Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Hosea 2:16, 17b-18, 21-22
Matthew 9:18-26

Reflection:

Summer Concerts of Faith and Hope

We can imagine our readings today as a summer concert full of feeling. A romantic melody captures the joy of Hosea hearing once again the words of his estranged wife, “My Husband”. We move on then to a lullaby that plays the themes of the Beatitudes in Matthew. We are in touch with our ‘Jewishness’, reminded of the teachings handed down from Moses to a Chosen People. We are the light of the world, we follow Jesus who has fulfilled the Law and did away with nothing. We care for the poor, fast and pray; we forgive and we make ours Jesus’ words: what you want people to do to you, so also do to them.

This is relaxing, thoughtful music indeed. But the heart of our concert strikes out in  modern, stark music that tells the story of two of Jesus’ miracles. They are familiar tunes made popular by Mark. Everyone hums them all the time. But Matthew is different. Where Mark bubbled over as he told of two women to whom the miracle of being life givers was stripped away and then restored, Matthew leaves us stripped! Gone is the restoration of their gift, gone too is the lovely, ‘give the girl something to eat’, with the joy of feeding her and her contentment, and the certainty that she is going to grow strong. No, for Matthew his music is, let’s see….a harp and saxophone for the woman with the hemorrhage and a french horn and a banjo for our young girl. The music tells of faith, salvation and resurrection. Indeed, after twelve long years of suffering the woman can say to herself, ‘if I touch his garment I will be healed’. How the sax answers the harp, ‘Your faith has returned your health’. And the french horn of Jesus’ voice overcame the laughter of the mourners, and the fun of the banjo played as Jesus took her hand and the girl arose. And played a bit more so we could imagine what the parents and disciples of Jesus then did.

Our concert is quick! But we end with two new melodies to carry with us.

Perseverance. Like the people we meet who benefit from the miracles of Jesus – twelve long years, a child’s death, two blind men, a demon, the list is as endless as every person. A drum roll reminds us that all of the miracles of Jesus find their full meaning in the miracle of the Paschal Mystery, Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection. We all need salvation. We need resurrection. We need our faith in Jesus.

We end with our opening music of the love story of Hosea that now introduces Mary, Mother of Hope. Today is a feast celebrated in Passionist communities. Its origin goes to the early days of the congregation when Thomas Sturzzieri, CP carried with him a picture of Mary, Mother Hope wherever he conducted parish missions. This devotion to Mary grew in Passionist spirituality and this picture became popular in the monasteries.

On notes of love we remember today’s miracles. We ask for faith. We see our mother, a model of hope, who gentles our perseverance with hope. She brings her love and understanding as a mother to those areas that await Jesus’ miracles.

Quiet.

Fr.William Murphy, CP is the pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Jamaica, New York.

Scripture:

Ezekiel 2:2-5
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
Mark 6:1-6a

Reflection:

I am often in awe at the tricks a magician can play on my eyes and my other senses! I see very well what is in front of my eyes – something that was there a moment ago has now ‘disappeared’. My child-like self is telling me it must be magic simple and true, but my ‘conditioned’ mind won’t let me stay in that place! All my intellect and the knowledge I have gained over the course of life is busy telling me that this cannot be, that this is a trick and that, for example, in no way can a rabbit disappear into a hat!

And yes, this is how it must be. For little moments, especially in the company of children, we can let our imagination run free and return once more to a child-like trust and innocence. But life is hard and we must use all our capacities to navigate the often difficult road we traverse in the course of our journey to God.

But let us be warned also. We must also be open and use all our senses and capacities if we are to live well and truly be all that we can be. There are moments of life when the heart must be the arbitrator, when dreams must guide us and hope must fuel our endeavours.

Such was the approach Jesus often took. He communicated and announced the Reign of God not by doctrines or new law, but through story and parable, simple analogy and sharp imagery. In so many cases his listeners’ hearts soared with joy as he opened for them a new way into God’s company and reassured them of God’s loving friendship – a gift to them and not something to be earned by rituals or by adherence to laws that only increased their burdens.

But too many of the powerful and those who exercised authority over the people’s lives preferred to trust not their intuition and spontaneous responses, but rather to judge his words against old, established (and safe) understandings that often served their interest rather then revealed God’s word as amplified by the many Prophets throughout their history.

