Daily Scripture

Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Scripture:

Jeremiah 2:1-3, 7-8, 12-13
Matthew 13:10-17

Reflection:

To make time pass while traveling I have been choosing to listen to some favorite podcasts. One of my favorites is the TED Radio Hour by NPR. The one I listened to yesterday was all about the five senses. The story told by neuroscientist David Linden especially caught my ear (pun intended!).

He gradually went blind beginning in his early teens. By age 25 he was completely blind. But in his story, he says that what he thought was a proverbial death sentence was actually a great blessing. “In going blind I gained my vision,” he said. He believes that he can now envision what his vision often obscured. He went on to graduate from Harvard and earned advanced degrees in neuroscience.

Today’s readings are all about the senses. So often we choose to see what we want to see and ignore what we don’t. It is our human bias. Our constructs—the way we see the world—keep us safe, so we think. While I would never say that I hope to go blind so that I can “see,” I can point to two moments in my life where my eyes were opened in new ways.

The first was went I went to live in the Philippines for two years, living among the urban poor of Manila. The second was when my brother was shot and killed on the streets of Washington DC. Not a day passes when I do not draw on what I learned from these experiences. In each instance, I learned to see myself in a different light and was forced to choose more intentionally how I was going to live my life.

Let us ponder these words of Jesus in today’s Gospel and recall moments when your eyes were opened just a bit more:

“But blessed are your eyes, because they see,
and your ears, because they hear.
Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people
longed to see what you see but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

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.

Scripture:

Micah 7:14-15, 18-20
Matthew 12:46-50

Reflection:

And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said,
“Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father
is my brother, and sister, and mother.” Matthew 12:49

How close Jesus wants to be with us! He deeply wants to be brother, sister, or even a mother to us. There is a beautiful little word in the Greek New Testament which is used 111 times called ideos. It means pertaining to oneself, one’s own; used universally, of what is one’s own as opposed to belonging to another. Discipleship means belonging to Christ as His very own.

Jesus speaks of His followers with great love: “when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own (ideos) who were in the world, he loved them to the end. “Jn 13:1. Do we honor Christ with our lips, but our heart far from Him?

Jesus proclaims in John’s Gospel: “I am the good shepherd. I know my own (ta ema). “He calls his own (ideos)sheep by name and leads them out.” Jn 10. Being a follower of Christ calls for an intensive relationship with Him! To miss this family closeness is to miss what is most beautiful in our faith! This is why the Church has always deeply respected the contemplative life. We all must have a contemplative side. Our religion is not something but Someone!

This close family relationship with Jesus uses many other examples. He calls Himself a bridegroom, a friend, a partner, living Bread to be eaten, and related by His precious Blood! The most frequent relational word Jesus uses is Father. Luke in chapter 15:30 the father is criticized for welcoming back home the prodigal child with the words “this son of yours”

There is a tendency to reduce Christianity to a mere moral system without a deep relationship with our Lord. As important as moral response is, it is not at the very heart of the Father’s intensions. “I know my own (ideos) and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” Jn 10:15. The Biblical “know” strongly emphasizes a deeply loving bond. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” Eph 2:13

One of the saddest sentences of New Testament is: “He came to his own, (ideos) and his own people did not receive him.”Jn 1. We are called to a profound loving relationship with Christ!

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

Scripture:

Micah 6:1-4, 6-8
Matthew 12:38-42

Reflection:

In today’s Gospel reading, some scribes and Pharisees ask for a sign from Jesus. And Jesus replies “An evil and unfaithful generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet.” Jesus then draws an analogy between Jonah being in the belly of a whale for three days and nights, and He being in the earth for the same time before His resurrection.

Sometimes in our lives we ask God for a sign. We yearn for some indication that God is listening, that God cares. Or we’re searching for guidance about which direction we should go. Is it “evil and unfaithful” to ask for a sign? I don’t believe so, but there are some things we need to remember when we do ask for a sign.

Jesus’ response to the scribes and Pharisees has occurred after many times in which Jesus has indeed done some wonderful things in the lives of people, and the Pharisees and scribes have dismissed them as the work of Satan. They refuse to recognize the signs that have already been given. When we ask for a sign, we need to be open to how God may answer our request. The sign or how it may be given may not be what we expect or go according to our plans.

Also, we need to remember the signs that Jesus has already given us about love and hope: most notably the Cross and the empty tomb. If we remember those signs, we will be reassured of God’s love for us.

We need to be open to being a sign that God might send someone else, to reassure him or her of His faithfulness.

