Daily Scripture

Scripture:

1 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 8b-10
Matthew 23:13-22

Reflection:

In our Gospel reading for today, Jesus calls out the scribes and the Pharisees for being hypocrites and leading the people in the wrong way.

Of all the critiques that Jesus makes, I was struck by the ones Jesus makes about oaths: “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If one swears by the temple, it means nothing, but if one swears by the gold of the temple, one is obligated … If one swears by the altar, it means nothing, but if one swears by the gift on the altar, one is obligated.’” Jesus points out how the Pharisees and the scribes put more importance on the material value of the gold and the gift than on the spiritual significance of the temple and the altar.

I see this as a great challenge for us today. We need to make sure that we don’t fall into the same trap that the Pharisees and the scribes did. At times we say that the church is to be “a leaven in the world,” but when we get caught up with material wealth, or when our political divisions seem to create divisions within the church, there is a danger of the world becoming a “leaven” in the church.

Our challenge, as always, has been to be in the world, but not of it. Wealth and resources are meant to be tools to help those in need and share the Good News, not as ends in themselves. And although we may differ on various issues, our differences need not separate us.

Perhaps it’s simply a matter of remembering Jesus’ commandment to love and to follow Him. That will always keep us in the proper perspective when it comes to the things and attitudes of the world. May we hold fast to Jesus’ words and follow Him in love.

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

Scripture:

Joshua 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b
Ephesians 5:2a, 25-32
John 6:60-69

Reflection:

This really is the whole ball of wax, isn’t it Lord? Even your disciples said it was a tough nut to crack ~ so very hard to accept.  Transubstantiation ~ the change of something elemental into something completely different.  

We know the transubstantiation at consecration is real, is truly You.  It’s not a simple symbolism of your presence, but your true body and blood.  It’s the reason that unconsecrated hosts are not called “The Body”. Only after consecration do we speak of “The Body of Christ”.  The Church Fathers believed, and the early martyrs died for believing that the Eucharist is truly your body and blood.

You lost many of your followers that day on the shoreline in Israel, as you spoke of giving us your body and blood to sustain us. It was too hard for many to accept. If those who walked with you, supported you, believed in You, still walked away unable to accept or understand Your words, how much harder it is these 2000 years later to believe. But then I think of the Communion of Saints, especially those early martyrs who knelt in the colosseums and died for believing that the Eucharist is Your body and blood.  I stand with Peter and say, “Where else would I go?”  Only in You do I find the way to, the truth of, and the light of eternal life.  

Still, at times, I cry out, like the father of the sick child; “Lord I believe, help my disbelief” (Mark 9 20-22).  Only because I believe in you can I reach out for help and 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.

Scripture:

Ruth 2:1-3, 8-11; 4:13-17,
Matthew 23:1-12

Reflection:

You have but one Teacher and you are all brothers. -Matthew 23:8

There are several times in the gospels that people believed that Jesus spoke with authority.  (Matthew 7:29) Usually a person is viewed as having authority when they live what they say and do. The Pharisees surpassed other Jews in their knowledge of the Torah.  “Jesus’ problem with the Pharisees and scribes is not with their intentions in relation to God per se. “We see from this passage that the two significant critiques Jesus provides have to do with (1) their lack of obedience to the Torah as they teach it to the people (23:2-4); and (2) the motivation in doing the Law as a way to gain human favor and honor (23:5-7).” (Jeannine K. Brown, Working Preacher, November 2, 2008,
https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-31/commentary-on-matthew-231-12-3

When one speaks with authority it usually denotes a consistency of values being demonstrated through behaviors and actions.  In this sense, we are all teachers and learners. (Sr. Macrina Wiederkehr, O.S.B. Living with Christ, August 21, 2021, p.157)Jesus is trying to teach his disciples that most important is faithful obedience to God and our relationship with God. Psalm 128 is a song sung by Jewish pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem.  Blessed are those who obey and respect our Creator. 

Living in union with God is what gives us the authority to teach.  We all teach especially if we are parents or grandparents. By what authority do we teach?  Are we consistent “in walking the talk”. Call to mind the teachers in your life that you most admired and respected.  What did you admire most about them?  If they are still living send them a note expressing your gratitude.  If they are deceased say a prayer of gratitude for them.

Blessed are you who fear the Lord and who teach and walk in God’s ways.

