Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Romans 6:19-23
Luke 12:49-53

Reflection:

Impact of Jesus

Fire on the Earth  -Luke 12:50.

About 50.000 years ago a 300,000 ton meteor stuck Arizona at about  30,000 MPH and left a 1000 ft square crater!  It is believed that about half of the impactor’s bulk was vaporized during its descent through the atmosphere.[13] Impact energy has been estimated at about 10 megatons ( equivalent to ten million tons of TNT}. The meteorite was mostly vaporized upon impact, leaving few remains in the crater.

When God so loved the world that He sent His Only Begotten Son on the earth it was an impact far greater than any meteor!  When God sent His Incarnate word to Mary Jesus was no bigger than a tomato seed. Yet it was the greatest act of creation. Greater by far than all the galaxies!  The impact of Christ is the wonder of the universe!

This explosive act of creation in Christ was the “fire” that Jesus referred to in today’s Gospel.

Jesus complained “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Lk 18:8  The fact that the Father has given us the most precious gift He could possibly give in His Only Begotten Son is the ultimate expression of His care for us!  To accept this “fiery” explosion of Divine Love is the definitive and critical challenge of our lives!  This is the fire of Christ which He wishes to impact us.

Scripture has many words to express the astonishment of God’s care for us. Words like wonder (Hebrew pālāʾ) and awesome ((yārēʾ) “Awesome (yārēʾ) in glorious deeds, doing wonders!” pālāʾ Ex 15:11 Job is given this wonderful advice: “stop and consider (bin) the wondrous  (pala) works of God. Job 37:14

Throughout the New Testament again many words are used.  A very frequent word for wonder in the Greek NT is thaumatzo   “And the men marveled (thaumatzo) saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” (Mt 8:27)  Another word often used is (ek-place’-so).  It literally means a knockout! “they were astonished (ek-place’-so) at his teaching, for his word possessed authority.” Lk 4:32

Still another word is (existaemi).  It is translated very well in English by our word ecstasy i.e. to stand outside of one’s self. “And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all startled (existaemi) and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”  Mk 2:12

Without this startled ecstasy we will not really understand the impact of the fire God’s overwhelming love for us in Christ Who is the First and the Last, the Alpha and Omega of our lives!

Fr. Bob Weiss, C.P. preaches Parish Missions and is a member of the Passionist Community in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Romans 4:20-25
Luke 12:13-25

Reflection:

“Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life  does not consist of possessions” (Luke 12:15)

What Matters Most to God—A Villanelle by Rita A. Simmons

Though our lives are undone by greed and fraud,
yet we grapple with some deep, unfulfilled need,
warned only to be rich in what matters to God.

But what is true gain in this place where we plod,
disgraced as we are from the time where we seed?
What is earth but plot after plot of greed and fraud
where a castle is craved for its glittering façade,
where payments are squeezed and invested with speed?
And yet we know that such riches don’t matter to God.

Let His Spirit then strike like a lightening rod,
re-claiming the lives that His dying had freed.
We were not meant to be servants of greed and fraud

but His children, together; there’s a path we must trod
though our footsteps can stagger, stray or stampede;
we walk in the  riches that matter to God

Who emptied Himself for His creatures, poor and flawed,
fulfilling our lives with Communion and Creed.
Oh happy the faults of greed and fraud!
Redemption is rich in what matters to God.

(Meditation of the Day,  Monday, October 21, 2019; Magnificat, October 2019, Vol. 21 No. 8, pp 337-338.  Rita A. Simmons is an award-winning poet, and author of three books of poetry:  Souls and the City, Bitterness and Sweet Love, and Greeting the Seasons.)

Carl Middleton is a theologian/ethicist and a member of the Passionist Family.

Scripture:

Exodus 17:8-13
2 Timothy 3:14-4:2
Luke 12:35-38

Reflection:

In the movie “Aladdin” (The animated one), there is a scene when the genie tries to advise Aladdin how to relate to the princess. The genie turns into a bee and says, in a buzzing kind of voice, “Beeee yourself.” Even though the word “persistent” is only used in our second reading for Sunday, all three Scripture readings tell us to “Be persistent.”

