Daily Scripture

Scripture:

2 Kings 2:1, 6-14
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Reflection:

Nobody likes a showoff. But all of us, at least occasionally, enjoy being one, and that’s not surprising. Human beings hunger for recognition; we long to be noticed and, despite our protests, often like being the center of attention. In an age of social media, the craving to be seen and celebrated—to be in the spotlight—seems stronger than ever. But some desires are dangerous and this is certainly one of them. That is why vainglory—an inordinate desire for praise and recognition—has consistently been recognized as one of the seven deadly sins. It’s the church’s way of telling us that if we let this desire get the best of us, it will deeply damage us and never give us the satisfaction and fulfillment we anticipate.

Jesus knew this, and so it is no surprise that in today’s gospel he warns us to “be on guard” against people who do things only to be seen. We might call them “spiritual showoffs.” These are people who do good things—giving alms, praying, fasting—but for the wrong reasons. Even if their acts achieve good (such as helping the poor), they are not genuinely good acts because with spiritual showoffs their intention is not to do good, but solely to draw attention to themselves. That’s why Jesus dismisses them as nothing more than “hypocrites looking for applause.” But he’s also telling us that if we strive to find happiness and meaning in our lives by seeking praise and glory for ourselves, we will be sorely disappointed. Notice that with each example of spiritual hypocrisy, Jesus says, “they are already repaid.” He contrasts this with being repaid by God to stress the sheer emptiness and futility of a life whose dominant purpose is to make ourselves the center of attention; in other words, “they who are already repaid” end up with nothing at all.

We are called to give glory and praise not to ourselves, but to God. If we do so, day by day, through our thoughts, words, intentions, and actions, we will experience a happiness and fulfillment, an honor and glory, that we could never have given ourselves. Look at story of the prophet Elijah in today’s first reading. At the end of a life devoted wholly in service to God, Elijah is whisked up to heaven in a flaming chariot drawn by flaming horses. Our own life’s ending may not be so unforgettable, but we can be absolutely sure that God will glorify lives that were spent in glorifying God. After all, that’s why we are given life in the first place.

Paul J. Wadell is Professor Emeritus of Theology & Religious Studies at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, and a member of the Passionist family.

Scripture:

1 Kings 21:17-29
Matthew 5:43-48

Reflection:

Matthew has just finished giving the Beatitudes to his disciples.  In this passage he goes further and talks about the obstacles that are destructive of discipleship.  The first obstacle he identifies is anger.    Several years ago a survey was taken of the Catholic priests in the United States.  The survey showed that the level of anger was so high among the priests that it was judged to be so disturbing that it should not be published.  About the same time another article was published on the “Anger of Priests.”  The author of the article received so many responses to his article that the author of the article decided to write a response to remind his readers. In his response  he reminded that the opposite of anger was “Gratitude.”

Gratitude is the happiness we have been given.  It is the echo of joy. To be grateful is to share.  There are high moments of aliveness in our lives.  These moments of the heart are a deep all-pervading, overflowing sense of gratitude.  When we reach our innermost heart.   When we are at home with ourselves when we are intimately united with others. We experience gratitude.

Genesis tells us God created us by breathing life into us.  The heart is where we meet God.  But meeting God is prayer.  Prayer is the very heart of religion.   Hearts are restless until we find rest.  We find rest when we find meaning.  We find meaning when we find God.  God is the source of all meaning.  Gratitude strengthens our faith and makes it grow.  We grow in gratitude when we grow in love.

A suffering God loves us.  The gift of the incarnation and crucifixion of the son of God had defined our sense of gratitude.

Fr. Ken O’Malley, C.P., is a member of the Passionist Community at Sacred Heart Monastery in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

1 Kings 21:1-16
Matthew 5:38-42

Reflection:

…but I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil…

How are we to interpret these words?  Are we called to be doormats, to be used and abused by others?  Offer no resistance!, how is that a healthy way to live?

I think of the phrase that was often heard within groups of kids on the playground ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me’.  The playground was often our ‘school of life’, it is where we learned how to be together, to get along, to discover and nuance the rules of the games we played so that they could be played no matter how few or many of us there were.  The playground was where we learned to build and maintain relationships.  Sometimes there would be arguments and disagreements, sometimes among the boys (at least it seemed more so with the boys than girls) there would be pushing and shoving and maybe even (simple) fights, but when the fight was over, the friendship was still there, sometimes with a little more respect.

