Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Ephesians 6:1-9
Luke 13:22-30

Reflection:

I wonder how presiders and preachers will handle today’s readings. This is complicated. Masters. Slaves. Who is in? Who is out? First. The Last. Maybe they’ll pass and invite their congregation to enjoy a moment of personal prayer.

Biblical interpretation is tricky. Literalists might argue that St. Paul’s reference to slavery in today’s first reading from Ephesians would suggest “The Bible says slavery is permissible.” We know that not to be true. This selection from Ephesians is more about how we are to treat one another, and, maybe in our contemporary context, how employers and employees might honor and respect one another.

Then what are we to make of the Master in the Gospel story who locks everyone out. Maybe this story complements the first reading, calling us to recognize and respect others, even if they are not “from the south” or “look like us.” Those who would have thought they have an easy entry into the Kingdom of God are shocked that they are locked out. So, who’s in? Well, as Luke tells is, “People will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the Kingdom of God.” What?! Those outsiders? They don’t look like us. They don’t speak the same language as we do. They do not profess the same faith as we do. Yet, there they are, at the table of the Kingdom of God.

What most inspires me is that I believe Jesus, the Lord of Life and Son of God, is generous. No insider-outsider, master-slave, or us-them. And the basic gesture of generosity is to include, not exclude. In a cultural/political world of us-them, we should exercise our faith by gestures of welcome and inclusion, even if we don’t always agree. We can still be friends in the Lord.

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:

Ephesians 5:21-33
Luke 13:18-21

Reflection:

Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like?”

The first reading today contains a beautiful description of how Christ is the perfect spouse of the Church and how this relationship is embodied in the Sacrament of Marriage. In His relationship with the Church, Christ the Bridegroom takes care of the Church and protects it as a spouse would protect and care for his wife. The Church then becomes a vessel through which we are made holy and presentable before God. This is all made possible through Christ’s Passion, death, Resurrection and Ascension. The Paschal Mystery makes the Church and the People of God holy.

In the Gospel reading, Christ is sharing two parables that describe what the Kingdom of God is like. Both of these stories relate something small like a mustard seed or yeast can yield something much larger. In its early days the Church was like a mustard seed or the yeast. The early Church started with a very small group of twelve men and a handful of women growing to 1.39 billion baptized Catholics making up almost 18% of the world’s population. (Vatican News April 2024)

Our relationship with the Church is not limited to the Sacraments and getting into heaven. It is about growing what Christ established over two thousand years ago. What is so awesome to me is that we are in communion with all Christians throughout the ages in building the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is a community of believers, not individuals, that have been made holy in the Blood of Christ. The Kingdom of God on earth is a reflection of the Kingdom of God in Heaven. We pray for those who have gone before us. We pray to the Saints to assist us. And they pray for us in turn. It is a Kingdom without limit, where Christ cares for us all.

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

Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles

Scripture:

Ephesians 2:19-22
Luke 6:12-16

Reflection:

Today we celebrate the Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles.  We celebrate these two ordinary men chosen by Jesus himself to teach others about God’s love and to “make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19).  In today’s Gospel reading we read about Jesus choosing the twelve apostles which included Simon and Jude.  Simon was often called “the Zealot”, so as not to be confused with Simon Peter.  By the same token, Jude is known as Jude Thaddeus so not to be confused with Judas Iscariot.  Simon and Jude traveled together throughout Persia preaching and teaching about Jesus and led many people to become believers and be baptized.  They died for their faith on the same day in Beirut.

We are told that Simon and Jude as well as the other apostles were ordinary people chosen by Jesus to spread the gospel message.  I think it is important to remember that we are also  ‘ordinary people’ called by Jesus to spread the good news.  We are reminded in the reading from Ephesians that:

You are no longer strangers and sojourners,          
but fellow citizens with the holy ones
And members of the household of God.

This means we are all on the same playing field, so to speak, as the apostles called by Jesus in the gospel today.  We are all ordinary people washed in the waters of baptism, loved by the same God who loves everyone unconditionally.  We may not be called to suffer as the early apostles and followers of Christ did, but we have been chosen to live a life of service modeled on the life and death of Jesus Christ!

