Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Ezekiel 17:22-24
2 Corinthians 5:6-10
Mark 4:26-34

 

Reflection:

With a rainy start to the day I headed out in my car to a local organic food store to see if they had seed packets.  In this part of the world where meats and fish are plastic wrapped in trays, where grains are boxed and labelled on the shelves of a grocery store I felt a pull this morning upon reading today’s Gospel to touch something of the world Jesus speaks.  There on a revolving stall in alphabetical order I found a small packet of mustard seeds.

For years I have sat in the pews listening to this story. Yes, a tiny seed.  Yes, it grows into big things.  But this morning I chose to actually hold one singular speck of a seed in my hand as a prayer.  A question.  A need.  A hope to understand.

A mustard seed, tiny, insignificant, so easily lost, rolling around my hand with nothing but the steadiness of my palm to hold it in place.   There is nothing about this little black speck that speaks of the life and abundance of all that will spring forth when it is sown in the ground. Taking root.  Growing.  It is mystery.  It is unseen and even unimagined from my own sight.

When I first read Mark 4, the line that surprised me was the last.  “He spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it…but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.”   What are we to make of those times that Jesus seems to extensively reveal something and yet it is left to be discovered. Those moments that leave a reader with the seeds of mystery and questions of something deeply revealed and yet, not spelled out.

Jesus wrote on the ground when the woman was judged to be stoned but we are never told what he said.  On the road back from Emmaus we are told  that “he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”  And yet we were not told the specifics.  The mystery was only revealed to those who travelled diligently, faithfully, intimately, daily devoting themselves to His mission as it opened and was revealed along the way.

The first disciples stepped off their boats opening their hearts to the words of Jesus sensing something greater.  All along they were asked to open their hearts in deeper and wider ways to sprout a new way of knowing and being rooted in His Life and Word.  And then to move out into the world to share the fruits of all that was revealed.

The Alleluia today proclaims, “The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower.”

As I hold this small seed may my trust open with a deeper faith in the unseen, to believe in the power and glory of God that will rise when we gift Christ the soil of a receptive and open heart.

 

M. Walsh is a retreatant and friend to Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center and the Passionist Community.

Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Scripture:

Hosea 11:1, 3-4, 8c-9
Ephesians 3:6-12, 14-19
John 19: 31-37

Reflection:

In 1856 the feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus was extended to the universal church. In some ways this is an amazing story that finds its beginning in the years 1673-75 when a nun in an enclosed convent in France, Margaret Mary Alacoque, experienced four visions of Jesus, his exposed heart on fire symbolizing his love for men and women. St Paul expressed this in this way: “The Son of God …loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal 2:20). Because his love is often ignored or rejected, Jesus asked Margaret Mary to be his apostle of the devotion to his Sacred Heart.

Our scripture readings explore this mystery. Hosea, prophet to the northern kingdom of Samaria, speaks of God as a parent who loves his children, gathers them into his arms and teaches them to walk. He draws them to himself with bands of love. Then Hosea gives us the beautiful image of God raising them up to his cheeks and stooping low to feed them. The verses that are skipped describe the people’s abandonment of God and their punishment. Immediately following God expresses his hurt and pity and promises to curb his blazing anger. Of course we know that the northern kingdom was destroyed by the Assyrians and the people (the lost ten tribes) deported. What we always need to realize that God’s love will not save us from the consequences of rejecting his love. However, we can always count on God our Father to forgive us if we turn back to him…

Paul is overwhelmed with the mercy of God that he has experienced. He prays that Christ may dwell in the heart of every disciple through faith. Then we will know the love of Christ and be filled with all the fullness of God. This is the gift that the loving heart of Jesus desires for each of us.

Finally we come to the hill of Calvary. The struggle is over. The dead body of Jesus hangs from the cross. Significantly John, still standing beneath the cross at the side of Mary, notes that a soldier thrust his lance into Jesus side and blood and water flowed out. The heart of Jesus gives it’s all even in death. On a deeper level John says that the blood of Jesus that we drink in the Eucharist and the waters of Baptism unite us to the new life that Jesus now gives. The collect of today’s Mass, reflecting on the Heart of Jesus, prays that we “may be made worthy to receive an overflowing measure of grace from that fount of heavenly gifts.”

