Daily Scripture

Scripture:

2 Corinthians 9:6-11
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Reflection:

When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. . . -Matthew 6:5

One of the most common confessions that I have heard over the years, whether it be in serious conversations, spiritual direction or in the sacrament of reconciliation, is the acknowledgement of feeling like a hypocrite. Those of us who are making a thoughtful effort of doing good and avoiding evil will sometimes feel like hypocrites.

The reality is that we all struggle with sinful patterns. Many have the false notion that once we give ourselves over to the following of Jesus, as the disciples did, and have been anointed by the Holy Spirit, then we should not have to struggle with our sinful tendencies.

However, our struggle with sinful ways will always be with us. We waste a lot of our time and energy fighting the fact that temptation and sin is part of our everyday life and everyone’s life. But we want to be the exception.

Once we accept our sinful condition, then we can go about the business of becoming holy day by day. We can concentrate on being good rather than avoiding evil.

Sinful patterns are baked into our way of life. Those who struggle with anger, will end up dealing with anger issues. Those who are dishonest and tend to lie will find themselves fighting this for the rest of their lives. Everyone has sinful tendencies. They will be with us until death. And these tendencies are all different and personal.

So, when Jesus is talking about hypocrites, he is not talking about the human struggle to do good and avoid evil. Jesus is talking about a whole different reality. He is talking about people who choose to live a double life, a life of sin and a public life that looks sinless. A hypocrite’s life is all about the appearance of goodness, it was all about the mask, the role that one plays in public.

In Jesus’ day, a hypocrite was a common term for an actor. The actor took on the persona of a playwriter’s script. There was no personal connection to character in the play and the personal life of the actor. The hypocrite is very much aware that the role presented to the audience is not a real person, but a make-believe one. An actor wants to deceive. And a good actor studies and perfects the art of acting for an audience. This is the result of a personal decision, to live a double life, even if it’s just briefly.

Most of us will never be hypocrites. We want to be good people. We want to live lives of integrity. We want to be authentic followers of Jesus. We want to struggle with our evil tendencies to overcome them, with the grace of God. We want to be loving and compassionate as Jesus was.

Do we sometimes fail? Sure! Do we always do and say the right thing? No! But that does not make us hypocrites! It just makes us aware that but for the grace of God, there go I.

Yes, there are people who want to be hypocrites. And maybe, before our conversion, before Jesus called us to come and follow him, we lived as hypocrites, intentionally doing things just so people could judge us good, even though we lived a sinful life.

It is when we embrace our God as a loving God, a merciful God, a God who sees our heart with eyes of Love, that we begin the journey of holiness. The journey of holiness is not the journey of perfection, Rather is a journey that begins each day with a purity of intention of following Jesus, confident that the God who sees all, sees us with love!

Fr. Clemente Barrón, C.P. is a member of Mater Dolorosa Community in Sierra Madre, California. 

Scripture:

Proverbs 8:22-31
Romans 5:1-5
John 16:12-15

Reflection:

Today on the ecclesiastical calendar we celebrate The Feast of the Most Holy Trinity.  Today we also celebrate all the fathers on this holiday “Father’s Day. “  In the Gospel Jesus is telling his disciples that He will be leaving them.  However He will not be abandoning them, but will send the Paraclete.  Some have called this periscope the “Peek A Boo Jesus! Passage.”  In other words what Jesus is doing is something all father and mothers around the world play a serious game with their children called “Peek A Boo!”  The parents are teaching their children a critical lesson for life.  In a word, parents are teaching their children that even though their children do not see their parents, they are there and will be there if they should be needed.  Their fear will be transformed into “joy.”

In our Christian life, there are periods when we feel abandoned and deserted. This period has been called the Dark Night.  In other words, there are these times when we are not able to feel God’s presence.  Great mystics/saints have had this experience. Juliana of Norwich did for 18 years, Teresa of Avila did this for 20 years, St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta did this for 25 years, and Paul of the Cross Founder of the Passionists had this experience for 40 years.  These mystics grew to know that these periods “These dark nights of the soul held profound  secrets.  It is surprising, but St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta said that she “embraced the darkness.”  Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity had a prayer many have found helpful to “embrace” this absence of God:  “O Triune God so live in me that all I think and all I  say  may be your thoughts and words this day!”

