Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Jeremiah 14:17-22
Matthew 13:36-43

Reflection:

Whoever has ears ought to hear. ~ Matthew 13:36-43

God told me to shut up once.

Really.  Loud and clear, as if someone was yelling in my left ear.

It was a period of my life during which I was particularly broken.  I found myself in such darkness I didn’t think there could ever be light again.  In prayer, I’d plead “God, talk to me.  Tell me what to do. I’m so confused, I need you — why won’t you talk to me?  Why have you left me alone?  I don’t know how to cope, what to do, what path to take… Please, God! Where are you? Say something? Say SOMETHING!”

And then I heard it.  A scream in my left ear.

“Paul – shut UP! Are you deaf?”

I spun around, but nobody was in the sanctuary at all.

And so I started listening.  It all started happening when I started listening.  The chirping of a bird or purring of a cat to break my moments of dark thought; a comment from a friend here, an encounter there, a simple memory, or oddly poignant song on the radio…

I recall a time when my then 5 year old daughter and I were walking toward the sanctuary when the Pastor walked up and said, “Daphne, I just love your shoes!” (they were very pink, and very bright). And she said “Oh, Monsignor, I don’t love them. They’re only things. You can’t love things… Only people.” Very graciously he replied, “You know, you’re right. I don’t love them, but I sure do like them very much. Well, goodbye.”  And she, proving that she indeed was my child, opened her mouth and piped up, “No, no! Monsignor, for people with faith there is never a goodbye… Only See-You-Laters.” For people with faith, there are never goodbyes.

But this one time, one day after a mass, a person I didn’t know came to me and began a conversation. It wasn’t very long, and I didn’t say very much, but in our exchange, he said things that no stranger to me could ever know.  Things I’d never revealed to anyone.  It was as though he was reading from the Book of Paul.  And his last comment struck me most.  He said,

“I knew I would find you. I just had to find you and tell you to wait… be patient… You’re not alone, and everything will be ok.”

I realized I had been so wound up in my hurt, so focused on my telling God to talk to me that I couldn’t hear.   There was no way for Him to reach me.  I wouldn’t let God get my attention.

It all started happening when I started listening. I needed to get out of God’s way. And guess what?  A miracle happened.

Our journey in life is littered with pain and tragedy, and if we constantly look down at that waste on the road, we’re likely to miss all the opportunities God uses to talk to us – God is always knocking at the door of our hearts, begging to be let in.  Yes, in the breaking of the bread and in the sharing of our stories, and in the face of each person, woven into every moment of every encounter, God is there. No matter what, he walks our journey with us, accompanying us at all times… if only we (I) would shut our (my) mouth. If we could just open our eyes and see, our ears and listen, we’d find God is present in the ordinary and the extraordinary. When we’re in pain, and when we’re in paradise.

Moses had the burning bush.  Elijah had a whisper.  The Virgin Mary had an Angel. The two disciples heading toward Emmaus had Jesus himself, but couldn’t  recognize him until the sharing – the experience – the breaking open of the bread.

So look around… Perhaps a pal or neighbor says a word that “hits home,” or you see some graffiti on the side of a truck that goes by, perhaps a “tiny whispering sound,” or someone you’ve only just met who seems to know exactly what you’re going through… Or maybe, just maybe even a 5 year old ballerina with very pink, very bright shoes.

“Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

Are you listening?

Paul Puccinelli is Director of Liturgy & Music at St. Rita Parish in Sierra Madre, CA, and a member of the retreat team at Mater Dolorosa Retreat Center.

Scripture:

2 Kings 4:42–44
Ephesians 4:1–6
John 6:1–15

Reflection:

“Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” Jn 6: 12

The readings for today are filled with depth and richness on the meaning of the Eucharist. The prophet Elisha in the first reading using his God given power to feed people that were gathered and the people in the Gospel of John proclaiming, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.”, (Jn 6:15) when they are fed with only five loaves of bread. The questioning of the Apostles as to how so many people could be fed with so little. Which is also reflected by the servant’s response to Elisha in the first reading. The plentitude of food leftover found in both readings reflecting God’s abundant giving of self to us.

