The Passionists of Holy Cross Province

The Love that Compels

Daily Scripture

Upcoming Daily Scriptures

Daily Scripture, December 27, 2018

Feast of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist

Scripture:

1 John 1:1-4
John 20:1a, 2-8

Reflection:

The apostle John loved proclaiming the good news.  He wanted others to see what he had seen and touch what he had touched.  He wanted to share both the words of Jesus and the love of God with those around him.  Proclaiming the good news made him happy!  “We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.”

The Gospel of John is full of proclamations about God’s love for each one of us. It is obvious that John took great joy in his writing.  This makes me wonder what John felt when he could no longer write.  Many of us in our Passionist family are aging.  Many of us are limited in what we can do now compared to what we used to be able to do.  Our ministry of proclaiming the good news of Christ crucified has changed in form but not in substance.

Perhaps the example of the apostle John is a good one for this particular time of life. Rather than living in the past and becoming sad over diminishment in all its forms, we can remember the joy of opening eyes to the love of God.  Maybe we can use each present moment in new and creative ways.  Our work is not done!

Every present moment, every person we encounter, every silent prayer, is an opportunity to proclaim the good news!  We preach Christ crucified in every single moment.  We do so with the apostle John and our entire Passionist family, so that our joy may be complete!


Terry McDevitt, Ph.D. is a member of the Passionist Family in Louisville, Kentucky.

Daily Scripture, December 26, 2018

Feast of St. Stephen

Scripture:

Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59
Matthew 10:17-22

Reflection:

Today is the feast of St. Stephen the Martyr, whose death by stoning is gruesomely retold in the first reading from Acts of the Apostles. This story stands in stark contrast to the readings from yesterday’s liturgies where we hear of angels singing “Gloria” and shepherds making their way to the manger where they find the Christ Child.

Yesterday we were receiving into our broken world Jesus, God made flesh; today we see people from many places rejecting Stephen for “working great wonders and signs among the people.” This juxtaposition is raw. It is a bit of a downer. But it’s the reality if we make a place for Jesus to be born in our hearts.

When the people heard Stephen, who is described as being full of grace and power, they gnashed their teeth and covered their ears. They wanted no part of what he was saying. They were to have none of it, so they ran him out of town and stoned him.

If we are honest with ourselves, there is much we don’t want to hear, either. We don’t want to hear over and again the stories of those abused by priests or how bishops covered it up. We don’t want to see Christ in the faces of immigrants longing for a better life. We avoid looking at families reeling from the scourge of opioids. It would be so much nicer just to hang out at the manger for a while.

But Jesus came into our world to take upon himself all that is broken and sinful and shameful in our lives. His Passion contains all our own passions. So rather than gnash our teeth or cover our ears, let’s take all that weighs us down and go back to the manger and place it there. That is why He has come, born of Mary, Savior of the world.


Robert Hotz is a consultant with American City Bureau, Inc. and was the Director of The Passion of Christ: The Love That Compels Campaign for Holy Cross Province.

Daily Scripture, December 25, 2018

The Nativity of the Lord

Scripture:

Isaiah 52:7-10
Hebrews 1:1-6
John 1:1-18

Reflection:

About ten years ago college professor Randy Pausch delivered a one-of-a-kind last lecture at Carnegie Melon University that made the world stop and pay attention. The YouTube video was viewed by millions of people, and his best-selling book has been published in 45 languages. Randy, husband and father of three beautiful little kids, learned he had pancreatic cancer and was given a terminal diagnosis: “3 to 6 months of good health left”, but his lecture, entitled “Fulfilling Your Childhood Dreams” is saturated with inspiration and hope. Randy died on July 25, 2008, at the age of 47, but to this day, people everywhere continue to talk about him, share his message, and try to put his life lessons into action in their own lives.

It got me thinking… in parallel way, what if today’s Christmas dinner were to be the last meal with your family? What would you want to say? Or what if this were the last reflection I ever got to write?

If I had only one homily to preach, I’m pretty sure I’d make it a Christmas homily… and I’d probably talk about darkness and light. You don’t need much imagination this Christmas to be in touch with darkness: the civil war Yemen, our church’s clerical sexual abuse horror and episcopal cover-up, global violence, climate change creating a living nightmare, to say nothing of your own personal crises… perhaps finances, broken relationships, illness and aging.

It wasn’t accidental that the savior of the world was born to a poor peasant woman of an occupied country in an animal stall because they were homeless at the time of his birth. And soon Jesus and his family were made refugees and had to flee their country (to a place where their ancestors were held captive slaves) because the most powerful political ruler around the Christ child felt very threatened by his coming… sort of gives a whole new meaning to the word, asylum, doesn’t it?

