Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Job 7:1-4, 6-7
1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22-23
Mark 1:29-39

Reflection:

He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.” So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.

-Mark 1: 38-39

Each February, I am reminded of my demon, ignorance. Ignorance especially of my role in the family, community and world in which I live. I’m reminded that as smart and experienced as I am or think I am, I still have a lot to learn. The world and life are much bigger than the little boxes I want to put them in so I can think I know what it’s all about.

Yesterday, I was privileged to listen to a friend, an African-American friend, tell me and the group gathered on Zoom about his ethnic family’s contributions to the country we both share, the United States of America. Some of what he said, I knew. I knew the first citizen of the city I live in, Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable was African.  Some I didn’t know. I did not know that Africans helped found the oldest city in the United States, St. Augustine Florida. I did not know the landscape artist Benjamin Banneker, a free African-American helped survey and map out the lands of the new United State Capitol of Washington DC. in the early 1800’s.

Last month on this site, I shared my early experiences with bread, that simple, and oh so controversial addition or subtraction, depending on where you get your facts, to what is considered a good diet today. As much as I loved that bread my grandmother, my aunts and some good friends made, I’m learning that the ingredients they used left something to be desired. I’ve been trying to add those ingredients back in, well, actually not taking them out in the first place, by milling my own flour and making bread from that. It’s been an adventure, dying to my expectations of what bread “should” be and accepting what it actually turns out to be when I engage with some the basic gifts of the earth, like wheat, salt, water and yeast.

Then I’m told that COVID-19, is the enemy. I wonder is it really? COVID-19 has forced me to take another look at my life, from the food I eat to the history I think I understand. While it has taken away my ability to meet with others face to face, it has introduced me to a new way of gathering, allowing me to gather with family and friends that to this point in my life, have been distant and rarely seen.

Jesus come into my life today and drive out the demons you find here. Please give me the grace to say thanks and amen to the gifts you shower upon me even when they look like they are the enemy.

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

Scripture:

Hebrews 13:15-17, 20-21
Mark 6:30-34

Reflection:

In my late 20’s, while in graduate school to become a psychotherapist, I worked in an outpatient mental health clinic to practice the theory and techniques I learned in the classroom.

I still remember my first client. After meeting with her several times, I scheduled a time with my clinical training supervisor to process my experience.

“I feel I need to know so much more even to begin working with this struggling woman,” I said.

The wise supervisor responded, “Sometimes years of book learning and experience are more than made up by young therapists with enthusiasm and compassion.” She gave me a positive way of looking at my experiences I had not considered.

I recount her words as I read today’s Gospel. The Apostles, earlier in this chapter in Mark’s Gospel, had been sent to their “training sites” after receiving instructions from Jesus. Returning, they reported “all they had done and taught.” As a good supervisor he responded, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”

In that deserted place I imagine Jesus wanted them to gain perspective on what they had just witnessed in their ministries and to let their minds and bodies rest, to be restored so they would be open to seeing things in a fresh light.

There will never be enough hours in a day or years in one’s life to address all the pressing needs of people we hold dear as well as the lost and forgotten who ask for help. Just like the crowds who pressed the Apostles as they tried to get away, by boat, to a deserted place, the cries for help are unending.

During this world-wide pandemic, we look around to see the sick, the grieving, the unemployed, emotionally distraught, addicted, homeless and hungry trying to survive and to heal.

We, as twenty-first century apostles, are, in our unique ways, called by Christ to respond.

To understand exactly what the Lord wants from each of us we must go away to a deserted place, even if it is in our room with the door closed. The discipline of stepping back is as essential to our life with Christ as the discipline of ongoing clinical supervision for even the most seasoned psychotherapist. We all have blind spots and can easily lose our way. Reflection, prayer, rest, a second opinion regarding our decisions…perhaps from a regular spiritual director…are all necessary to grow in our awareness of God’s will for us.

It is easy, whether we are optometrists, teachers, health and mental health care workers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, farmers, parents, spouses, students, priests, lawyers, housekeepers, restaurant workers, religious, grave diggers or sanitary workers, to get stuck in a rut, to lose perspective and develop soul-deadening routines.

Going away to a deserted place each day is the antidote Jesus prescribes today, even if the effort is sometimes sabotaged by the cries of the needy crowd around us. Sitting with the Lord in quiet reflection and speaking to the Lord from the deepest parts of our hearts will give us what we need to face our responsibilities  afresh and with the grace needed to be joyful and hopeful, even in our limitations.

