Daily Scripture

Scripture:

1 Timothy 6:2c-12
Luke 8:1-3

Reflection:

Recently I was hospitalized for five days ( doing fine now,  thanks).  I was confined to bed and was not supposed to get out of bed without assistance.  Reading, writing or even praying was difficult with a multitude of tubes in my arms and neck as well as wonderful nurses coming in to check every irregular heart beat.   I turned to the TV to help pass the time.  Have you seen what has happened to daytime TV ?  When you think about it, it is appalling.  In one break – two minute set of commercials, I discovered “Loan Depot”  specializes in home loans for the riskier people out there;  a certain Law Office specializes in getting you what you deserve from an auto accident or work injury; “Drive-time.com” will finance the car of your dreams even if everyone else has turned you down; and you can get picky with your TV contract by going to Sling TV to get what you have always desired at a much reduced price.  That afternoon I was visited by a friend who is very devout.  She confided to me that God had not answered her prayers.  She had asked to be the sole winner of the Power Ball prize for several hundred million dollars.  She didn’t win.   I said I was disappointed too because the Church could have used a hefty donation from such a winner.  Then I asked how many chances she had bought.  She smiled sheepishly and said none.

As I read the selection from St. Paul’s letter to Timothy today, these moments came to mind.  How do we in the first world understand or relate to the lessons Paul is attempting to communicate to Timothy and his fellow believers?  Even more, how do we in the United States which has the wealthiest economy in the world understand the core teaching, “…those who want to be rich are falling into temptation and into a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into ruin and destruction.”  If we take a thoughtful look at our TV advertisements and reflect on our own thinking when it comes to “wanting” when so much is available perhaps we will become inspired to seek St. Paul’s intercession in helping us form our minds and attitudes in the light of Christ.

Our gospel for today offers us the foundation from which we are to work on conforming our minds and hearts to Christ.  Like the Twelve and the women who came to believe in Jesus, we are all called to be today’s disciples who are “…preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God.”   It is a proclamation that God has fulfilled the divine promise to send a redeemer to save us and open the pathway to the Kingdom.  To answer the call in an authentic and real way, the values of the Kingdom must find their way into our daily life choices and attitudes.  Today, St. Paul reminds us that the  fullness of the  Kingdom is beyond this world.  In fact, the temptation to focus all of our energy and efforts to acquire as much of this world as we possibly can is a temptation and trap which leads to tunnel vision and deafness.  As such, the effort to gain everything we ever desired here in this world will eventually make the world of the Kingdom inaccessible to us.  Could that possibly be the meaning of Paul’s warning that endless pursuit of acquiring possessions leads to “ruin and destruction” ?  Our continuing dilemma revolves around the answer to these questions : How do we use all of the gifts and talents God provided to us in such a way they reach their highest human achievement while at the same time fostering an attitude that all of this is given for the sake of sharing and giving glory to God ?  How do we avoid the destructive temptation to keep drawing all to ourselves in order to place ourselves on a pedestal of pride and conceit?

Perhaps we are able to look around our lives to discover helpers in answering these questions.   This week, I received the periodic  magazine called “Empower” which serves the mentally challenged children and adults of our society.   The Arc Programs across our country provide possibilities for these significant members of our society.  A friend of mine, “Jimmy”, is a local Arc member.  I found one article intriguing.  It says, “Many perceive people with disabilities as the ones in need of service, but in reality they are often part of local, state and national engagement.”  The article goes on to describe how service for the sake of helping others is part of their self understanding.  They used their gifts and abilities to serve the hungry, create enclosed playgrounds and work on food drives.  They find great satisfaction in helping others achieve a better life.  There seems to be nothing of self interest in their efforts.  Is this not what St. Paul is talking about when he says, “If we have food and clothing, we shall be content.”  Just as we have brought nothing into the world with us, so will we not take anything with us out of this world.  With regard to accumulating the riches of this world, are we not to keep self interest in check and always look to be of service to one another?

