Daily Scripture

Pentecost Sunday

Scripture:

Acts 2:1-11
1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Galatians 5:16-25
John 20:19-23

Reflection:

He breathed:  on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. John 20:22           

Years ago when I was trained in CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation ) the common practice was to breath into the patient.   This is no longer encouraged.  But it strikingly shows how important it is for us to breathe.   We cannot stay alive for much more than three minutes without breathing! On the average a person at rest takes about 16 breaths per minute.   We are air guzzlers using about two gallons of air a minute.  At that rate I could only drive about 10 minutes before I would have to stop and refuel my pick-up truck!  We need a tremendous supply of fuel of the Holy Spirit to stay alive spiritually.

The Holy Spirit in its etiological roots means both in Hebrew and Greek wind or breath.  We are no less depended on the Holy Spirit than we are on the air we breathe.  “Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” Gen 2:7      The Holy Spirit certainly is the “breath of life”!  Devotion to the Spirit can never be reduced to an optional private choice but is the power source of our spiritual life.   Paul reminds us in the second reading: “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by Holy Spirit.”1Cor 12:3   I find it interesting that we describe our life with Jesus as “our Spiritual life”.

“And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were.  Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” Act 2:2  There are some 400 references to the Spirit in New Testament.  Just about every spiritual gift we can think of is attributed to Holy Spirit, this “divine wind”.

The Spirit is called “the life maker”.  “It is the Spirit who gives life” John 6:63  In the Greek New Testament He is called: zōopoieō Literally life maker.  May this “divine breath” recreate us in the image of Christ!

 

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

Scripture:

Acts 28:16-20, 30-31
John 21: 20-25

Reflection:

In our reading from the conclusion of John’s Gospel, Peter sees the disciple whom Jesus loved, and asks Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” This is after Jesus has told Peter “by what kind of death he would glorify God.” Jesus answers, “What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me.” By Jesus’ response we see that Peter is probably not asking out of idle curiosity, but perhaps trying to compare himself with the beloved disciple; to see whether the beloved disciple is going to get some special treatment or a better prediction of his fate. Have you ever encountered anyone who did the same thing, always checking to see what other people get and how it compares to what they have received? Perhaps you have fallen into the same trap yourselves. I know I have.

Checking to see how much others have and how much we don’t, or trying to determine whether they should be loved by God or not, is not our purpose as disciples. If we follow Jesus, when we ask “What about him?” or “What about her?” or “What about them?” we are really asking “How can I help him?” or “What is her story?” or “Is there a way we can meet their needs?” We are to look at the choices we make and ask, “How does this affect others?

When we find ourselves asking, “What about him, or her, or them?” Jesus has answered our question by His Cross and the empty tomb: They are beloved by God. May we share Jesus’ answer with the world.

 

Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P. is on staff at St. Paul of the Cross Retreat and Conference Center, Detroit, Michigan. 

 

 

Scripture:

Acts 25: 13 – 21
John 21 : 15 – 19

Reflection:

In the marvelous movie “Lion in Winter” in which Peter O’Toole and Catherine Hepburn depict King Henry and Queen Eleanor at Christmas time with their three sons, all of whom are anxious to replace Daddy on the throne of England, there are constant sets of circumstances which give life to the euphemism, “Don’t look now, but…”  They are forever plotting and contriving to make their desires become a reality but something always happens to change directions and possibilities, moving them along entirely different pathways.