If we follow the words of the prophet Micah in our first reading, we will be receptive to the signs that God gives us and answer the call to be a sign for others: “Only do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P., is the local superior at St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Community in Detroit, Michigan. 

Scripture:

Jeremiah 23:1-6
Ephesians 2:13-18
Mark 6:30-34

Reflection:

Jesus shows us the importance of prayer, today and throughout the gospels. He encourages us to go away and pray, to retreat. Although that is His plan, the needs of those around him influence his prayer this day. He doesn’t force his planned itinerary, but is “moved with pity”.

How often in our lives are our plans interrupted and we erupt? How many times does the missing price sticker cause us to groan in expected frustration. How many times does traffic waylay us, or others slow our plans?

Jesus looks up, looks out, and sees those around him. They move Him.

I think that is the challenge to each of us today, regardless of the detours we are to look up, look around and be moved.

My mom always used to say, “there is always someone worse off than you”! We need only pull our heads out of our phones and look about, and we too may be ‘moved with pity.’

It is in the praying, the filling our hearts with the Lord, that we can and will have His love to pour out onto others. So YES, go to a deserted area, take a boat, go and pray. But don’t be surprised by all the ways – the lives that Christ puts into your way.  Then, we too, can make the needs of those around us, move us and become a portion of our prayer this day.

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

St. Lawrence of Brindisi

Scripture:

Micah 2:1-5
Matthew 12:14-21

Reflection:

Today we find examples given us about working with what is at hand, in our effort to do what God wants us to do.  It counters the periodic temptation to believe that God requires us do what is totally outside our competency or our experience.

For example, we are provided a reflection from the ministry of the prophet Micah.  While Micah is privileged to enjoy membership among that illustrious group of Jews who were designated as prophets, he is certainly not one of the “great” prophets listed in the bible.  He would be considered a “minor” prophet, who nonetheless is worth considering for the way he dealt with an issue close to him.  It was not something alien to his background and experience, for it concerned the issue of land or property in the Jewish community of which he was a part.  As in our day, so in his, land/property was accounted an asset, often of great value, and, like anything of value, was liable to be abused.  That’s what Micah noticed going on about him: he sees people who “covet fields and seize them; houses, and take them”.  And so, inspired and motivated by God, he announces a charge or indictment against this kind of activity.  Micah dealt with “what was at hand”.  It was not a task foreign to him about which he knew nothing.

And in our gospel account today, we note that Jesus is not passive before plots against Him, of which He became aware: plots to take His life.  There would come a time when He knew that His time for suffering such a death had come, but it was not now.  He had other plans to carry out before these threats would overtake Him, so He escaped them at this time.

So what we see playing out before us today is the issue of familiarity with situations encountering us.  We need not fear being caught by surprise, totally unprepared for an issue facing us.  We also see this working out in the life of the saint we recall today: Lawrence of Brindisi, a Capuchin priest who, because of his brilliance, especially as a linguist (he was fluent in five languages), was given the opportunity to engage in a variety of responsible activities.  And he excelled at them, such as addressing the contentious disagreements between the Catholics and Protestants of his day, mobilizing Christian military forces against the Moslem invaders, leading his own Capuchin community as its Superior General, enlisting the King of Spain in the Christian army fighting the Moslems, etc.  He didn’t go out searching for these tasks.  But he accepted the responsibility of engaging them, as they came along in the course of living his life and knowing his own talents.  None of the above situations were foreign to him.

So our individual talents and gifts are often the indicators of what is expected of us.  God has outfitted each of us with certain gifts and abilities, and these in turn are indicators of what will be our life tasks and responsibilities.  So we pray to God that He will make us aware of our endowments, which in turn will usually lead us into a way of life that proves to be both enriching and challenging, as happened in the lives of the prophet Micah, of Jesus Himself and of our saints of the day, Lawrence of Brindisi.

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

Scripture:

Isaiah 38: 1-6, 21-22, 7-8
Matthew 12: 1-8

Reflection:

“I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”  I suspect all of us have heard that phrase many times before.  Surely, at least every time we’ve read this Gospel passage.  But, we’ve also been hearing it from our Holy Father, Pope Francis.  He’s been reminding us that Divine Mercy is at the heart of the Gospel.  He tells us that we must always begin with mercy if we are ever going to understand who God is and what God wants from us.

