Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Colossians 1:21-23
Luke 6:1-5

Reflection:

I miss Pope Francis. No other world leader has ever connected with me as he did. Perhaps it was his human touch or that he instinctively knew how fragile we humans are and that we need compassion more than rules.

He taught me to think differently about my faith and thinking differently led to living differently. Because of him I want to believe I am more compassionate, less fearful of people’s differences, and more bold in living what I claim to hold dear.

Today’s Gospel selection reminds me of how Christ-like Francis was. The religious establishment of Jesus’ time had expectations, norms, that every good Jew was to accept as part of daily living.

As a boy in rural Indiana, I remember hiking through a wheat field in June, just before harvest, to crush a few hardened heads of grain, see how unmilled grain tasted. I didn’t care for it. A Hostess Cupcake, made of the same grain, was more to my liking.

To pluck grain on the Sabbath in Jesus time was a no-no, regardless of how hungry or curious one was. When the establishment powers questioned Jesus’ disciples’ simple act of popping a few grains into their waiting mouths, Jesus noted the leaders’ failure to see what was important in God’s eyes.

From God’s perspective, basic human needs are primary. Francis understood this and preached it.

Compassion.
Food.
Shelter.
Clothing.

Everyone needs these to live because God wants his Temples of the Holy Spirit, us, to not just stay alive but to thrive!

The challenge for comfortable middle-class faith communities today is to think like Jesus, not like the culture around us. To follow social norms to the letter, to be accepted in the eyes of others, to submit to the status quo, can miss the point of Christian life.

The prophetic life Jesus invites us to is a life of uncertainty, a life of surprises, because we see the world through Jesus’ eyes.

He wants us to take more risks, to be honest about the what is evil in our midst, to model how God wants humans to live.

Our world is fragile, causing many to react strongly to shore it up, to use whatever means . . . violent or otherwise . . . to keep things stable, to protect our “American Way of Life.” This is not the way of Christ.

What would happen in your comfortable parish if you suggested inviting the unhoused, the hungry, the lonely, the outcasts to share your pristine facilities, to let poor children use your polished gym floor, to regularly serve banquets in your parish hall for people living on the streets, or to open parishioners’ homes to refugees and immigrants, as Pope Francis suggested?

Jesus called for radical love, not radical adherence to rules. Rules can be helpful guidelines, but  more helpful for daily prophetic living are the Corporal Works of Mercy. Curiously, in Matthew 25, Jesus tells us these works of mercy, these “rules,” are the only ones that count when we meet our Maker face to face.

Jim Wayne is a member of the Passionist’s parish of St Agnes in Louisville, Kentucky. He served in the Kentucky House of Representatives for 28 years, is the author of the award-winning novel, The Unfinished Man, and chairs the Sister Thea Bowman Society for Racial Solidarity at St Agnes. He also serves on the Passionists Earth and Spirit Center Board in Louisville.

Scripture:

Colossians 1:15-20
Luke 5:33-39

Reflection:

For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile all things for him.   -Colossians 1:19

Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins,
and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined.   -Luke 5:37

It is widely acknowledged that human beings exhibit a resistance to change. There are many aphorisms and proverbs, even going back to ancient Rome and Greece, that speak to this. Even when our present circumstances are not necessarily what we would choose, we often find ourselves unwilling to try something new.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches that he is coming with something brand new. He uses a very vivid metaphor, at least for his disciples and the people of that time to show this. Everyone in his audience would have understood the danger of putting new wine into old wine skins. Old wine skins were stretched out and stiff and new wine was often still in the process of fermentation, of growing, of changing. As Jesus reminds everyone, putting new wine (new teachings) into old wine skins (our previous ways of thinking) can result in a very messy situation.

He’s challenging us to open our old ways of thinking to let His “new wine” fill us and grow within us. But, as he notes at the end of this passage, “…no one who has been drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’” However, we can trust the teachings of Jesus, no matter how strange it may seem to us. For, as St. Paul says, all are reconciled in Jesus. This, “new wine,” with its emphasis on caring for our brothers and sisters, is the path of reconciliation with God the Father, Jesus the Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

My prayer for us today is that we are able to open our hearts, our minds and our souls to allow this new wine to ferment within us and transform the world.

Talib Huff is a retired teacher, a member of the retreat team at Christ the King Passionist Retreat Center in Citrus Heights, California, and a lay member of Holy Cross Provincial Leadership Team. You may contact him at [email protected].

Scripture:

Colossians 1:9-14
Luke 5:1-11

Reflection:

…They left everything and followed Him…

A fishing story!  A faith story!  What a gift for these days of Indian Summer 2025, as we transition from summertime to the experience, the beauty of Fall.

