Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Jeremiah 18: 18-20
Matthew 20: 17-28

Reflection:

Service

My main reason for becoming a Deacon in the Catholic Church was to serve. I often wonder if it came down to me sacrificing my life for the Church, would I be willing to die? That is the ultimate sign of love. I cannot be 100% sure I would do that until the moment the situation is at hand. I pray that I could. In the Gospel, Matthew quotes Jesus as saying, “Such is the case with the Son of Man Who has come, not to be served by others, but to serve, to give His own life as a ransom for the many.”—Matthew 20:28

Most people recognize they have an inner desire to serve others. Millions are serving the poor, the sick, children, the elderly, the homeless, etc. At Christmas time, many people are even more conscious of their need to serve. However, service has a tendency to get out of hand. It feels good to serve, but it also hurts to serve. For example, Jeremiah was not only unappreciated for his service to God’s people, he was even “repaid with evil” (Jer 18:20).

After Jesus challenged His apostles to become servants, He called them to become the slaves of all, even to giving their lives for others (Mt 20:27-28). Thus, service for the Lord shifts from our choice to His leading, transitioning to a godly slavery and the cross of Calvary.

Therefore, although we have an inner desire to serve, we also have a strong inner desire not to serve, to limit service, to abort service before we have to suffer and die to ourselves.

Will you drink of the cup (Mt 20:22) of crucified service, and even to serve as a slave of the Lord? Will you let God’s love crucify your flesh and selfishness? (see Gal 5:24) With Jesus, come to serve (Mt 20:28). Come to the cross.

Deacon Peter Smith serves at St. Mary’s/Holy Family Parish in Alabama, is a retired Theology teacher from Holy Family Cristo Rey Catholic High School in Birmingham, a retired soldier from the US Air Force, and a member of our Passionist Family.

Scripture:

Isaiah 1:10, 16-20
Matthew 23:1-12

Reflection:

For they preach but they do not practice.
They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry
and lay them on people’s shoulders,
but they will not lift a finger to move them. -Matthew 23:3-4

Who should I trust? Whom should I follow? Should I obey the rules of grammar that I was taught, exemplified in the second question leading this paragraph, or should I follow contemporary usage, grammatically expressed in the first question? Should I pay my bills online, handing over my data to people and institutions I will never meet, or should I just do business with people I know, meet on a regular basis in my neighborhood and trust?

This growing up business is not easy, I know, I’ve been at it for 77 years now. I believe I have been blessed with a family and community I knew and trusted as exemplified in my father’s words to me when at thirteen years old, I left home to enter the seminary in a school 300 plus miles from our Chicago home: “Dan, I am happy to see you take this step, and I will continue to support you. Just know you will always be part of our family and you’re welcome back in our home if you change your mind.” Eventually, I did change my mind and return home. Back home, my father asked me what I planned to do. When I told him I wanted to go to college, he looked at me in disbelief and asked: “What, don’t you want to make some money?”

I took all this love and support for granted because that was the home and the family in which I grew up. This family went way beyond our front door, and included our neighbors, some of whom attended the same church we did, some to another. That neighborhood and family also included the Passionist’s monastery whose seminary my father gladly sent me and never regretted. Most of us shopped and supported the same businesses most of which were run by neighbors. If not there, my mother would take the Chicago Northwestern Train (today’s it’s the Metra) downtown, about 11 miles from home, often bringing one or more of us along, to shop at the more sophisticated and exotic merchants like Marshall Fields, Weiboldt’s, Sears, and Goldblatts department stores.

Okay, okay, I hear you: “The world of love and care you experienced as a child is gone forever, and there is no utopia. Be careful, Dan.” God, thank you for the many gifts you’ve given me, and help me identify You in my world as suggested in today’s scripture from Matthew as well as in the words of my mother and Ralph Waldo Emerson: “What you do speaks so loudly, I can’t hear what you are saying.”

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

Scripture:

Daniel, 9:4b-10
Luke 6:36-38

Reflection:

The author of the Book of Daniel lays it on thick in today’s first reading: “We have sinned, been wicked and done evil; we have rebelled and departed from your commandments and your laws. We have not obeyed your servants the prophets…who spoke to all the people.”

These words are not addressed just to God’s people thousands of years ago. They are addressed to us, God’s people in the Twenty-First Century. To us. Now.

