Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Exodus 20:1-17
1 Corinthians 1:22-25
John 2:13-25

Reflection:

“Take these out of here, 
and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” -John 2:16

I just returned from breakfast with an old friend. But for the masks we wore and the fact that we were the only two in a restaurant that in pre Covid-19 days, would have been packed, it was almost like “the good old days”.

Scott and I are two different souls who from our different backgrounds, probably should not agree on anything. Scott got an MBA from Harvard; I went to the local Catholic University known for it’s social justice stances that few people would have heard of in the 1960’s, DePaul. (Today it’s much better known). Scott comes from a family of two children; I come from a family of seven. Scott is politically on the opposite end of the spectrum than I and yet we had just a marvelous time together sharing memories, but also visions of what we would like to see life be like.

While this never came up, I believe we both agree that the answer to today’s issues is less—not more. This idea seems to be counter-cultural in 21^st Century America, but we seemed to agree that with all our material wealth, we still have a lot to learn about taking care of one another. I wonder if that is not the same issue Jesus saw when he “…spilled the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables…” (Jn 2:15) 

Thank you, Jesus, for challenging the money changers and political powers of your day and please give me the courage to do the same. Maybe then, like you, I’ll be able to take up my cross of service and love in my little corner of the world and experience a real Easter joy with you, my family and my world in this year of 2021.

Dan O’Donnell is a Passionist Partner and a longtime friend of the Passionists.  He lives in Chicago.  

Scripture:

Micah 7:14-15, 18-20
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Reflection:

The familiar story of the prodigal son is traditionally a lesson about the forgiveness of God. But, on a deeper level it is a story, addressed to the elite of Israel, of Jesus’ radical notion that God is not who they think God is.

The Pharisees and scribes were the powerful religious establishment in Jesus’ time in history. The Jewish people deferred to these leaders when interpreting the scriptures and setting rules for everyday living. But through the generations preceding Jesus, these leaders became more and more rigid in their ever-expanding and detailed rules. Self-righteous, they laid heavy expectations on ordinary Jews like the poor, the weak and the working families in Nazareth, the ones most familiar to Jesus.

In contrast, Jesus took a fresh understanding of God’s relationship to people, forged with years of study, prayer and reflection on what he witnessed growing up in that out of the way village. Instead of the Jews justifying themselves with archine rules and rituals, which bordered on the absurd at times, Jesus focused his followers on the words of prophets like Micah, in today’s first reading, and psalms like today’s 103.

Micah says: “Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance; who does not persist in anger forever, but delights rather in clemency, and will again have compassion on us, treading underfoot our guilt? You have cast into the depths of the sea all our sins…”

And Psalm 103: “As far at the east is from the west, so far has he put our transgressions from us.”

Jesus restores the Scriptural concept of God as being prodigal…i.e. lavish…in welcoming everyone, especially the most outcast, the most wicked, the most offensive criminals.

Our God is not a God of rules and regulations, no matter how practical some guidelines are for daily living. Our God, Jesus tells us, ignores the misdeeds of the sinner and goes out to meet the sinner with open arms. We have only to stand before God in all our vulnerability, as did the wayward son in today’s gospel.

No better lesson about God’s welcoming mercy is the picture of Pope Francis’ gesture on Holy Thursday, washing the feet of prisoners, those society shuns and locks away because of their criminal acts…murder, rape, extortion, theft, assault, fraud, and whatever else the devil can concoct.

Pope Francis gesture is one of absolute, unconditional mercy. He is imitating Jesus, who imitates his Father.

Let us go and do likewise.

Jim Wayne is a board member of the Passionist Solidarity Network (PSN), and author of The Unfinished Man. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Jeremiah 17:5-10
Luke 16:19-31

Reflection:

Wealth, Poverty, and Freedom

Today’s Gospel selection from St. Luke shares the familiar parable of the unnamed rich man and the poor man Lazarus.  In it Jesus highlights how “things” can blind us and hinder our need to reach out to those closest to us who are in need — the poor.