Thus Jesus lived his life between belief and trust and unbelief and persecution. It seems such a dynamic began very early for him. Today’s gospel scene relates this clearly – he returns to his own people announcing a life-giving message, but despite their initial joy and amazement at his message they prefer to stay on a safer path. They choose not to believe the message because they think they know all about the messenger and more so, about his humble status. For it is true, Jesus did not go to any rabbinical school nor did he follow any one teacher. He did not ‘fit’ their expectations of a rabbi and thus they reject him and his message.

They listen as if through a filter of ‘familiarity’ and they place Jesus in a hierarchy of their own making. They falsely reason that the message they are hearing – wonderful as it is – cannot be true because the messenger does not have sufficient ‘status’ in their eyes.

I heard once that as an experiment, the famous violinist Yehudi Menuhin played for 45 minutes on the street in front of the theatre in which he was to perform. But because people expected that a street performer could not be anything but an amateur,  they walked on by and missed the chance to listen to one of the world’s best musicians for free!  The music was enchanting but their perspective prevented them truly hearing – despite the inner joy the music was stirring within them!

It can be a warning for us too. The message of Jesus is similarly enchanting, but we must listen not just with our minds, nor must we filter his words through our personal perspectives, rather we must listen with our hearts if we are to hear his message to us and let his word find a home in our very being.

Fr. Denis Travers, C.P., is a member of Holy Spirit Province, Australia.  He currently serves on the General Council and is stationed in Rome.

Scripture:

Amos 9:11-15
Matthew 9:9-13

Reflection:

As a Passionist novice, I fasted on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday each week. That schedule would change with any feast day that might arise, but for the most part, it stayed consistent. Up to that point in my life, I never really thought about food, other than when it was time to eat, I ate. My twin brother, Dave claims there was a point in his life when he realized that he would never go hungry. The thought that I might go hungry one day, never occurred to me.

In 1980 I attended the first “Taste of Chicago” walking up and down the whole length of the venue I eventually realized that nothing appealed to me. At the North end of “The Taste” was a tent sponsored by a religious group that contrasted strongly with everything I had just experienced. They preached vegetarianism, although I didn’t know that when I approached. I ventured in and found a book that suggested that my diet affects the rest of the world, particularly the developing world. That started me thinking about food and diet.

In today’s scripture selections, I find much talk about food:

From the book of Amos

“I will bring about the restoration of my people Israel;
they shall rebuild and inhabit their ruined cities,
Plant vineyards and drink the wine,
set out gardens and eat the fruits.
I will plant them upon their own ground;
never again shall they be plucked
From the land I have given them,
say I, the LORD, your God.” (AM 9:14-15)

From the Gospel of Matthew

“Why do we and the Pharisees fast much,
but your disciples do not fast?” (MT 9:14)

What is all this concern about food, especially in relation to religion? Help me God, understand how you want me to relate to food, especially if it is true that the way I relate to it, affects other people.

Dan O’Donnell is a Passionist Partner and a longtime friend of the Passionists.  He lives in Chicago. 

Scripture:

Amos 8:4-6, 9-12
Matthew 9:9-13

Reflection:

We all receive invitations to dinner parties. Sometimes these invitations come from people we know, like family or friends. Sometimes the invitations come from someone we don’t know very well, like an invitation to a fund raiser. Maybe it’s an invitation that is part of a raffle: All we have to do is send in our fifty dollars for a raffle ticket for a chance to have dinner with the pastor or the retreat director or the bishop!

Would it not be amazingly exciting to receive an invitation to have dinner with Jesus! We would not have to send in fifty dollars or even one dollar. The dinner would be free. Well, not exactly. We would have to pass the qualification test to show that we are sinners.

In the Gospel today Jesus calls Matthew, a tax collector and therefore a sinner to the Jewish people, to be a disciple. Immediately after that brief incident, we observe Jesus at a meal with Matthew and other tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees are scandalized that Jesus, whom everyone considered to be holy, is eating and talking with very unholy people. Jesus replies: I have come to invite the sinners.

