Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Daniel 7:13-14
Revelation 1:5-8
John 18:33b-37

Reflection:

Feast of Christ the King

Today’s feast faces us with 2 problems: one apparent, the other real. Apparently stems from our American reaction to kings: We don’t like them!  The word “king” conjures up images of the tyrant or the despot, of too much power in one person’s hands… Herod slaughtering babies — Henry VIII or George III — denotes might, dominion, violence.

Jesus tells Pilate he’s not the kind of king Pilate imagines. Pilate’s world, like many civil leaders’ today, is a world of competition, fear, force. Little wonder Pilate is intimidated by Jesus. Jesus had no need to cling to status (remember Philippians 2 where the hymn tells us Jesus emptied himself and took the form of a slave, accepting even death?). He knew who he was, and he knew that his only purpose in this world was to testify to the truth (another thing with which many civil leaders struggle!).

Forgoing force is such an overwhelming, crushing decision. In the Gethsemane scene in Luke, Peter, in a preemptive strike, cuts off the ear of the servant of the High Priest. Jesus says simply, “No more of this.” Remember earlier:

“Princes of this world use power to dominate, lord it over others… it cannot be that way with you… Want to be follower? Serve. Wash feet. Forgive. Love enemies.”

“No more of this” and he heals the man, restoring his ear. Jesus has spent his entire ministry giving people ears to hear, so he is not about to start taking them off now. The symbolic import is that the beginning of violence is the end of dialogue. That is why Peter’s sword severs the ear. Combatants can no longer hear one another.

Finally, the problem is how I relate to truth. Jesus is Lord, but is Jesus MY Lord? My king? Who commands my love? Rules my heart? Can I say, with full integrity, that no person, no thing, takes precedence over Jesus in my life? What motivates me? Possesses me? Thrills me? …from dawn to dusk? What makes me get up in the morning? What makes me tick? Who or what rules my heart? Something does, or someone does. Or, dreadful thought, perhaps nothing does.

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

Scripture:

Revelation 11:4-12
Luke 20:27-40

Reflection:

ALL LIVE TO HIM

“Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.” Luke 20:38. Someone asked Daniel Boone if he ever got lost in the wilderness.  He said “No never!” But he paused a little and said “I was confused for three days once”!

Many people are confused about the next life.  In the words of the movie You Got Mail the young son asks if his dead mother is alive in next life.  His father simply answers “I don’t know.”   How sad are these words seeing God gave His Only Son to die a terrible death to give us eternal life.  There are something like 200 references to eternal life in New Testament.

Jewish teachers were very confused about our final end when Jesus was preaching.  Our Lord often spoke in stories and teaching in the strongest terms about life after death.  Jesus said “You error badly” to his critics about the reality of next life.  At the moment of death many skeptics of eternal life are going to realize they made one of the biggest mistakes of their life.

In my ministry one of the most awesome experiences of my life is assisting the dying for the biggest journey of their life!  When my mother was dying in my arms I read Mark’s account of the Passion of Christ. Right when I came to the words: “And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last.” She breathed her last!   I have often thought of this event,   It was the greatest journey I ever took with mom.  What a great grace that the last thing my mother heard was God’s greatest act of love for her on the cross!

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

Thanksgiving Day (USA)

Scripture:

Revelation 5:1-10
Luke 19:41-44

Reflection:

Thanksgiving.

It has become such an ordinary word, thanksgiving. What does the word mean to you?

Here at Holy Name Passionist Retreat Center in Houston the retreat theme for the year is about humility. True humility is often found in thanksgiving.

This is the gift of the healed Samaritan in today’s reading of Luke chapter 17:11-19. He, ‘realizing he had been healed’, returned to give thanks, falling at the feet of Jesus. Humbling himself before the Lord.

If God is the architect, the healer, for all that is good in your life, you cannot help but to be humble. God is in control. It reminds me of the great youth ministry reminder, “God is God and You are not!!”

As we become more thankful for every little grace in our lives, then we are always looking to the Lord and not ourselves for those thanks.  How can we not be thankful when we stop to look to the cross and the incredible gift of love that the Lord has presented to each of us.

Today is Thanksgiving, a wonderful day to start humbly thanking the Lord for all the small and large graces in your life. We can pray as it teaches us in Psalm 145, “Every day will I bless you, and I will praise your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD and highly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable.”