“What the teacher is, is more important than what he/she teaches”
-Karl Meninger  (www.englishdotcom.net)

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

Feast of St. Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church

Scripture:

Ruth 1: 1, 3-6, 14b-16, 22
Matthew 22: 34-40

Reflection:

Some people are just worth remembering.  They live their lives in such a way that their peers, both friends and foes, respect them.  As a result, they have a profound influence on the very best that emerges in their time.  We celebrate the feast of such a remarkable man today, St. Bernard of Clairvaux.  He lived in the 12^th century (born in 1090 and died in 1153), a time of great turmoil in the Church and in society. 

He was born into one of the noble families in Burgundy, France.  He had a great future before him in the society of his day but chose instead to give his life to God.  Against his family’s wishes, he rejected the ambitious plans they had for him and, instead, followed his heart and at age 23 entered one of the most austere religious orders in the Church, the Cistercians.  He was already so influential among his peers, he brought a total of 30 young nobles (among whom were several of his brothers) with him into religious life.  Even at the early age of 23, he was a man of prayer and his prayer life deepened quickly under the guidance of the Abbot of Citeaux, St. Stephen Harding.  Though the Cistercians lived a very austere life, they were growing so rapidly at that time that just two years after he entered, he and fifteen other companions were sent out to found another abbey.  Bernard was elected the first abbot of this new abbey located in the Clair Valley.  He remained Abbot of Clairvaux until his death in 1153

As abbot, Bernard emphasized three important spiritual disciplines:  an austere and simple form of life, lectio divina and personal prayer, and finally, a deep personal devotion to Our Blessed Mother.  His Abbey flourished and Bernard founded three additional abbeys with the monks from Clairvaux.

But it wasn’t just within the confines of the Cistercians that Bernard exerted enormous influence.  He participated in several Church Councils, brought unity to the Papacy (persuaded most of the secular rulers to accept Innocent II over Anacletus II), and overcame several heresies that were rampant during his time.   In short, Bernard became one of the most significant religious figures of 12th century. 

As you remember St. Bernard today, I hope you have a chance to read more about his life.  He is a true example of a faithful disciple of Jesus who uses all his considerable gifts to build up the Kingdom of God.  We thank God for this remarkable man and ask for the grace to live our lives in a way that builds the Kingdom of God.

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

Scripture:

Judges 11:29-39a
Matthew 22:1-14

Reflection:

The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come.
 -Matthew 22:2–3

Recently, I participated in a yearly late-summer ritual that many, many families experience when they take their college-bound son or daughter to move into their dorm room, as they begin a new phase of their lives. Whether this is a new experience for the parents or not, it has that feel to the opening lines of our Gospel for today’s Mass: a king preparing a wonderful wedding feast for his child. The parents want to make sure that this son or daughter will have the best that they can give them as they move out of the house and begin a new life. They will talk to their new dorm mates, meet their parents and furnish their bedroom with everything they need to live as they begin their studies.

Those invited into these newly established living arrangements can be likened to the wedding guests in our parable today. At first glance, the king thinks that those who belong to his social circle would be delighted to come and feast at his table. Those invited were apparently wealthy, those who could afford to buy additional property or chose to take care of business transactions rather than celebrate a friend’s feast. Others were even hostile to the invitation.

The people that these college students invite into their banquets, who will eat with them, party with them, study with them, will often determine how their life will unfold in the future. Some will make life-long friends who will become important participants in their future. Others will be temporary friends, and at graduation, will part, never to have a social connection with them again. Others will be false or manipulative companions, (those without “wedding garments”) who will break their hearts or who may want to lead them astray from their family values.

All this time, the family may try to intervene, may find themselves feeling helpless and powerless to help. We hope the vast majority will be grateful that their child has passed a major test to maturity and adulthood.

While this reflection is a parable within a parable, we all recognize that many around us are not always responsive to God’s invitation to come to the table of plenty, and those who we think should be the first invited, are refusing to come to the feast. But God will not be thwarted in giving a generous invitation. All are called, but not all chose to come. This is not God’s choice; it is our choice. God’s Love will never be denied us!

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

Scripture:

Judges 9:6-15
Matthew 20:1-16

Reflection:

Are you envious because I am generous?

