Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Hosea 8:4-7, 11-13
Matthew 9:32-38

 

Reflection:

 The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Matthew 9:37-38

In our readings today we have two striking agricultural images, one from the Old Testament and one from the Gospel. The first warns us that, “The stalk of grain that forms no ear can yield no flour.” It speaks of wheat growing a stalk, but not fulfilling its purpose, to provide nourishment in the form of flour. Pope Francis says something of this when speaking of evangelization. He says, “Be so [evangelizing] without being presumptuous, imposing “our truths,” but rather be guided by the humble yet joyful certainty of those who have been found, touched and transformed by the Truth who is Christ (Homily, Domus Sanctae Marthae, February 27, 2014). We can not be a “presumptuous” stalk of wheat, providing no flour. We are encouraged to develop our own deep relationship with Christ and share this throughout our lives. As the saying goes, attributed to his namesake St. Francis, “Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.” Pope Francis says further, “It will be your witness that brings him the restlessness on which the Holy Spirit works.” By living our lives in the sure knowledge that the kingdom of God is at hand, we will be true witnesses to that truth.

In the Gospel Jesus reminds us that the people living this truth are few. This should not discourage us, but spur us to further efforts. The world is in great need of the Good News that we can, each and every one of us, live and experience the kingdom of God right now. How inspiring this is when I let it fully penetrate my thoughts and feelings. If the kingdom is truly here, how can I hold anger in my heart for my neighbor, even if he cuts me off in traffic? Even if she is campaigning for the wrong candidate? Even if he is late for an important meeting? When I allow the kingdom of God to become manifest between us, how can I hold others in any way but Christian love?

My prayer for today is that I witness to the kingdom with everyone I meet, to the best of my ability, with the help of the Holy Spirit.

 
Talib Huff volunteers and works at Christ the King Retreat Center in Citrus Heights. You may contact him at [email protected].

 

Scripture:

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

 

Reflection:

God’s Love; Our Gift of Freedom!

As we celebrate July 4^th / Independence Day in the United States, the “everyday” scripture readings speak to us of the depth and intensity of God’s love for us.  Both readings encourage us to reflect and build upon our human experience of love, leading us to the freedom of a life of service of God and our sisters and brothers.

In the first reading from Hosea, the prophet implies that God’s love is like that of a husband and wife:  enticing (almost seductive!), espoused forever, merciful, faithful, life-giving.  Our human experience tells us that even the most ideal human marriage is imperfect and open to growth; growth in love is a life-long commitment!  Hosea reminds us that God’s love is perfect, the “ideal” in the best sense of the term.

And…God’s love is best revealed in the person of Jesus, as we see in the Gospel selection with Jesus’ loving concern for the sick and dying.  We hear of the sad situation of the synagogue leader whose daughter had died, his appeal for Jesus’ help.  As Jesus goes to reach out to the daughter, a woman with an ongoing, serious malady boldly reaches out to Jesus and touches his cloak – and she is cured!  Jesus’ words to the woman echo his words to the synagogue leader:  courage!  believe!  Jesus’ love reaches out to all people — young and younger, important and ordinary, poor and rich…and He offers Life that lasts!

As we gratefully celebrate our independence and seek to best partner in promoting the well-being of our brothers and sisters around the world, we do indeed need Jesus’ healing touch and encouraging word.  Sickness and death are all-too-evident today in the world’s violence, injustice, hungers, homelessness, and apathy.  We have been blessed with faith in Jesus and his Crucified Love.  May that Love freely transform each of us and motivate us to proclaim the life and goodness and freedom that is ours as God’s daughters and sons, as sisters and brothers in Jesus in our 21^st century world.

We have reason to celebrate:  God is gracious – and merciful – and loving!

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

Scripture:

Isaiah 66:10-14c
Galatians 6:14-18
Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

Reflection:

As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you. Isaiah 66:13

God wants to comfort us, but it may be difficult to let Him. I think we often go to others when we are distressed, and certainly there are times when a hug, or consoling words from a close friend or relative are important. And yet, God almighty Himself also wants to comfort us.

If you are a parent, it’s easy to understand this longing. There is nothing worse than seeing one of your children hurting! When they are small, you pick them up and hold them close assuring them that everything will be okay. You are happy to be able to help them and hold them as long as they need you. As they get older, it becomes more difficult to kiss away their hurts. And yet, you would do almost anything to help them, even to the point of taking on the pain yourself.

