Daily Scripture

Holy Thursday

Scripture:

Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-15

Reflection:

Do this in remembrance of Me (1 Cor 11:24)

Memory is a beautiful gift of God.  Without it our love ones drift away from us as if they have died.   No one doubts that with the loss of memory brings severe damage to us.  So it is with Jesus’s concern for us that we never forget Him Who never forgets us!   At the moment of the institution of the Holy Eucharist when Scripture tells us that one of the apostles is betraying Him, He asks us to remain with Him in our thoughts and hearts by memory.

We are grateful when people remember us because they are putting us into their inmost thoughts and heart.   The Eucharist is a living remembrance of Christ at the ultimate act of love that the world has ever seen!  “The Eucharist Sacrifice, the memorial of the death and resurrection of the Lord, in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated over the centuries, is the summit and source of all Christian worship and life:” Code of Church Law Consequently the gaze of the Church is constantly turned to her Lord, present in the Sacrament of the Altar, in which she discovers the full manifestation of his boundless love”. Lumen Gentium,

Holy Thursday is that time when we remember Jesus remembering us.   We in the explosive moment of the Lord’s death and resurrection place deeply in our hearts and minds the indescribable love He shows us on the cross.  It is the ultimate moment of revelation that we keep in our mind and heart.   It is the decisive hour for us to experience how we are in the beautiful memory of Christ on the Cross!  “Jesus remember me when you enter into your kingdom!”   Can we ever imagine a more beautiful place to be than in the mind and heart of Jesus at the supreme moment of His fondness for us?   Such is the Eucharist!  To be forgetful of it is to miss the treasure of our lives!

 

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

Scripture:

Isaiah 50:4-9a
Matthew 26:14-25

Reflection:

Wednesday of Holy Week has been called Spy Wednesday because in our Gospel reading from Matthew, it says that after Judas had arranged to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, he “looked for an opportunity to hand him over.”

As Christians, we are not looking for ways to betray Jesus, but it might be helpful to look at what we do look for that takes us away from following Jesus. Do we look for things about which to criticize people? Do we look to make snap judgments on others? Do we go right to our stereotypes and prejudices about certain groups of people when we watch the news on TV?

Some people look to wealth and power to give them a sense of security. Others fall into the disease of addiction when they look for ways to numb the pain in their lives. So many people look to avoid the cross!

But if we are looking for real peace and security, we will look for a deeper relationship with Jesus. It is in surrender to God’s love in Jesus Christ that we can find peace and the strength to carry our own crosses. It is in following God’s will that we find the serenity that the world is unable to give.

As we move into the holiest days of our church calendar, the Triduum, may we open our eyes and our ears and our hearts to see and hear Jesus’ love for us.

Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P., is the local superior at St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Community in Detroit, Michigan. 

Scripture:

Isaiah 42:1-7
John 12:1-11

Reflection:

In the Irish county of Roscommon, just outside Athlone, on a small farm, with a farm house featuring two women and a man, sisters and brother to one another, all single and living together in that farmhouse all their lives: Elizabeth, Kathleen and Peter, I had a series of encounters with a family that compares  favorably with the narrative in today’s liturgical readings.

I visited them several times over the years (relatives of mine), and never did so without thinking of them in terms of the protagonists in today’s gospel: Martha, Mary and Lazarus.  The similarities were striking.  They were all single, the six of them.  At news of my coming arrival, the two women of my acquaintance hustled about setting a luncheon on the table, including Irish Whiskey, while Peter, their brother, was habitually seated outside on a wicker-lined chair, leaning up against the house, catching the noonday sun.  But he did his share of work on the farm, primarily raising livestock (sheep and pigs).  But just as Lazarus seemed to be the central attraction of the homestead in today’s gospel because of having been raised from the dead by Jesus, so Peter and his health was a central concern of his two sisters, who invariably asked me for a special prayer for Peter, as I was departing, whispering that Peter didn’t have long to live, though I visited there over a number of subsequent years and the same scenario always played out, until both Kathleen and Elizabeth died, while Peter lived on.  Whether Martha and Mary both preceded Lazarus in death, we don’t know, but the parallelism at work here suggests this might have been the case, given Jesus’ remarkable intervention in the life of Lazarus.  At any rate, hospitality looms large in both cases.

This instance of hospitality to Jesus assumed special significance in John’s account of the event today, suggesting Jesus, anticipating the ordeal awaiting Him in the next few days, was seeking one last sign of friendship and love before the dark forces of evil overshadowed Him.  The church aligns this reading with today’s account of the prophet’s mission of comfort and companionship on behalf of a people (the Jews) striving to survive in the aftermath of captivity over a long period of time, at the hands of their enemies.  And this has not been their first experience of defeat and captivity at the hands of their enemies.  It has been a perennial theme of the Jewish nation in its efforts at survival against the forces of evil aligned against them, over the centuries.  But it is an ideal framework for an equally frequent promise of God to come to their assistance in the midst of their need.  In a way it is an occasion for the hospitality of God to visit a people forever in need of it.