The message of today’s prophets is clear: we are on a self-destructive path, completely contrary to God’s will.

These living prophets, like Bill McKibben and Al Gore, cannot be blunter. To keep emitting fossil fuels into the atmosphere results in deadly consequences. We are destroying God’s amazing gift of creation in the name of immediate convenience and comfort. We transport ourselves in vehicles that cloud our blue skies as we heat and cool ourselves with similar CO2 poisons. We enjoy a world of petroleum-based products, from asphalt to plastics to automobiles at our own peril.

Consequently, the predicted environmental doomsday is happening as your read this. Droughts, floods, storms, and melting ice caps are altering our world in tragic ways.

But another deadly sin threatens us as well. Arming ourselves with enough nuclear weapons to destroy all life on earth multiple times over is the work of the Devil, plain and simple.

The third major social sin of our lives is the scandalous wealth gap. As the population of the world mushrooms, billions are left struggling to keep body and soul together while the idle rich waste their wealth on silly extravagances.

As a counterforce to these evils, these sins, we are called to conversion of heart by God’s grace. “But yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness,” the first reading assures us.

The greatest prophet of our time is Pope Francis. In his preaching and writings, he calls us out as Daniel called out the people of his moment in history. The pope tells us now is the time of conversion of heart to turn away from fossil fuels, nuclear weapons, and greed.

Taking seriously his wisdom, we are invited to listen in quiet prayer for the Holy Spirit to lead us to live more simply and in total dependency on God.

In doing so we follow our own consciences and don’t personally judge others, which is the message of the Gospel today. No gossip, no badmouthing others, no shunning or discrimination. We are to be merciful as God is with us, which is a tall order.

By God’s grace, we will be saved from ourselves. Let us beg for this grace.

Jim Wayne is a board member of the Passionist Solidarity Network (PSN), and author of The Unfinished Man. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Genesis 12:1-4a
2 Timothy 1:8b-10
Matthew 17:1-9

Reflection:

The LORD said to Abram:
‘Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk
and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you.’
-Genesis 12:1

And he was transfigured before them…
Matthew 17:2

Anyone who is raised in the Christian faith knows that we are called to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. Additionally, those of us who are Catholic are called to follow the teachings and traditions that have been handed down to us through the millennia by the Church. And yet, today’s readings remind us that us being called is something even greater than simply following.

Consider Abram. He was called by God to leave everything he knew, his family, his land, his culture, his entire way of life. Yes, he was still to be a herdsman, but if you have ever done any traveling, you know that when you go to a foreign land, even the seemingly normal can be transformed into the unknown. Abram wasn’t given any instructions beyond, “Go!” and still he went. Yes, the rewards he was promised were great. But Abram was no spring chicken. (We’re told he was 75 years old). I still have a few years before I reach that milestone, and already I find myself deeply resisting change in my life.

In the gospel we hear of the Transfiguration of Jesus. The three disciples that are with him,] are at a loss as to what to do. Peter, bless his heart, wants to set up camp! But I am reminded of what Jesus said in John 14:12: “…whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these…” Are we called to be transfigured as Jesus was?

This is the call of Lent. To be transformed, to leave behind our old ways, to allow God to transfigure us so we can see ourselves as His beloved daughters and sons. This Lent it is my prayer that we be responsive to, and participate in, the transformative power of God.

Talib Huff is a retired teacher and a member of the retreat team at Christ the King Passionist Retreat Center in Citrus Heights, California. You can contact him at [email protected].

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 26:16-19
Matthew 5:43-48

Reflection:

Lenten Growth:  Beyond the Ordinary

Our Lenten journey continues…and today’s Scriptures offer insights into the growth that is part and parcel of Lent’s encouragement of renewed prayer, penance, and almsgiving / service. 

Our selection from Deuteronomy highlights Moses’ words of encouragement to the people of his day – and us:  walk in God’s ways, observe God’s commandments, listen to God’s voice.  Moses reminds us that God loves us as His sacred people, with special dignity.  We’re encouraged to foster this special “covenant” dignity / relationship in our every thought, word, and deed.  Simple!  And yet a challenge.