Today as I was pondering this idea, I found myself extremely stressed out about a situation in our neighborhood that could very possibly negatively affect the sale of our home. As I was trying to come up with a positive way to deal with the problem, God asked me to trust Him. I know I need to trust Him, and I want to trust Him, but it’s hard to stop my mind from trying to solve the problem. We are so conditioned to take care of things ourselves. How much better to let go and trust the One who can see the bigger picture.

It might help to visualize God comforting us, just as our mothers did when we were little. Some people imagine climbing up on God’s lap and letting Him hold them. For many this might seem awkward at best. So why not imagine ourselves as little kids again when we need comfort? Scripture tells us that we must become like little children to enter the Kingdom of God. It can also help us run to Him when we are hurting so that He can tell us it will be okay. He doesn’t take away the pain or prevent us from suffering, but He will go through it with us, comforting us as a mother does her child.

 

Janice Carleton and her husband Jim live in Portland, OR 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 9:11-15
Matthew 9:14-17

Reflection:

The message of the prophet Amos has consistently been identified with the justice of a moral life, which is not supplanted by compensatory sacrifices or rituals. When that level of justice is achieved, then nature’s bounty is shared among the people of God. A moral life gives rise to a life blessed by God and shared among the people convened by God.

Matthew’s text today mirrors this theme by highlighting, in Jesus’ conversation with the disciples of John the Baptist, the necessity of a “right order,” a “moral order” in the people’s daily life. To make his point, Jesus reaches into the examples drawn from everyone’s common place experience. Fasting is a “penitential” act, it tries to make up for one’s wrong-doing or to build strength against sinful inclinations. Jesus points out that as long as his disciples are at his side, there is nothing penitential called for. When, however, the right order of their lives is disrupted by their turning from the Lord, fasting will certainly be appropriate, even necessary.

“No one patches an old cloak with a piece of un-shrunk cloth,” because the two are not compatible, the new still has to shrink, and the old will not support the tension of the shrinkage. No one ferments wine in an old wineskin, which has already done it’s duty, and would not be able to contain the fermentation activity a repeated time. No ritual or sacrifice can repair the tears in the cloth or the burst wineskin.

There is a right order for nature, and for the human family as well: both emanate from the same creator. As we go through the last months of this presidential campaign, perhaps there is a lesson to be learned from these passages. The moral life and the natural order of a structured society are goods in themselves; they reflect the Maker in whom we believe; and they are the product of the efforts made by individuals to hold up the human person as a valued individual, while our political efforts drive us toward the kind of society in which every person has value.

Fr. Arthur Carrillo, C.P.  is the director of the Missions for Holy Cross Province.  He lives in Chicago, Illinois. 

Scripture:

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

Reflection:

Both readings today converge to strongly proclaim the Bible’s commitment to the poor and those on the margins of society.  Amos’ searing words (Amos 8:4-6, 9-12) were composed more than 700 years before Christ but they are eerily contemporary.  This prophet, who was at first reluctant to take up the mantle of prophecy but spoke with biting zeal, excoriates those who “trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land.”  He mocks their intention to “fix our scales for cheating” and their willingness to sell out the poor “for a pair of sandals.”  Those who assault the poor even stoop to selling “worthless grain” in their eagerness to make a profit.   Amos has grim predictions for those so consumed by greed.  God will avenge the poor and, above all, those who seem to flourish at the expense of the poor will themselves experience a “famine”—not a famine of food but a spiritual famine in which they will not be fed with God’s Word.  They may for a while prosper economically but they will ultimately wither as human beings, losing all of their spiritual sensitivity and peace of heart.

The gospel passage today is taken from Matthew’s Gospel (9:9-13).  In Capernaum, the fishing village Jesus made his “headquarters” in Galilee, he sees Matthew, the local tax or toll collector, at his station and immediately calls him—“Follow me.”  Without hesitation, Matthew leaves his tax booth behind and becomes a disciple of Jesus—a man who was despised by his fellow citizens because tax collectors were notorious for cheating and extracting more than they should from poor farmers and fishermen.  Even more provocatively, Jesus seals his friendship with Matthew by dining in his house, along with a group of unsavory “tax collectors and sinners.”  This association of Jesus with those who were often despised in the society of his day earns the disapproval of the religious authorities.  The Pharisees ask Jesus’ disciples: “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”   Why, indeed!  Jesus responds by saying that it is precisely those in need for whom he has come.  To drive the message home, Jesus cites the words of the prophet Hosea: “It is mercy I desire not sacrifice.”

