Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Acts 13:13-25
John 13:16-20

Reflection:

There is a large medical program that is currently quite active and influential.  It goes by the name PRESENCE.  This name is now attached to familiar names of hospital and medical centers that had their own names, such as Holy Cross or St. Luke or Mercy, so that they now read: Presence: Holy Cross Medical  Center, or  Presence: St. Luke Medical Center.  In this new combination of names the effect is achieved of retaining the familiar while enhancing it with the addition of something new.

This mixture of the old and the new nicely combines memory of the past with a renewed sense of the present.  It captures two of the driving or impelling forces, not only of a medical system, but of major segments of our lives.  For we all operate in terms of memory of the past and hope for the future.  They are both compelling forces and energies in our lives.

As we listen to the scriptures assigned for our reflection today, we find ourselves engaging the same kind of factors that are operative in them.  St. Paul, for example, is given an opportunity to stand up in the synagogue in the town of Antioch in Pisidia, and to be invited by the officials in charge of the synagogue to go up onto the podium and to reflect, for the people present there, on the active presence of God in the history of the Jewish people—for all those he was addressing were Jews.

And he gives a great emphasis to the notion of PRESENCE, to which reference was just made.  That is, he talks about the presence of God to the Jewish people over a long time period of hundreds of years, first, in the land of Egypt, then during their long sojourn in the Sinai desert, then on the occasion they gained their long awaited goal of entering the Promised Land, and then of the series of notable kings that rose up from their ranks in the course of their long history.  In all of this time, stretching out over a period of several hundreds of years, the sense of God’s presence to them never left them, and provided an awareness of security and protection.  It was a pillar of their lives.

And Jesus too shows how much the sense of presence factors into His teaching.  He does this in terms of the servant/master relationship, and the messenger /sender relationship.  In each case, the presence of the one evokes a sense of the presence of the other.  Thereby He Implies this pertains to us, that is, if we understand and appreciate this kind of relationship, then we have gained the advantage of operating and acting under its umbrella.  It leads to the conviction that in dealing with the one, we are dealing with the other, so that the sense of presence pervades the interplay of these relationships.  This is foundational in appreciating what we are about in relating to Jesus Himself.  For it moves us beyond the sense of His presence now, in His human form, to the much more awesome awareness of another greater sense of the presence factor in situations other than just now.

These biblical readings bring to our attention a driving force operative in today’s biblical teaching, significant not just for other times and eras, but for all times and eras, ours included.  What drives the dynamism of the bible is that our sense of the present, the here and now, is the conviction that it is empowered and energized by the sense of PRESENCE.  The bible is the story of the driving force of God in our lives.  We often note how the Jews of old lived in the conviction of the coming of the Messiah into their lives.  It was a pervasive sense of divine presence operative at the roots of their history, and the driving force of their energy.  The Jews were on the move through the ages of time, awaiting the Promised One.  That is what intrigued them about Jesus.  Might He not be the long-awaited Messiah?  Was that not what Paul was driving at in his remarks in the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia as he reviewed the remarkable history of these people to the Jewish congregation there?  Is that not what Jesus is trying to say His listeners: reception of Himself in the here and now is the reception of the One Who is the driving force of Jewish history?

So it leads us to a pivotal question about ourselves.  Are we in a position to put all this behind us because it has been fulfilled and taken care of, so that we no longer need a sense of PRESENCE to energize and empower us?  Does it mean that our engine has been turned on, and we are now empowered with a sense that God’s presence among us has been established, and we no longer have to wait for any further energizing impulse in our lives?  Has the presence of God among us been achieved, so that we simply sit back and relax as wait for it to work its effects in our lives?

The Passionists used to have the practice of fortifying their sense of God operative and active in their lives by forcefully recalling it, especially in their group settings when they were all together, as, for instance, at relaxation or recreational times.  We might be engaged in animated conversation, or in a game of cards, when someone would proclaim in a loud voice, audible to all: PRESENCE OF GOD!  And for a moment of time the awareness of this glaring truth would emblazon itself on our psyches, so that we not forget about it, but regard it as an ever present experience affecting each moment of the day.

Do the Jews have an advantage over us in centering their lives around their deep-seated conviction that the presence of God is a coming event being awaited by them, a coming event that empowers their lives?  On the other hand, have we Christians, convinced that the Messiah has already come, in the person of Christ, been resting on our laurels, no longer in need of any empowerment and energizer in our lives?  Have we gained His presence, so as to be able now to rest and relax?

The medical complex called PRESENCE shrewdly faced this challenge by calling to our attention that the old familiar hospital systems are no longer a thing of the past, but are an ever present factor in our lives, revivifying institutions of the past with a new PRESENCE that enhances their role as the continuous source of medical care and attention that we need as much now as we did years ago.