John’s passage is calling the Disciples of Jesus to a profound recognition of the Community.  He is calling them to a profound life of Holiness.  If they love God and keep the teachings of Jesus they will experience the Paraclete, who will not abandon them.  All people are called and capable of living a life of holiness.  All are called and capable of a life of contemplation. These realities are available to us as we keep alive the memory of the Passion.

Fr. Ken O’Malley, C.P., is the local superior at Holy Name Passionist Community in Houston, Texas.

Feast of St. Barnabas

Scripture:

Acts 11:21b-26
Matthew 5:20-26

Reflection:

When I think of Barnabas, I remember the encourager.  The Jerusalem Church needed someone to send to Antioch, where many Gentiles were coming to Christ.  They dispatched Barnabas, “a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith.”  Barnabas arrived in Antioch and immediately “encouraged them to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts.”

When I think of Barnabas, I remember the friend.  Many in the church feared Paul, the former Christian hunter and tormenter.  They shunned him.  Not Barnabas.  He befriended Paul and even invited him to join Barnabas in his Antioch mission.

When I think of Barnabas, I remember the compassionate man.  I was as fearful as Mark. Doubtful of my calling to the diaconate, I thought of abandoning my journey.  And I was as disparaging as Paul.  I saw only my failures.  But a holy deacon, Ernie Nosari, like Barnabas, saw my potential.  He believed in me, mentored me.  With patience and compassion, he helped to prepare me for an exhilarating diaconate adventure.

Remember us, Barnabas.  Take us to Antioch with you.  Teach us how to encourage those who want to know the Lord.  Introduce us to Paul, to those who feel shunned and lonely.  Take us on your next voyage with Mark.  Show us how to be compassionate to those who are discouraged.  Show us how to reveal, not the failures, but the potential in others.  And especially today, your feast day, Barnabas, show us how to be encourager, friend and compassionate.  Show us how to be “good, and filled with the Holy Spirit and faith.”

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

Scripture:

Genesis 3:9-15, 20 or Acts 1:12-14
John 19:25-34

Reflection:

Last month was my first Mother’s Day without my mom. She died on Christ the King Sunday – November 25 – last year. I believe, based on my own experience and that of many others, that no matter the depth of the relationship, when a mother dies, it leaves a void in the world that will never be filled in the same way again. Even people whose mother was abusive, unsupportive, or absent can have an unpredictably strong reaction when she dies. Perhaps some grief reflects the loss of a dream that someday they may have the mother they always wanted to have. Yet even beyond that, there seems to be a persistent thread of connection between a mother and her children.

In my case, I had a deep relationship with Mom. We looked a lot alike, thought alike, prayed alike, and at times considered ourselves soulmates. There were rough spots, for sure, but I always knew I could rely on Mom. We traveled a difficult journey through her illness with Alzheimer’s, the several falls and broken bones that sapped her strength, and her final two weeks in hospice, but it was grounded by the years of love upon which our relationship was built.

I miss Mom a lot. And with Dad having died, too (to use the words of Kelli Auerbach), I’d never understood how much my identity was entwined with being someone’s child. That tether is gone, as eventually are every one of our earthly tethers.

I think of what Jesus must have felt as he looked down from the cross and saw his bereft mother. Although he gave her to another’s care, and she to his, they both had to let go of the unique and visceral physical bond between them, and their hearts were breaking.

As wrenchingly difficult as these losses can be, the very severing reminds me of an enduring reality – there is one tether than I can never lose. My deepest identity, my strength, and the core of my being are inextricably entwined with being Someone’s child. God is my faithful, wise, patient, and everlasting source. I can only truly rest secure and at peace within that embrace.

And in fact, it is within that very embrace that I remain tethered to those I loved on earth. We all come from God, we all go to God, and we are united with God and each other in ways we barely begin to understand. I am confident that as I place myself in God’s presence in prayer, Mom is there too, along with all those who have gone before me. It’s not the same, and there are still things I must let go of. But if I allow myself to be open to it, it is real, sometimes visceral, true, and eternal. I am indeed someone’s child.

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/.