Jesus has come to free us from our “slavery”.  Freedom is the key to the reality of both poverty and wealth.  If we are attached to material things, we easily forfeit our freedom…like the rich man in today’s Gospel with his fine clothes and sumptuous meals.  Apparently, he was so wrapped up in his pleasures that he paid little attention to God or his fellow human beings…even poor Lazarus begging at his door!  The rich man sacrificed his freedom because of his attachment to the pleasures of wealth – he had turned inward, selfish.

On the other hand, being poor limits a person’s freedom!  We need a basic share of God’s material gifts to have the leisure of time and thought to worship God and also be concerned about fellow humans.  If a person must spend their every energy trying to secure basic necessities – wondering about their next meal, or health or clothing or lodging – then they can hardly focus on God or others.  That person has lost their freedom because of the destitution which is poverty.

The extremes of wealth or poverty are likely beyond any of us who frequent this web site.  Yet, Lent 2021 asks us:  how free are we??  Are we satisfied with moderation — or are we constantly yearning for more?  For what do we usually prayer?  How generous are we in reaching out to others in our thoughts, our prayer, our deeds?  Perhaps selfishness has a grip on us as well and limits our freedom…

This Lent we seek renewal in our prayer and our generosity, helping us move beyond selfishness to reaching out to others…be they the poor beggar at our door or on our streets, or the family member or co-worker or stranger who needs a listening ear and an encouraging word.  Together we can move beyond our COVID facial masks and social distancing…to sharing healing and life.  Jesus and Lazarus call out to us today.

“O God, may we be steadfast in faith and effective in our work.”

Fr. John Schork, C.P. is the Vocation Director for Holy Cross Province. He lives at St. Vincent Strambi Community in Chicago, Illinois. 

Scripture:

Daniel 9:4-10
Luke 6:36-38

Reflection:

The first reading from the Book of Daniel for this Monday in Lent is an anguished cry of sorrow and an urgent plea for God’s mercy.  This book was written some 160 years before the birth of Jesus by an anonymous Jewish author living at a time of great suffering and confusion for Israel. They found themselves under the brutal hand of the Seleucids, a Greek dynasty located in what is now Syria that dominated the entire region.  The head of this empire was the notorious Antiochus IV Epiphanes who imposed a heavy tax burden on the people and constantly interfered with their lives.

The author cries out to God for help on behalf of the people, recognizing their own failings and infidelity but, above all, appealing to God’s mercy: “Lord, great and awesome God, you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you and observe your commandments!”  While confessing the people’s sins, the author counts on God’s compassion: “But yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness!”

The Responsorial Psalm 79 picks up the same refrain: “Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.  Remember not against us the iniquities of the past; may your compassion quickly come to us, for we are brought very low.”

Pope Francis, as is so often the case, finds the right words to describe our hope in God’s mercy.  He speaks of Jesus as “the human face of the Father’s mercy.”  How true this is in the Gospels: Jesus reaching out in compassion to heal the sick; Jesus treating the woman caught in adultery with utmost respect and kindness; Jesus not hesitating to touch the leper’s blighted skin; Jesus giving sight to Bartimaeus as other try to suppress the man’s cry for help; Jesus inviting himself to dine with Zacchaeus, the despised tax collector; Jesus forgiving the very ones who nailed him to the cross.  The list could go on for a long time—Jesus, truly the human face of the Father’s mercy.

No matter what our failings might be, God’s mercy is ours to receive—that is a fundamental conviction of our Scriptures.  And, if that is so, then we, too, as followers of Jesus must extend mercy to others.  That is the message of today’s reading from the Gospel of Luke.  Jesus tells his disciples, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”  Recognizing our human limits and failures—and nevertheless God’s loving embrace of us—Jesus urges us: “Stop judging and you will not be judged.  Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.  Forgive and you will be forgiven.  Give and gifts will be given to you.”