“Don’t look now but…” is a phrase which invites us to move more deeply into our Sacred Scripture for today.  In the Gospel of John, the Risen Lord is taking care of a few final but important details having to do with Peter.  In the Acts, Luke is moving us headlong toward the final proclamation of the Gospel  at “the ends of the earth”, i.e. the city of Rome.  Let’s stand alongside Peter and  the Risen Lord for a moment.   Don’t look now but the effervescent, blustery, and impulsive Peter of old is gone.  He has been humiliated and has failed to the extent that he betrayed Jesus three times.  Peter has returned to the only job he knows he can manage, given his circumstances.  He is fishing again.  He can be  low key and safe on the sea and along the seashore.  Then the Risen Lord appears and Peter has one of those moments : don’t look now, but this seaside life is not what I have in mind for you.  Three times Jesus asks, “Do you love me ?”  Three times Peter surrenders his heart to the Lord.  Peter is forgiven.  Peter is rehabilitated.  Peter learns a depth of compassion and mercy which only one who has experienced it can understand and provide for others. Don’t look now, but you are not to be a fisherman, you are to be a Pastor of Christ’s people – feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep.  God’s direction will guide you to your destiny.  Peter, you are to be a witness of the Risen Lord “to the ends of the earth”, i.e. in Rome where others will determine how you will give your final and most profound witness to the Risen Lord in your heart, your life and in our world.  Don’t look now, but the Risen Lord has shifted everything you expected out of life as you cast your nets into the sea for the last time.  The shift is the action of the Holy Spirit and it is marvelous in God’s eyes.

Don’t look now, but Paul, in this scene from the  Acts, has coupled his own ingenuity with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in his life to create a completely unexpected turn of events in his journey of witnessing to the Risen Lord.  Governor Felix has left the new governor, Festus, with a conundrum – namely Paul and the accusations against him. When he decides to send Paul to Jerusalem, a hot bed of hostility against Paul, the Apostle appeals to Caesar.  Don’t look now, but Paul automatically guaranteed himself a journey to Rome at the government’s expense which is where he wanted to go in the first place.  He will spend several years living comfortably in Rome while freely preaching the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ.  Don’t look now, but Paul will not only found a vibrant faith community in Rome but will provide an unshakeable foundation of faith, hope and courage by his final and profound witness to the Risen Lord through martyrdom.

Don’t look now, but the Holy Spirit moved through the circumstances of the lives of both Peter and Paul to bring about unexpected, wondrous, and lasting fruit through the shepherding, nourishing, and affirming presence to the faithful of their day in ways they never imagined for themselves.

This is the Holy Spirit we wait to celebrate at the conclusion of our Easter season.  The Risen Lord continues to stir things up in our own circumstances of life.  How do we respond when we have one of those moments – and we all have them from time to time – “don’t look now but…”  Are we able to open ourselves up to the movements of the Spirit in ways we do not expect and cannot even imagine?  Are we able to count as blessings those moments of life when we are called to experience a deeper faith, a more trusting heart, healing for a fractured relationship, mercy for the sinner, rehabilitation for the betrayer?  Don’t look now, but we are all called to surrender to the direction of the Risen Lord in our lives.  We are asked to avoid hesitation, fear, and excuses in order to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth today, beginning with our own families.

At the end of the “Lion in winter”, Eleanor asks Henry, “Will you let me out (of my castle prison) at Easter?”  Henry responds, “You will rise with the Risen Lord!”  It is our destiny to rise with the Risen Lord.  He has asked us to be his witnesses every day in every way, to conform our minds and hearts to His so that our lives preach His Good News of salvation every moment until our own final, profound witness as we move into eternal life with Him.

 

Fr. Richard Burke, CP, is a member of St. Paul of the Cross Province and also serves on the Provincial Council of Holy Cross Province.  He lives at St. Ann’s Monastery in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

 

Scripture:

Acts 22:30; 23:6-11
John 17:20-26

Reflection:

One of the wonders of the quilt-making craft is how scores, possibly hundreds, of quite differently hued and shaped pieces of cloth can be brought together into a bed-sized quilt, so that, seen covering a bed, it becomes a thing of artistic beauty.  At first sight, it would have seemed impossible to work with such diverse pieces of materials, and bring forth symmetry and harmony: harmony out of diversity—indeed, harmony by way of diversity.

When Jesus completed His mission on earth, suffering death on the cross as a disgraced criminal, then rising majestically from the dead, and returning in glory to His Father in heaven, He was leaving behind Him, despite three intense years of formation and instruction, a motley group of followers none of whom demonstrated any significant signs of leadership or organizational and inspirational skills.  They resembled so many different pieces of cloth as they went their way preaching the gospel, across the borders of disparate countries, without the benefit of cell phones or any other mode of communication with one another, likely never reassembling together again, in the remaining years of their lives.  And yet, they offered a cohesive pattern of religious faith in the person of the Lord Jesus, comparable to the way a quilt acquires the status of an artistic masterpiece, from so many distinct pieces of cloth.  How do we account for this?