 

Fr. Sebastian MacDonald, C.P. is a member of the Passionist formation community at Catholic Theological Union, Chicago. 

Scripture:

Acts 12:24-13:5a
John 12:44-50

Reflection:

And Jesus cried out and said, “I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.”   John 12:44   Jesus shouts that He is the light of the world!   In this scream heard around the world Jesus, the faithful witness, loudly proclaims that the biosphere will be in a frightful deadening  darkness without Him.   The original word for shout or yell in the Greek New Testament is krazo.   It means to yell with the possible implication of the unpleasant nature of the sound-‘to shout, to scream.’

Jesus is bold in proclaiming the truth as were His early followers.  “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” Act 4:13  Boldness is used for the Greek word parrēsia which means with all (pan) speech (reo).  We might translate it “say all”.

Is it possible that we Christians are too timid to speak openly about Christ?  Is there too much of a false tolerance which comes from a lack of faith and convictions?   Are we in reality more influenced by fear of rejection than by a genuine search for truth.  True tolerance comes from a deep respect of others and of the truth, not from an anxiety of being disparaged by others for telling the truth.  Having an open mind hopefully does not mean that our brains fall out!

G. K. Chesterton puts it so well when he observed: “Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.”    I guess truth is risky.  It separates us from the crowd.  We are tempted to seek  safety in an anonymous  state!   “Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.” John 12:42

 

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

Scripture:

Acts 11:19-26
John 10:22-30

Reflection:

How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. John 10:24

Who of us has not struggled with acceptance and rejection, with being welcomed with open arms or being received with hostility? Sometimes the signs of welcome or rejection are subtle, but other times, they are clear. In today’s Gospel, Jesus is dealing with a hostile crowd who is clearly out to make him feel rejected. There is nothing he can say or do that will make them change their minds.

There was great rejoicing in my home parish of St. Agnes in Edna, Texas when I was ordained. Since my family was well known, not only within the parish, but throughout the region because of their faithful service to the Church, I felt blessed to be so well received by the people who knew my family for such a long time. There were no credibility issues there for me.

The first ten years of ministry were spent in Houston, Texas, Sierra Madre, California and then San Antonio, Texas. I discovered that there was a need to be accepted as authentic and credible in every new community where I was assigned. In all of my assignments, the people were patience and welcoming, with a few exceptions.

These were learning years for me. I began to sense when people who had long made up their minds about the faith, the Church and its teachings or which direction the Church was going, were either going to be open to what I was saying or would smile knowingly and then walk away.

Over the years, we have come across story after story of people who began their beautiful, successful lives by being rejected and demeaned by others. What this Gospel account does for me and for many of us, is to accept our personal value in God’s personal love for us. God’s personal love for us is all inclusive. It is not completive. It is not discriminatory. It is not conditional. Our human value comes from God’s unconditional love for me and for us within the whole of creation.

Jesus, in this Gospel, knew this. He knew that those who opposed him would never believe. Yet, he was willing to die for them also.

Let us not lose heart because people will not believe us, will not believe the Gospel message, will not believe the incredible love that God has for us. This kind of faith is what kept the early church going, as described in the first reading for today’s Mass. This kind of faith is what keeps Pope Francis going day after day.

This is why, even to this day; we are called “Christians!”

 

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

Scripture:

Acts 11:1-18
John 10:1-10

Reflection:

There is an old saying “Home is where the heart is”- meaning of course that one’s home is not so much a house or even a physical location, but rather that ‘place’ where one is surrounded by those who love you and whom you love, or indeed the place where you feel you belong. Thus ‘security’, ‘welcome’, ‘hospitality’ and perhaps most of all ‘belonging’ are words that can also be associated with one’s sense of ‘being at home’.

To find one’s home is most often to identify the relationship or set of relationships that gives one a sense of belonging, identity and most of all of being loved – and loved unconditionally – at a personal level.

This seems to be the key to understanding today’s gospel text. In an age where relationships can be defined in a myriad of ways, and/or with many relationships being more virtual than tangible, we seek to find the meaning and unity of our lives in a faith relationship with Jesus Christ – known to us today in his resurrection.

 It is not always easy to speak of our relationship to Jesus in that we now only see him through the lens of the resurrection. As such we ‘know’ his presence but cannot describe it in ways that are measurable, tangible or indeed physical. We speak in the language of mystery, but it is a ‘language’ supported by the experience of generations and by our own deeper senses that allow us to know in non-scientific ways.

Martin Buber, the 20^th century philosopher, spoke of the human person in terms of dialogue, encounter and relationship. These three elements seem to be the foundation of being human, in that we only know ourselves through the encounter with others, through dialogue with the other and in relationship to another.

It is the same with our knowing of Jesus Christ. That is we may use these three dimensions to speak of our knowing him through encounter, dialogue and eventual deep relationship.