But words, words are different, words cut to the quick, words can cause us to second guess ourselves, tap into our insecurities and even our self-worth.  Sometimes when we are attacked with words, we can’t think quick enough to respond.  Words can be violent and can lead to more violence.  Words can tap into the ‘Jezebel’ within each of us!

I don’t think we are called to be ‘thick skinned’ and let words bounce off us, rather I think we are called to let the words touch us and discover what is being triggered within us.  The ‘sticks and stones’ refrain perhaps was intended to slow us down, to pause and walk away, so we wouldn’t ‘react’ with similar mean and angry words.  But when we walk away, we need to acknowledge and feel the hurt and the sting of the words, ask God to help us notice what is really going on within us, remember that we are loved by God, and together with God, we can respond rather than react.

Non-violent communication would say we need to pause and discover and acknowledge what we are feeling and then discover and acknowledge what we need in the moment as a result of those feelings.

St. John of the Cross would remind us that we need to name the hurt, and claim the hurt, so God can help us tame or transform the hurt.

Jesus says, offer no resistance stand in the tension and call on me to help you respond.

Faith Offman is the Associate Director of Ministry at St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat and Conference Center in Detroit, Michigan.

Feast of Corpus Christi

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14b-16a
1 Corinthians 10:16-17
John 6:51-58

Reflection:

Dear Friends, today we are celebrating a wonderful feast along with the whole community of the Church, the feast of Corpus Christi.  For some, this feast is an occasion to declare and defend a great belief in our Catholic faith, namely, the true presence of Jesus in the holy Eucharist, body and blood, soul and divinity, the “great mystery of our faith.”  And so it is.  And sad to say there are many who do not realize or even embrace what this great mystery means to us all.

But we also have another opportunity presented to us on this very wonderful feast of Corpus Christi.  It was none other than St. Thomas Aquinas himself who petitioned Pope Urban to make the feast of Corpus Christi a universal day of celebration.  He believed that we needed to unite as a truly “catholic” community of believers and celebrate, rejoice in the beauty and wonder of this great gift from God.  The feast of Corpus Christi is an opportunity for us all to be amazed at the wonders that God does for us.  We remember the night before Jesus died; we remember his last words to us as he said, “Do this in memory of me.”

And why is this feast so special?  Why should we rejoice as a people so loved by God to receive such a great gift?  Every time we gather around the table of the Lord not only do we receive the Bread of Life but we are also made one in him whom we receive.  In other words, as we receive Christ in the Eucharist, we are made one with him and are united as one body with each other.  And so we sing so joyfully:  “One bread, one body, one Lord of all, one cup of blessing which we bless.  And we, though many, throughout the earth, we are one body in this one Lord.  Gentile or Jew, servant or free, woman or man, no more.”

Today our world is so divided.  There is dissension in every place.  It seems we are lost and do not know how to find that center once again that makes us one, one people, one human family that chooses to love over all else.  In place of love we seek power, wealth, and domination, as if this could possibly make us great!  The gift of Corpus Christi is the wonderful reminder that we will only be united once again when we choose love, the kind of love that Jesus demonstrated so totally when he gathered his disciples at the final meal, the final seder supper, before he poured out his life for us on the Cross.  Corpus Christi reminds us of that moment and challenges us to go forth and do the same thing that Jesus did: to go to the cross with forgiveness, mercy, and love in our hearts.  Let’s celebrate this great day and let’s try to do for one another what Jesus did so completely for us!

Fr. Pat Brennan, C.P. is the director of Saint Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat and Conference Center, Detroit, Michigan.

Scripture:

1 Kings 19:19-21
Matthew 5:33-37

Reflection:

Today’s Gospel picks up where we left off yesterday as we move through Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount; in this Gospel, it is Jesus’ first discourse or teaching. In this section, we find ourselves listening to Jesus’ repetitions of, “You have heard it said to your ancestors, but I say to you…..” Today we are invited to ponder the deeper meaning of our Yes and No. The author of Matthew places Jesus on the “mountain” as he wants the reader to make the connection between Jesus and Moses. Here though, Jesus gives the new law while Moses simply received the law from God. Therefore, Jesus is higher than Moses. The author also wants us to hear these words as if the “kingdom of heaven” (3:2; 4:17) were already here. In quoting a law on the taking of an oath from Leviticus 19:20, scholars suggest that Jesus dispenses with it as if we no longer need this law because we Christians are living in the kingdom of heaven, now. So, Jesus is inviting us to live authentically and with integrity today.