Today’s gospel contains the secret of this wonder: it is embedded in Jesus’ final prayer for His twelve closest followers: a prayer for harmony and unity.  This was a prayer of petition for a very unlikely outcome, that harmony and unity would prevail among the twelve, and with Jesus Himself, despite His absence from them as He returns to His Heavenly Father.   His prayer for their harmony and unity amid so many factors militating against any success in preaching the Good News, such as their disarray, incompetence and ignorance, seems as unlikely to succeed as the multiple squares of multi-colored pieces of cloth coming together into a charming bedspread of beauty.  But Jesus had confidence in the success awaiting His apostles, so He confidently departed their company to face His imminent arrest and crucifixion.

Now, granted the efficacy of Jesus’ prayer that harmony and peace would prevail among them, we note a very different tactic resorted to years later, by the versatile and clever Paul, the Apostle, while the other apostles, during these years following Jesus’ Ascension into heaven, spread out across the eastern part of the Mediterranean basin, exhibiting the harmony of purpose and achievement, prayed for by Jesus at the Last Supper.  But Paul, for his part, was doing something equally marvelous, in his own way.  Today’s reading presents a coy and clever Paul, arraigned before the Roman authorities for the disrupture of the public order he had caused, at least within the Jewish community, by preaching the saving mystery of the dead and risen Jesus.  On this occasion, the clever apostle, anticipating the disharmony and disagreement among segments of the Jews assembled against him if he introduced the topic of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, instigating a furious argument among them, which worked to his own advantage, since he knew the Roman authorities would have to turn their attention away from him in order to restore law and order among the combative factions of Pharisees and Sadducees, arguing over this very topic.  This is exactly what happened.  Paul made clever use of disharmony among his opponents to secure his escape from them so he could carry on his preaching ministry with his customary success.

And so today’s scripture shows both harmony and disharmony working in equally effective ways among the apostles, in their efforts at advancing the message of Jesus.  And the same factors play out in our contemporary church as we recall today the martyrdom of contemporary (1937) Christians such as SS. Christopher Magallanes and his companions for their support of a Mexican Christian protest movement against an anti-Catholic government, or as we celebrate this Saturday (May 23^rd), when Pope Francis’ beatifies Archbishop Oscar Romero, assassinated in El Salvador (1980) for his opposition to governmental  persecution of the church because of its support of the poor and disenfranchised—a step Pope St. John Paul II earlier on hesitated to take, fearing it to be more a contentious political issue than a religious one.

Both harmony and disharmony, each in its own way, work themselves out, each in their own way, can promote and advance the gospel message about Jesus Christ.  So, different ways of presenting the gospel can prove as effective as different patterns of quilt material coming together into a bedspread pleasing to the eye.

 

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

 

Scripture:

Acts 20: 28-38
John 17: 11b-19

Reflection:

During this week between the feast of the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven and the coming feast of Pentecost, our Liturgical Scripture readings invite us to reflect on two people who are preparing themselves for the end of their ministries and lives.

In the Gospel reading we listen as Jesus prays for his disciples, the ones who are with him at the time and the ones who are with him throughout time.  He asks the Father to hold them close and to keep them united with one another, with Jesus and with the Father.  He thanks his Father for giving him the disciples to him and is grateful that he has been able to keep them safe.  Jesus has taught them of their relationship to the Father and more importantly, of the Father’s great love for them.  Jesus then continues to witness to that great love by giving up his life on the Cross for them and for us.  It is a beautiful prayer of union.

It is also a prayer that God will keep them safe.  Jesus notes that the world will hate his disciples just as they have hated him.  So, he asks the Father to keep them safe and faithful so that they can be clear witnesses to God’s love.

