Daily Scripture

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 4:6b-15
Luke 6:1-5

Reflection:

The LORD is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. Psalm 145:18

In our reflections, it is usually the gospel or epistle that receives the greatest focus. After all, one of the words of our Lord, the other, voices from the early Church. But this month my eye was caught by one line from Psalm 145: “The LORD is near to all who call upon him.”

In this time of social distancing, being near to someone can seem dangerous. I’ve noticed how people give each other greater space when passing in the stores or streets, often well beyond the required six feet. It can feel awkward to stand or even walk closer these days. Many people I’ve spoken to miss the closeness of others. And here in California, many of us have been driven inside due to the smoke from the wildfires, which has put even greater restraints on meeting and greeting our friends and neighbors.

And yet, when I was recently walking around others in a store (at an appropriate distance from everyone else), I found myself spontaneously blessing and praying for them. Although I was physically distancing, in some ways I felt closer to these strangers. We are all in this together. And God is with us as well. Later in the gospel of Luke, Jesus tells us, “The kingdom of God is in your midst.”

Consider these two thoughts together: “God is near us when we call upon Him,” and “The kingdom of God is in our midst.” Perhaps the space we are keeping between us can help us see what has been here all along. In my youth, there was a time when I went through a crisis of loneliness. My spiritual director reminded me, “God is closer to you than your jugular vein.” We can often lose sight of that which we hold too closely. But even in our blindness to what is familiar, God is there.

My prayer for myself today is that I remember to call upon God when I feel distant or lonely in these unusual (and at all) times.

Along with working as an independent teacher, Talib Huff volunteers and is the retreat team at Christ the King Retreat Center in Citrus Heights. You may contact him at [email protected].

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Luke 5:33-39

Reflection:

Discipleship and Growth

Today, September 4^th, 2020:  Jesus’ Lesson in Discipleship #2020.   Discipleship involves growth and change!  Day by day, come what may…to see more clearly, to love more dearly, to follow Jesus more nearly.

Luke’s Gospel selection presents Jesus meeting with a group of Scribes and Pharisees as they raised questions about fasting and prayer, comparing their disciples and those of John the Baptist with Jesus’ disciples whom they observed as “lax”; Jesus’ disciples were even eating and drinking!  Jesus challenges their thinking, using a variety of down-to-earth parables about patching clothes, as well as the storage and consumption of wine.

Many Jewish leaders had developed a legalistic formalism towards the practice of their faith.  It was more important to abide by minute fasting regulations than, for example, to help a neighbor in need.  Jesus tried to change that perception – and met opposition!  Jesus demonstrated that love is the essence of religion and that the “regulations” were simply to serve as concrete helps, not absolutes.  What Jesus asked was really more demanding; no doubt it is easier to be precise about fasting than to genuinely love God and neighbor with ones’ whole being.

As 21^st Century disciples in this time of serious health and social pandemics, we are challenged to continue growing and loving in new ways.  Our involvements with others, our celebration of the Eucharist and other Sacraments, the challenge of “zooming” and social distancing and face masks:  life is radically different for us!  We may long for the “good old days”, but life today presents us with “new wine” needing “new wineskins” and suitable patches for the fabric of life today.  We are called to grow…building upon the wisdom and experience of one another and our history as the People of God.  Together, with Jesus, we can!

The coming days and weeks present us with a variety of celebrations and challenges.  Labor Day on September 7^th, our Blessed Mother’s Birthday on September 8^th, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross on September 14^th, our fellow Passionist St. Vincent Strambi on September 24^th, the Archangels on September 29^th, the month-long days of Prayer for the Care of Creation:  May we grow in gratitude for the gift of our faith and the blessings of life and one another, and an openness to God’s loving care for us in all of life.

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

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 3:18-23
Luke 5:1-11

Reflection:

When I put myself in Simon’s place in the boat with Jesus, I understand his objections to the Lord’s suggestion he lower his fishing nets into the deep areas of Lake Gennesaret. Peter’s trade was fishing. He supported his family on the craft and knew where the fish likely swam in thick schools when the winds blew from different directions, what times of day or night were best for hauling in full nets and what seasons were ideal. And he knew this lake well.

Jesus had no such skill or knowledge. He was a dazzling preacher and teacher, and maybe a skilled carpenter, but not a fisherman. So why should Simon take his advice about fishing?