The crowds were pressing in on Jesus to listen to Him, and He escaped to a nearby fishing boat on the Lake of Gennesaret — at first to better teach the eager, receptive, and large crowd.  The scene in the boat changed when Jesus directed Peter to put out into the deep waters and lower the fishing nets for a catch…  Peter protested, as his crew had been fishing all night and had caught nothing.

Even though we might not be fisherfolk ourselves, we can sympathize with Peter – the professional fisherman.  He knew the waters of the lake, the best times and places for fishing; it was critical for his livelihood.  Along comes Jesus the Carpenter, who tells him to go fishing in the deep water at the wrong time of the day.  Peter’s initial protest, “…we’ve worked hard all night long and have caught nothing…” was immediately followed by his profession of faith in Jesus: “…if you say so, at your command I’ll lower the nets.”  The result:  a boatload of fish — and the call of Jesus to leave everything and follow Him as a disciple.

Truly, God’s ways are not always our ways.  God’s wisdom is what makes the world go ‘round, and we best leave the running of the universe to God (with our cooperation, of course!). 

Jesus invites us to be “fishers of people”, prompting our “Yes!” response to His call — despite our fears, our unworthiness and sinfulness.  In our 21^st Century world:  How are we today responding to Jesus’ call to follow Him and live lives of real love and sacrifice?  As we diligently labor these days, are we willing to follow Jesus’ request to “lower the nets” and say yes like those first disciples…even to leaving everything to follow Him?  Today’s world is in serious need of healing, encouragement, and love.  How can we best “share our gifts”, share our faith, and join with other disciples to “put out into the deep” of 21^st Century life?

Our Prayer:  Jesus, our world is so needy.  We each have our gifts, our fears, our doubts – but with your grace, may we join our lives to share your Good News of God’s Love for all our sisters and brothers.  Send us!  Let’s go “fishing”!

Fr. John Schork, CP, serves as the Province Vocation Director and also as Local Superior of the Passionist Community of Holy Name in Houston, Texas.

Scripture:

Colossians 1:1-8
Luke 4:38-44

Reflection:

We might say that Jesus embodies the reign of God in our world. His actions, words, teachings, active compassion, indeed his very presence – all reveal who God is and how God is, and how God sees our lives and our world.

Thus, where Jesus is, God reigns. To ‘reign’ in the way God reigns is to allow all that is human to reach its full potential. When God reigns, love is the ultimate determinant and most obvious part of human living.

God’s reign is also exercised over other forces too. In a symbolic way, then, the entry of Jesus into Simon’s house left no room for illness and any force that debilitated humanity to thrive. Illness is banished by the presence of Jesus and by his all-powerful word.

God’s reign is to be found wherever we are. Today we see God’s reign finding itself in he synagogue, in the family home of Simon, in the open air and cool of the evening as crowds sough healing and in the itinerant ministry of Jeus that did not afford him a place of security and stability. .

The ‘reign’ of God manifests itself when evil is banished or silenced. The reign of God also breaks into our world when suffering is cast aside. These two movements – the silencing of the demons and the banishment of Simon’s mother-in-law’s fever and later various other diseases – is a sub-theme of today’s reading and worthy of our reflection and meditation.

When did God break into your world and into your life in a way that healed and ‘set right’ things that were not allowing you to live as God intended?

Fr. Denis Travers, C.P., is the Provincial Superior of Holy Spirit Province, Australia.

Scripture:

1 Thessalonians 5:1-6, 9-11
Luke 4:31-37

Reflection:

The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of those of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ.
-First line of Gaudium et Spes

Near the end of Vatican Council II, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (“Gaudium et Spes”) was promulgated. It was the very first constitution published by a Church Council to address the entire world. This was a commitment by the Church to address contemporary political, social, cultural, and economic situations, as well as the inner spiritual well-being of individuals. In order to do this, the Church made a commitment to “read the signs of the times”. And a sociological reading is not enough—prayerful discernment to identify how the Spirit is working through human experiences and the wider world is needed before we respond as a community.

Today’s first reading is a letter that St. Paul wrote to encourage the new Thessalonian Christians. He reminded them they had to address the signs of their times, reassuring them that no misfortune can separate them from Christ, because they are “children of the light”. And he tells them how to do it: “stay alert and sober” for God’s presence in their times and seasons. He also exhorted them to: “encourage one another and build one another up”, for we do not do this alone, but as part of a community.

In recent years, members of Holy Cross Province wrote down what it means to be a Passionist today, prayerfully reflecting on the rule that St. Paul of the Cross wrote in 1721, and the Constitutions appended in 1984. Under the “community” section in the Passionist Way book, we find yet another expression of what St. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians in 51 AD, and the Second Vatican Council’s promulgation to the world in 1965:

“Guided by the Spirit and in response to the signs of our times, we who are in the Passionist Family acknowledge and welcome new forms and models of how the Passionist Way can be lived in community among both vowed and lay. The response to the Spirit may call us to transcend boundaries we have become accustomed to over time. Visioning and co-creating new forms of living the Passionist Way together as the Passionist Family are welcomed with good stewardship, dialogue, and commitment to our shared Passionist Charism.”