“May he grant you joy of heart and may peace abide among you.” Sirach 50:22-24

 

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

The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 Scripture:

Revelation 4:1-11
Luke 19:11-28

Reflection:

Today we celebrate a day commemorating the dedication of Mary to God’s work in our midst.  It is a central feature of what devotion to Mary is all about.  The notion of “devotion” is somewhat unique to what Catholicism fosters and promotes.  It is like the shadow cast by someone who has gone before us, and who has left a vivid memory of what he or she has been all about.  Devotion in Catholic tradition is a developmental growth, starting out because of its association with some noteworthy historical character, but outliving that person over time, and sometimes actually augmenting certain features of that person’s life that still exert a strong influence existing at the present time.  This doesn’t mean that these features are wrong.  Rather, it means that, during their lifetime, they stirred up sentiments of admiration and even veneration that carry on, following the death of the original, historical person.

Such seems to be the case of this feastday that has gained a foothold in the devotional practices of the Passionist Congregation: The Presentation of Mary, by her parents, Joachim and Ann.  There are no historical accounts of this occurring, but there is a solid foundation in the Jewish practice and devotional life of the first century and earlier when infant daughters as well as their baby brothers were brought to the Jewish temple in Jerusalem and offered back to God in gratitude to Him for bestowing on them the blessing of this child.  So far as baby boys were concerned, this was a mandated practice, but not so, baby girls, yet, given the great importance that temple worship and devotional practices occupied in the lives of devout Jews, it is likely that this practice carried on for baby girls as well as baby boys.  And certainly Joachim and Ann, Mary’s parents, could be counted among the pious Jews of their time.  And so bringing their new daughter to the house of God in Jerusalem to ask God’s blessing on her would have been a devotional practice among such parents.

Somewhere along the line, St. Paul of the Cross encountered this practice; indeed, in his time it had acquired the status of a devotional feastday.  And it apparently appealed quite strongly to him—this notion of devoting oneself fully and completely to whatever God had in store for a person, whether male or female.  The Presentation of Mary in the temple struck a resounding chord in his life, and, as he moved out of boyhood into manhood, and was inspired by God to start a new religious order in the church, Paul’ lifelong devotion to Mary under the title of her own presentation to God in the temple appealed to him so much that, as a sufficient number of young aspirants to the new Passionist community began to fill its ranks, Paul decided both to build a residence (called “a retreat”) to accommodate them, and to name it after The Presentation of Mary in the Temple.  He wanted his young aspirants to be as sincere in their dedication to the Passionist way of life as they could possibly be, in memory of Mary’s devotion to her call.

Years later, when he provided a similar religious house for young women aspirants as the first Passionist Nuns, Paul endowed their new place of residence with the same name: that of the Presentation of Mary in the temple.  So obviously this ancient practice and devotion was a center-piece of Paul’s devotional life.  So this practice of devotion to Mary’s Presentation in the Temple has been part of our Passionist history from the very beginning, and it should appeal to anyone seeking to draw closer to God by way of a strong devotion to Mary’s own Presentation of the child Jesus to God, in the temple in Jerusalem, thanks to the devotion of her parents, Joachim and Ann.

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

Scripture:

Daniel 12:1-3
Hebrews 10:11-14, 18
Mark 13:24-32

Reflection:

We have to be a bit surprised at the readings for this Sunday.   Seems to be some negative, scary stuff.  “A time unsurpassed in distress.  Some shall live forever, others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace.  The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.”   We recognize, of course, these are apocalyptic readings from the Old Testament.  We notice the pain, the suffering.  Even in the Gospel we find that Jesus’ words contain that same darkness.  In both what the prophet Daniel and Jesus have to share the whole picture also includes the positive.  In Daniel we read, “The wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever.” And in Mark we read Jesus saying, “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.”

We must take in the whole teaching, both the dark and the bright side in both sources: Daniel and Jesus.  Eleonore Stump comments: “So what happens to Christians in bad times? Do they lose and lose and lose, as the Gospel of Matthew says?  But what is losing? Is losing a matter of being hated, afflicted, and killed? Christ was hated, afflicted, and killed, too. And yet Christ did not lose on the cross, did he? He won.”

“In this world there is the end of the story, when Christ’s true disciples will be hated and afflicted (here on earth). And then there is the real and final end of the story, at the last judgment (in heaven), where each person will see himself as he really is.”

“At that last chapter of each human story, the First Reading says, some people will be perceived as the horror and disgrace that they really are. Others will shine like the splendor of the stars.”