Sometimes I object to God’s suggestions and guidance. I think I know best, despite the promptings of the Holy Spirit to go in a different direction.

God’s ways are not my ways. Sometimes God is constantly asking me to go where I’d rather not, to change when it is uncomfortable and to take risks when I am very afraid.

In prayer I listen in quiet for the movements of the Spirit within to lead me, often to uncomfortable, risky places.

“Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command we will lower the nets.” The result so astonished Simon and his buddies that they left everything, including their preconceived notions of how to live their lives, and followed him. This is what conversion is – a surrender of my entire being to God’s ways. Will I take the risk?

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

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 2:10-16
Luke 4:31-37

Reflection:

The ancient world, including the world of the Bible and the world in which Jesus lived, was filled with “spirits.”  The modern secular world view is strongly empirical.  Only entities that can be touched, seen (at least with a microscope), or measured are considered to be “real.” But our ancestors thought otherwise. Surrounding the human world and the earth in which humans lived was an active spirit world.  Intelligent spirits moved the stars and the planets along their course and the patterns they made could determine human destiny.  Some spirits—angels, the souls of deceased loved ones—were benign.  But other spirits were evil, toxic for human life and lurked behind many illnesses and misfortunes.  The nether world below was infested with the power of death. God, of course, was the source of the Spirit of life and goodness; Satan, the personification of evil, sought to lead human life astray and to ultimately destroy it.

That ancient world view is in play in our Scripture readings for today.  In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul contrasts a “spirit of the world” with the “Spirit who is from God.”  Through the Spirit given to us by God we are able to perceive “spiritual realities” and to gain true wisdom.  Throughout his letters Paul speaks of the Spirit of God given to us through baptism, a Spirit that enables us to truly know God’s love, teaches us how to pray, and will ultimately lead us to God.

We see this contrast of “spirits” in Luke’s account of Jesus’ healing a man in the synagogue of Capernaum, one of the very first actions of Jesus’ ministry.  Jesus encounters a man “with the spirit of an unclean demon.”  The evil spirit knows what it is up against: “What have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us?  I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”  The evil spirits are part of that mysterious spirit-world and, more readily than humans, recognize the identity of Jesus.

Jesus silences the evil spirit and demands he relinquish his grip on this tormented human being, a child of God.  The gospel notes, “Then the demon threw the man down in front of them and came out of him without doing him any harm.”  Understandably the synagogue congregation is amazed and said to one another, “What is there about his word?  For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.”

Although today we might have a different way of diagnosing the terrible plight of the man in this account, the fundamental lesson it teaches is timeless: Jesus is suffused with God’s power—a power that creates and protects human life.   Although the ancient peoples feared the power of overwhelming evil, those who trusted in Jesus knew that the demonic powers and the power of God were not an equal playing field. God’s love revealed in Jesus is far more powerful than any evil that threatens humans. We, too, know the power of menacing evil: the threat of the pandemic; the violence on our city streets; the racism and economic exploitation that robs people of their dignity and even their lives.

Ultimately, we, too, like our ancestors in the faith, depend on God’s unconditional love for us.  As Pope Francis has so beautifully said, “Jesus is the human face of the Father’s mercy.”  That face is on display in this gospel account and is with us as a source of hope and a motivation for action in the midst of our struggles with evil.

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 2:1-5
Luke 4:16-30

Reflection:

Let your faith rest not on human wisdom, but on the power of God. No prophet is accepted in his native place.

Happy Monday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time!

Do you ever wonder what Jesus was like as a kid? I do.

I wonder if he walked around in flowing robes blessing people. If Mary and Joseph ever ran out of food, did Jesus just miracle up all the wine and fish and bread he wanted? When one of his buddies hurt himself in the playground, did Jesus touch and heal the sore? And in school, when asked a question, did he answer in eloquent and perfectly crafted parables?  Or, I wonder if he was the Class Clown like I was…

He must have had a hard time accepting who he was, and his mission.

I imagine Jesus had to learn to walk, like the rest of us. He probably made mistakes growing up. Maybe he lost some friends and even had to deal with human emotions and fears. I can hardly begin to grasp what he must have had to process as he himself began to understand who he was, and what he could do, and what he was going to have to do.

Today’s Gospel picks up just after Jesus spent 40 days in the desert. He was tempted to renounce his relationship with his Father, but he remains faithful and comes home renewed. He reveals Himself to the people who know him best. They’ve seen him grow from a little guy learning to walk and making mistakes, and now he’s saying that he’s the anointed one of God.

