Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Isaiah 41:13-20
Matthew 11:11-15

Reflection:

The writings of the prophets resonate so strongly in our hearts right now. Everyone I know is weary of the coronavirus with its isolation and separation, of the deep polarization that is tearing our country apart, and with hearing about the cruelty we humans can inflict on one another. As Jesus puts it, “the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent are taking it by force.” Of course, the “prosperity preachers” say that if you follow Jesus, God will shower you with wealth, happiness, long life, and all good things. But Jesus promised peril, persecution, and the sword, with fractured families and loved ones turning against each other. In this milieu, Jesus’ words ring truer than those preachers.

Yet, amid enough suffering and tragedy to lead anyone to despair, the prophets hold out a promise: God will always have the final word. Even when we go so far astray that God has reason to call us “worm Israel” and “maggot Jacob”, God remains faithful. That is the message of Advent. When all is dark, we wait for the light. When hope seems lost, it is only obscured from our view.     

The challenge is to change our hearts, attitudes, minds, and actions in ways that make us worthy of a better name and allow us to not only see but to spread that light. God can’t do it without us. So perhaps our task for the remaining two weeks of Advent is to examine whether what we have done in the first two weeks has gotten us any closer to that goal. In what ways have I softened my heart, truly listened? How have my actions protected those most vulnerable to COVID-19 so more people can live? What have I read that has opened my eyes to the pervasive and deepening suffering in our own country, and what have I done about it? Where have I most closely adhered to the teachings of Pope Francis and the Church that call for mercy, compassion, and inclusion and how can I align myself more closely to those teachings?

Christ is waiting to be born in you, in me, in our country, and in our world so the light can shine in the darkness. We need to change ourselves for that to happen. So, what are we waiting for? Time is short. Let’s act.

Amy Florian is a teacher and consultant working in Chicago.  For many years she has partnered with the Passionists.  Visit Amy’s website: http://www.corgenius.com/.

Scripture:

Isaiah 40:25-31
Matthew 11:28-30

Reflection:

The Night Sky of Advent

This is the week of the Geminid meteorite shower, the most spectacular of the year. If the sky is clear on Sunday night two meteorites a minute may be seen streaking across the sky. Psalm 8 prays, ‘When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you set in place – What is man that you should be mindful of him…you have made him little less than the angels’.

Isaias is moved by stars too, ’Lift up your eyes and see who has created these [stars]: He leads out their army and numbers them. By his great might and the power of his strength not one of them is missing!’

Isaias and Israel looked up at the stars from their places of exile; Juan Diego, whose feast we celebrate today, appreciated the creation that surrounded the Aztec peoples; and we share the awesome wonder for the Creator of the starry night. But we also share with them the shadows of Advent. We wait in darkness, we journey at night, walking not by light but in faith. 

The God who calls the stars by name, has chosen a people who knows God’s love as the faithful and tender love of a mother. We have hope as we look into the shadows of Advent. But the Aztec people, who suffered the destruction of their world, the disease and defeat brought by their conquerors, did not know the love story of Israel, nor did the of the missionaries capture their hearts. They knew God through creation. But in the day of Juan Diego the night sky of December was not hope and peace. If they saw the meteorites of Gemini they were fiery omens of destruction.

Our night journey this year is surrounded by unrest, shared convictions and values are questioned. We walk in Covid-Time. The shadows of Advent are the places in our lives and our shared world that await the light of our coming redeemer.

Can a shooting star be a sign of hope? If Juan Diego can gather a tilma full of roses in winter and never tire of telling everyone about the beautiful, gentle dark skinned woman who smiled as she called him ‘her little Juan’….If the wind made by the wings of a butterfly can affect a star, can we hold the suffering of our present moment before the Creator of the stars and pray today’s Scriptures in darkness?

The Lord does not grow weary. He gives strength to the fainting, for the weak he makes vigor abound. Though young men faint and grow weary, and youths stagger an fall, they that hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles wings; they will run and not grow weary, walk and to grow faint.

Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome.

Fr. William Murphy, CP is the pastor of Immaculate Conception parish in Jamaica, New York.

Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Scripture:

Genesis 3:9-15, 20
Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12
Luke 1:26-38

Reflection:

Today we celebrate Mary’s immaculate conception. Mary was chosen by God to bear the Son of God, while free from the stain of original sin, from the moment of her own conception. Mary was uniquely qualified to carry Jesus in her womb. Because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, we are all able to carry Jesus in our hearts. Let Mary’s obedience inspire us to give God our assent to bring Christ to the world. Bearing Christ to the world is not only the responsibility of Mary, but also every Christian’s responsibility too. We have an obligation to bear Christ into our lives and witness his life and resurrection and God’s saving plan to everyone we meet.

As Saint Paul wrote, “in him we were also chosen,” destined in accordance with God’s will (Ephesians 1:11). As Christians, we have accepted Jesus into our hearts and our lives, and we also receive Him in the Eucharist. We are all called and empowered to bring Christ into our world. May Mary’s example give us the confidence and courage to accept this call.

As a son, I think about how my mother felt when she bore me into this world. Did she herald my coming? Was she pleased by the life I lived? My mother went home to God, a few weeks ago, Amen. Her death has led me to contemplate on the many memories I have of her showing her love for God, for others and for me, and appreciating all that she had done for me in her life here on earth.  A mother’s love is unfailing and forever. Mary, knowing that she was to bear the Son of God, must have been overwhelmed with grace, disbelief, and honor. Not knowing what all of this meant, she still said yes, and put her life into the hands of God with faith.

What a blessing to be conceived without original sin. What a blessing to be chosen by God to bear his Son. What a blessing to be the vessel of Our Lord and Savior. What a blessing to have a soul that is full of the grace of God. Mary did not go about saying, look at me. Mary obeyed God, did everything for his glory, and the good of all mankind.  

Mary was selfless and holy, and it always starts with our parents. Her mother and father were considered saints also. They made sure the human part was well taken care of, so God could take care of the divine part. Jesus was human and at the same time divine. Saint Ann and Saint Joachim loved Mary first and prepared a perfect vessel for the delivery of a perfect son, in Jesus Christ.

We must too, go out in faith bearing witness to the life of Christ by our words, actions, and deeds, everywhere we go. We must proclaim God as the Father, Christ as the Son, and the love of the Holy Spirit as one. We must show everyone we meet what the foot of the cross looks like.

Deacon Peter Smith serves at St. Mary’s/Holy Family Parish in Alabama, a religion teacher at Holy Family Cristo Rey Catholic High School in Birmingham, and a member of our extended Passionist Family.

Scripture:

Isaiah 35:1-10
Luke 5:17-26

Reflection:

Back in the early ‘60’s in a time before the Internet, when life seemed simpler and you actually had to use books to do research, we Passionist high school seminarians gathered in the auditorium/gym to sing-a-long with the Kingston Trio, or at least, our version of them with the likes of one of my classmates, Terry Double and two other seminarians whose faces I can see, but whose names completely escape me. Along with many other folk songs we’d sing the Merry Minuet written by Sheldon Harnick:

They’re rioting in Africa, they’re starving in Spain.
There’s hurricanes in Florida, and Texas needs rain.
The whole world is festering with unhappy souls.
The French hate the Germans, the Germans hate the Poles.
Italians hate Yugoslavs, South Africans hate the Dutch.
And I don’t like anybody very much!

You might think that reading from today’s scripture selection where Isaiah tells us of all the great things we have to look forward to would be more appropriate for seminarians;

The desert and the parched land will exult;
the steppe will rejoice and bloom.
They will bloom with abundant flowers,
and rejoice with joyful song. (IS 35:1-2)

At least, Isaiah sounds more hopeful than Harnick’s lyrics above.

I guess it wasn’t much different for St. Ambrose whose feast we celebrate today. Ambrose found himself in a world wrangling with issues of Faith and dogma. The story goes in Wikipedia that St. Ambrose was good at bringing people together, building bridges as Jesus did for the paralytic in today’s gospel selection:

But that you may know
that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”–
he said to the one who was paralyzed,
“I say to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.” 
He stood up immediately before them,
picked up what he had been lying on,
and went home, glorifying God. (LK 5:24-25)

I do find hope when I come together with others whether face to face or online that we will seek to find and share what we have in common rather than where we disagree. Hopefully we will follow in the footsteps of Jesus and St. Ambrose, building the world of Isaiah and not that of “The Merry Minuet”.