The Gospel selection from Matthew 5 relates Jesus challenging us to grow beyond the “minimum” standard of effort:  to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.  Jesus even spells out some of what that means, what growth is entailed:  …love our enemies…pray for those who persecute us…greet everyone…be perfect!  As we continue our Lenten Gospel pondering, we see Jesus backing up his words with his deeds…to the ultimate gift of Himself in love as he dies upon the Cross.  For we 21^st Century Christians, that’s a tall challenge!  And with God’s grace this Lent…it’s doable!

These days of Lent encourage us to grow in love, as individuals and as the Church.  Jesus invites us to grow beyond the fears and pessimism and selfishness that limit our love today – to see and love as God sees and loves each of us, sisters and brothers in God’s family.  As Jesus notes, the sun shines on the whole world, and the rain falls on the just and the unjust; no part of creation is excluded from God’s love.  Our love is to be all-inclusive.  May our focused Lenten experiences of prayer, penance, and almsgiving / service encourage abundant growth in our love of God, neighbor, and ourselves! 

A prayer from fellow Passionist, Fr. Victor Hoagland CP, guides us:

Lord, teach me the love you call me to,
The love sun-like, shining on all,
The love rain-like, falling on any ground,
Looking for no response or return.
Show me the love in the great word you spoke,
The dark wood of your cross.
I learn love slowly, Lord…teach me.
Amen.

Fr. John Schork, C.P. serves as the Province Vocation Director and also as Local Superior of the Passionist Community of Holy Name in Houston, Texas.  

Scripture:

Ezekiel 18:21-28
Matthew 5:20-26

Reflection:

Each of us has what we might call ‘deep story’ – a narrative that tells the world who we truly are. Of concern is that often our story is unspoken, unrevealed to the world of relationships around us and sometimes not even known to ourselves. Yet our truth, our story, is written in the language of wisdom and grace, is familiar to God and indeed is authored by the indwelling Spirit of God. It is the story of not only our capacity to give life and light to others, but is the revelation of our true nature, as one loved by God, created in God’s own image, and nurtured each day by the Spirit of our risen Lord.

From such an inner space we often hear verses of our story ‘whispered’ to us in that soft voice of God offering gentle encouragements, quiet refrains of advice and directing us towards love in all we do.

God reveals to us over a lifetime who were truly are. However, the development of our capacity to hear God’s voice and to know ourselves is achieved by accepting the need to be guided in this endeavour.

Jesus offers such guidance to us in today’s gospel. He stresses the need to ‘go deeper’ to reach into our true nature if we are to face life and live it as a child of God. To follow Jesus is to live from inner motivations and values, values that are God given and lead us to behave in deeply human ways and not merely external compliance with the minimum standards of civility and law.

Rather, we are to strive to tame angry moments, embrace good relations, and allow forgiveness to surface and guide our actions. Virtue and righteousness are deep values and inner treasures, and to live by them allows God’s reign – a reign of love – to grow in our world.

Someone once shared with me how he’d been helping at a soup kitchen and was ladling out the stew – thin and watery as it was on top since the meat had by now sunk to the depths of the pot. As one homeless person approached, he asked the server, ‘Dig deep brother, give me some of the good stuff”. He wanted to be nourished by what lay deep within the stew pot. We have a similar capacity to bring light to the world from our very depths.

Let us dig deep into our values and live from them as Jesus asks.

Fr. Denis Travers, C.P., is a member of Holy Spirit Province, Australia. 

Scripture:

Ester C:12, 14-16, 23-25
Matthew 7:7-12

Reflection:

Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are the three traditional Lenten practices. And today’s readings are about the practice of prayer, specifically, prayers of petition (for ourselves) and intercession (for others).

In our first reading from Esther, we find the young queen begging God for her own life and interceding for the life of her people. The Jews are a minority group in Babylonia, and at the mercy of a capricious king. And in our Gospel reading for today, we have Jesus’ assurance that “your heavenly Father gives good things to those who ask him.” Mt 7:11

Esther lived in a community of exiled Jews in Babylonia, far from her homeland of Israel. She was an orphan, raised by her older cousin Mordechai, who was prominent in the Jewish community. When Esther was in her late teens, King Xerxes held a mandatory beauty contest to find a new queen, and Esther, who was very beautiful, was chosen. When she was moved into the palace to live in the king’s harem, Mordechai warned her not to tell anyone that she was Jewish.