I’ll bet they all had a hard time accepting who he said he was, and his mission. There’s quite a foreshadowing of Jesus’ end of life in today’s Gospel. It begins with people praising him and being amazed at his speaking and depth, but ends with them filled with fury, taking him to the top of a mountain to “hurl him down headlong.” First loved and accepted, but then pushed to his death. Those who praised Jesus on Palm Sunday were the same people that would scream “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

And yet, even fully knowing what would happen, God still pursued us. He sent his son as one of us to reach out and call us home, even though he knew we would do much more than just throw him off a cliff.

And as sad as that was, I see an even greater sadness in that we’ve not changed even 2,000 years later! We still consistently reject God. We drive him from our public life and hide our faith from other people so we don’t look like “Jesus-Freaks.” We turn our backs on fully experiencing and sharing the amazing life of unity, peace, and love that God wants for all of us.

And still, He loves.  And with such amazing love… to hold out a hand of care and forgiveness even though these very same people slam a spike through it.

Pursuit. Chase after. Hound. Dig for. Leave no stone unturned. Do whatever it takes.

How has God pursued you?
How have you tried to throw him off a cliff, headlong?
What was it that led you to finally accept God’s hand reaching out to you, waiting for you?
How have you been God’s hands, reaching out to others?

The refrain of a pop song, which was recorded by the artist Richard Marx, titled “Right Here Waiting,” says it pretty well:

Wherever you go,
whatever you do,
I will be right here waiting for you.

What a perfect description of God. All we have to do look, listen and be God’s beloved.

Peace and great love to you all 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.

Scripture:

Jeremiah 20:7-9
Romans 12:1-2
Matthew 16:21-27

Reflection:

Last Sunday in our Gospel reading, when we heard Peter confess that Jesus was “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” I wrote that Peter got it right! In this Sunday’s Gospel reading (Matthew 16:21-27), Peter gets it wrong! It’s not because Peter retracts what he said about Jesus, it’s because he doesn’t understand how Jesus would be the Christ.

In our Gospel reading, Jesus predicts His Passion, death and Resurrection. But Peter will hear no talk about suffering and death: “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” And Jesus responds: Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” I relate Jesus’ vehement response to the time when Jesus was tempted by Satan in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11). You remember when the devil took Jesus up to a high mountain and told Him he could have all the kingdoms in the world if He just worshiped him. I take this as a temptation for Jesus to forego the cross and try to force everyone to do right. And now He hears Peter telling Him the same thing: to avoid the cross or even any mention of it. It’s as if Jesus was saying, “Peter, this is tough enough as it is! You sound just like the devil. I’ve already had to fight the temptation to abandon the mission I was given. When you speak like that, you’re just getting in the way.”

So when Jesus says, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” He knows what He’s talking about. The devil offered Him the whole world, but if He fell to that temptation, He would have lost Himself.

Jesus did not run away from the Cross, and He tells us not to run away from it either. This is what Peter still had to understand. And it is sometimes hard for us to understand as well. To take up our cross does not mean we accept injustice or abuse. But it does mean we accept suffering as part of life, especially as crosses come when we love beyond ourselves, as it did for Jesus. For instance, I have to take time to adjust any mask I’m wearing so that I don’t fog up my glasses. It’s a pain. But it’s a small cross to bear if I can contribute to decrease the spread of the corona virus. This is a small thing. We know health care workers are carrying heavy crosses in serving others. So are parents and teachers when it comes to the opening of schools, no matter where you stand on what should happen.

Which brings to mind something else the Cross is beginning to teach me; how we are connected to each other. Differences between us should not blind us to the humanity of each other. If we can recognize the crosses that others bear as well as accepting the crosses that come to us, we can see how connected we are to each other and to Christ. Maybe we need to deny ourselves self-righteousness and the rush to violence.

St. Paul’s exhortation in our second reading from Romans (12:1-2) comes to mind: “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” Taking up our cross keeps us from being conformed to an age of avoiding suffering and denying the humanity of the “other.” Taking up our cross can actually renew our mind by keeping us in contact with the extent of God’s love in Jesus Christ and helps us discern God’s will in how we are to love others as He loves us.

May we not be obstacles to, but instruments of, God’s love.

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