In our Gospel reading (Luke 18:1-8), Jesus tells a parable about a persistent widow and a dishonest judge. The widow is persistent in getting justice in her case, and although the judge neither fears God nor respects anyone, he finally gives in to her demands. And so Jesus says: “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Jesus is calling us to be persistent in prayer, but it’s not about having to nag God to give us what we want. I came across this quote about prayer that speaks to this. It’s from the book Amazing Grace by Kathleen Norris: “Prayer is not asking for what you think you want, but asking to be changed in ways you can’t imagine.” God knows what we need. Prayer is opening ourselves more and more to God’s love and God’s will. Sometimes, though, we may still feel that we need to nag God, because it seems to us that God is slow to answer our prayers, and justice for us is not being done for us “speedily.”

But even in those cases, we are called to put our trust in God; to trust that God will answer our prayers in God’s time and in God’s way. We need to be open so that we can recognize when God answers our prayers. We are also called to be open to do what God wants us to do. As St. Paul tells Timothy in our second reading from 2 Timothy (3:14 – 4:2): “I charge you, … to proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient …” We are to share the Good News not only by our words, but by what we do and how we relate to others. We may be called to be like Aaron and Hur, in our first reading from Exodus (17:8-13), who had to help Moses keep his hands up so that the Israelites could be victorious in battle against the Amalekites. We know how wearying it can be when it seems we have to keep fighting for what is right, or just to keep going in times of adversity. Don’t we appreciate it when God answers our prayers by sending someone to help us? What if God wants to send us to someone else?

When we persist in prayer and opening ourselves up to God, we find we can have the persistence of the widow in working for justice, not only for ourselves but for others. We find we can have the strength to help others persevere I hope and love. And we find that we have the faith to hear God speak to us through the events and people in our lives. We find that we have the faith to recognize when God answers our prayers.

May we be persistent.

Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P., is a member of the Passionist Community in Birmingham, Alabama.

Feast of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues

Scripture:

Romans 4:13, 16-18
Luke 12:8-12

Reflection:

“He (Abraham) believed, hoping against hope.”
Romans 4:18

Today, the Church celebrates the feast day of the Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs. There were eight martyrs in all, six priests and two laymen. The first one to die was a layman who had joined the Jesuits in their missionary work in North America. He was martyred in 1642. The last martyr, Fr. Noel Chabanel, died in 1649.

St. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, reflects upon the quality of Abraham’s faith, when God promised him that he would be the Father of a great nation. Abraham and Sarah, his wife, were advanced in age. How could this be possible? Abraham believed that God would be faithful to His Promise and that God, indeed, would make him the Father of a great nation. It was this Faith that St. Paul praises in his letter to the Romans. This is the kind of Faith that all are called to have in the promises of God. We do not earn faith or grace, but we receive Faith and Grace as gift.

This is why there is a close relationship between Faith and Hope. Hope is such an important part of our Faith life. We see this as we reflect upon our own faith journey. At the beginning, we want everything to go well. If things go wrong, we begin to doubt that God is with us and we begin to complain to God, asking God to remove these troubles from our life. Some even think that God is displeased with us when we have bad things happen to us. It is difficult to walk by Faith when things are not going well. This is when we need to Hope against hope. Not only do we need to continue to believe that God is there for us, but we also need to Hope that the troubles we have will not delay God’s promise. When we lose Faith and when we lose Hope, we lose our way, we give in to temptations that surround us and we make bad decisions that lead us to hopelessness. Even then, God will be faithful and call us back to where we belong.

Vaclav Haval, the Czech playwright, said: “Hope is faith folding out its hand in the dark.” This is what St. Paul was telling us that Abraham was doing when he believed in the Promise of God. This is what the Jesuit martyrs believed when they dedicated themselves to their mission in North America, evangelizing the Native American population. It was their Hope to bring the Good News to a people who needed Good News. It was their Hope to be a witness to Gospel values and it was their Hope to bring the Love of God by the witness of their lives.

Let us remember all of those brave men and women who have gone before us in Faith, Hope and Love when we begin to lose our way, when we think that life or God is unfair, when everything seems hopeless. This is the time for us to hope against hope!

 

Fr. Clemente Barrón, C.P. is a member of Immaculate Conception Community in Chicago, Illinois. 

