Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 26:16-19
Matthew 5:43-48

Reflection:

In our first reading from Deuteronomy, Moses gives to the people the terms of God’s covenant with them: “Today you are making this agreement with the Lord: he is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways and observe his statutes, commandments and decrees, and to hearken to his voice.” Perhaps one way to look at our baptismal commitment is to see it as a covenant between God and us in Jesus Christ.

We can easily see God’s commitment to us, but it is not always easy to “hearken” to Jesus’ voice. Today’s Gospel is a case in point. Jesus says to the crowds, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.”

Would we be so willing to enter into a covenant if part of the contract was to love our enemies? In our country and in so many parts of the world, treating others as enemies seems to be the norm rather than the exception. And yet Jesus calls us to go beyond what is considered acceptable, and if necessary, go against the prevailing winds of society.

We need to remember that God has gone beyond what is considered acceptable with us. As Jesus says in our Gospel reading: “… he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust.” God does not give up on His own! He is not satisfied with relegating them to categories like “worthless,” or “enemy.” God is faithful in loving His children, whether they turn their backs on Him or not. We are called to love as God loves, as He has given His love and grace to us in Jesus Christ, and continues to guide us through the Holy Spirit.

May we go beyond worldly wisdom and convention. May we take the risk to enter into a covenant with God in Jesus Christ that commands us to love always.

 

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

Scripture:

Ezekiel 18:21-28
Matthew 5:20-26

Reflection:

The season of Lent takes us on a journey. This unique period of travel ends in Holy Week with the great Triduum celebration and the solemnity of Easter. Beyond the liturgical calendar and counting off the 40 days, the spiritual destination of our journey is a greater love of God and of our brothers and sisters. The prayer, fasting and alms-giving we do, or whatever Lenten practices we have chosen, are to support us in conforming our lives to the great law of love (Lk.  10:27).

In the Gospel reading today, inserted into the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus begins several “antitheses.” He first states what the people have heard from the law (do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not take false oaths, love your friends, etc.). Then Jesus says, “But I say to you…” Jesus motivates the people to go beyond a legalistic approach to religion (obedience) to a heartfelt commitment (love). We can be religiously correct by being obedient. Jesus says this is not enough for those who would follow him. His disciples need to be spiritually correct by being disciples of compassion. We aren’t out to kill anyone, but do we harbor anger in our heart? We know adultery is wrong, but do we hold on to lustful thoughts? We try to love our friends, but do we love our enemies? Do we tell the truth at all times? Jesus stretches us beyond obedience into God’s way of love.

The first week of Lent is coming to an end. Today is a good time for me to review the Lenten practices I have chosen. Are they drawing me closer to God and to one another? All the “antitheses” are not heard in today’s reading. It might be helpful to read the entire passage (Matthew 5:20-48) and ask myself if I need to change some practices to become the loving disciple that Jesus portrays in the Sermon on the Mount.

 

Fr. Don Webber, C.P., resides in Chicago.

Scripture:

Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25
Matthew 7:7-12

Reflection:

There are many needs in our lives and some of the deepest reside in the human heart. These are profoundly significant and universal, and are not to be satisfied by the collection of mere goods and possessions, money or fame.

Many people have all of these but lack much. Their lives can be full of ‘busyness’ and their houses full of ‘things’, but in the stillness, in moments of introspection, they discover an emptiness. This discovery can cause even more unease and spur one to even more activity and accumulation of things, but this too will be unsatisfying.

The truth, and the answer to such restlessness, lies more deeply within. Every human harbours an inner cry for meaning, belonging and authenticity. These are not always named and indeed sometimes they lie hidden from our awareness. Such deep needs often reside quietly within hardly getting any attention, but in the quieter moments of life…  those times of real need or moments of challenge or of invitation to intimacy their presence or absence can be keenly felt.

When such needs remain unmet we can often find life too overwhelming, lonely or discouraging, and thus some of our attempts to live from our best self are unsuccessful. While if we possess these gifts, then many of life’s challenges and invitations can be met.