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

Scripture:

Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11
2 Peter 3:8-14
Mark 1:1-8

Reflection:

Are you weary of the Covid-19 pandemic, yearning for the relief a vaccine promises? I am.

When this scourge ends, I can’t wait to hug friends and relatives again, dine together without fear of contagion, travel for vacations and recycle my growing stash of masks.

A similar longing for a better way to live is front and center in the opening lines of today’s Gospel. The common people of Palestine, at the time of John the Baptist, were weary of imperial propaganda and oppression emanating from Rome. They wanted it to end and looked to young, charismatic leaders to restore a life they once had…free of cruel foreigners who worshiped emperors and elite Jewish leaders who compromised themselves in order to avoid Rome’s wrath while burdening the poor with trivial rule upon rule.

In these first lines of Mark’s succinct Gospel, the author uses the propaganda tag of the Roman empire…”gospel”… to shock the reader to attention. Everyone knew the word gospel announced military victories and new rulers. This Gospel is of Jesus Christ the Son of God…not the divine man Caesar.

As we read Mark throughout this new liturgical year, we notice every word, phase and anecdote is charged with meaning. It is the shortest of the four Gospels, but is unique in its descriptions of the role of Jesus and His message to upend the status quo and inaugurate the Reign of God on the earth.

So, as the Gospel begins, the author alerts us to a radical story about to unfold. The writer wants the readers to be as attentive as when the propaganda machine of Rome announces another conquest or another Caesar. It is a news bulletin delivered by a man noticeably outside the establishment, wearing camel hair and a leather belt, living in the wilderness on honey and locust.

John is on serious mission: to get people ready for an amazing transformation of everything familiar. It’s as if he is saying, “Your old, selfish, self-destructive, fearful ways must cease. This man, this ‘anointed leader,’ who I am introducing, will astound you and the world. So change now, and ritualize your change with a baptism of water by me, so you can be open to receive his mind-boggling message. This message is going to be so strong, it will radically change everything. But be warned. This good news at first might scare you. And it may well cost you your life.”

Indeed, it is a subversive message, aimed directly at Caesar and those abusing power in the Jewish social order. As one theologian has stated, these opening lines are “a declaration of war upon the political culture of the empire.”

For us living in the first quarter of the Twenty-first Century, can we permit ourselves to be re-awakened to the power of Jesus coming into our world? As Pope Francis encourages repeatedly, Christians must examine our lives in light of our loyalties. Do I worship idols? Is any project, achievement, possession, financial portfolio, amusement, drug or alcohol, sport or hobby or organization a false god to whom I devote excessive time and attention, neglecting what God asks of me?

Advent can be the time for the self-examination Pope Francis advises. Setting a quiet reflection period each day before Christmas can help us excise our idols and rededicate ourselves to living totally as God wants. This will usher in a joy and energy that withers our weariness…even in the middle of a pandemic. But be warned, it may also cost you your life.

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

Scripture:

Isaiah 30:19-21, 23-26
Matthew 9:35-10:1, 5a, 6-8

Reflection:

Throughout Advent the church gives us readings to reflect on from the prophet Isaiah. Many of these texts were spoken to a group of people who had lost their land, their culture, and who believed that God was punishing them for their unfaithfulness. The temple, the place of God’s holy dwelling, had been taken away from them, and destroyed by the Babylonians. As you ponder this reading today, did you hear the pealing of the bells of hope in the midst of trying times?   Even though they are in foreign land, God looks after them.

The voice of the Lord, spoken through the prophet is a voice which offers hope to people in the times of hopelessness.  How does the voice of hope speak to us today when we are absorbed not only by the exterior darkness of the lack of sunlight, but also the darkness of the uncertainty of our tomorrows?  What gives us courage to move forward when the ground under our feet seems to shift every few weeks?  Is there hope when we are tired of hearing about surges and statistics?  Maybe it isn’t a coincidence that the proclamations of imminent distribution of a vaccine have begun ringing now that Advent is here. It is the dangling of a carrot before humanity to give us some kind of hope to reach out towards something beyond us. 