 

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

Scripture:

2 Corinthians 3:4-11
Matthew 5:17-19

 

Reflection:

I remember going to “Confession” when I was a child, giving my list of sins, along with how many times I’d committed each one. How the priest must have smiled as my class processed through with our tales of lying 5 times, yelling at a sibling 8 times, and disobeying a parent 3 times! Then he dutifully assigned us our penance of 5 Our Fathers, 5 Hail Mary’s, and 5 Glory Be’s, adding to it only if the list was particularly long or egregious.

Later, as the sacrament was re-named and re-defined, I learned that God didn’t really want my laundry list. It was more important to determine the nature of my frequent lies and what prompted me to tell them, how to control my anger and treat siblings with respect, and how to gain my desired independence without destructive rebellion. In other words, the spirit of the law supersedes the letter of it.

I suspect that’s what Jesus was driving at when he said he didn’t come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. He knew that laws keep social order and are necessary for living or worshipping together. At their best, laws reflect what we value as people, what we believe in, and how we envision our relationships and the world. They uphold the baseline of our moral code, promote dignity and respect, and both command and deserve obedience.

Yet laws created by human beings are only as perfect as the human beings who create them, and laws that “worked” in one era need to be revised as we come to new understandings of theology, humanity, worship, and the created world. Even laws written in scripture have proven to be imperfect (i.e. as Catholics we do not obey all the laws laid out in the Pentateuch, nor do women cover their heads and remain silent in church). Indeed, Jesus had no problem breaking laws on a regular basis –failing to wash his hands, speaking to unaccompanied women in public, overturning tables in the temple, eating with sinners, or healing on the Sabbath. Clearly, he did not demand blind obedience but critical examination, with the fulfillment of God’s laws of mercy, love, justice, and compassion as the primary considerations.

This is particularly important now, with resounding calls for revisions of laws in many arenas. It does not serve us well to ensconce ourselves at either extreme – simply throwing out long-standing rules, disciplines, and laws, nor enshrining them in stone and refusing to change. We need the same type of critical examination that Jesus modeled, involving deep understanding of the Church’s teachings, sincere engagement with those affected, open dialogue and debate, and a keen eye to fulfilling God’s laws of mercy, love, justice, and compassion. Rather than contentiousness, name-calling, and entrenchment, we need deep and constant prayer, cooperation and attention to the Spirit’s call, discerning when and how to revise or create laws to be both faithful and pastoral.

Although I don’t have the authority to make the decisions, I do not need to remain on the sidelines. I, too, can participate in the process and work for my beliefs. In fact, I have a responsibility as a member of the Body of Christ to do so. I can choose at least one, and work to be educated and faithful but critical. I need to be unafraid of open and respectful debate, especially engaging with those most affected. I need to obey most of the time, and yet be willing to work for change when necessary, even if on occasion it requires overturning some tables. Let’s work together to build a just, compassionate society and Church, guided by laws that Jesus himself would deem worthy of obedience.

 

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

 

 

Scripture:

2 Corinthians 1:18-22
Matthew 5:13-16

 

Reflection:

May Our Good Works Be Seen

It seems we gradually leave the Easter season. It is this Sunday, three weeks after Easter, that we return to Ordinary Time. Mark’s gospel that echoes such themes of Easter, like the passion and faith, is left behind as we turn now to Matthew.

We began with the Beatitudes yesterday hearing of the actions, attitudes and qualities of heart that make us Blessed. Each brings us into contact with God and with our brothers and sisters. We can convert them into real life situations and experiences.

Matthews’s gospel appeals to a Jewish audience. It knows the endless romance of God with our human family told in the Old Testament; God’s choice of Israel, the least not the greatest, in order to reveal the mystery of God’s love. The Jewish people are the chosen and privileged to witness to God’s love, to know that love so intimately. The acceptance of Jesus by the Jewish people did not happen as we could imagine. St. Paul, Pharisee who persecuted the early followers of Jesus and then a disciple himself, the great apostle to the Gentiles and martyr, concludes that God could never abandon the Chosen people. Despite the confusion and division God is at work still among those who were first called to know and witness to the love of God. All will come out right in the end, the mystery of God’s plan continues always to be at work. It is good to keep this in mind as we follow Matthew in the days ahead.

Matthew wants us, the followers of Jesus, to see that the one born of Mary is the Messiah, Emmanuel, and we now are a new Israel carrying forward God’s love for all creation. You are very important in our world as the love story of God continues to unfold. Matthew tells us simply: you are the salt of the earth, the light of the world, a city set upon a mountain.