The Lord is waiting for us to get in the boat and sail with on quiet water. Will you accept the invitation today?

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

Scripture:

Hebrews 13:1-8
Mark 6:14-29

Reflection:

The centrality of today feels like a double tragedy.  The Gospel retells the details of the tragic murder of John the Baptist and that is framed in the feast of  St. Agatha.  

We aren’t sure if Agatha was born in Catania or Palermo. The trivial details have long been forgotten. What is remembered is her single-heartedness. What has been passed down and written about is how highly she was venerated in Christian antiquity. She was put to death during the persecution of Decius for her unwavering belief in God.

From her very early years Agatha dedicated her life to God as a consecrated virgin. She desired to give herself totally to Jesus and the Church in a life of prayer and service. A high diplomat named Quintianus thought he could get her to turn away from her vow to God and force her to marry him. Polite proposals escalated to harassment, arrests, imprisonment, and hideous torture. Through all of it Agatha continued her simple prayer of single-heartedness to Christ. Even the prayer attributed to her death, was a single-heart devotion. “Lord, my Creator, you have ever protected me from the cradle; you have taken me from the love of the world, and given me patience to suffer: receive now my soul.”

Agatha’s example is her perseverance in running the race and keeping her eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfector of faith. She embraced the joy found in the presence of Christ,  understanding it as the fullness and completeness of life.

We don’t have the last words of John the Baptist’s life.  Yet as I read this gospel today, I’m mostly hearing the guilt and the lack of peace in Herod was facing.  Not being able to put the event behind him, Herod was haunted by its memory.  So much so that he is starting his own conspiracy theory,  “It is John whom I beheaded. He has been raised up.”  One of the truths of Mark’s writings is that he is direct, short and to the point.  For him to include this detail means it was quite significant.      

Today’s first reading from Hebrews concludes with these words.  “Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you.  Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

That is quite a request given the fact that today we look at two people who were put to death because of their belief in Jesus.    

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

Scripture:

Hebrews 12:18-19, 21-24
Mark 6:7-13

Reflection:

Called and Sent

Today’s Gospel selection from Mark 6 presents the early mission of the twelve apostles.  Previous verses in Mark’s Gospel present the disciples as challenged by and questioning Jesus’ words and deeds.  Now they are summoned to join Jesus in proclaiming the Kingdom of God.  One wonders what must have gone through their minds as this call and mission unfolded. 

Let’s consider:

1. Jesus calls the Twelve together, with specific directions for their mission.  Must be important!
2. They are to head out “two by two”.  Important work benefits by mutual support and effort.  Ok!
3. Jesus gave them “authority” over unclean spirits.  A serious mission, needing a special share in Jesus’ powerful love and healing.
4. They are to travel “lightly”.  They can wear sandals (lots of walking!) and use a walking stick…that’s all.  Hospitality, food, money, etc. will be provided by those who receive them.  Takes a lot of trust to head out in such a detached manner.
5. They did preach repentance…drove out demons…cured the sick.  Sins, sickness, satanic powers – all handled as Jesus had instructed.  For real!  Jesus working in and through them…Change happening…Great!
6. Such experiences, over weeks or months, must have strengthened their faith in Jesus and their desire to continue growth as his disciples.  But…down the road…their zeal as disciples weakened…and later Jesus was arrested and crucified and died…without them.

As 21^st Century disciples of Jesus we are sent to witness to our needy world the Kingdom of God’s love and mercy and healing – a serious mission.  Today’s technology is helpful, but the real “power” is in preaching the Good News by our very lives — based on Jesus’ life and values, a personal witness we offer in our homes, our neighborhoods, our jobs, our society.  Unclean spirits abound today in fear and mistrust, in selfishness and lack of mutual respect, in disregard for both human and environmental life, etc.  The need is great.

And so, we gather, “two by two”, and personally share the Good News of God’s love – even using words as deemed necessary!  May we be blessed by Jesus and encouraged by those fellow disciples who have gone before us.  “The Kingdom of God is at hand.”  Amen.

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

Scripture:

Hebrews 12:4-7, 11-15
Mark 6:1-6

Reflection:

Inner strength is difficult to measure. It lies silently below some of our outer actions and words and can so surprise us. Inner strength has its own potency and is not always obvious.   Sometimes it surprises us when we discover a strength that we did not know we possessed and at other times it conveys strength, inspiration and hope to others.