Hope is a very powerful energy in the human spirit. For when forces pull us down hope sits just beyond our reach and asks us to reach forward, move forward, step forward. Recall the Gospel story where Jesus is walking on the water toward the disciples in the boat and Jesus calls to Peter to get out of the boat and walk to him on the water.  As Peter gets out of the boat his eyes are fixed on that before him.  He is looking outwards beyond the next few steps.  He doesn’t begin sinking until he takes his eyes off Jesus and begins looking down. Hope is that same force. It’s the looking out beyond ourselves to something that is right, true and attainable. Yet we must strive to keep taking another step and reaching to grasp something just beyond our reach. Isaiah speaks words of hope to keep those in captivity from sinking into the darkness.  And it is not Isaiah’s words.  He is speaking from the compassion of God who sees the abyss of darkness in the people who generations before were called the chosen ones. The Old Testament has numerous places where God brings hope to people out of divine compassion. 

Moving into the New Testament the incarnation, the birth of Jesus is about the compassion of God coming among us.  How many times have you heard, “A people who walk in darkness have seen a great light”? Today’s gospel moves this a significant step further.  It isn’t about us calling out to God to show compassion, it is about Jesus empowering people to be the compassion of his Father.  For those who have no imagination how to do this, perhaps they can begin taking a lesson from some of the smallest of children.  Have you noticed children have wisdom beyond the common sense of adults? For example, recently I was listening to a video from Valerie Kaur, who was describing coming home after a dark difficult day.  And she says:

I come home and my son says, “dance time mommy?” We turn on the music and I kinda sway a little. And then the music rises and my son says, “Pick me up mommy.” I pick him up and throw him in the air, and my little girl now 11 months old we twirl and throwing her up in the air, and suddenly I’m smiling and laughing, and suddenly joy is rushing through my body. When we breathe we let joy in. And joy reminds us of everything that is good, and beautiful, and worth fighting for.   How are you protecting your joy every day?

In a time where so many people are saying, “All I want for Christmas is for this year to be over with,” my question is, how are you bringing hope, joy and the compassion of God into all this darkness. I believe it starts by knowing God’s joy and giving it away one person at a time. 

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

Scripture:

Isaiah 29:17-24
Matthew 9:27-31

Reflection:

Vision & Vitality

The richness of the Advent season continues to gradually unfold for us and our needy world.  Today’s Gospel selection presents Jesus dealing with the blindness of two men who cried to Him for help.  Jesus asked about their faith in Him and his power to heal — and with their statement of faith, they were cured!  With that miracle, word of Jesus’ activity spread throughout the land.

Humanly, the lack of sight / vision:  a real burden!  To miss seeing people, the beauties of nature, movies, television – even this computer page – is challenging, if not threatening.  We may close our eyes for some moments and try to imagine the experience of totally blind people, but our experience is limited:  we simply open our eyes and see again!  Even trying to see without necessary eyeglasses or contact lenses is frustrating for us.

The Scriptures frequently present personal sinfulness in terms of blindness, and redemption in terms of renewed sight.  At Baptism, our eyes were opened to “see” the Lord Jesus in faith.  For many of us our Baptism event was years ago; today’s Advent Season celebration asks us:  What about our “sight”?  Are our eyes open?  Do we see Jesus present today, offering love and redemption? 

God is present to us everywhere, in the air we breathe, in nature – and especially in people.  God’s joy radiates in the smile of an infant, God’s acceptance in the affection of a young child, God’s vitality in the energy of an adolescent, God’s power in the strength of an athlete, God’s beauty in the loveliness of a human being, God’s concern in the devotion of a parent or the ministry of a medical professional, God’s wisdom in the experience and insight of the elderly.  Advent invites us to pause to look more deeply at life and faith…what “sights”!

Advent 2020 calls us not live hindered by darkness and gloom – even in these Pandemic times.  With the two blind men, we’re invited to profess our faith in Jesus, to acknowledge His loving presence, to serve Jesus and our sisters and brothers with eyes wide open.  Today’s responsorial psalm reassures us: “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?…wait for the Lord with courage; be stouthearted and wait for the Lord.”  Good News for our pandemic-challenged world!

“Come, Lord Jesus.  Help us to see with the eyes of faith!”

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