In Paul’s Second letter to the Corinthians we have an example and encouragement to live the Beatitudes. God has united us with Jesus, we are sealed and anointed, and as a first payment we are given the Holy Spirit. Blending Matthew and Paul today we can say that we draw from Jesus through the gift of the Holy Spirit the strength to live the Beatitudes. We share the joys of the Kingdom, the fruit of Jesus’ victory, as we follow Our Lord. So we can can mourn and be righteous, we can suffer evil that is even falsely brought against us. Strength and hope are ours already in Jesus’ victory.

And the Beatitudes bring the blessedness and happiness of the Kingdom of God to us that we can share with one another in daily life: being peacemakers and being merciful. The Holy Spirit enables us to make the Kingdom of God alive and present.

May the Spirit guide our hearing of the Word of the Scriptures these days, and help us to be the salt, the light and the city ablaze. The tastes of our world can be dull. Instead of gazing on the lovely, darkness can hide the vision of God’s love. May we work with the Spirit to renews the face of the earth.

 

Fr. William Murphy, CP is the pastor of Immaculate Conception parish in Jamaica, New York.

Scripture:

2 Corinthians 1:1-7
Matthew 5:1-12

Reflection:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and God of all encouragement” 2 Corinthians 1:1

The readings for today’s Mass are powerful, inspiring, uplifting and revolutionary. And yes, they are also very challenging.

In the first reading, Paul blesses God. In the Gospel reading, Jesus blesses people. Both Paul and Jesus recognize that the circumstances of life of the people they address in these readings are difficult, and even tragic. They are a people whose decision to follow Jesus has been met with pain and suffering. In Paul’s case, some could be facing persecution and death. Jesus makes a reference to persecution and suffering in this Sermon of the Beatitudes.

These readings may lead us to ask, who do we turn to when we are suffering, when we are afflicted, when we are devastated? Do we bless or do we curse?

Over the last few weeks, we have been seeing families being devastated by violence, injustice, storms and wars. We cannot turn on our TVs without seeing an interview of those who have suffered death and destruction because of flood, riots in the streets, gang violence or the devastation that is caused by war.

Some of those interviewed curse. They curse the darkness. They curse their enemies. They curse their persecutors. We can see their obvious pain. We can hear how they search for meaning as they scream: Why! Why me? Why us? How can God do this to us?

Others interviewed bless. They bless God. They bless the people who come to help. They bless their missing family members or those who have died because of the storms, because of the violence, because of injustice.

Each day that we get up, we can bless God and bless the people who surround us. We can bless our family and friends. We can bless our co-workers and our neighbors. We can bless the homeless person and the shyster who is trying to steal our belongings.

Or we can curse. We can curse the crooks. We can curse the evil-doers, we can curse who have wronged us.

St. Paul and Jesus were well aware of the sufferings and sorrows of the people who came to them for consolation and comfort. Their daily lives were not easy. Yet, Paul and Jesus chose to bless and not to curse. Paul blesses God and asks that we be consoled by God. Jesus blesses the poor, the peacemaker, the sorrowing, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for justice, those who suffer persecution.

They are letting us know that if we turn to God and if we decide to follow Jesus, the strength, the grace, the courage to bless and not to curse is there for the asking.

Let us bless God. Let us bless the people we love and the people who hate us, the good and the bad.

After all, God blesses us every day of our life, whether we are good or bad. May the blessing of Almighty God be with us today and forever, Amen.

 

Fr. Clemente Barrón, C.P. is a member of Immaculate Conception Community in Chicago, Illinois. 

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Scripture:

Exodus 24:3-8
Hebrews 9:11-15
Mark 14:12-16, 22-26

Reflection:

“Here beneath these signs are hidden
Priceless things to sense forbidden;
Signs, not things are all we see:”
(Sequence in today’s liturgy)

I, like probably many of you, made my first holy communion when I was seven years old—the age of reason we were told. That was a very special day. My mother and father took Dave, my twin brother and I to a restaurant, to “eat out”. We didn’t do things like that in the 50’s, at least not my family. Afterwards we stopped to visit one of my many aunts and uncles at their home where we got to go for a ride in my older cousin Nancy’s new Ford. Yes, that was a very special day.

Sixty-two years later and I still “receive” communion regularly and I’m still trying to “reason” that out. Actually today, I think of communion more as a mystery. Receiving communion awakens in me, my connection to God, to Christ, to you. It’s a mystery because as the above selection from today’s liturgy suggests, I see this communion as broken.