A few years later, Mordechai refused to bow to the prime Minister, a man named Haman. To get revenge, Haman ordered all the Jews to be killed. When Mordechai heard of this, he went to Esther and asked her to intercede for the Jews with the king. Esther risked her life by revealing her identity as a Jew and going to the king to plead with him to have mercy on her people. Before she did this however, she fasted and prayed for three days.

Today’s first reading gives us a snapshot of Esther’s prayer: “ Save us from the hand of our enemies; turn our mourning into gladness, and our sorrows into wholeness.”

Esther’s prayers are answered. Not only are she and the other Jews in Babylon saved from death, but her cousin Mordechai becomes the new Prime Minister.

We may pray for the deliverance of a group of people from genocide, as Esther did. Or our prayer may be for ourselves: we may pray for the strength and insight to navigate a health problem or a difficult relationship. Sometimes the prayers are answered in dramatic ways, through the web of relationships in a community, as happened with Esther. Sometimes the gift we receive is the quiet and sure awareness that we are never alone.

This Lent, as we pray for ourselves and others, let us pray with confidence. Today’s responsorial psalm from Psalm 138 sums it up: “Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.”

Patty Gillis is a retired Pastoral Minister. She served on the Board of Directors at St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat and Conference Center in Detroit. She is currently a member of the Laudato Si Vision Fulfillment Team and the Passionist Solidarity Network.

Scripture:

Jonah 3:1-10
Luke 11:29-32

Reflection:

Deuteronomy 7:7 gives the breath-taking words of God spoken to Moses: ‘Moses, do you think I chose this people because they are the greatest of nations? No, quite the contrary, they are the least among the nations of the world. I chose them because my heart has fallen in love with them’. This chosen people will be a light to all people. God’s Word does not return to God empty. It bears fruit; it fulfills its mission.

What a strange prophet is Jonah, God’s word bearer sent to the people of Nineveh. He boards a ship going in the opposite direction to flee from God! Was he afraid the Ninevites would kill him? Perhaps not, because he asks no less than three times for death! Fear of death doesn’t seem to be a problem. Poor Jonah, he sleeps through God’s response to his desertion, and then how he must have cringed at the reverence of the pagan crew who cannot believe that he would do such a thing.

The whale spits Jonah on the shore and for a second time he is given his commission as prophet to preach God’s word of conversion to the Ninevites. We don’t know what Jonah says really. I imagine after asking the people on the beach for directions, he told them their whole land would soon be destroyed by God. His unhappy and unwilling presence, his uninviting personality did not bring hellos and smiles from the Ninevites, but to his surprise conversion was totally embraced. Even the king says, ‘let everyone renounce evil behavior and the wickedness they have done’. 

Could Jonah have skipped his short walk, his overreacting to God’s never-ending mercy, which triggers a new wave of anger and another request to die? Could it have been the people on the beach who saw Jonah come forth from the whale and who went to the King saying someone eaten by a fish just came out alive on our shore? Did they interpret his damp arrival as a sign from the God of Israel: Behold my best prophet Jonah who is for you a ‘sign of life’ if you change?

Jonah will ask only one more time to die. Then he gets it together enough to realize that he has a long walk back home. No ship would dare take him. ‘Jonah’, the captains said shaking their heads. His story traveled fast, and so it goes even to this day. But he really didn’t ever want to go anywhere on a boat again.

In the end Jonah, perhaps an old, grandfatherly figure matured in faith who can laugh, realizes he was the indeed the message, God’s sign of life. God even enjoyed his ‘creative alternatives’ and his acting out. Apparently, they invited God’s playfulness with a prophet in the true Spirit of Israel, one of the least who was chosen. “How better to demonstrate to the simple Ninevites that God is a God of life, a God who brings life from the dead. What better way to show hope than for God choice of this hopeless prophet”? Jonah laughs. “God said he enjoyed praying with me. I said, ‘playing with me’? God said, “no, Jonah, all was prayer between you and I. Ours is a story of lavish mercy, of new life. Thanks for playing!” Jonah concludes: “I tell you as a prophet, my story only points to a greater story yet to unfold”. God’s Word does not return to God empty. It bears fruit; it fulfills its mission.

Fr. William Murphy, CP is a member of Immaculate Conception Community in Jamaica, New York.