And in today’s gospel the Johannine community explore this encounter, dialogue and relationship with Jesus through the metaphor of a simple, but easily visualised rural image of the day – that of the shepherd, the sheepfold (or small gated area with its gate-keeper) and the sheep themselves.

The Johannine community share their faith experience through this image to speak not only of his relationship with each person, but more deeply of how we to might find our home in him.

Jesus is the one who welcomes us into relationship and who facilitates this by guiding or ‘shepherding us’ in this direction. He is the one who ensures our safety, who calls us by name, who invites us to follow him and is the one in whose presence we feel no temptation to run away.

This relationship with Jesus is in such contrast to others we can experience where we may be forced into certain actions, or which feel like an invasion of our space or dignity. Jesus in relationship to us will never kill hope or steal away our freedom.

The true sign or fruit of our relationship with Jesus – our true home- is that we will feel ourselves coming more and more into life – and life to the full.

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:

Acts 9:31-42
John 6:60-69

Reflection:

An article in the local newspaper a few years ago detailed the case of a young, healthy father of three who succumbed to a particularly nasty case of H1N1 flu. He was put into a medically induced coma, and three times the doctors told his wife to gather the family because they didn’t think he would survive the night. In the end, he not only survived but returned to full, active living. Many people in and out of the medical community called it a miracle. The young man reported that his faith and that of his family and friends is so much stronger now as they praise and thank God for the blessing of his renewed life.

In the Gospels, belief is often likewise prompted by a miraculous occurrence that affects not only the person involved but their entire social network. Someone is raised from the dead or healed of a long illness, and the entire town enthusiastically converts. Indeed, it would seem foolish not to, given the hope that similar miracles might result for oneself.

It is easy to have faith as long as it “works” for you – as long as the people you love are healed, the people you hang around with share your belief, and things go well in your life.  Yet that type of faith is superficial, centered on self, and too frequently short-lived. If the young man had died, would his family still come out of it with strengthened faith and conviction of God’s blessings? What about when others become disillusioned, and begin attacking with arguments and doubts that are hard to answer? Can faith be sustained when the Gospels’ difficult sayings and profound challenges grate against the status quo and demand personal sacrifice?

Countless people left Jesus when the going got rough, when they realized their discipleship would ensure the cross instead of health, wealth, and ease. At times, in fact, the popular thing to do was to renounce this man and his tough teachings. They wanted a Messiah who would bless them according to their own definition of blessings, and follow their will instead of God’s.

The reality of faith is a paradox. Jesus does not promise an easy life – in fact, quite the opposite. Instead, he promises faithfulness, strength to endure whatever happens, and resurrection in this life and the next. Jesus is not a prosperity evangelist; he is a realist. He does not negate or erase the experience and suffering of this life; he brings meaning to it.

Jesus has accompanied me through so many tombs. Despite all odds, in the reality of death, even when all seemed hopeless, God continues to bring new life. So I will continue the journey, consciously working to deepen my dependence on and belief in the God who is my rock and stronghold, the source of my existence, the One who calls my name and whom I serve. I hope that no matter what may happen or what others may do, I can join with the disciples and say, “Lord, to whom would I go? You have the words of everlasting life.”

 

Amy Florian is a teacher and consultant working in Chicago.  For many years she has partnered with the Passionists.  Visit Amy’s website: http://www.corgenius.com/.

Scripture:

Acts 8:26-40
John 6:44-51

Reflection:

As followers of Christ, we are called to Evangelize.  It serves us well then to remember that the first and greatest evangelizers were the Apostles.  We see this throughout the Acts of the Apostles.  What great models to follow.  In today’s first reading, Phillip greets the Ethiopian eunuch who tells him that although he is reading the scriptures he can’t understand them unless someone interprets them for him.  Phillip then evangelizes by interpreting the scriptures until the Ethiopian asks to be baptized.  In the Acts, we see many examples like this of the Apostles reaching out to spread the Word, to spread the Good News.

Isn’t it a wonder to think of this small group laying the foundation in the early Church so that the Church was able to grow until it now reaches the entire world? How was this group able to evangelize so effectively?  And how can we best follow in their footsteps?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the Apostles and us, “I am the Bread of Life.”   As Christians, this is the basis of all that we do, not just at Mass, but in every action of our life. This is the core of who we are, not just in prayer, but in all our daily activities.  We cannot evangelize until we fully absorb this truth.   Any good salesperson will tell you that you have to believe in a product in order to sell it.  But it took the Apostles awhile to accept this.  So throughout the Gospels, you hear Jesus frustration with the Apostles…Don’t you get it?  Do you still not understand?  Then on Pentecost, they were filled with fire and understanding.  And they finally “got it”, then it was, watch out world, here they come!  Things aren’t so different today, when we “get it,” then we too can be great evangelizers.  In the Acts, Jesus says those who believe will have eternal life.  And if you believe, if you “get it” and understand that Jesus is the Bread of Life, how can you not share his message?

