even though David has continued to be faithful in his service to Saul.  During Saul’s hunt to capture David we have this story about David’s nobility of character.  During the night, David comes upon Saul asleep.  David has every advantage even to having Saul’s spear handy for his use.  However, David remains faithful to Saul by letting him live.  He does let Saul know of his narrow escape by asking Saul to send a servant to him so that he can return Saul’s spear.  An embarrassing moment for Saul, but a revealing glimpse into the character of David…and into the character of God.

And then, of course, there’s this famous Gospel passage.  Of all the teachings of Jesus, these are among the most challenging: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.  To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic.  Give to everyone who asks of you, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.  

And the list goes on:  But rather, love your enemies and do good to them; …lend expecting nothing back….  Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Stop judging….  Stop Condemning….  Forgive….  For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.

Wow!  Jesus has just moved the bar not just higher but, humanly speaking, out of reach!!  St Paul, in our second reading, pulls us back to earth with the reminder that we also have a spirit filled life given us by Christ.  It is through Christ that this way of loving becomes a possibility for us. 

What do you think?  Is Jesus just making things impossible for us or is he inviting us into a deeper way to love?  His way, God’s way.

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