Notice that the Pharisees are outside. They are not sitting at the dinner table. They don’t see themselves as sinners and would not want to be around sinners. They worked hard to be righteous. Every day they made sure they obeyed the Ten Commandments and all the other regulations. If God dared to call them sinners, they could produce their day’s activities and prove they weren’t sinners. We, like the Pharisees, don’t like to see ourselves as sinners. “It was only a white lie.” “I haven’t hurt anyone.” “Everyone else is doing it.” “I’m not as bad as that person.”

In many ways we excuse ourselves and rationalize our behavior. In so doing we actually distance ourselves from Jesus Christ. We don’t let him fulfill his mission: “Christ died for us while we were still sinners” Rom. 5:8. To be closer to Jesus we need to make that honest assessment of ourselves as sinners. When we do, that’s when we receive the invitation, perhaps many invitations, to dine with Jesus, with his three-course feast of forgiveness, grace and healing.

 

Fr. Don Webber, C.P., is director of the Office of Mission Effectiveness for Holy Cross Province and resides in Chicago.

Scripture:

Amos 7:10-17
Matthew 9:1-8

Reflection:

 “When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to human beings.” Mathew 9:8

Forgiveness of sins is kind of a big thing in the teachings of Jesus. In today’s reading we see another example of this. Jesus tells a paralytic to have courage (alternate translation: be of good cheer) because his sins are forgiven. The scribes were scandalized that Jesus would say such a thing. In first century Israel physical deformity was seen as evidence of sin. Jesus turns this idea on it’s head by declaring the man forgiven while he is still paralyzed. This is the essence of the gospel message: you don’t need to be healthy enough, wealthy enough, well known enough, or anything enough to be forgiven, i.e. to heal your relationship with God and the members of your community. Forgiveness flows from God as a free gift of grace.

While this same story is in Mark’s gospel, here in Matthew the crowds see the deeper message. The authority to forgive offense has been given to all humans. We are responsible for forgiving offense against us. Later in the gospel of Matthew we see Peter starting to get this when he asks Jesus, “Okay, but how many times must I forgive my brother?” Jesus’ answer of seventy-seven times points to unlimited forgiveness.

My prayer today is that I accept and practice the authority given to me by God to forgive and reconcile with those around me.

Talib Huff works and volunteers at Christ the King Retreat Center in Citrus Heights, California. He may be reached at [email protected] .

Scripture:

Amos 5:14-15,21-24
Matthew 8:28-34

Reflection:

Celebrating Life, Freedom, Love!

Today’s Scripture selections present a powerful picture of God’s love challenging the power of sinfulness in the lives of all people.  The prophet Amos speaks of the value of seeking good and hating evil, of embracing justice for all…letting one’s faith come alive so that our prayer and worship flow from an integrated life.  The Gospel selection from Matthew recounts Jesus dealing with two men (both non-Jews) who were savagely possessed by demons; He addressed the demons and drove them away, promoting the inherent dignity of the two men…even as the watching townspeople were so frightened by Jesus’ power and love that they begged Him to leave the area!  God’s love at work, to the benefit of all.

God’s love is at work in us as we celebrate this July 4^th Independence Day, an important national holiday.  Sure, the usual festivities of parades, speeches, lots of fireworks, family gatherings and food.  And yet this year the demonic power of evil afflicts our time as well; our festivities are tempered by the continued presence of violence in our world (even close to home), the growing environmental challenges the world faces, smoldering racism, global economic woes, etc.  Today we recall and celebrate our blessings, and we’re invited to see that God does have a plan to address the challenges of our world situation — perhaps a bit differently than we may expect.  Jesus offers us His wisdom & patience & selfless love that challenges and drives away the power of evil, helping form a people that is truly free, truly life-affirming on all levels, truly generous in sharing its resources, truly aware of its position as a major player on the world scene.

Today, in Jesus, God gives a special “twist” to our lives:  in His loving Plan, Jesus comes to set us free from our “demons” of sinfulness and selfishness, together celebrating and sharing God’s Love and Life with our needy sisters and brothers from around the world.  Today, may we all move beyond the violence and selfishness, the fear and the mistrust, to celebrate our freedom and blessings as sons and daughters in God’s family.  As the opening Collect prayer for today’ Mass states:

“God of love, Father of us all,
in wisdom and goodness you guide creation to fulfillment in Christ your Son.
Open our hearts to the truth of his gospel,
that your peace may rule in our hearts and your justice guide our lives.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives with you and the Spirit,
one God forever and ever.  Amen!