But as we know, the discovery of meaning in life, the achievement of relationships that bring with them a sense of ‘home’ and belong, and the development of the courage to live authentically in the midst of many temptations are not capacities easily achieved. They are gifts and qualities that must be nurtured slowly; they can’t be instantly possessed or acquired in some ‘quick’ way. And once gained they must be cultivated; it is a life-long process.

In fact we can’t do any of this by ourselves. We often need help to find the meaning of our lives; we can hardly ‘belong’ in a relationship unless others enter into our world to love us too; we cannot live an authentic life unless we subscribe to values that are true and good and then see witnesses that inspire us to exercise the discipline needed to be consistent in such matters.

So it is a matter or nurturing and growing such precious gifts and capacities.

As such the Lenten Season is an ideal time to review our lives in the above light. We invited by every aspect of this season – the readings, prayers and activities – to embrace renewal and to look deeply at our lives. Our Lenten journey is thus an ideal time for us to conduct a self-examination of our own journey into meaning, belonging and authenticity.

The readings today in this first Week in Lent are a great starting point for us. God’s Word to us today invites us to place our trust in God – who will help us in our journey. Perhaps the heartfelt prayer of Queen Esther says it all for us… Now help me, who am alone and have no one but you, O Lord, my God.

A principal way of acting in order to achieve our goals could also be to follow the practical advice of Jesus. He states what we know as the ‘golden rule’, a foundational way of acting and one which is mirrored in nearly every major religion in the world – “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you”. For Jesus such a way of acting and being is central to all else, it is the meaning of the law and prophets.

But it can also be the way into the discovery of true meaning, belonging and authenticity in life – which is for us to make Jesus, his message and way of life the centre of our own lives.

The Spirit will help us in this venture and so let us trust the Word to us today “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you”

 

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:

Jonah 3:1-10
Luke 11:29-32

Reflection:

The word “repent” has had its share of comedic renderings over the years. We’ve seen stern-faced clerics or rigidly judgmental church-goers get skewered, even exposed, for riding spiritual roughshod over a wayward but well-intentioned individual or a hapless congregation of mere mortals. We relish when the “sinners” are revealed to be spiritually superior to their critical task masters.

And it is good fun. But that, of course, is the comedic inversion of a spiritual practice that has a long and sacred place in our faith tradition, one that we find throughout the Old Testament and continuing into the New Testament.

On the simplest level, in our modern day world I am constantly amazed at how difficult it is to admit even a small wrong-doing. My ego becomes challenged in this way and perhaps yours does, too. I suppose that is because if we acknowledge we made a mistake, fell short of our best or were less than kind, then we must somehow think a little differently about ourselves.  Maybe other people will, too. Perhaps I’m not as smart as I thought I was; as hard a worker; as good a spouse, friend or parent. I become more vulnerable to myself and others without the “shield” of perfection.

I cannot image the king of Nineveh liked it any better when he had to step off his throne, put aside his courtly robes, don a sackcloth and sit in ashes. Could one take a more humble stance than to accept such public repentance? Ultimately Jesus himself will be hung high upon the lowly Cross, not because he is a sinner and needs to repent, but because we do,  and we will need to draw upon His loving sacrifice in order to find the courage to acknowledge our sins, deal with our pain and draw closer to God.

Here we are in Lent, this time of reflection, prayer and sacrifice. There is nothing comedic about accepting the challenge of looking inward and honestly assessing what is in our hearts. It is hard and humbling work, but it is also loving work. In the Gospel Jesus repeats, “…there is something greater than Solomon here…there is something greater than Jonah here.” Jesus is the sign we have been waiting for, if only we will let go of our self-centered needs and allow him to heal our hearts. He is the balm for our wounded, fragile self.

The Lenten footwork of repentance for those ways in which we have turned away from God in our arrogance or hard-heartedness is the preparation for a new life of the spirit. It is our pathway to God’s love. For God knows we are human and He loves us endlessly for it. It is only we who seek false perfection and wind up feeling beyond reproach and alone.