The gathering of the fragments left over appears in all four Gospel accounts of the Feeding of the Five Thousand which is the only miracle that appears in all four Gospels. This statement is what caught my attention as I reflected on the readings for today. We “gather” to celebrate the Eucharist as a community of believers. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians he reminds us that we are living out our call to be unified as “one body and one Spirit”.  The Eucharist is about receiving and being nourished by God so that we may have strength and grace to go out to others to feed them, clothe them, shelter them, visit with them and bury them. We are the ones gathering these fragments with the One to whom we have all been called to through our “faith and baptism”. The gathering of fragments in the Gospel is about God not letting anyone of his children be disconnected from him. Paul urges us to “live in a manner worthy of the call you have received.” We do this through sharing our talents and serving others. It is a continuation of the Eucharistic celebration that all might be fed by knowing the presence of Christ through our kindness and generosity.

How do I gather others so that they may know the presence of Christ, “so that nothing will be wasted”?

Linda Schork is a theology teacher at Saint Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Jeremiah 7:1-11
Matthew 13:24-30

Reflection:

“How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God.”  Psalm 84

Summertime invites us to scale back, to take time for rest and relaxation, to go away from the busyness of our daily lives.  When we really take seriously the challenge to leave everything behind and focus on the care of body, mind and spirit, we experience first- hand what the psalmist is saying in psalm 84,

“How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God.”

This summer for me has been busy focusing on renewing body, mind and spirit!  I traveled back home to Michigan in May for a family wedding. It was a time for catching up with family, walking the Lake Michigan shoreline and enjoying sunsets as well.  In June, my KY family of eight adults, 3 babies and 3 dogs spent a week at the Outer Banks, NC.  It was a week filled with ghost crabbing, Elizabethan gardens, wild mustangs on the Corolla beach, ocean surfing and lighthouses and sunsets.  There was lots of time to play with babies, eat Duck donuts for breakfast and enjoy some really good seafood!

The month of June closed out with our parish Vacation Bible School for Adults.    The theme, Splashin’ Through Summer with Scripture included prayer, scripture reflection, song and hospitality. This first-time event drew adults from neighboring parishes as well as our own.  it was a fun time and nourished our spirits at the same time.

The month of July has been filled with beach and boating, campfires and our parish carnival.  I also traveled back to the Holy Hill for our annual reunion with theology classmates.  This month will close out with a visit of our old friends who will travel here from Ontario for their annual visit.  We are looking forward to picking up where we left off last summer amidst stories and memories, lots of laughter and a few tears!

“How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God”

The best gift of this summer for me has been the ability to recognize and bask in the presence of God in family, friends, events and activities.  May we always be attentive to this unconditional love of God. Summer Blessings!

Theresa Secord is a Pastoral Associate at St. Agnes Parish, Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Jeremiah 3:14-17
Matthew 13:18-23

Reflection:

We have been learning from psychologists, as well as Eastern religions, that attentiveness is not the best trait of the “prosperous” Western mind. Yet more and more of us pride ourselves on multi-tasking! But a certain kind of Buddhism makes “mindfulness” the very center of religion. And now our society deems it necessary to double the fine for those who injure a highway worker if the offender is driving while using his/her mobile phone!

Today’s Gospel reminds us how vital is the attention we give to God’s Word. The parable, however, is not so much about the seed, it’s about the sower. The narrative is not to center on the fault of those who are scattered in their thoughts and unable to concentrate like seed choked or dried-up or scorched. (Why do so many of us need to have things repeated, emails re-sent, conversations re-connected?) Rather, like the image of The Sower by Jean Millet, God’s love is bounteous, not stingy; unconditional and indiscriminate, not measured and parsimonious.

As the summer begins to taper off, today might be a good day to ponder the fact that decisions determine actions, actions create habits, habits build character, and character evolves into my destiny or legacy. Maybe just being attentive to my wife during dinner, or gently returning to prayer when distracted, or giving full attention to my child, a piece of music, or my work… would be a faithful way to receive the seed of God’s love today.

 

Fr. Jack Conley, C.P. ministers as a preacher of parish missions and retreats.  He is a member of the Passionist formation community at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

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.