Lately, I have been reflecting on exactly that idea as my husband, Pat and I approach our 40^th Wedding Anniversary. Our original Yes started a long life of Yesses. In the early days and years of our marriage, I must admit that sometimes I did not actually mean Yes, when I said, Yes. In fact, I might many times have meant No. Ah the joys of youth, how grateful I am to be in a different place where I have come to delight in saying Yes and meaning Yes! (or No!)

Over two thousand years ago, Aristotle suggested to his followers what living out the virtue of integrity looked like; integrity is not what someone does but who they are. I expect we can all resonate with this kind of thinking which Jesus first proposed on the Mount of Beatitudes. This Gospel is very timely for our contemporary society especially in recent weeks following the death of George Floyd at the hands of a former Minneapolis police officer. When we celebrate freedom for all in our just society, how well have we been doing? Is it time to open our eyes to the truth and reality of the suffering of our African American sisters and brothers? To have the courage to say, Yes, we need to hear your stories of unjust suffering. Yes, we need to strongly hold our politicians accountable to enact real change. Christ in his contemporary passion has been suffering mostly out of our sight. Jesus, the living Word of God still speaks to us. He still continues to invite us to live into the kingdom of heaven today. His Yes brought us the truth and taught us to value everyone. We believe that he died for every single life on this planet. So that “a stone of hope may rise out of the mountain of despair” (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.).

May we rise to this moment and fill it with our collective, Yes! In fact, the world is rising now. Once awakened to this tragedy, we must never rest until we have routed out the sin of racism in our society. Just like the prophet Elisha, in our first reading who left his old life and embraced the Yes of the new call. May we keep walking forward in hope and leave the past behind.

Today, we also celebrate the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua, who was a wonderful Franciscan preacher. He, like so many who followed in his footsteps said Yes to God’s call. He also helps us locate our lost items.

How beautiful and timely is our Entrance Antiphon for today’s liturgy, “Your priests, O Lord, shall be clothed with justice; your holy ones shall ring out their joy.” (Psalm 132:9)

Together with Elisha and St. Anthony, may we embrace this day, trusting in the love of God to touch us in new ways. And may joy reign in our hearts again. Amen.

Jean Bowler is a retreatant at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center in Sierra Madre, California, and a member of the Office of Mission Effectiveness Board of Holy Cross Province.

Scripture:

1 Kings 19:9a, 11-16
Matthew 5:27-32

Reflection:

During my teenage years, my best friend from middle School left the Roman Catholic Church and became a Pentecostal.  The nature of his new found Church and faith was more militant than mine. Due to each other’s immaturity this became a source of friction. Very quickly our conversations of his new faith turned into debates about my faith and even faster into heated arguments. He was always more prepared than I was.  The ignorance of my own Catholic faith moved me to read and listen to Catholic apologetics in order to “defend” my faith. This new knowledge of historic facts and biblical passages and my own pride became an arsenal of arguments that I used against my friend. Though our conversations lasted longer and longer, our mutual love and friendship began to crumble.  Soon enough we began to avoid and even to ignore one another.  Just like Elijah and the prophets of Baal, we had prepared our own altars and where waiting to see which one would be set on fire first as a sign of God’s predilection. It was our so-called faith in Jesus Christ that we both used to separate one another, to distance ourselves. We forsook God’s commandments by turning our traditions into a god.

In the Gospel, Jesus reminds us that the fulfillment of God’s Law will be through the Reigning of God. Jesus’ preaching, teachings and life make the Reign visible and orients us toward it. The values of God’s Reign, as we identify them are Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation. These are the values with which the prophets’ proclaimed God’s presence and the need of conversion by those called to live in the Covenant. We continue to abide in God’s Law proclaimed by the prophets and by Jesus. This consists not of an exclusive privilege but rather of divine covenant to living and promoting the values of God’s Reign. This is what will make of us the greatest in God’s Reign.

My friend and I certainly missed the point of our faith and we became blinded by our pride. We limited our faith to defending it by belittling the other’s rather than by seeking justice and peace and by honoring the love and charity we owed one another. Certainly, God’s Reign was not visible through either of us or through the triumphalism with which we understood and presented our traditions. Good thing for my friend and I that God’s Law is also rooted in the conversion of our hearts and minds and in forgiveness.

Fr. Hugo Esparza, C.P. is a Passionist of Holy Cross Province now working in Mexico with the Province of Cristo Rey.