The Word given to us today reflects on inner strengths from different perspectives.

In the reading from Hebrews, the author encourages the Christian community to stand firm, to be strong and to rely on inner resources to stand firm against evil and sin. It is an appeal to one’s inner will and highlights the value of good practices which help to form good attitudes which in turn allow us to make good and consistent decisions.

By contrast our gospel highlights the inner power of Jesus – his wisdom and clarity of thought and speech. His words astonish his listeners. Perhaps we have had this experience too, when we meet someone who we know at one point of life, but who have been through their own journey of growth, or formation and education and how now possess new skills – skills we had not encountered before. We are often amazed and how someone has grown, matured and marvel at their progress.

For Jesus it seems this was certainly the case.

Perhaps too there is another lesson for us. The reaction to Jesus, from those who we might broadly label kinsfolk or at least, those who had known him since childhood, is most revealing. Their rejection of Jesus, someone they had known and cared about since youth, is determined by two dynamics. They seem unable to trust their own experience – obviously, they are moved and deeply impressed by Jesus words, but they do not allow this experience to have its own value in their world of meaning. They seek a more logical explanation, one that ‘fits’ more readily into their presumptions and worldview. They limit themselves by virtue of their own recourse to logic and familiarity. They trust an idea rather than listening to their inner world and they are the poorer for it.

Faith of its nature is not bound by logic and reason. Certainly, at times we need to explain and articulate our faith, but in its essence, it is a gift, often residing quietly and deeply within. It is from such a base that we listen to and absorb the words and message of Jesus – which of themselves and in their essence defy logic! Let it always be so.

Fr. Denis Travers, C.P., is a member of Holy Spirit Province, Australia. 

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

Scripture:

Malachi 3:1-4
Hebrews 2: 14-18
Luke 2:22-40 or 2:22-32

Reflection:

Surely he did not help angels but rather the descendants of Abraham; therefore, he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every way… Hebrews 2:16-17

This Feast of the Presentation, forty days after Christmas, has been the traditional close of the Christmas season. When I listened to the stories around Jesus’ birth and infancy this year, I was struck by the humility and vulnerability of the Holy Family when Jesus “became like his brothers and sisters in every way” (today’s second reading from Hebrews) .

In today’s Gospel, we find Mary, Joseph and Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem practicing the ancient customs of Mary’s purification after childbirth, and Jesus’ presentation: the offering of the first-born son. Even though Mary was told by the angel that she was “full of grace” when he presented her with her special vocation, she still went to be purified. And she and Joseph took Jesus to offer him to God, even though he came from God. Mary and Joseph, observant Jews that they were, humbly complied with the law of Moses and performed the rituals.

Since they could not afford a sheep, Mary and Joseph gave the offering of the poor: two turtledoves and two young pigeons. This is a reminder of their precarious circumstances: the stable birth, Jesus’ escape from the murderous Herod, and their flight into Egypt. The Incarnation means literally to “take on flesh”.  Jesus in taking on flesh, fully entered into our vulnerable human condition and “became like his brothers and sisters in every way”.

In our American culture, success is often seen as being ever more prosperous, influential, and in control. The Holy Family shows us a different way: humbly trusting in the Holy Spirit to lead our lives. With each Christmas season that passes, may this countercultural message sink in more!

Patty Gillis is a retired Pastoral Minister. She served on the Board of Directors at St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat and Conference Center in Detroit. She is currently a member of the Laudato Si Vision Fulfillment Team and the Passionist Solidarity Network.

Scripture:

Hebrews 11:32-40
Mark 5:1-20

Reflection:

The reading today from Mark’s Gospel is the longest exorcism story in the New Testament.  The driving out of demons probably strikes most of us today as strange, to say the least.  But for the ancient world in which Jesus lived, the personified power of evil was viewed as a real threat that could wound and even destroy human life.  In fact, in Mark’s Gospel exorcism is a characteristic action of Jesus’ mission.  The first thing Jesus does in Mark’s account, is to liberate a man in the synagogue of Capernaum who was convulsed with “an evil spirit.” 