Fr. John Schork, C.P. is a member of the Passionist community in Chicago, Illinois. 

Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle

Scripture:

Ephesians 2:19-22
John 20:24-29

Reflection:

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Thomas, commonly refered to as “doubting Thomas”. But wouldn’t you have been skeptical as well? To have seen your Lord crucified, died and buried? I don’t think his request was unreasonable at all.

The cool thing is that when Jesus rejoined them in the upper room, he didn’t say”Gee, Thomas, why didn’t you believe I was alive? Where’s your faith?” He said, rather, “Peace be with you.” Come and see, and believe!

I’m no different than Thomas. I know that God is with me and wants to use me, but I have doubts all the time. I keep thinking how could God use me? What can I say that will make a difference in someone’s life? But the truth is, we can all make a difference. We are on this journey together and we can help each other. Let the Lord use you to be a blessing to someone today. Whatever your doubts are, ask Jesus to show you the truth. Seek the answers in His Word and ask a trusted friend to pray for you and with you.

In the first reading, we are reminded that we are already a part of the communion of saints, and that we “are being built together into a dwelling place for God in the Spirit.” If we really believe that, we can have a positive impact on the world around us! We can stand together, and fight to keep our religious freedoms. We can offer to help a woman in a crisis pregnancy rather than just saying abortion is wrong. We can truly make a difference! And as the responsorial psalm says, we can “go out to all the world and tell the good news.”

And what is this good news? That God is for us and wants the best for each of us . . . that He is crazy in love with us and that He will help us through any difficulty we encounter. . . that we can have a personal relationship with this amazing, loving, God so we are never ever alone. . . and that He sent Jesus to show us how to live and love in this life and how to follow Him into the next! Wahoo!!! Once we know Him and the great hope to which we are called, how can we not want everyone on the planet to know Him so that they too can experience the peace and hope and joy that He alone offers?

Janice Carleton and her husband Jim live in Bainbridge Island, Washington,  and partner with Passionist Fr. Cedric Pisegna in Fr. Cedric Ministries. She is the mother of 4 grown children and grandmother of 6. Janice also leads women’s retreats and recently published her second book: God IS with Us. Visit Janice’s website at http://www.janicecarleton.com/ or email her at [email protected].

Scripture:

Amos 2:6-10, 13-16
Matthew 8:18-22

Reflection:

The prophet Amos is a reminder to us that God can and does choose the lowly and the unheralded to speak to the people that gather under his name but whose lives are indifferent or antagonistic to their covenant relationship with God.

Amos might be the one prophet of the Old Testament whose call from God took him the farthest from his humble beginnings as a sheep breeder in Judah. Not only did Amos move on from his flocks of sheep, but he also left behind the Southern Kingdom of Judah to bring the Word of God to the people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

An immigrant sheep breeder denounces the foolish excesses and the cruel usurpation of other people’s livelihood. But Amos is not denouncing evil in a moralistic or righteous anger. Amos knows that the path that the people have taken is not the way of the covenant, not the way of recognizing God’s sovereignty over the people. Everything that will come crashing down upon them is of their own doing, because the power they hold is the power of force, not the power of the Saving and Loving God who guided their history as a chosen people.

As Amos prophesied, the Assyrian captivity will follow the fall of the capital of the Northern Kingdom, Samaria. The power that Samaria wielded gave way to a stronger power. That is always the case when leadership rules with brute power, brute authority, or brute cruelty.

However, Amos could see beyond the destruction that befell his people; his Book concludes with the promise of a Davidic restoration of a faithful leadership over the people in which all people’s lives would be able to flourish.

This is a reading that speaks to our hearts and minds today. There is a political hubris that ignores the evident suffering caused by policies that are exactly what Amos decries:

Woe to those who are complacent in Zion,
secure on the mount of Samaria,
Leaders of the first among nations,
to whom their people turn. Amos 6,1.

Fr. Arthur Carrillo, C.P., is the director of the Missions for Holy Cross Province.  He lives in Citrus Heights, California.