Scripture:

Acts 11:21b-26; 13:1-3
Matthew 5:20-26

Reflection:

Jesus said: “But I say to you, that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment” (Mt 5:22, NRSV).  Jesus’ words recalled my encounter many years ago with a couple I was preparing for matrimony.

“What does marriage mean to you?” I asked the young couple.  Each spoke about commitment, living happily, setting up their household.  But, oddly, neither spoke of love.  “Why?” I asked.  They stammered uncomfortably, attempting to explain – and to reassure me – that love is also part of marriage.

Their reaction troubled me.  I delved deeper. I asked them to describe their relationship with their parents.  Without hesitation, the young man spoke about loving, happy memories with his mother, father, and his siblings.  His fiancé, however, spoke more half-heartedly.  “I love my mother,” she responded.  “But I do not speak with my father, and I never will.”  Her response surprised her fiancé, who claimed he knew nothing about the situation, and it startled me.  She explained that the bitterness with her father did not stem from physical or emotional abuse.  But she refused to elaborate; nor did I press her.

I did however advise them that her refusal to reconcile with her father could eventually harm their marriage.  “The anger you harbor in your heart,” I said, “is like a wounded tiger hiding in a dark corner.  The moment your husband does anything remotely similar to the way your father hurt you, the tiger will leap to attack him.”  I asked if she might be willing to take tiny steps toward reconciliation with her father.  “No,” she snapped. “Never.”   Given this irreconcilable situation, I recommend they postpone their wedding.  They would need time to discuss her bitterness.  “You owe it to him,” I said.  “At least he should be aware of your anger, so he knows what he must avoid in your married life.”  “No,” she said again.

Our meeting ended inconclusively.  Reluctantly, I promised not to stand in the way of their wedding.  I later learned she twice abruptly changed their wedding date.  When she insisted on yet a third change in date, our pastor refused.  She angrily complained they would have to find a more understanding and accommodating parish elsewhere.  The last I heard was that this couple broke up, and the wedding permanently cancelled.  Apparently, the angry tiger had attacked.

The pain of words, like a wounded tiger brooding within one’s heart, can often take longer to heal than a physical wound.  Worse, a hardened heart refusing to forgive or reconcile someone who has hurt us are things for which we will be judged.  Most often, we are our own harshest judge with our self-inflicted pain and punishment.

Jesus’ challenge with his Sermon on the Mount is clear.  The only antidote to anger is love, however uncomfortable it may be to stammer those words to one another.

Deacon Manuel Valencia is on the staff at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.

Scripture:

1 Kings 18:20-39
Matthew 5:17-19

Reflection:

When I was 5 weeks into my first pregnancy I had some minor bleeding and cramping, but my doctor believed I would be OK. That afternoon my husband and I were in the car about an hour from home when I felt the bleeding and cramping noticeably increase. He stepped on the gas and headed to the hospital. Five minutes later, an officer pulled us over. Despite our explanation, he gave John a speeding ticket and said he should tell it to the judge. We were shocked that the letter of the law took precedence over my and our baby’s health. (I had a miscarriage that night and the judge threw out the ticket).

This officer would agree with Jesus’ statement in today’s Gospel that no one should disobey the smallest letter of the law. It is easy to be legalistic. It makes things very black-and-white. It promotes delineation of who is a “good Catholic” by how many laws they strictly follow, and allows a claim of superiority based on unfailing adherence. However, it is dehumanizing.

Jesus knew this. By his statement, he clearly did not want anyone to toss out rightful authority and the necessary systems of laws. Yet by his other teachings and his actions, he also countered a legalistic attitude. He personally broke established laws regularly and got into trouble for going against the authorities, always citing a higher law or a more encompassing principle behind the laws, such as unconditional love, healing, and pastoral compassion.

This is the same dilemma we often face today. Do we follow the letter of the law or do we make some accommodation for the pain, fear, and desperation that cause people to do so? Do we deny Communion to those who dissent from any part of Catholic teaching, or do we welcome every one of us sinners to the table regardless? Do we bar men who left the priesthood to marry from fulfilling any ministerial role, or can we embrace the many gifts that made them excellent priests in the first place? Do we work tirelessly to promote the legal aspects of our faith, or are most of our efforts on ensuring that the justice Jesus longed for is extended to all people, especially those who are marginalized, poor, and in need?

Obviously these are not all either-or situations. Just as Jesus did, we need to balance the necessity and value of rightful laws and authority with the equal necessity for compassion, acceptance, and love. Look around you today. How are we doing? What can we do better? That’s the true question behind these readings.

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/.