Daily Scripture

Scripture:

James 3:1-10
Mark 9:2-13

Reflection:

In our Gospel reading for today, we hear the account in Mark’s Gospel of the Transfiguration of Jesus in the presence of the apostles Peter, James and John. These three get a glimpse of Jesus’ glorified self, and see the promise of what will happen after His Passion and death. In seeing Elijah and Moses, they are made aware of Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. And in hearing the voice from the heavens say, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to Him,” they get an affirmation that not only is Jesus the Messiah, He is both divine and human. In other words, they get a glimpse of Jesus’ total self, as the Son of God, as the fulfillment of the Law, and as the One foretold by the prophets.

It is in faith that we can open ourselves to be transformed by God’s love in Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit. And it is in faith that we can reveal God’s compassion and love in Jesus Christ to others. To show compassion and mercy in these times of division and hostility definitely takes trust in “evidence of things not seen,” but by the grace of God, it is being done all over the world, and it can be done by us!

May we live out our faith in Jesus Christ as instruments of God’s love, and work together for the transfiguration of the world.

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

Scripture:

James 2:14-24, 26
Mark 8: 34-9:1

Reflection:

We all have gone to a funeral home and viewed the body of a loved one or friend.  They are lifeless, their spirit has departed.  In today’s first reading, James makes it clear that faith without good works is not really living.  Bodies which don’t breathe are dead. The spiritual implications are clear; works-less faith is not a viable spiritual life. Good works can take many forms.  James emphasizes love of neighbor and oneself which includes meeting each other’s physical needs especially the poor.  What good deed might I do today to enliven my faith to all I meet? (Bible Ref https://www.bibleref.com/James/2/James-2-26.html)

In Psalm 112, the psalmist calls us to praise God and to give God the glory for any good we have experienced. “Well for the person who is gracious and lends and who conducts his affairs with justice…Blessed is the person who greatly delights in the Lord’s commands.”  How often am I grateful and daily praise God? (Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, Psalm 112 https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-complete/psalms/112.html)

In Mark’s gospel we are challenged: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”(Mark 8:34) Lord, help me to carry my crosses in life  and follow you living in your service.  (Living with Christ, February 2020, Today’s Good News: February 21, 2020 Mary Marrocco, p. 161.)

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

Written by Wally Fry  for “Truth in Palmyra”  @   https://truthinpalmyra.wordpress.com

Original post @  https://truthinpalmyra.wordpress.com/2018/04/09/faith-in-action-true-faith-serves-2/

Scripture:

James 2:1-9
Mark 8:27-33

Reflection

Today’s gospel begins with Jesus and his disciples making their way to “the villages around Caesarea Philippi.” As they are walking, Jesus poses a question that would make any of us pause: “Who do you say that I am?” It is perhaps the most unnervingly straightforward question that Jesus asks in the gospels and certainly the most important. And it is a question that anyone who claims to be a Christian must answer. Indeed, how we respond to that question determines the shape, direction, and ultimate significance of our lives.

Who is Jesus for you? Many of us will joyfully confess that he is the one who knows everything about us and yet unfailingly loves us; the one who comforts and consoles us, who accompanies and guides us, who calls and commissions us, and who never abandons or gives up on us no matter how many times we fail. Who is Jesus for you? He is the one who is compassionate and merciful to us, will never deceive or mislead us, and whose fierce love sees beyond our sinfulness to the goodness God’s grace always makes possible for us.

All that is blessedly true, but it is not enough. “Who do you say that I am?” To be a Christian is to give the very same answer that Peter did as he walked with Jesus and the other disciples that day: “You are the Messiah!” For Christians, Jesus is not just another prophet, religious teacher, or miracle worker. Jesus is the Son of God, the redeemer of the whole of creation, the savior of the world, and the answer to our deepest hopes and longings. Jesus is the way to life.

Most of all, as the last line of today’s gospel makes startlingly clear, to follow Jesus as Messiah is to live not by human ways of thinking and acting, but by God’s. Everything Jesus said and did throughout his life reveals exactly what that means. Like Peter and the other disciples, every follower of Christ is called to that seemingly impossible, but endlessly hopeful, way of life every day.

Paul J. Wadell is Professor Emeritus of Theology & Religious Studies at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, and a member of the Passionist Family.