There are strong lessons for us here.  The readings today reaffirm the church’s commitment to social justice—care for the poor and those in need or pushed to the margins of society.  But, the gospel passage reminds us, it is not simply a matter of not exploiting the poor or of using our resources to help those in need.  The example of Jesus tells us we are not to despise the poor or observe them at a distance, but to be with them—respecting them, accompanying them, even learning from them.  This is the message of “accompaniment” that Pope Francis has both preached and lived.

 

Fr. Donald Senior, C.P. is President Emeritus and Professor of New Testament at Catholic Theological Union.  He lives at the Passionist residence in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.

Scripture:

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

Reflection:

In today’s gospel Jesus forgives a paralyzed man and then cures his disability.  Most of us are not physically paralyzed.  But are we crippled by fear?  Are we nailed to a cross of addiction?  Are we straight-jacked with selfishness?  Are we unfree in any way?  Desperately, we come to the altar in church and plead, “Lord, please cure me and set me free!”

 But wait.  Jesus says, “If you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go, first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24).

Jesus is telling us to be reconciled with one another before we ask for anything from him.  We are to give and receive forgiveness.  We are to be at one with our brothers and sisters.  That is the first step towards wholeness. Then we are ready to receive Jesus’s mercy and healing power.  The spiritual, emotional and physical are closely connected in us.

A man spoke into his phone and asked, “Google, do you love me?”  The voice from the phone responded, “I am not programmed to hate anybody.”  We ask the Lord to “program us,” to grace us not to hate anybody.  Then, even if we are physically disabled, we are a whole and complete human person, made so by love.  We can go home.

Fr. Alan Phillip, C.P. is a member of the Passionist Community at Mater Dolorosa Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.   http://www.alanphillipcp.com/

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul

Scripture:

Acts of the Apostles 12: 1-11
2 Timothy 4: 6-8, 17-18
Matthew 16: 13 -19

Reflection:

Today we celebrate two great men of the Church, Saints Peter and Paul. Two ordinary men, one a fisherman and the other a Pharisee and a tentmaker. Two ordinary men who recognized that God had called them to be something greater than they thought themselves to be. Two ordinary men who had courage to speak the truth that was spoken to them through Christ. They endured many hardships and trials for their words and actions and yet they kept on believing in the truth that dwelt in their hearts.

How could ordinary men come to do extraordinary things?

The angel said to Peter, “Put on your belt and your sandals. “ He did so. Then he said to   him, “Put on your cloak and follow me.” “ Acts 12:8

Even in prison Saint Peter did not give up hope in Jesus Christ. He listened and followed the angel out of the prison. The angel had to awaken him from his sleep. If Saint Peter was asleep he certainly was not afraid of the trial that was to take place the next day. The passion that he felt in his heart, about who he had spent three years following and all that he had seen Jesus Christ do for others, must have been a source of his hope and courage. He was open to the possibility that Jesus was the Messiah and confirmed it when Jesus asked him “Who do you say that I am?” Mt 16: 15-16.

“I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.” 2Tim 4:7

Saint Paul was also in prison and did not fear death. He knew that he had completed what Christ had called him to do for the proclamation of the Kingdom. An ordinary man who was passionate about his faith to the point of persecuting the first Christians. Then Jesus caught his attention with a flash of light and a bit of a humbling fall to the ground. A “snap out of it” moment. He would carry the message of Christ to the Gentiles beyond Jerusalem to the end of the world; that time the Roman world. Again, his passion came from the truth that dwelt in his heart and he was not afraid to recognize it and act upon it.

Each of us are called to become something greater than what we think we are. This can only occur through faith, prayer, hope and trust in Christ. What is Christ calling you to today?

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

Scripture:

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

Reflection:

“When Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other shore.”  A disciple said to him, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”  But Jesus answered him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.”

Wow, not enough time to bury my dad and then cross to the other shore?  This story from the gospel of Matthew certainly underscores the urgency of the Kingdom of God.  From what I’ve read and understood, this is “mindfulness” on steroids!

The Kingdom of God demands an attention to the present moment that most of us do not achieve in our everyday lives.  There is an urgency in the words of Jesus that explodes with the force of an almost unreasonable demand.  These words are meant to stun us from our complacency and shock us into the realization that the Kingdom of God is now!

Thinking about the past or worrying about the future is not being immersed in the call to awareness we see in today’s reading from Matthew.  As I reflect on this call to action I am reminded of all the distractions in our world which keep us from being present to the immediate reality of the Kingdom of God.  I am far from being so mindful as to know what my real and immediate priorities are as a follower of Jesus.

Join me today in reflecting on the reality of the Kingdom of God in the present moment.  Peace be upon us all.
Terry McDevitt, Ph.D. is a member of the Passionist Family in Louisville, Kentucky.