Reading the account of the Gadarene demoniac brings us deeper into the dynamic force of Jesus’ mission.  He and his disciples cross over the Sea of Galilee to Gerasa, a region in the Decapolis, a league of ten cities populated by Gentiles.  As Jesus comes ashore a man possessed by a demon approaches him.  Mark vividly describes the man’s plight: he lives among the tombs (the living dead); he is self-destructive, bruising himself with stones; he is out of control—breaking the chains and shackles that people had used to restrain him; and not surprisingly this poor tormented man cries out day and night in torment.  Mark’s description puts in existential terms what being “possessed by a demon” meant—a human being isolated, ill, dehumanized.

This is the type of situation Jesus, the great healer and reconciler, the one filled with God’s own healing Spirit, has come to transform. The evil spirit recognizes what it is up against in confronting Jesus: “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?  I adjure you by God, do not torment me!”  But there is no question that the power of Jesus to heal is stronger than any evil.  Jesus demands to know the demon’s name.  “Legion is my name. There are many of us.”  This is a fascinating detail of the story—the Latin word “legio” is the term used for the Roman army situated on the Golan heights close to where this story takes place.  The oppression represented by the might of Rome choking the people of Israel was another existential example of what being tormented by evil felt like.

Jesus proceeds to liberate the man from his torment—sending the demon into a herd of pigs which rush down into the sea and drown.  Of course, for the Jewish background of this story, pigs were an unclean animal and the sea was a fearsome place, a proper end for evil.

Most important in the story is the outcome.  The man who was so de-humanized and wracked by suffering is now completely healed, “sitting there clothed and in his right mind.”   A human being restored to life.  When the people from the nearby village come to see what had happened, they are thunderstruck to find the man they had feared and isolated in the tombs now fully restored, and, as was often the case in the biblical world, they are overwhelmed by fear and awe of such divine power and plead with Jesus to depart from them.  Not so the man who had been healed by Jesus.  He pleads to stay with him.  Instead, Jesus gives him a commission: “Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his mercy has done for you.”  The man, liberated and thrilled, becomes the first Gentile missionary—going throughout the Decapolis region, proclaiming “what Jesus had done for him and all were amazed.”

Few stories in the Gospels match the drama of this event or more clearly reveal the mission of Jesus—and the mission of those who follow Jesus then and now.  When confronting human suffering in all its forms, the Christian is to use God’s grace for healing and reconciliation.  In a world still filled with suffering and injustice, the story of the Gadarene demoniac forcefully reminds us of our Christian responsibility.

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:

1 Corinthians 7:32-35 
Mark 1:21-28    

Reflection:

Be free of anxieties. /v.32a
I know who you are – the Holy One of God! /v.24b

Happy Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time!

It’s a really interesting thought.  Nutty, actually.

“Have no anxiety at all.”

Every time I read the first line of this particular passage from 1st Corinthians I laugh, sarcastically, and say “yeah, RIGHT! In this life?  No way.”  And I have a sneaking suspicion that I’m probably not alone.  I mean, just think of the simple things we are worried about every day: food and shelter and clothing, taxes, work, bills, family, friends, and oh so much more.

And then these things:  Betrayal.     Hate.     Murder.     War.     Illness.     Death.

But what about our spirit? 

Do we worry about our soul?

I was reading Charles Dickens’ “The Christmas Carol” the other night.  Ok, I know that you’re saying “The Christmas Carol?  Puccinelli, you’re the one who’s NUTTY!”  Well, you’re probably right… but bear with me for a moment. 

I think we probably all will know this story… A wealthy miser called Scrooge is tormented by 4 spirits: at first, one of an old friend, and then three others who turn the screws on him until he’s frenzied and nearly out of control.  It’s only at that moment that he accepts the call of God through the glory of Christmas, the point in time when he begins following the example of Christ, that he is saved.  It’s Jesus that saves Scrooge. 

It’s not unlike today’s Gospel (Mark 1:21-28), when Jesus calls out to a man tortured by a frantic spirit and commands him healing, peaceful salvation. What a gift to know that God wants us to be peaceful and happy, and is willing to help us get there.  It is Jesus who saves us.  All we have to do is recognize Jesus for who he really is: The Christ, the Lamb who takes our sins. 

“The Holy One of God.”

Dear God of all healing, thank you for the incredible prize of your powerful salvation.  Please grant us the grace to know you and have all anxiety flee our souls at the sound of your voice. Amen.

Peace and love to you today, and forever.

Paul Puccinelli is Director of Liturgy & Music at St. Rita Parish in Sierra Madre, California, and a member of the retreat team at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center.