As members of the household of God, we are called to a holiness that can be challenging.  We live in a society that oftentimes seems to be very un-Christlike where we can become easily frustrated and wonder if others will ever understand the gospel message that we are trying to live by and share.  One of the exciting things that is happening in our Church presently is the Synod that is taking place in Rome. Pope Francis has invited several hundred women and men, ordained, religious and laity to take part in this synodal gathering. This is an opportunity for both hierarchy and laity to join hands and hearts as members of the one household of God to pray, dialogue and most especially to listen to where the Holy Spirit is leading us as Church today and into the future.

It is time for all of us who call ourselves Church to realize that we are no longer strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens with the holy ones, like Saint Simon and St Jude.  It is time for us to be who we say we are and make the love and presence of Jesus Christ visible in our families, neighborhoods, communities and churches.

Saint Simon, the Zealot and Saint Jude Thaddeus, pray for us!  Amen.

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

Scripture:

Jeremiah 31:7-9
Hebrews 5:1-6
Mark 10:46-52

Reflection:

In our Gospel reading for this Sunday (Mark 10:46-52), Jesus is leaving Jericho. By the roadside, a man named Bartimaeus is begging. He is blind. When he hears that Jesus is passing by, he cries out, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” When others tell him to be quiet, he just cries out again, “Son of David, have pity on me.” So, as is often the case, Jesus stops. And He tells the others to call Bartimaeus over. When the people tell Bartimaeus to go to Jesus, Mark tells us that “He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.” When Jesus asks him what he wants, Bartimaeus says, “Master, I want to see.” Jesus tells him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” Bartimaeus receives his sight and proceeds to follow Jesus.

There is much symbolism connected with sight, and this encounter between Jesus and Bartimaeus has so much to teach us. To state the obvious, Bartimaeus cannot help but know he is physically blind. But he has faith enough to see that Jesus can help him. And what he is yearning for is to see.

When it comes to the commandment to love God and to love our neighbor, are we humble enough to recognize that we may be blind with respect to other persons or groups of people, or even to the rest of creation? When I get in my car, I have enough sense and humility to know that I can have blind spots when I’m driving. The car has a rearview mirror, and side mirrors, and in the case of the car I drive, a system that has a light that blinks when there is another vehicle coming up on one side of me or the other. I also have the sense to follow my training, and look to the side and a little behind when I want to change lanes. But can I have enough humility to recognize that I may have a blind spot when it comes to certain people or groups of people? And am I willing to ask God to let me see?

When we have trouble seeing others as God sees them: as those beloved of God, there is blindness there. It can be comfortable to stay in our blindness. We may be more apt to jump to conclusions than to be like Bartimaeus and jump up to be healed of our blindness.

Does this mean we should turn a blind eye, so to speak, to evil and injustice? No, we may have to speak up for what is right and just. We are to work for justice and peace and the common good as our way of helping build up the kingdom, and following the commandment to love. But does that have to involve being blind to the humanity of the “other?” Does it mean we try to take God’s place in condemning others? I don’t believe so.

Bartimaeus reminds us to ask for God’s grace to see clearly; to see others and all of creation as we are meant to see them. Perhaps we can add an intention to our daily prayers: “Master, where I am blind, I want to see.”

Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P., is the local superior of the Passionist Community in Birmingham, Alabama. 

Scripture:

Ephesians 4:7-16
Luke 13:1-9

Reflection:

My father could not abide those whom he described as “vulgar” or “crass.” He believed people were better than that and expected his children to be better than that. He was an attorney and had served in the US Navy, so he knew something of vulgar and crass characters. Were he alive today, the level of vulgarity and crassness would disappoint him greatly.

In his Letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul wrote about the work of the Christian community in building up the Body of Christ. The community had to avoid human trickery or deceitful scheming, he wrote, in order to live into the truth in love, to grow into Christ. The metaphor of the body as community is familiar to us. We approach the altar and say “Amen” to the Eucharistic minister’s declaration, “The Body of Christ.”  Not just receiving the Body of Christ but becoming the Body the Christ in the world today.