What is it about this parable that gets our attention?  What of our experience gets touched?  Challenged?  Often our first reaction is… well, that is not fair!, they shouldn’t all get the same wage, they didn’t work the same…

In Matthew’s Gospel, this story follows the rich young man who Jesus tells to sell everything and follow me – become a disciple – and he goes away sad.  Peter then says to Jesus – we have sold everything and followed you, what is in this for us?  And now this parable – everyone gets the same, regardless of when they begin to follow?!?  Our humanness cannot understand.  How can this be, we mumble and grumble and ultimately, go away sad…

But the owner of the vineyard, kept his deal, he paid everyone what he offered them – what they agreed to.  Maybe that is the real question – what do we agree to?  Are we really followers of Jesus?  Do we let the gospel guide us in all we do?  The whole gospel – not just what is easy or what we like to do – not just what is comfortable, but what is challenging as well?  Are we like Peter, who says, look, we have done this, this, and this – so what do we get, aren’t we better than him/her who hasn’t?  Or are we willing to do what we do out of love – love for God, for others and for self? 

When we notice ourselves reacting and getting defensive – do we pause to ask God to help us notice where this resistance or reaction is coming from – what is underneath this feeling, emotion, reaction – how can I open my heart to your generosity, love, mercy and forgiveness.  What does God want us to notice in ourselves, is there an opportunity for transformation?

Are we willing to leave everything – our judgments, biases, fears and defensiveness – to follow Jesus – can we be grateful that God is big enough for everyone – God’s generosity reaches everyone – does ours?

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

Scripture:

Judges 6:11-24
Matthew 19:23-30

Reflection:

Jesus says a lot of nervy things, but for many of us there are few things he utters that are more upsetting and preposterous—and just downright offensive—than the shocking statements that begin today’s gospel. In a culture that idolizes wealth and possessions and teaches us to measure the meaning and success of our lives in light of them, to hear Jesus proclaim that it would be “easier for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye” than for a rich man or woman to set foot in the kingdom of God strikes us as both offensive and outrageous. Among the many teachings we wish Jesus would retract, this is surely near the top of the list.

Jesus never softens the sting of some truths because Jesus loves us and wants our good, and sometimes that means telling us things we would rather not hear. Jesus knew that human beings desire, hunger and long for whatever we think will fulfill us. We attach ourselves to whatever we think will bless us with joy and bring some peace and satisfaction to our endlessly restless hearts. Unfortunately, our culture schools us to believe, even if our hearts know otherwise, that money and material things will complete us, that they will heal and make us whole; thus we should love and strive for them more than anything else.

The thrust of the gospels is to purify and order our loves so that we truly can grow and flourish and find joy. That means becoming detached from many things in order to be wholeheartedly attached to God. Another name for this is conversion and it is what happens to us when we follow Jesus on the challenging but infinitely hopeful path of discipleship.

What has won our heart? What do we love more than anything else and most fear losing? If our answer to these questions is God, we can rejoice for we have already entered the kingdom of God.

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:

Judges 2:11-19
Matthew 19:16-22

Reflection:

The Israelites are living in the Promised Land.  They are mixed in with many other peoples with different customs, religions, practices, etc.  They have no central government.  Rather, each tribe lives on its piece of territory.  They come together if one or more tribes get in trouble.  God raises up spiritual and military leaders, called the Judges, in times of crisis.

The days of purity of faith, fashioned in their desert journey, are gone.  The Israelites are attracted and enticed by the cultures around them.  They are so diluting their faith that they are becoming an abomination to their Covenant God.   God allows their enemies to overpower them and harm them.  If they can make the association of this punishment to their sinfulness, then they can repent and God will bring good back into their lives.

Even though the stories of God’s mighty acts are told to them and handed down from generation to generation and remembered and re-enacted in their feast-day liturgies, the stimuli of the present, quickly blur and distance them from a sense of God’s presence.  They drift into the oblivion and faithlessness of the present moment.

Doesn’t this sound a lot like what is happening in our Western culture today?  We are absolutely being buried under this, that and another, often needless gadget.  Images, sounds, numbing and shallow philosophies of life, identity denying theories, political parties imprisoned in their ideologies, relativism running rampant and on and on we can go.  Even though the faith we grew up with years ago was not “desert pure”, it was certainly more “God orientating” than what so many people have today.

Jesus has us left with his Church, WORD AND SACRAMENT.  The Word seems to mean something to some but Sacrament struggles to breathe and survive.  The intensity and simplicity of Sacrament no longer have a strong attraction.  Maybe God will have to wipe the slate of our society clean through punishment before we can see again the etches of God’s law that has become buried underneath.

Jesus also left us with His Church, the Holy Spirit.  Come Holy Spirit, renew the face of the earth!

Fr. Blaise Czaja, C.P. preaches parish missions and retreats.  He is a member of the Passionist Community in Houston, Texas.