Scripture:

James 1:19-27
Mark 8:22-26

Reflection:

When Jesus and his disciples arrived at Bethsaida, people brought to him a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on the man and asked, “Do you see anything?” Mark 8:22 – 23

When I reflect upon this passage from Mark’s Gospel, I’m reminded of the first lines of, Amazing Grace: “I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.”

At this point in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus is portrayed as a healer and teacher, but also as a very mysterious person, doing and saying things that no one understands.

We are introduced to Jesus by Mark at his baptism by John the Baptist, who was preaching a baptism of repentance and conversion. After John’s arrest, Jesus began his public ministry in Galilee by preaching that the Regin of God is at hand. And he makes a name for himself by a ministry of healing. He heals many illnesses, again and again, those possessed by demons, lepers and paralytics. And he heals many women as well.

However, Mark gives us only two accounts of Jesus healing blindness. This one, brought to Jesus by friends and the other, the one who cries out from the road. (10:46)

Several things strike me in this brief passage. The first is that “people brought to (Jesus) a blind man. . .” Who were these people? We are not told. Who was the blind man? We don’t know. The name of the second blind man Jesus heals of blindness is Bartimaeus. In that case, Bartimaeus initiates the contact and has to fight the crowd for him to be noticed by Jesus.

This healing was very different. Having been brought to Jesus, then Jesus takes him by the hand and leads him away from the village. Unlike the healing of Bartimaeus, this one takes place with no one watching. What can all of this mean? We need to take this to prayer.

Blindness is a human condition, not just a physical infirmity. Jesus addressed this social condition many times in his teaching and preaching. Jesus was especially harsh on the religious leaders whom he called “blind” over and over again because they were unwilling to recognize what was before their eyes: people suffering on account of their selfish human laws, justice ignored because they would have to admit to their compliance with injustice and to their own personal corruption and sin. This, too, we need to take to prayer!

While Jesus may have been healing a physical ailment, he was also pointing out to us the deeper significance of the blindness. With this particular encounter, Jesus is letting us know how difficult it is to regain a clear vision of our reality, much less comprehend the reality that sight and insight give us. Jesus will often refer to a passage in Isaiah that says, “they may look and see and not perceive.” Is. 6:9. He is also speaking to us.

It is only when we become acutely aware of our blindness do we go looking for the grace of sight and insight. It is then that we find meaning in a popular Church hymn: “Open my eyes, Lord, help me to see your face. Open my eyes, Lord, help me to see!”

Fr. Clemente Barrón, C.P. is a member of Mater Dolorosa Community in Sierra Madre, California. 

Scripture:

James 1:12-18
Mark 8:14-21

Reflection:

Why do you conclude that it is because you have not bread?  Do you not yet understand or comprehend?

 Oh, when my kids were teenagers – how many times did I hear… we have nothing to eat in this house….all we have is bread….we still don’t have anything to eat… I’d go to the kitchen, open the cupboards and the fridge and lo and behold both were full!  My repeated answer  – no, we are not McDonalds drive-thru – there may be no ‘fast food’ but we have plenty of food in the house – every ingredient you can imagine, everything needed to prepare something that tastes wonderful and is healthy to boot!  What would you like?

Those teenage disciples, at it again, oh, we forgot our bread, now we are going to starve…I can only imagine Jesus (opening the cupboards and fridge) come on really! You were just with me when we fed five thousand on five loaves and when I broke seven loaves for four thousand – what are you whining about?  Don’t you get it?

Are you still looking for signs, for fast food?  Are you not willing to open your eyes, your hearts and imagine for a minute what my kingdom is all about?  (imagine what all these ingredients could make) – a nourishing meal, an engaging encounter, a depth of relationship.

What ingredients are we given to create a meal?  How are we being asked to utilize our gifts to build the kingdom?  How are we being invited to deepen our understanding and awareness of God in our little corner of the world?

Faith Offman is the Associate Director of Ministry at St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat and Conference Center in Detroit, Michigan.

Scripture:

James 1:1-11
Mark 8:11-13

Reflection:

No human being is a stranger to suffering because suffering comes to all of us. The question, then, is not whether we will suffer, but how will we respond to it? This is one way to understand the otherwise baffling (and seemingly problematic) claim that James makes in today’s first reading. The apostle tells us to “count it pure joy” whenever we are faced with trials and troubles, setbacks and adversity. Is this good pastoral advice? Is it even rational?