We stop this morning to question how the Light of the world penetrates our darkness. God isn’t stingy and miserly like Ebenezer Scrooge; God isn’t angry or grumpy like the Grinch who stole Christmas — with a heart 2 sizes too small! God wants to lavish us with LIGHT and LOVE.  C’mon home for Christmas!


Fr. Jack Conley, C.P. is a member of the Passionist formation community at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

Daily Scripture, December 24, 2018

Scripture:

2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16
Luke 1:67-79

Reflection:

In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,

In the New Testament Jesus is described as compassionate about 15 times! The Great word for compassion in today’s liturgy is splagchnon. It’s translated as tender mercy, The word comes from one’s innermost organs like the intestines, (the heart, lungs, liver, etc.), It is one of the most emotional words in the Bible.

Our Father feels very deeply about all of us! In the incarnation of His Only Begotten Son the Divinity is now humanly capable of being deeply moved by our infirmities. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Mt 9:36

When we kneel before the crib this Christmas we ponder the incomparable love that God has for us. The great mystery of His compassion is seen in His taking on our flesh and blood. Now God can feel in a human heart the hurt of His creatures. He can experience rejection, physical pain.and weakness of the human family! If compassion is feeling the pain of another, in Christ the Divine Father experiences our sorrowful human condition!

In this little Baby in our cribs we see the “miracle of miracles” of God’s loving compassion, The world was utterly amazed and surprised at this closeness that God wanted to share with us. It is not strange that in this secular world that we live in today still gets so excited at Christmas. Jesus has by far the greatest birth day party of any one in the world! Modern Society still can not shut out the light and joy caused by the coming of God’s Son in our flesh and blood!


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

Daily Scripture, December 22, 2018

Scripture:

1 Samuel 1:24-28
Luke 1:46-56

Reflection:

The Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) is one of my favorite bible verses. It is such an important part of our church and its liturgies that it is prayed daily by priests, deacons and religious and all those that pray the evening prayers of the church, in the liturgy of the hours.

As I pray it each day I think of Mary, yes, but I am challenged in my thanksgiving. I am challenged in the depth of my prayer. Does my soul proclaim the greatness of the Lord? Does my spirit rejoice in God my Savior? If not, why? The Almighty HAS done great things for me after all, so why am I just saying thank you? Why am I not using my whole body and soul to proclaim His greatness?

Mary’s words are powerful and easy to look at as way ‘too holy’ for us. She was rejoicing upon the arrival of Jesus inside of her womb.  Mary is the first tabernacle, the first to hold Jesus inside of her. When we receive Jesus inside of our bodies at each Mass, we too, become tabernacles. That is the perfect opportunity for us to acclaim His greatness. To use our whole body, to sing, to kneel, to listen and to rejoice in His greatness!

So, as we await the coming of our savior as a humble baby, let us rejoice in his coming into ourselves at each mass, so sustain us. Then, let us proclaim with Mary ‘the greatness of the Lord” and let our “spirit’s rejoice in God OUR savior.”


Kate Mims is the Retreat Center Director at Holy Name Passionist Retreat Center in Houston, Texas.

Daily Scripture, December 21, 2018

Scripture:

Song of Songs 2:8-14
Luke 1:39-45

Reflection:

Today as we close in on our celebration of the Birth of the Messiah, we surely note what is likely unique in the church’s arrangement of the biblical readings she suggests, not only for this particular time on the schedule of her choices for our reflection, but for any of her choices of such readings throughout the liturgical year.  The readings suggested by her today are totally and exclusively assigned to women.

Of course, this should not be surprising, since we are preparing to celebrate a birth event, and even though men have a significant part to play in an occasion like this, it does not quite compare to the woman’s role in it.  And, of course, with all due deference to Joseph, that wonderful companion of his virgin wife, his role was even more marginal to the birth of this remarkable infant than that of most fathers.  And so, when all is said and done, recognition must be given to adoptive parents, those generous men and women anxious to experience their version both of motherhood and fatherhood by way of adopting a child in need of a loving father and mother.

But the church’s choice today, so close to the feast of the Nativity of Jesus, of an explicitly woman’s experience as worthy of our reflection, deserves our attention.  And so we listen, with interest, to the comments of the book called the Song of Songs.  It is the voice of a woman waiting for the love of her life as he approaches her.  She knows he is close by, and calls upon nature, in the spring of its development, as it is about to bloom and blossom forth with the flower that has been moving toward full blooming and development.  And she is excited with expectation.  This undoubtedly corresponds to a woman on the verge of childbirth.  And it is a completely woman’s experience.  A man cannot quite enter into what she is experiencing no matter how closely he is bound to this event.