What is evangelization?  It is believing so firmly in Jesus that our hearts are on fire, and it is knowing that the Spirit of God is with us and it is being Jesus for others, proclaiming the message of the Gospel through our love for God and for one another.

 

Mary Lou Butler is a long-time friend and partner in ministry to the Passionists in California.

Scripture:

Acts 8:1b-8
John 6:35-40

Reflection:

We take up the Gospel today from where it left off yesterday—Jesus responds to the request of the crowd to “give us this bread always” and I know my heart echoes the same request. Yet, I can still feel that I hunger and thirst, in fact I may go so far as to say rather than my thirst being slaked I often sense an increased desire for more.  Karl Rahner—the Jesuit Theologian—suggests at its essence this longing for more is, “the primal cry for God.”

I wonder if this is something we all struggle to interpret? Do we misread our hunger for God with material or emotional hungers? “You will be happy when you own this product or lose weight or have important personal connections”—or whatever—fill in the rest because the list can be endless. There is always more and better. We often stop short of discovering our deepest hungers; in today’s culture it is easy to be distracted and assume a quick-fix answer. Struggling to understand the difference between what I want and need is the process of a lifetime. Once we step back to observe our patterns of behavior—or should I say—step inside of ourselves, we slowly come to awareness that our desire is deeper than surface wants and desires and we need to work to uncover them. Perhaps this is what Jesus is referring to in his comment: “I’ve told you although you have seen me, you still do not believe.”  We may on one hand assume we believe while on the other hand remain blind to those habits and patterns which can actually take us away from God and mask our true thirst.

Fear not! Jesus is very clear in the text that our lack of belief will not separate us from him. How magnificently he assures us that rather than rejecting us he came for our redemption. And I believe this is where we are both challenged and consoled. Challenged in the sense that as Jesus came down from heaven to do the will of the Father so now we must do likewise, this calls for a constant dying to self; and we are consoled by Jesus’s words that God’s will is that “he not loose anyone who has been given him.”  This is the Good News—the win/win compassionate mercy of God is extended to anyone desiring to come to Jesus. And so I have come to believe in the paradoxical elements of Jesus statement, when I receive the bread of life, I am both satisfied and yet have a deeper thirst for more of God.

So may we pray that nourished by the bread of life, God would give us the grace to recognize that deep longing as our authentic self, struggling to be born and not our desire for more possessions of any kind—emotional or physical. Like the first reading offers, may we listen to Christ proclaimed with one accord as we see the fruits of our labors rise up to bless our days and our world. Amen

 

Jean Bowler is a retreatant at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center in Sierra Madre, and a member of the Office of Mission Effectiveness Board of Holy Cross Province.

Scripture:

Acts 7:51-8:1a
John 6:30-35

Reflection:

In reading the Gospels, and observing the interactions Jesus had with most people whose path he crossed, I always keep in mind that Jesus knows human nature! That is an understatement, I know. Two common, ordinary, elements of human nature that are with us perpetually are hunger (nutrients), and vulnerability (truth). They do not seem to have any connection except for the fact that we do not live well, at all, if we were only to depend upon ourselves to adequately address these to human dilemmas. And to have a healthy and safe life, there appears to be a need for intentionality, as regard what we eat, and the truth we pursue. So spirituality has a lot to do with it: a way of living which includes being conscious, deliberate, knowing, purposeful, and willful.

To make this clearer, perhaps, think of the antonyms to intentionality, which would include: a non-purposive, and a non-deliberate life. Where am I going with this meditation? I am going straight to where Jesus wants us to be with Him. Eating him. When the crowd comes to Jesus because they got all the bread they wanted from him the day before and were looking for more, he makes the same point as that traditional saying: “when you want to help feed people, don’t give them a fish, rather, teach them how to fish.” He tells them that the bread he has been giving them is of no lasting use. He explains to them that the giving and receiving of that bread and fish will not solve their problems, or the problems of the world. He tells them to be interested in something that will help them more definitively (intentionally), and he suggests they take him as their food and drink. He asks them to make him and his way of living their “bread and butter” in daily life.

To eat him is to have the intentionality of accepting his lifestyle and adopting it to this world. This would mean being attentive to one another, using the gifts we are to each other. It really is the reorganization of how we relate to one another under the same roof, in the same school building, or work- place. Our intentionality would be in the reorganization of the situations in which we live, work, play and pray. It is a daily task through the eating of the Bread of Life and paying attention to the Word of Truth found in the Gospels.

 

Fr. Alex Steinmiller, C.P. is president emeritus of Holy Family Cristo Rey Catholic High School, Birmingham, Alabama.