This sense of God ever at hand to save what is on the verge of being lost is a gem to be treasured in this Holy Week.  Whether it be the hospitality at hand for Jesus, at the welcome of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, or the sense of safety often experienced by the Jewish nation at large before the onslaught of its enemies, it is THE holy week of the year when, as never before, we can experience God at hand in the form of a Redeemer and Savior.  Hopefully, as we move through this week toward its termination with a focus on Christ hanging on the cross, we can experience the same saving influence of God at hand, to comfort and support us amid the challenges threatening us and our well-being.

 

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

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

Scripture:

Isaiah 50:4-7
Philippians 2:6-11
Luke 22:14—23:56

Reflection:

Today we begin the most “sacred” week of the year, Holy Week.  And it is indeed “holy” for during this week we remember the events of those last few days of Jesus’ life and what happened immediately after his death.

The week begins and ends in glory.  The glory of Jesus being welcomed into Jerusalem in triumph with hosannas and palm branches; the crowds recognizing Jesus as “the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”  The week ends with the glory of Easter, the resurrection, the overcoming of sin and death by Jesus for us all.

In between these glorious moments we witness the power of evil and the absolute love of God.

As we recall these events we remember the jealousy and hatred, lies and deceit of the Scribes and Pharisees.  We witness the brutality and violence of the scourging, crowning with thorns, crucifixion and death imposed by the Romans.  We watch as fear generates so much uncertainty and mistrust leading to the betrayal by Judas and the abandonment of Jesus by his friends.

Yet at the center of all this fear, deceit, violence and brutality stands Jesus, steadfast through it all:

• accepting everything with trust in the Father;
• showing compassion for the weakness of those around him;
• forgiving those caught up in betrayal and brutality.

We remember these events because they happened and through them the world, our lives and those of all humanity was changed.

We remember…not only with our minds but with our hearts.  In remembering we invite Jesus into our hearts to transform them…to make them more like his own.

 

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

Scripture:

Genesis 17:3-9
John 8:51-59

Reflection:

Promises play a prominent part in our lives.   A promise is inherently relational.  One can’t make a promise to oneself, though sometimes we hear someone say: I made a promise to myself that I would stop smoking.   The Latin source of the English word means “sending forth”.   It’s a reaching out from one person to another.  A promise lies at the heart of a family, starting with the promise between husband and wife.  Promise also constitutes nation-building, beginning with the pledge of allegiance that is most prominent at the time of incorporating new citizens into a nation.  Promise stands behind a five dollar bill, a guarantee of its worth for a certain amount of food, or clothing, or medicine.  And promise also features importantly in relating God and ourselves.   Though most of us make promises to God, He has taken the initiative in making promises to us.  So we hear today.

We find God promising Abraham to make him the father of a host of nations, and of their kings.  God also promised him the whole land of Canaan as a permanent possession.  But we note that He laid down the command that His covenant must be kept throughout the ages.   This doesn’t seem to be the condition for these promises to be met, however.  Broken promises, as Jewish history shows, were certainly punished, but they seemed to carry on, though refined over time.  God’s promise is as good as gold.

This refinement process seems to be at the heart of the gospel account today, as Jesus makes His claim about no one seeing death who keeps His word.  This startles and aggravates the Jews who appeal to Abraham as having died, and all the prophets, and leads into the provocative remark of Jesus that He antedated Abraham.  And here is where the Abraham saga melts into the Jesus event as the fulfillment of the promise originally made Abraham, now comes in a refined form.  God’s promises never fail, but they do undergo processing, which actually improves them.  We and the Jews are both recipients of God’s promise, but at different phases of the promise-development.

So there is a challenge latent in the promise God makes us.  It keeps unfolding and assuming various forms, and we have to be alert to these variations, lest we lose track of it.  And that’s where Lent comes in.  Lent is an occasion for refining our sensitivity to and awareness of God’s promise working itself out in our lives.  That’s what the Jews failed to do in the gospel account today.  They didn’t recognize the Abrahamic  promise latent in the Jesus figure before them.  In fact, they tried to destroy it by picking up stones to throw at Him.

We’re all liable to this mishap.  We can fail to identify Jesus in the ways He comes to us throughout our lives: in the sacraments, in the scriptures, in one another, in the poor.   Thankfully we have the Lenten season to purify and cleanse the lens of our eyes so that we can see.  Spring has just gotten underway.   We need some serious spring house-cleaning to relocate God’s promise(s) to us, at times hidden amid the debris of our lives.

 

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

Scripture:

Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95
John 8:31-42

Reflection:

In this passage of John, Jesus is speaking to several groups of listeners.  First he is speaking to the many who have come to believe in Him.  Second He is speaking to the Jews who have come to believe in Him. Third he is speaking to those who did not believe in Him and immediately tried to kill Him.