And St. Luke contributes his own point of view to this event, which moves beyond the general experience of pregnancy and childbirth, and focuses specifically on the birth of Jesus.  He does this by narrating the touching moment when Mary and Elizabeth, cousins and both pregnant in rather remarkable ways, meet and share their mutually joyful experience of being on the verge of childbirth.  Again, it is an all-women encounter.  It is narrated by Luke the evangelist, but Luke, of course, was a man, and tradition has it that he was a physician, who likely assisted at many childbirths, but he tries his best to pass on to us this particularly memorable meeting of Mary and Elizabeth.

Childbirth, as we know, is a universal experience, not confined to just any one group of people, but to the Jewish people it was an especially momentous event because tied so closely into the Jewish expectation of the coming Messiah—an anticipation likely not shared by other ethnic groups.  And, of course, that was exactly what stood at the heart of these two women meeting—a truly unique event.  The only downside of the church celebrating this encounter was that it occurs on the shortest day of the year, possibly rushing our celebration of it too quickly to adequately appreciate it.

So with joy in our hearts we pray for all pregnant women that they deliver safely/that no abortions occur because of inadequate resources to nurture the health of the newborns/that this winter not be too harsh on the poor/in gratitude to all families welcoming new life into their midst/.


Fr. Sebastian MacDonald, C.P. is a member of the Passionist Community in Louisville, Kentucky.

Daily Scripture, December 20, 2018

Scripture:

Isaiah 7:10-14
Luke 1: 26-38

Reflection:

In five days we will celebrate the feast of Christmas.  Hovering over the Scripture readings for today is the question, “How prepared are you?”  This question is not raised in some kind of judgmental way, implying that you’re not prepared.  Rather, it is raised as an invitation to open your heart even more to the saving coming of the Son of God.

In the first reading from Isaiah we hear again the prophecy that God will save his people.  The sign that the fulfillment of this prophecy is at hand will be a virgin who conceives and bears a son and names him Emmanuel.

In the Gospel we recall that astounding moment.  The Angel Gabriel invites Mary, a virgin, to be the Mother of the Son of God, and she accepts.  The promise and the fulfillment.  God is faithful.  Are we ready?

The story of the Annunciation illustrates for us the attitude of heart we need to be fully prepared.  Mary is puzzled by the words of the Angel for she can’t imagine how these things could come about.  Though puzzled and questioning, she nonetheless accepts whatever God is asking of her.  In her heart she so totally trusts in God that she is able to say an unequivocal “yes” to whatever God wants.  And, at the moment of her “yes” the Son of God is conceived within her!

So emerges the question for us, “How prepared are we?”  Are we ready to open our hearts to accept whatever God is asking of us?  Can we move beyond our fears and insecurities to unequivocally trust in God’s will for us?  The prayer that emerges from these readings and the feast of Christmas could well be, “Come, Lord Jesus into my heart.  Help me to trust in you and your loving presence in my life.”


Fr. Michael Higgins, C.P. is the director of retreats at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.

Daily Scripture, December 18, 2018

Scripture:

Jeremiah 23:5-8
Matthew 1:18-25

Reflection:

…the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream…

Today’s gospel passage has been referred to as the ‘Annunciation to Joseph’.  In Matthew’s narrative there is no annunciation to Mary – the angel comes to Joseph – in a dream.  Joseph’s world has just been turned upside down with the discovery that Mary,( his betrothed whom he has not had relations with), is with child.  As a ‘righteous’ man, he comes up with what he thinks will be a win/win response – he will divorce her quietly, hoping that they both can just quietly disappear, their separate ways.

Asleep that night, he hears “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid…continue with your betrothal….it is through the Holy Spirit…and you will name him Jesus”

Perhaps the most amazing part of this passage, is that Joseph complies.  He allows his ‘plan’ to change, he follows through with his betrothal, takes Mary into his home and he named her son Jesus.  And God is with us, Emmanuel!  We might ask, how could he be so certain? How could he abandon his ‘righteous’ plan and be so vulnerable?  How could he be certain God was present in his dream?

Aren’t those the questions we ask ourselves daily?  Is God calling me to this? Really?  How can I be sure?  What should I do?  Maybe Joseph can show us the way.  His ‘righteous plan’ likely grew from his prayer – Okay God, what am I supposed to do here, I’ve just been blind-sided, how do I navigate this event?!?  And he came to a resolution he could live with.  But he also listened to the dream, the nudgings, the doubts (the very presence and voice of God) and trusted God to lead the way.  He stepped out in faith trusting his heart.  Sometimes we need to follow the truth of our heart and step out in faith.  Sometimes, we too need to ‘sleep on’ our plan and notice the stress, anxiety, peace or serenity – the nudgings of God.  Sometimes we have to set out in the dark night and follow the star that leads to new life, new hope, new energy, we have to ‘right’ the ‘wrongs’ that we encounter as we seek to build the kingdom of God.


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