Patty Gillis is a retired Pastoral Minister. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Passionist Solidarity Network, and at St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat and Conference Center in Detroit, Michigan.

Scripture:

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Luke 4:16-30

Reflection:

Do you find it difficult to separate your needs from your wants? It’s a lesson we try to teach children, but even as adults, we often blur the line. We think we know what will make us happy, safe, or fulfilled, and we pray for those things. But our wants are not always the same as our true needs.

This was the dilemma the Nazarenes faced when Jesus returned to his hometown synagogue. The Jewish people had waited generations for the promised Messiah. They had endured exile, foreign occupation, and Roman rule. Naturally, they longed for a powerful king—a deliverer who would restore Israel’s strength and dignity. That was the Messiah they wanted.

But when Jesus stood to read from the prophet Isaiah, he offered a different vision: good news for the poor, freedom for captives, sight for the blind, liberty for the oppressed. Then, to everyone’s surprise, he reminded them of two familiar stories—God’s mercy shown not only to Israel, but also to outsiders: a widow in Sidon and Naaman the Syrian.

This was not the triumphant, nationalistic Messiah they had envisioned. Instead, Jesus revealed a Savior whose mission was broader and deeper: to heal bodies and souls, to break chains of sin and oppression, and to extend God’s grace to all people, even beyond the boundaries of Israel. His message was radical. It unsettled them, because it challenged their desires with God’s greater purposes.

And so we are left with the same question: Do we form the Messiah in our image, or do we allow ourselves to be formed in his? Do we pray only for the wants of our own comfort, security, and success? Or do we dare to pray for what we truly need—the healing, freedom, and transformation that only Christ can give?

May we have the courage to receive the Messiah as he is, not as we want him to be.

Mike Owens is coordinator of the Passionist Alumni Association and a member of the Migration Commission of Holy Cross Province. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky. 

Scripture:

Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29
Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a
Luke 14:1, 7-14

Reflection:

In our Gospel reading for Sunday (Luke 14:1, 7-14), Jesus has been invited to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees. He takes notice of how people were choosing where to sit, and He tells a parable of what to do in that kind of situation. The parable ends with: “Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, ‘My friend, move up to a higher position.’ Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted “

Often when I read these words, I can imagine someone figuring out that a way he or she could be exalted is to make some show of being humble, which, of course, would not be sincere.

So, what comes to me is that Jesus is not talking about being exalted over others. Instead, I think He is talking about being lifted up. When we humble ourselves before God, knowing that we don’t deserve the love and mercy shown us in Jesus Christ, then we open ourselves to the love and healing of God, and we are lifted up. We don’t have some kind of elevated status in comparison to others. We are being raised up in God’s grace and love. When we hold on to pour pride, we usually don’t let God in to heal us.

When we see things in this way, and in the light of yet another shooting of yet some more children at yet another house of worship, having status doesn’t seem to have much importance, does it?

We are called to help lift others up as we have been lifted up. In the words of Jesus, we are to invite “the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,” to the feast where Jesus offers the gift of His very self, poured out for us. 

May God lift us and our humble efforts up, so that people may hear and see the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Fr. Phil Paxton, CP, is the Pastor of Holy Family Parish in Birmingham, and St. Mary’s Parish in Fairfield, Alabama. He is the Local Superior of the Passionist Community in Birmingham, Alabama.

Scripture:

1 Thessalonians 4:9-11
Matthew 25:14-30

Reflection:

In today’s gospel, we hear of the master who gives three servants talents before traveling.  Upon his return, he asks each what they have done with these talents.

Although Jesus uses the word talents (a measure of money) in today’s reading, it is reasonable to consider an expanded definition of this word.

Everyone is endowed with talents of varying degrees.  These God given talents are uniquely ours to develop and grow.  Can you name a talent with which you are particularly gifted?  Have you fully pursued this talent for the betterment of others? 

In our daily lives, we have many opportunities to use our talents. Patience in traffic, kindness in shopping lines, empathy for those less fortunate than ourselves, and care for our surroundings and earth, just to name a few.  We should encourage others to hone their skills and develop good talents, recognizing their uniqueness and abilities.  The servant who received only one talent was fearful of his lord and therefore became paralyzed by inaction. 

We are called to unbury our neglected or unused talents.  Promote care for those who have little to nothing, walk in others’ shoes before having an opinion, understand varied cultures and their richness, and most of all, put fear aside and act to be part of the kingdom of God.

Bill Thoman serves on the Passionist Alumni Council and is active with the Share Our Gifts organization of the Passionist Alumni Association. Bill and his wife live in Cincinnati and have 3 daughters and 5 grandchildren.