Living the values and mindset of the Kingdom of God is the goal of Saint Paul’s teaching today.  There are competing messages about this all around us.  It is up to each one of us to decide which messages to see and hear.

Fr. Richard Burke, CP, is a member of St. Paul of the Cross Province.  He lives at St. Ann’s Monastery in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle

Scripture:

Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13
Matthew 9:9-13

Reflection:

Today we celebrate the memory of St. Matthew, one of the original twelve apostles, and the author of one of our four gospels.  His gospel seems intent on suggesting the compatibility of the way of life proposed by Jesus with the biblical way of life so evident in the scriptures.  An early disciple of Jesus, he was familiar with the many remarks of Jesus’ suggesting how well attuned Jesus was with the scriptures.

This seems to have resonated well within Matthew’s narrative, which was written with the Jewish community in mind.  For, as the man Matthew emerges before us in our reading of this gospel, we note some incompatibilities that emerge about him between his Jewish background and his occupation that might have raised some concern and sensitivity about Matthew, because his background was that of a tax-collector—an occupation that would not have endeared itself to any law-abiding Jew, forced to contribute taxes toward the support of the Roman occupation.  So Matthew was likely used to being put down and taunted by his fellow Jews for his collaboration with the Romans, especially in matters of their hard-earned money.  But we gather from the story in our scriptures today that Matthew was not to be that easily dismissed by his fellow Jews, so what does he do but, first, to invite Jesus Himself, and His disciples, to a meal at his house—to the consternation of those Jews who were trying to disregard people like Matthew, and then Matthew ups the “ante” on this gaffe in protocol regarding the table guests by extending an invitation to an unsavory bunch of his fellow-tax collectors and people designated as “sinners”.  This took a considerable amount of chutzpa on Matthews’s part, which Jesus probably admired.  So, if Jesus was looking for a follower who would stick by him through thick and thin, he found him in Matthew.  And to make sure that the upright tablemates at this meal got the message, Jesus clarifies: “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

Years later, when the apostle Paul may have been pondering this message found in Matthew’s gospel, he had occasion to capture the heart of it in corresponding with his converts in the city of Ephesus much along the lines Jesus proposes in the gospel today by urging them to bear with one another through love, “striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace”, and then he points out what is obvious to all of us, that each of us has his or her own gifts and talents, differing from one another in this regard.  So, as we have learned, we not only differ from one another because some of us are good people, and others of us less so, but we differ even in our good points, our talents and skills, as well as in our vocational calling.  Parents likely more than others have the opportunity, with regard to their children, to notice this variety of differences in their children, and it is these differences that seldom lead to antagonisms among children, but rather to their pride in and support for one another.  A child who is a pianist and another who is an artist and a third who is a story-teller and a fourth who is a cook, etc., are seldom competitive with one another in a harmful way, but often only in a supportive way.  And this seems to be the mindset of St. Paul as he cites the various vocational differences among people of Ephesus, like apostles, prophets, evangelists, etc.

Like a jigsaw puzzle, it is the differences in the pieces of the puzzle that cause, not the problem, but the solution to the task of devising a picturesque design that proves appealing to those observing it.  Initially, a certain piece of the puzzle may prove to be an obstacle, but eventually, for one willing to expend time and energy on it, it turns out to be the key to its completion.

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

Memorial of Saint Andrew Kim Taegŏn, priest and martyr and Saint Paul Chŏng Hasang, martyr, and their companions, martyrs

Scripture:

1 Timothy 3:14-16
Luke 7:31-35

Reflection:

Many of us are familiar with and inspired by the stories of heroic men and women who have lived remarkable lives of faith.  Their witness to Christ and to God’s presence in the world model for us various ways to be faithful disciples of Jesus.  The saints we celebrate today are just such wonderful people.  They are St. Andrew Kim Taegon, St. Paul Chong Hasang and their companions.  They were all martyred during the major persecutions of the Christian community in 19th century Korea.  St. Andrew is singled out from the group because he was the first Korean Catholic Priest and St. Paul Chong Ha Sang was an important lay leader and catechist during that time.  It would seem that the “companions” were ordinary, everyday Catholics rounded up by the government in its attempt to stamp out the Christian faith.  All were put to death in a most violent and public way.