 

Nancy Nickel is director of marketing and communications at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

 

 

Scripture:

Isaiah 55:10-11
Matthew 6:7-15

Reflection:

The Lord’s Prayer has a way of triggering a memory in me.  One evening a long time ago – I was about four years old – I remember sitting at a sofa of our small home, watching my mother in the living room with a basket of clothes to be ironed.  It was just my mother and me.  My dad was working a night-shift; my baby brother was asleep in his crib.  I was quietly happy watching my mother at work.  I sat mesmerized as she carefully poured water into the iron.  She pressed a button and the iron hissed clouds of steam.  This was an amazing phenomenon.  Then, she moistened her finger and gingerly touched the iron.  At her touch, it hissed again.   I was dazzled.  Before going into the kitchen, she warned me: “Don’t touch the iron.”

What do you think I did?  That’s right.  In direct disobedience, I climbed a chair, reached for the iron – and gave it a “high-five.”  My whole palm pressed against the hot iron.  Lightning bolts flashing through my brain.  I screamed and jumped about in pain.  My mother rushed in, saw what I did and quickly grabbed some salve to rub on my burning hand.  Did she scold me or punish me?  No. She was too busy relieving my pain, wiping away my tears.

I’ve reflected on that moment years later.  I’ve gained two important insights – three actually.  First, don’t touch hot irons.

Second, Original Sin is a lot like what I did that evening.  As long as I remained in the realm of my mother’s obedience, I was indescribably and quietly happy in her presence.  But when I decided I knew best what was good for me and disobeyed, I felt the excruciating pain, like ejection from Eden.  Does God actually punish us?  No.  We are not so much punished for our disobedience, as we are punished by our disobedience.

Third, God must be a lot like my mother.  No doubt that is why Jesus says pray this way: “Our Father,” or in his Aramaic term, “Abba,” that is, “Daddy” or “Papa.”  He tells us that we are to love God with the intimacy a child has for its parent.   My parents knew me.  They knew my moods, my favorite dessert, and my best school subjects.  When I thought I was being sneaky, they knew that, too.  But they loved me anyway, sacrificed for me.  So too, God knows us as a parent, with all our imperfections and brokenness, our good intentions so often mixed with selfish motives.  But God loves us anyway, with tenderness beyond words.  God never stops calling us to do his will, warning us not to touch the hot iron, because he wants us to be truly happy with him.

That is why every now and then, when I pray Lord’s Prayer, I remember that moment long ago when, even in my burning disobedience, was I loved and rubbed with a healing salve – the balm of salvation, and my tears wiped away.  This great Lenten Season is the time to remember that God loves us as loving parent.  That is why God insists we call him Abba.

 

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

Scripture:

Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18
Matthew 25:31-46

Reflection:

If we are looking for the source of Jesus’s teaching we need to look no further than in chapters 17-26 of the book of Leviticus. This is the famous “Code of Holiness”.  Jesus refers to it when he answers the scribe’s question as to what is the greatest commandment of the Law. Much of the Sermon on the Mount can be traced to the Code of Holiness.

The opening lines of our Old Testament reading is the  heartbeat center of the Code of Holiness, “Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy”.  The people are called to deepen their response to God beyond the simple listing of Ten Commandments on tablets of stone to a whole new way of life. Yes, refrain from killing, but even more “You shall not bear hatred for your brother in heart.” Jesus quotes Leviticus as the second Commandment after love of God, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Our reading from Matthew today merely spells out what love of neighbor means.

Old Testament passages such as these underlie the great respect and reverence that the Church has for Judaism. What Jesus teaches is straight out of the Old Testament.  Our responsorial psalm says it perfectly: “Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.”

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

First Sunday of Lent

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 26:4-10
Romans 10:8-13
Luke 4:1-13

Reflection:

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert…

Over the last few years I have tried to be increasingly attuned to God’s will in my life.  To be a disciple of the Lord.  Not just in what I “do” but in how I live and who I am.  More quiet time in prayer, more encountering the Lord in the sacraments of Eucharist and reconciliation and staying closer to His Mother Mary, all hopefully to help draw me closer to the Lord and with that, knowledge of His will.