We hear vulgar and crass language used everywhere, but it is inimical to building up the community. When civic, church, and political leaders use it, the Body of Christ is especially diminished. When we ridicule someone who’s different than we are, when politicians mock others, when Christians make crude remarks about another person’s looks or religion or gender or whom they love, we harm the Body of Christ. How did we get to this place?

We all know that in our own physical bodies, there are less than perfect parts. But they are a part of who we are. We might well work at strengthening them or improving them, but they are members of this body called “me.” We need to hear Jesus say to us as individuals and as the Body of Christ, “You are my beloved, in you I am well pleased.” And I might imagine him adding, “So stop being so vulgar and crass.”

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:

Ephesians 4:1-6
Luke 12:54-59

Reflection:

Traction and Distraction

St. Paul of Tarsus is said to have written this Letter to the Ephesians from a prison cell; his future is bleak, yet his words are full of hope and encouragement. Paul has already experienced a profound joy while observing the salt-of-the-earth goodness of believers in an early faith community in Jesus Christ.

He then pleads for unity. “Make every effort to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace,” he writes.

The word diabolic, or devilish, comes from the Greek word, ballein, meaning “to throw.” It’s where we get the English word, ball. So, diabolic means to throw apart or to divide. In Goethe’s Faust, for example, when Mephistopheles enters the stage he announces, “I am the spirit who always divides.” The opposite of diabolic is symbolic, which literally means to throw together.  It’s why we speak of sacraments as symbolic; the grace of Eucharist or Reconciliation binds us together when geography or hurt feelings can separate us. If we seek an example of evil today it is that force which divides us rather than unites us. POLARIZATION.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus scolds the crowd for failing to appreciate the signs of the times. He repeatedly urges them to pay attention, stay awake, and recognize the present moment. Sometimes our greatest wound is not one of the capital sins like pride, anger, lust or greed. Today it might be distractions. Because our daily lives are saturated with interruptions — from cell phones and social media to emails and pixels of light — all demanding our attention or traction. Distractions.

Perhaps today I could grow in holiness simply by (what the Synod keeps thundering) LISTENING, giving my attention to a person at lunch, reading the signs of my time, traction, preserving the unity of the Spirit.

Fr. Jack Conley, CP, is the local superior of St. Vincent Strambi Community in Chicago, Illinois.

Scripture:

Ephesians 3:14-21
Luke 12:49-53

Reflection:

Love of Christ

 To know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
-Ephesians 3:19

This week in the Eucharistic liturgy the Church shares with us the amazing love God has for each of us in His Son Jesus!  In the Epistle to Ephesians, we find some of the most astonishing statements of Jesus’s loving care for us!  In Eph 3:19 we read: “to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” The translation into English of the inspired Greek word for “surpasses” is a gross understatement of God’s feelings for us.  The Greek word is “upper-ballo” which means to throw something way over our head!  It would be like a catcher in baseball throwing a ball to a player on second base above him that the ball goes over the center field wall!   Jesus’ love for each one of us is so astounding it is impossible for us to even imagine it in our furthest dreams! 

The author of the Epistle reminds us that we must be rooted and grounded in the exceeding love that Christ has for us.  Not for a minute do we think we earned or deserve this prodigious caring fondness of Jesus!   We must indeed appreciate this lavish affection of His love and share it with others.  The great loss of our lives is a failure to comprehend how very much we matter to Him!

His love for us should give us an enormous sense of Peace. Paul said, “The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Gal 2:20 This wonderful gift of a deep understanding of God’s care should give us great peace in our life!  

Someone once said: “If you are depressed you are living in the past; if you are anxious you are living in the future, if you are at peace, you are living in the present.” —Lao Tzu If we are “rooted and grounded in the love that Christ has for us” the past only humbles us leaving our hope alive! The future gives us an unspeakable expectation of the joy of being in Jesus’ loving arms and smiling eyes!

“Peace, I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be a cowardly fearful.” John 14:27

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