By the time these Catholics were martyred, Christianity had been growing in Korea for more than seventy-five years.  It is believed that Christianity had been brought into Korea by some Christian Japanese soldiers in the latter part of the 18th century.   The Christian Japanese soldiers baptized the first Korean Christians and the Christian community began to grow quickly.  By the time the first foreign priest arrived in Korea in 1836 there was already a substantial Christian community flourishing there.  The Korean Catholic Church is the only known Catholic Christian community that first developed completely from the witness and work of lay Christians.

The rulers in Korea were not at all pleased to have this foreign religion thriving in their country.  At first they just discouraged it but soon enough outlawed this practice and began to actively persecute anyone who took it up.  As Christians were arrested, tortured and put to death the Church quickly moved underground

St. Andrew’s parents, members of the Korean nobility, were an important part of that early community and secretly remained faithful to their life with Christ.  Andrew, born in 1821, was baptized at fifteen and soon expressed his desire to become a priest.  He traveled to Macau to attend the seminary and was ordained in 1845.  He was the first Korean to become a priest and returned home shortly after his ordination to help organize the Church and bring the sacraments to the faithful.  He ministered in Korea only a year before he was arrested and put to death.

There were intense persecutions of Christians in Korea in 1839, 1846, 1866 and 1867 and 103 Christians were martyred for their faith.  We celebrate these heroic martyrs on this day.

May their faith and courage inspire us to live our lives faithful to the Gospel and have the strength to be fearless witness for Christ in our everyday lives.

 

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

Scripture:

1 Timothy 3:1-13
Luke 7:11-17

Reflection:

Beloved, this saying is trustworthy. 1 Timothy 3:1

Last week, as I was preparing for this homily, I was asked to celebrate the Saturday Mass for our weekend retreat at Mater Dolorosa. When I read the first reading for the Saturday Mass, a reading from St. Paul’s letter to Timothy, St. Paul states: “This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance.” (I Tim. 1:15) Then I reread the first reading for today’s Mass and Paul says, “This saying is trustworthy” to Bishop Timothy, a young man whom Paul mentored as he went about his missionary journeys.

What does trustworthy mean and why is it important? As I reflected on those questions, I went back to the New Testament and discovered that this word is used 21 times in the Gospels and the other books of the New Testament. We first find it used by Jesus who tells us that someone who is trustworthy in small matters will also be trustworthy in great ones (Luke 16:10). For the early church, being trustworthy was very important and the only to know if a person is trustworthy is by looking at what person says and does. As St. Luke explains in the Gospel passage cited, a person who lies, is dishonest and disrespects others is not trustworthy. We really do not need an expert to tell us this. Even a child knows when we are being trustworthy and when we are deceitful.

Recently, I began reading a biography of the Lutheran martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who became a theologian and a pastor when Hitler began his rise as leader in Germany. He came from a wealthy, well know family in Germany. Shortly after Hitler’s election, Bonhoeffer broadcasted a sermon over the radio in which he said that Hitler was not trustworthy and why. The radio station stopped transmitting mid-sermon, but no one would be able to stop him from preaching the Gospel. As we know, the German authorities later arrested him, threw him into a concentration camp and executed him. Of course, he was not the only one who condemned Hitler for his policy of extermination of the Jewish race and other crimes against humanity, but certainly he continues to be an outstanding example of someone who knows the difference between someone who is trustworthy and one who is not.

So, when Paul writes to Timothy, he is telling him to pay attention to what is trustworthy. Who is Timothy supposed to trust? Who are we supposed to trust? God and God’s Word. God acts of Love, which includes Jesus’ death on the Cross. The word and testimony of the many men and women over the centuries who have taught us the Gospel of Jesus, its values, its way of life, its sayings, and its saving message of grace. That is trustworthy and worthy of full acceptance!