This Gospel story about the disciples of Jesus breaking the Sabbath Law by picking and eating the heads of grain while going through a field is an interesting one.  Jesus is challenged by the Pharisees since his disciples are so publicly breaking the Sabbath Law.  They see the disciples, and probably Jesus himself , as guilty of breaking the law.  Jesus responds by reminding the Pharisees of other occasions from their history when ordinary people have broken the Law by eating food reserved for the priests of the Temple.  He also reminds the Pharisees that Priests break the Sabbath Law whenever when they serve in the Temple on the Sabbath.  Jesus points out that all these people were innocent.  They were not guilty but forgiven because of extenuating circumstances.  No, they were innocent.

Jesus then concludes, “If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
you would not have condemned these innocent men.  For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.”

This Gospel account raises some interesting questions for us.  What is the source of our judgments of others?  Where do we begin?  Do we most often start with the law and draw our conclusions from there?  Or, do we always initiate our judgments in mercy?  Jesus reminds us that only if we start in mercy will we ever be able to recognize the innocent.

Lord, teach us how to begin in mercy so we may never condemn the innocent.

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

Scripture:

Isaiah 1:10-17
Matthew 10:34-11:1

Reflection:

Be willing to re-prioritize, shake up and surrender all.  Jesus’ tools of discipleship.  Palpable, inspiring, taken-to-heart messages when we are tucked away in the silence of a weekend retreat, in full out surrender on a pilgrimage in a distant land or swept up after an encounter in the communion line after the healing and heart opening prayers of the Mass.  And yet, will we continue to stand with Christ as we meet the challenges of a daily life grounded in the reality of relationships?  Will we stand firm in the face of family who may balk at any challenge to status quo or return to a less life affirming way? Will His Way become our new reality, our consistent way of being?  Our intention behind each action or word?  Will we meet each challenge set before us with the highest response of love, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, generosity and peace?

In Matthew 5, Jesus calls the first disciples Peter, Andrew, James and John.  We are told James and John were sitting in a boat mending nets with their father and that they dropped everything and left immediately.   They left, in a moment of inspiration, a spur of the moment prompting. much as we might experience the initial invitation to arrive on retreat.  In the ensuing chapters we are given a view of the days that followed as Jesus lays the groundwork for His fulfillment of the laws, awing and angering those around with His ability to compassionately cure and courageously challenge.  The disciples are steeped in the intimacy of their relationship with Christ away from their familiar ties.  Today’s reading arrives as Jesus actively prepares his disciples to be sent forth to act in all ways as He had.  He knows how easy it will be to lose sight in the face of their own internal and others’ external rejection of His ways, if not yet deeply rooted.

After decades of listening to, or reading the Word, it always amazes me when I hear a word or phrase pop out for the first time.   “When Jesus finished giving these commands to his twelve…he went away… to teach and to preach in their towns.”  There is something so endearing in those words rising from the page and into my heart.  A conscious journey by Jesus to places with our most intimate human relationships.

How many times have I prepared to leave a retreat, ready and inspired, enlivened and encouraged, with the question looming as I sense or fear my aloneness on return? “How? How do I return with Jesus in my heart? To truly bring him home?”  And then the narrative paves the way, “Jesus returns to teach and to preach in their towns.” The reality.  There is never a place or time we are alone.  Where Jesus has not actively entered or already laid the road.  We are never alone.  We are always walking alongside Jesus.   Jesus enters each situation before and with us.   It is only ours alone to change our heart and ways.  It is up to Jesus to do the rest.

 

M. Walsh is a retreatant of Mater Dolorosa in Sierra Madre and friend of the Passionist Retreat community.

 

Scripture:

Amos 7:12-15
Mark 6: 7-13

Reflection:

Throughout our lives we are called to many things, universities, jobs, sporting teams, etc. To be a disciple of Jesus is to experience a call, it is to be sent on a mission in partnership with others, a mission expressed in terms of living the Gospel. Before before anyone can preach, teach, heal, or drive out of demons as we heard in today’s Gospel they must be in the word.

So what is your call? Sometimes our lives become so full of white noise and static we miss what God calling us to do, what God is calling us to be. Our lives become too complicated and we allow ourselves to be pulled in too many different directions. Have you ever tried to listen to a radio station with static? There is a message that has gotten your attention and you strain to hear it but this static noise and other voices are coming through the speakers, then you fine tune the dial and the voice or the music becomes clearer and you can focus on the message.

Well every once in a while we need to do a little fine tuning of our lives and ask ourselves, am I tuned into the Gospel or am I allowing the noise and busyness of life to water it down? In other words, am I orienting my life to the truth of the Gospel or am I orienting the truth of the Gospel to fit my life? St. Augustine once said, “If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.”

God is calling us; let us ensure that we are on the right frequency so we can hear him.

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