My prayer life during this time had settled nicely into prayers and dialogue with Jesus and Mary, with the occasional prayer to the Father.  I have been profoundly influenced by a priest on a retreat a number of years ago who told me to have a relationship with the Lord, to talk (pray) to Him as you would a best friend.  Approaching the Lord that way has improved my prayer life as has praying to Mary to lead me to Her Son.  Prayers to the Holy Spirit or asking him to guide me, to be honest, have never really been part of my prayer life.  That meaningfully changed as I came into this year.  In homilies, books and in scripture I am hearing more and being led to an understanding of the Holy Spirit.  That challenged me at first as I had my “go to” way of praying that felt very comfortable.

But in readings like today’s Gospel, we hear that Jesus was “filled with the Spirit” as He was lead into the desert to confront the devil.  Just a few weeks ago we read that Jesus, returning to His home town to preach as He began His ministry, was filled with the Spirit.  If Our Lord needed the Holy Spirit as He started His ministry or as He was lead to the desert to be tempted, how much more do I.  How much do we all need those confirmation gifts of the Holy Spirit to help us navigate the challenges in life, and to be led by His will.  The Spirit will reveal the truth Our Lord tells the apostles.   The Holy Trinity is a mystery for all of us, but it is also a gift for all of us.  Asking the Holy Spirit to be with us and guide us, may not be part of our prayer life.  But Our Lord gives us a great example of what we can accomplish when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, as can our Blessed Mother Mary.  Inspired by their witness, praying to be open to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit is now a regular part of my daily prayer.

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

Scripture:

Isaiah 58:9b-14
Luke 5:27-32

Reflection:

Our journey with our Creator always begins with a personal invitation, even if we have been practicing our faith tradition from birth, at some point as individuals we are all called to say a personal: yes—amen—I believe.

I find that I can quickly and easily default to polarization—to taking sides—when I read these kinds of exchanges in the Gospels between Jesus and the Jewish leaders of the time. Perhaps I am simply taking on the mind and reflecting elements of our current culture; Jesus is on the right side and the Pharisees are on the wrong side and I naturally side with Jesus and the sick person—Levi –who is only a stand in for me.

Yet, Jesus is the ultimate “Repairer of the breach and Restorer of ruined homesteads” we read about in Isaiah; the ultimate unifier, par excellence. He is about Love—period. So, when I read this text with my unity lens—the mind of Christ—firmly in place, I can begin to see a deeper truth dawning. If I hold back judgement for a moment, might the Pharisees have been trying to understand this action of Jesus since it clearly went against their interpretation of the Law? Might Jesus be talking to me about some element of the spirit of the law as opposed to the rule of law for which I need deeper understanding? Do, I have a question that is challenging me about Jesus actions? There is absolutely no shame in admitting that fact if it is the case.

The reality is that once we have accepted the invitation to be followers of Christ, we are constantly challenged to shed our old ways of thinking and that is painful—I know this from personal experience—and put on the mind of Christ instead.  If we look to Christmas when we celebrate the glory of the Incarnation, the very next day is St. Stephen’s Day, the first martyr. So the Church invites us to ponder the realities of being a disciple. While most of us will never be asked to give the ultimate testimony of faith by martyrdom, we are nonetheless called to this self-emptying mind of Christ (Philippians 2:7) so as to align our will with God’s will. This human flourishing is what the prophet Isaiah speaks of in the first reading. These corporal works of mercy always take us beyond our ideas and our comfort as we confirm our daily yeses.

It paves the way for us to see light in darkness and so to be a light in the darkness for others. Imagine the reality of gloom becoming like the midday—for you and me!

May Love touch our hearts gloriously this day so as to make us ride on the heights of the earth.  And from this elevated spot, may we behold the bigger picture and be kissed by Grace. May we be an instrument of light and healing. Yes—amen—I believe. 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.