What would life be like in our families, in our country, in our world—if such a spirit of humility and generosity prevailed?

Fr. Donald Senior, C.P. is President Emeritus and Professor of New Testament at Catholic Theological Union.  He lives at the Passionist residence in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.

Scripture:

Genesis 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18
Romans 8:31b-34
Mark 9:2-10

Reflection:

Together we enter into this 2^nd week of Lent, continuing our journey to Easter, faithful to our commitment of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. God calls us to come to the mountain top, to search out those people, places and events that speak to us of God’s love and everlasting goodness.  God calls us to bring our prayer, fasting and almsgiving to the mountain.  During our lifetime we are called to come to the mountain often and in doing so, enter more deeply into relationship with our brother, Jesus Christ.

God has given us eyes to see, ears to hear, a heart to love and a voice to speak the message of the gospel.  This life that Jesus calls us to does not just happen during these six weeks of Lent. This season of Lent calls us to renewal and reflection.  This can only happen when we take the time to move away from our busyness, our fears, our selfishness, our preoccupation with SELF! 

COVID-19 has forced us to step back and take stock in our life, calling us to change in ways we did not ever expect. In a way it has been a year of Lent.  It has been a life-changing time for all of us. We seem to be rounding the bend, beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel as the vaccine is becoming more available to people.  The sacrifices experienced during Lent bring us to the promise of new life at Easter!

In the coming weeks, spend some quiet time to just BE!  Maybe a good place to hang out, would be on that mountaintop with our friend Jesus.  Let us ask ourselves what is it that we want to take away from these mountain times?  How am I being Changed, Challenged, Empowered to follow the example of Abraham, Peter, James and John and to call others to do the same?

Have a blessed Lent!

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

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 26:16-19
Matthew 5:43-48

Reflection:

Today’s reading is so appropriate for today! I am so weary, seeing tempers flare. Matthew writes of loving everyone, friend or foe! We are so blessed to live in a society of freedom, and that gives us opportunities to speak our hearts. Yet, some take comments personally – friendships and families break apart, and some no longer love their friend and their enemy. Where is the love of Christ in that? Jesus tells us to be perfect, just as our heavenly Father is perfect! So, this lent may be a good time to fast from gossip, judgment and hate, and feast on brotherly love, patience and understanding. God bless you all!

Patty Masson supports the Passionists from Spring, Texas.

Scripture:

Ezekiel 18:21-28
Matthew 5:20-26

Reflection:

Conversion. It’s pretty close to the Latin “conversio,” meaning a turning round, revolving; alteration, or change. And Lent is all about those things.

To convert implies that we can look at ourselves as in a mirror. Not one of those goofy mirrors on the boardwalk or midway that distorts our image, or one of the playful apps on our smart phone that dresses us up in silly outfits. In a mirror we see ourselves reflected back with all that is good and all that we recognize as needing some work. Lent has always been about becoming a better person by doing something about the flaws that keep us from being all we know we can be and all we know God calls us to be.

But we live in such unforgiving times that “turning around” or “altering” our lives is harder than ever. There seems little room to recognize that we can and do grow and mature. Images on the Internet are forever. Tweets in a moment of frustration are thrown back at us many years later. Indiscretions of youth are assumed to be permanent personality disorders.

The Lenten clarion call, “The kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel,” seems not as easy as simply saying, “I’m sorry. I’m going to do better.” The tether to past sins—from our own guilt to buried tweets—can prove difficult to sever. The starting point of conversion is the honest appraisal and recognition of the need for a course correction. Public personalities who say, “That statement/action is not who I really am,” might rephrase that. “That is not the person I am hoping to grow into, and I am sorry. I want to do better.”

We are flawed. We are sinful. We do need Lent. We can change. And we need to allow ourselves and certainly others to change.

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.