To these latter, Jesus says that if they embrace the truth it will set them free.  And He is the truth and they will be free.  Their response to Jesus was that they were children of Abraham and they have never been slaves.  They have never surrendered to those who tried to enslave them.  It is convenient for these people to erase from their memory their enslavement from:  Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, Syrians, and most recently the Romans.

Jesus tells them if they accept Him they will be accepting the Truth. He is the truth.  Truth will free them from sin, which is the denial of Jesus as the Son of God.  Truth is the presence of God in Jesus.  Jesus comes from God Jesus is sent by God!  One’s relationship with God depends upon one’s relationship with Jesus.

Several years ago, the George Gallop Religious Research Center in Princeton, New Jersey published a survey asking people if God spoke to them today?  44% of the people said “Yes”, 50% said “No.”  48% of those who said “Yes” were Protestant, 43% were Catholic.  When asked “How” does God speak to you? 60% said through Sacred Scripture, and 30% said “through others!”  As John’s Gospel has Jesus reminding His listeners they are responsible for the accuracy of their hearing and the truth of our understanding.  Jesus is reminding His listeners, as the Ancient Celts said “Life’s journey is a journey into the truth.”  The Celts also remind us when speaking of one who has died that “Now they know the Truth!”

 

Fr. Ken O’Malley, C.P., is the formation director and local superior at Holy Name Passionist Community in Houston, Texas.

Scripture:

Number 21:4-9
John 8:21-30

Reflection:

We have reached the Fifth week of Lent and are also well into the Holy Year of Mercy by proclaimed by Pope Francis. In the gospel of John the evangelist now moves to reveal Jesus totally. He goes far beyond the identification of Jesus as the Prophet who is to come. Beyond the title of Jesus as the Christ, the long awaited anointed one who is to bring in the reign of God. Far beyond the Son of David shouted by the crowds as Jesus enters Jerusalem.  We now enter the realm of mystery.  “I do not belong to this world…I belong to what is above.”  We must acknowledge and believe that Jesus is the I AM, the divine presence of God revealed to Moses in the burning bush. But wonder of wonders we come to realize this when he is lifted up on the tree of the cross and dies for us.  But in three days he is lifted up once again by his Father and like Thomas we recognize him as “my Lord and my God.”

In his official prayer for the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis prays that we will hear the words Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman: “If only you knew the gift of God!” Yes Lord I pray with all those who celebrate the Year of Mercy: “Send your Spirit and consecrate every one of us with its anointing so that the Jubilee of Mercy may be a year of grace from the Lord, and your Church, with renewed enthusiasm, may bring good news to the poor, proclaim liberty to captives and the oppressed, and restore sight to the blind.”
Fr. Michael Hoolahan, C.P. is on the staff of Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.

Scripture:

Isaiah 43:16-21
Philippians 3:8-14
John 8:1-11

Reflection:

To get a better context for today’s Gospel it is helpful to read the previous chapter to see the plot as it is builds against Jesus. The day before Jesus was teaching in the temple area and some in the crowds were suggesting that he might be a Prophet or even the Messiah. It said there was a division among the crowd because of him and some had wanted to arrest him. Jesus is creating a disturbance in the status quo and it appears that the leadership wanted to get rid of this problem. Our text for today begins “early the next morning” and Jesus is found sitting down teaching again.  This plot to test Jesus is so transparent; in reality the woman is also a victim—where is the man? In Leviticus 20:10 the law states that both the man and the woman shall be put to death.  Jesus begins to write in the sand while the scribes and the Pharisees seem to be blind to his actions; having set him up they are waiting and focused on his answer. It seems they expect him to speak.

Jesus’ response is to invite the one without sin to cast the first stone as he continues writing in the sand. Beginning with the elders they start to leave. Many bible commentaries will suggest this story is more about non-condemnation than forgiveness; Jesus made the Pharisees aware of their own darkness so they left. Something different is happening here.

The first reading from Isaiah touches on the fact that God is doing something new; he snuffed out the enemy in pursuit of the Israelites—like a wick. Isaiah impresses upon them to remember not the past and offers that God will send rivers flowing through the wastelands. We the readers today are invited to hear the echo of this text as we listen to the Gospel. Jesus did not come to condemn the woman but to save her. He did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill the law.  Yet, the leaders fail to see the newness and the difference-perhaps feeling threatened by his message.

Jesus offers compassion and mercy to the woman and invites her to go and sin no more and this is important. Sin is the absence of God and the woman—and you and I—are invited to stay close to God. Like the scribes and the Pharisees, we can become derailed by our pursuits and make decisions that are not always in keeping with our values. It can be so easy to rationalize our actions.  Jesus quenched out sin—like a wick—and now it is up to us to do likewise.  This is St. Paul’s point in our second reading—focusing on Christ and being possessed by him leaving everything else behind.

In reflecting on this Gospel, I loved the visual of Jesus sitting down as he taught the people. He still does that today whenever two or three are gathered—he sits among us.  Come Lord, Jesus, heal us.

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.