“The winners in the battle of life, those who shine like stars, are those who have turned many to justice, the First Reading says. Acting with courage and integrity for justice, goodness, and truth can get a person hated, afflicted, and even killed, can’t it? ”

“And now we can see what it is to escape bad times. Escaping is not a matter of living at ease in prosperity, honored by the world around you. Escaping is managing not to be turned into a horror and a disgrace by your own cooperation with the evil all around you that masquerades as good. ”

“This is an escape that God will give anyone who is willing to take up his cross daily.”

“And so the losing of the cross, the willingness to be hated and afflicted for the sake of justice – that is the way to the final winning where God’s people shine with the splendor of the stars.”  (Sunday Website of St. Louis University)

You and I, it seems rather clearly, need to pray that we grab hold of the whole picture and make sure that Jesus is part of that whole picture of our lives.  Carrying our cross alone could weigh us down physically, psychologically and spiritually.  Jesus will never abandon you and me.  “Take up your cross and come, walk with me.” 

Fr. Peter Berendt, C.P., resides at St. Paul of the Cross Community in Detroit, Michigan.

Scripture:

Philemon 7-20
Luke 17:7-20-25

Reflection:

“But first the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation.” These words from the 17^th Chapter of Luke explain the beauty of being a Christian, the beauty of following this King, Jesus Christ.

It may seem a little callous to call the suffering of the Son of Man as beautiful, but consider the fact that our King is willing to do so. He is willing to suffer for his subjects. What other King is like this? We can find beauty in the fact that Jesus is willing so suffer for us and all we have to do is say, “yes I believe!” Yes, I believe and I am willing to carry whatever cross my king offers me. We can make this commitment because he will never ask us, to do anything that He is not willing to do or has not already done himself, this is beautiful! Our king, fully human and fully divine, is like us in every way but sin and in his humility his suffering is real. Though he is innocent and without sin, it pains him greatly to see us wallowing in the darkness of sin, his remedy is an offer, an offer for us to pick up our cross and follow him. When we accept we are giving him permission to absorb our sins so that we can find his kingdom and live in it today. How beautiful is that!

“The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’ For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.” Jesus is void of sin, but he loves us so much that he is willing to absorb our sins, to purify us so that we can join him in his kingdom. So perhaps we should live our lives as if we are already part of his kingdom, as if it is already among us and share this beauty with those around us.

Deacon James Anderson is the Administrator at Holy Name Passionist Retreat Center in Houston, Texas.

Scripture:

Titus 2:1-8, 11-14
Luke 17:7-10

Reflection:

Today’s Gospel reading feels a bit hard to understand at first glance—at least to me. I asked myself exactly what it has to say to us in the context of this past week. As I sit and ponder these Scriptures, I see our San Gabriel Mountains through a light haze of smoke from the fires about 40+ miles to our west. The change in direction of the wind makes breathing outside difficult. We wait in hopes of a directional shift later this afternoon. Throughout the state of California this week, people have lost homes and now we hear about lives lost. Sadly, in addition, more lives were lost because of senseless violence in Thousand Oaks; while the national scene seems to grow more polarized each day.

The three verses from St. Luke which we hear proclaimed are situated between the apostles request of the Lord to “Increase our faith” (17:5) and the “cleansing of the 10 Lepers” (17:11-19).  In both cases, faith is the central theme with praise and gratitude added in the latter story.

Jesus continues to make his way to Jerusalem as he invites the apostles to reflect on the expectations of a servant in that society. St. Paul touches on this idea of expectations of the wider Christian community in his letter to Titus. The norms of the Mediterranean world were clearly understood, adhering to the Code of Conduct was expected, and failing to do so would bring dishonor to your community. There was no rugged individualism in this world. Yet, to live as a Christian made your actions especially significant as it spoke to your values and your obligation to your faith community as well as your commitment to living out the Gospel in every aspect of your life. Jesus’ mention of “unprofitable servants,” who have fulfilled their obligation certainly gets my attention. Does he challenge us to go beyond what is required? There is no cause for celebration when we are only doing what is expected—no patting ourselves on the back with a “well done.” Especially when it is only by God’s grace that we can do anything at all.

It’s humbling to be reminded that we can do nothing without God’s grace at work in our lives. Even when we work on nurturing that grace and doing all the “right things” it is still only by God’s blessing.

Does our obligation to be his servant stretch us beyond what we think we are capable of in our daily lives? What does our idea of being his servant mean to me—or to you? It must be more than obligation! Our call to serve must rise out of our desire to bring God’s love and mercy into the world in concrete ways. How does this scripture speak to me today in the context of my life? In the context of yours? For, it is NOT about us and our obligations at all. It is only by grace that we are touched—infused, with the fire of the Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit and bless our world today.

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.