St. Paul is asking us to be trustworthy ourselves. And Paul is also asking us not to be deceived by people who are not trustworthy. The rest of the first reading describes people who are trustworthy and people who are not. What a wonderful message we have to today’s times!

In whom do we put our trust?

Fr. Clemente Barrón, C.P. is a member of Christ the King Community in Citrus Heights, California. 

Scripture:

Sirach 27:30-28:7
Romans 14:7-9
Matthew 18:21-35

Reflection:

Today could well be called “Forgiveness Sunday”. The first reading from Sirach proclaims the scandalous contradiction between expecting forgiveness from God while selfishly withholding it from others. In the passage from Romans, Paul succinctly reminds us that we live only because of the freely given mercy of God that is ours through the death and resurrection of Jesus. And today’s gospel, which begins with Peter’s memorable question about the permissibility of limiting forgiveness, unfolds in a parable that emphasizes the disturbing fate that awaits anyone who refuses to extend to others the very forgiveness they have received.

Still, none of us finds it easy to forgive. Christians should be virtuosos of forgiveness because we know that God has been—and always will be—endlessly merciful to us. But sometimes we’re understandably reluctant to forgive because we know forgiveness is both challenging and risky. Forgiveness is challenging because in order to forgive we must be willing to move beyond the justifiable anger, hurt, and resentment we feel when we are unfairly treated by another. And forgiveness is notoriously risky because we can never be sure it will repair relationships that have been damaged by unkindness, carelessness, and thoughtlessness. What if our forgiveness is refused? Even worse, what if the people we forgive show little remorse, accept no responsibility, and do nothing to amend their behavior? No wonder it is sometimes easier to remain estranged than to be reconciled; easier to nurture anger and bitterness over love and forgiveness.

But nothing could be more self-destructive or hopeless. Forgiveness is seldom easy, but what is the alternative? Yes, what was done to us was wrong, unfair, and inexcusable—which is also true about how we sometimes treat others—but do we want our lives defined by anger, hurt, and bitterness? Is that how we want to be remembered? The message of this Sunday’s readings is unmistakably clear: Forgiveness really is a matter of life and death. As the late Passionist priest and renown scripture scholar, Carroll Stuhlmueller, wrote about these readings: “Not to forgive is like not breathing; it is that unnatural and inhuman.” Those are words to take to heart.

Paul J. Wadell is Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, and a member of the extended Passionist family.

Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows

Scripture:

1 Timothy 1:1-2, 12-14
John 19:25-27

Reflection:

No mother should have to experience what Mary did as she watched her Son die. Is the actuality worse than a mother can imagine?  Think of the women of the disappeared in Argentina not knowing how their loved ones died, or the pain of the mothers and wives of the men and boys of Srebrenica as the mass graves are dug up. It is often women who must live with the horror of war and violence.

Other gospel writers mention the presence of the women at Golgotha, but it is John who explicitly tells us that Mary and the beloved disciple stood by the cross and who gives us Jesus’ words: “Woman. behold, your son” and to the disciple whom Jesus loved: “Behold, your mother.”

Mary stood, “Stabat Mater” Her eyes must have been riveted on his face, her heart torn by sorrow. Then their eyes meet and Jesus spoke and gave Mary the beloved disciple as her son. Then, addressing the disciple: “Behold, your mother”.

Mary, may I appreciate you as my mother. May I go to you with my doubts and fears. May I confidently trust in your loving care for me. Help me to have a compassionate heart as I see Jesus suffering in the crucified of today.

Be with me always and at the hour of my death. Amen.

Fr. Michael Hoolahan, C.P. is on the staff of Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Scripture:

Numbers 21:4b-9
Philippians 2:6-11
John 3:13-17

Reflection:

The cross, the symbol of Christianity.  In our Catholic faith we think more about the crucifix.  It’s more than a symbol.  Our Savior is on the cross.  The one who emptied Himself, humbled Himself, was obedient, even to death, on a cross.  For us.