Christianity does not claim that suffering is good, but it does teach that we can make our suffering productive of good. Christianity does not encourage us to seek suffering, but it does affirm that we can grow through our suffering. Suffering is productive of good when we seize it as an opportunity to reassess our values and priorities, our goals and ambitions. In this respect, suffering can re-center us by reminding us of what is most important in life. Similarly, we grow through our suffering when we use a fundamentally negative experience to lead to positive results. This happens when suffering makes us more attuned to the struggles and hardships of others; when it makes us less judgmental and more compassionate.

James tells us to rejoice in our sufferings—in the tears and sorrows that come our way—not because there is anything intrinsically good about those experiences, but because through them our faith can be cleansed and deepened. Perhaps the most important lesson we can learn from suffering about the nature of genuine faith is that faith is the steadfast and resilient conviction that no matter what might be happening in our lives, God is faithful and trustworthy. Moreover, suffering shatters the fatal illusion that we can make it through life on our own, by reminding us of something that we find so hard to accept: our absolute and enduring dependence on God. As the apostle James’ prediction about the rich man assures us, none of us can make ourselves safe or secure. Despite what our society preaches, we should not place our faith in money or possessions, in power or status, but in God. If suffering has taught us that, we can count ourselves blessed.

Paul J. Wadell is Professor Emeritus of Theology & Religious Studies at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, and a member of the extended Passionist family.

Scripture:

Jeremiah 17:5-8
1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20
Luke 6:17, 20-26

 Reflection

How do we find life? How do we keep from dying inside? And can we really be people of hope? These are questions that unfold deep inside us, questions we wrestle with throughout our lives, and questions that sometimes wake us up in the middle of the night. Each of our readings today provides us with an answer.

The first reading from the prophet Jeremiah presents us with a decision upon which pivots the outcome of our lives. If we cut ourselves off from God, choosing instead to trust in ourselves, other people, or the fleeting things of the world, we will be “like a barren bush in the desert” that “stands in a lava waste, a salt and empty earth.” It is an image of absolute desolation and sterility, reminding us that to turn away from God is to cut ourselves off from the only true source of life. By contrast, if we trust in God and strive to follow the ways of God, no matter what happens to us we will be like a tree that bears fruit when everything else around it is withering away.

In today’s second reading, Paul goes straight to the heart of our Christian faith: the resurrection of Jesus testifies that in God we find a love that will never abandon us, a love that truly is stronger than death. Death is real, and so are evil, suffering, and loss, but nothing can prevail over God’s love. This is why we can always live in hope and why despair, however tempting, never makes sense.

Finally, today’s gospel may take us by surprise because Jesus tells us that we most find life, most keep from dying inside, and most fully are people of hope, when we commit our lives to building the kingdom of God. We do that when we seek justice for the poor, when we feed the hungry, when we comfort those who are weeping, and when we stay faithful to Christ even when the cost of doing so is high. In other words, we are most fully alive and hopeful when we live for something other than ourselves.

Paul J. Wadell is Professor Emeritus of Theology & Religious Studies at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, and a member of the Passionist family.

Scripture:

1 Kings 12:26-32; 13:33-34
Mark 8:1-10

Reflection:

Jesus tested his disciples.  For three days, the crowd of 4,000 had followed him, listening to his teaching.  But now they were in the wilderness and hungry.  So what was Jesus to do?  “If I send them away hungry, they will collapse on the way.”  Yet, all they have for so many are seven loaves.

But is Jesus testing his disciples solely on how to physically feed this hungry throng, or does he have more in mind?  The word “collapse” provides a clue.  That word is used elsewhere in the New Testament to mean “losing heart” or “getting discouraged in the face of trial.”

Could Jesus be challenging his disciples, coaxing them to see beyond the physical needs of people; to see, more importantly, the need for spiritual nourishment of those who, in following Jesus, may grow discouraged or weakened in the faith?  Will their easy solution be to send them away?  Or will the disciples, in faith, give their meager gift of bread to Jesus who can multiply it, enough to feed everyone?

In fact, Jesus takes the bread and gives thanks (eucharisteo).  Then he directs his disciples to distribute this eucharistic meal, making them his co-workers in feeding the hungry.  All ate, the gospel tells us, “and were satisfied.”  Indeed – with seven baskets left over.

Perhaps in testing them, Jesus gave his disciples a lesson in what will be their future pastoral ministry.  And he gave us a lesson, too, on the vital necessity of feeding of the Bread of Life, especially when we’ve traveled a long way and sometimes feel discouraged in the face of life’s trials.

Deacon Manuel Valencia is on the staff at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.