Scripture:

2 Timothy 4:10-17b
Luke 10:1-9

Reflection:

The kingdom of God is at hand…

Jesus sets his sights on Jerusalem; his earthly journey is coming to an end.  He sends out the seventy in pairs to go ahead of him to every town and place he intends to visit.  Don’t bring any baggage with you, shake from your feet any anger, resistance or judgment that you may encounter.  Stay focused on me, bringing my peace to all you meet.  Don’t entertain the opinions, perceptions or expectations of skepticism, judgment, fear.  Embody my love, be my presence, meet them where they are at and invite them to love.  Stay long enough to develop a relationship with yourselves and with my Father.

Is that not what we are all called to as baptized Christians, as disciples, to go out together, stay focused on Jesus and develop relationships of love.  Shake off any perceptions, any judgments, any opinions we may have formed and make a place for love, for openness to the other, for encountering the other and the Lord.

It seems that when we are able to do that, miracles happen – the sick can be healed, truth can be heard, and we can begin to build the kingdom of God that Jesus reminded us begins now not after our life on earth!

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

Scripture:

Romans 2:1-11
Luke 11:42-46

Reflection:

Luke’s gospel is the Gospel of Peace, Prayer, Power and Possession.  Luke asserts that possessions or wealth are not evil in themselves, but are a responsibility.  He uses parables and stories to illustrate this conviction.  This is the Gospel of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Drama, and the Dishonest Stewart, etc. In this periscope Luke starts and ends with the phrase there was a certain man…”  In verse 14.  Jesus posits that the Pharisees were “Lovers of Money.”  He carefully selects the character of the Dishonest Stewart.  Technically, a “Steward” is a “keeper of the pig sty.”  There is no position lower than this for a Jew!  As we have been told in the “Parable of the Prodigal Son.”

In the early Christian Community critics questioned Jesus’ divinity when Jesus used “questionable characters” as models for discipleship.  In other words, these characters weren’t strong enough to dig, or humble enough to beg. Their tenure is marked by incompetency and flagrant dishonesty.  So they marshalled their skills by cooking the absentees’ landowners’ books to benefit themselves. Luke allows us to listen to the “internal dialogue” the Steward has with himself.

The Dishonest Stewart does not have any “self-pity”, he faces the facts and takes action to insure his future is comfortable. God’s Son, Jesus, was sent into the world to establish the reality of things.  His disciples was to “leave the lie and embrace the truth.”  Jesus is saying “be decisive in your discipleship. No one knows the day or the hour when the absentee landowner will show up!”  St. Ambrose tells us “it is the bosom of the poor, the houses of widows, and the mouths of the children that are the barns that will last forever.”

I know a couple who had a conversation that said that they had more money than they needed.  So they decided to keep a portion of their fortune to take care of themselves.  The rest of their holdings were divided among their four children.  The thinking was why wait to give their children the inheritance after they have died.  Why not give this money to help their children who could use it now rather than after their deaths. And as the story goes: “They lived happily ever after.”

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

Scripture:

Romans 1:1-7
Luke 11:29-32

Reflection:

Whenever we put forth energy on a project, generally we like to see results. Students participating in the meditation classes taught at the Passionist Earth & Spirit Center in Louisville, Kentucky, commit themselves to a daily practice of meditation. Within a short time, they often become frustrated with the unruly disposition of their untrained minds. Their meditation practice can become a tedious exercise and they begin to question the entire process. The question is asked: how will I know if I’m making progress?

It is a reasonable concern. And the simple answer is taken from the Gospel: you will know you if your meditation practice is bearing fruit whenever you encounter the sign of Jonah in your daily life. After being hurled into the sea, rather than drowning, Jonah spent three days in the belly of the fish before being spit upon the shore. His sign is the preeminent pattern of death and resurrection.

The students are instructed not to look for results during the meditation period itself. To judge their development by the success or failure of any particulate meditation session is futile and a pursuit rife with ego concerns. Rather, they should look for results in the way they live their daily lives. Whenever they discover a natural inclination to die to themselves and their ego habit patterns of desire, the new life of Spirit is beginning to rise within them. That is the fruit of a daily practice of meditation.

 

Fr. Joe Mitchell, CP is the director of the Passionist Earth & Spirit Center in Louisville, KY. See his website: www.earthandspiritcenter.org.