When I reflect on the cross I think of when Jesus said if we want to follow Him, we need to take up our cross.  Taking up our cross in life is not something today’s world wants to think about.   Today’s world says we can have it all.  There is no place for suffering.  But while that is what our culture promotes,  who of us really wants to suffer, to deny themselves, to do the work necessary to turn away from sin.   Those aren’t things most of us want to do.  We get the “no pain no gain” perspective on some level and intellectually understand that we grow through our challenges, struggles, and suffering, but we still would prefer not to.

In my life I have come to see another saying from Jesus as an accompaniment to the challenge to take up my cross.  Yes, Our Lord asks me to take up my cross, but He also says “My yoke is easy and My burden light”. He invites us to come to Him when we are burdened and He will give us rest.  So we might not want to seek out suffering, but when it comes, if we sincerely go to Him, He may not take it away, but, as Paul Claudel  said, He will fill it with His presence.  Jesus will walk with us in whatever difficulty we face.   I also wonder if there is an added bonus.  What if we knew that in our suffering we could draw closer to the Lord.  Just as increasing our intentional time in prayer, or receiving the sacraments can draw us closer to the Lord, what if we viewed the difficult times or challenges we face, as a time to learn from the Lord, to draw closer to Him?  Might that change our perspective a little?  Give us a little comfort?  Help us?  My experience says yes, and I know drawing closer to the Lord is where I want to be in times of joy or challenge.

Steve Walsh is a retreatant at Mater Dolorosa Retreat Center in Sierra Madre, and a good friend of the Passionist Community.

Scripture:

Colossians 3:1-11
Luke 6:20-27

Reflection:

The powerful and wealthy media mogul Ted Turner, speaking before the American Humanist Society, made this memorable pronouncement: “Christians are bozos and Christianity is a religion for losers.”

Maybe that’s why we sometimes feel like Ziggy, the bald, roly-poly comic strip character who prayed to God: “I just want you to know that the meek are still getting clobbered down here!”

Judging by the values of our culture, Ted Turner may not be far off the mark.  Wealth, success, power and prestige are obvious signs of God’s blessings.  In biblical times the same held true, as did the signs of God’s curses like poverty, disease and weakness.

But in today’s gospel, Jesus shocks us.  He turns our values upside down.  His words fall like bombshells exploding around the crowd, us included.  What we call blessings are in fact curses.  And what we call curses, Jesus calls blessings!  Blessed are the poor and hungry and woe to the rich.

Luke’s beatitudes differ somewhat from Matthew’s.  In Matthew, Jesus delivers his Sermon on the Mount.  He uses the third person “Blessed are they…” And the beatitudes speak to the spiritual: “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”  Not so with Luke.  His sermon is on the plain.  Jesus speaks to us at level ground, face-to-face, eyeball to eyeball.  He speaks bluntly about material and economic conditions: “Blessed are the poor…”

As for the rich, Jesus says: “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.”  The word “have” in the Greek is “apechete,” meaning “to have in full.”  It was commonly used on business receipts to mean “paid in full.”  No payment or service was expected to follow the close of the transaction.  In other words, what the rich wanted and received on earth is all they will ever get.  This indeed is a chilling curse.

So what are we to do with this unsettling Good News?  Megan McKenna, in her book, “Blessings and Woes,” says it challenges us to conversion.  It’s “about seeing as God sees, not through rose-colored glasses but in the light of God’s kingdom that emerges in the world as a vibrant force to be reckoned with in the person of Jesus…”

These are kingdom values designed to shatter earthly values.  They call us, as Paul does in his letter to the Colossians, to “think of what is above, not of what is on earth.”

This may not feel like Good News.  The world will ridicule us as bozos and losers.  Nevertheless, Jesus is looking at you and me eyeball to eyeball and challenging us with his words: I’m about to bless you.  Get ready for one of my bombshells.

 

Deacon Manuel Valencia is on the staff at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.