I walk the streets of Chicago where I see Bentley automobiles driven by chauffeurs carrying the “successful” to wherever they want to go. On those same streets I meet people who have no place to go or call “home” whose hands are out asking for a dime (well maybe it’s a dollar today). I see mothers pushing newborns in strollers as well as caretakers pushing the aged and the infirmed in wheelchairs. I see the thrilling blossoms of spring after a long winter’s night and the destruction of a tornado leveling a local town.

More than see, I recognize my oneness with all, with all people, with all the earth. I see “Corpus Christi” (body of Christ) body beautiful. Thank you God.

 

Dan O’Donnell is a Passionist Partner and a longtime friend of the Passionists.  He lives in Chicago. 

Scripture:

Tobit 12:1, 5-15, 20
Mark 12: 38-44

 

Reflection:

You might have heard of Fr. Richard Frechette. He is a Passionist priest who works in Haiti. In fact, he not only serves the pastoral needs of the people in the capital city, he also serves their physical needs as a medical doctor. One of his routines is to walk the dirty lanes around the medical clinic. He looks for dead babies that have been pitched away. Fr. Richard believes that everyone should have a proper burial and a decent funeral in which the deceased is offered back to God. I thought of Fr. Richard when I read about Tobit leaving his bride to bury a fellow-Jew found lying murdered on the street. Tobit did many good deeds.

Raphael, Tobit’s companion, declares, “Prayer and fasting are good, but better than either is almsgiving.” Jesus does encourage us to pray and fast. To a greater degree, he stresses that we are to do good to others. He censures the Scribes for going around in long robles (the poor cannot afford fine clothing), accepting greetings in the marketplaces (the poor are unnoticed or ignored), and for taking places of honor at banquets (the poor are in the kitchen doing the grueling, sweaty work of preparing the dinner). At that point, Jesus draws the attention of his disciples away from the Scribes and to the widow at the temple as an example of generosity. She “contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.” She emptied herself, perhaps a reference to “Jesus emptied himself” (Philippians 2:7) and gave away his life, out of love for his Father and for us. This is the ultimate example of almsgiving, not simply giving money or clothes but our very life. The world of the Scribes was centered on themselves; the world of Jesus was centered on others and doing good to them.

Doing good, almsgiving, expresses our gratitude for all that God has given us. Almsgiving is a realization that it is not simply “me and God”. I am a member of a community of faith. I am called to be a responsible steward with an attitude of generosity to better the lives of my neighbors in need.

Holy Cross Province begins our 34th Provincial Chapter on June 10. During the Chapter directions for the next four years will be decided and a new Provincial and Council will be elected. Please keep us in your prayers from June 10-17.

 

Fr. Don Webber, C.P., is Provincial Superior of Holy Cross Province and resides in Chicago.

Scripture:

Tobit 11:5-17
Mark 12:35-37

 

Reflection:

“Then Anna ran up to her son, threw her arms around him, and said to him, “Now that I have seen you again, son, I am ready to die!” And she sobbed aloud.”

When Tobit saw his son, he threw his arms around him and wept. He exclaimed, “I can see you, son, the light of my eyes!” ”

“The great crowd heard this with delight.”

I’ve been thinking about seeing a lot lately. I have an elderly friend, whom I love dearly, who recently lost sight in his right eye. Far from being bitter, he said of his condition, “at least I still have my left one.” I began to reflect on how I take my own site for granted. After looking at the readings for today, I thought of those people in my own life who, although I see them every day, I’ve lost sight of. I saw (no pun intended) how I often close my eyes to those I am most close to. They may be somebody I live with, work with, or just interact with on a daily basis. But, because they are so familiar to me, I no longer see them as they truly are.

In the first reading both Anna and Tobit rejoice when they see their son again. He had gone on a great journey and had returned safely. Just the sight of him was enough to make them weep. When someone we love is gone from us, it is easy to miss them and wish they were near again. But I know I often lose track of many people in my life, even when they are still near to me. And this doesn’t even include those people whom I choose not to see. The person in front of me driving too slowly, the young man bagging my groceries at the store, the clerk at the DMV. I sometimes forget to see them as who they are, as children of God.

The Gospel speaks of seeing something familiar as new as well. Jesus takes a well-known verse from Scripture, one that his audience is well acquainted with. And he shows them a new way to look at it, to see it. And this fills them with delight.

My prayer for today is that I allow Jesus to open my eyes. That I see those around me as if for the first time. That I listen for his voice when reading Scripture, that He may show me a new way of seeing that which is familiar.

 

Talib Huff is a volunteer and presenter at Christ the King Retreat Center in Citrus Heights, California.