We have only a part of the prayer of Jesus in today’s liturgy but it is a beautiful prayer for us made by Jesus on the night before he gave himself completely for us.

In our first reading we hear Paul bidding goodbye to the leaders of the Church in Ephesus.  Paul has to call them to come to him because he is under house arrest in the neighboring town of Miletus.  Paul will be sent to Rome for judgment and he realizes that he will never see these people he has grown to love ever again.  He tells these leaders to be faithful to the good news they have received and to give themselves generously in service to the people under their care.  He reminds them of the selflessness his service has been and encourages them to be equally selfless.  The author of Acts then describes how sad everyone was as they escorted Paul to the ship.

There’s a certain melancholy flavor to the readings today as we remember these farewells.  Clearly, both Jesus and Paul are saddened to be leaving their friends and ministries.  Yet, both also speak of how fulfilled and grateful they are for the lives they’ve been able to live.  Both have given their whole lives in love and service to those God has given them.  And, they urge their disciples and us to do the same.

 

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

 

Scripture:

Acts 20:17-27
John 17:1-11a

Reflection:

“I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.” John 17:6

A theme for today’s Mass is belonging. We long to belong. Yet, life does not always makes it easy for us to know where we belong and to whom we belong. Today’s Scriptures invites us to reflect upon these questions.

At this point in time in the Gospels, Jesus is getting ready to leave his disciples. He has to leave them twice. Once, as he prepared to take up his cross and suffer death by crucifixion, outside the walls of Jerusalem, as a common criminal. The second time, as he prepared to Ascend into Heaven, to take his rightful place at the right hand of God, his loving Father. Before he leaves his disciples, the people who loved him most in this world, he leaves us a testimony of Word and Sacrament, which we celebrate to this day. He left us the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Orders before he died. He left us the Sacraments of Penance and Confirmation, after he rose from the dead. Finally, he sent us his Spirit as he commissioned us as missionaries. We are to go out and baptize in his Name, preach in his Name and establish the Church in his Name. Jesus clearly knew that he belonged both to God, his Father, and to us, the people he died for, with love in his heart.

At the same time, the disciples had trouble understanding to whom they belonged, especially as they experienced Jesus die and Ascend into heaven. What does it mean to belong to Jesus, the Christ? What does it mean to belong as a disciple of Jesus? What does it mean to go out into the whole world and baptize and preach in Jesus’ name? These, indeed, are foundational questions of belonging.

One reason why these important questions are so difficult to answer is because our own life is a story of belonging, of coming to grips with questions as: where do we belong and to whom do we belong. Way before we became aware of our thoughts and feelings, we experienced belonging and rejection. We were learning the difference between belonging unconditionally or belonging only because of conditional love, a love that depended upon pleasure and mood of another or of others. Both life scenarios need the Grace of God to make us whole and holy. This is what Jesus was telling us in his farewell speeches. This was the experience of the disciples, from Peter to John to Paul.

Jesus tells us in the Gospel, as he prays to his God, his Father, “They (the disciples) belong to you.” Once we accept that we belong to the God who loves us unconditionally, then we can move forward in life. This is the ultimate act of Faith we are called to make. We, then, can leave behind our human origins and become a new people, a holy nation, a people set apart, a royal priesthood, to paraphrase St. Peter in one of his letters to us. St. Paul took another path to belonging Jesus. He found a way to belong and become a disciple, proclaiming the name of Jesus, baptizing in Jesus’ name. We can leave our old way of belonging and commit to belonging only to God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

What a beautiful thought this is: that we belong to God who loves us unconditionally! We are, indeed, children of God, brothers and sisters to one another, anointed by the Holy Spirit. May we always belong to God!

 

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

 

 

Scripture:

Acts 19:1-8
John 16:29-33

Reflection:

In one episode of the gospel story of Jesus, but unrelated to today’s readings, a father upon seeing Jesus heal his son, cries out “I do believe; help my unbelief.”

Perhaps his example is one we could take to heart as we read today’s gospel story.

For John presents Jesus as both acknowledging the faith of the disciples and yet warning them of the troubles to come, times when their faith will fail them and they will desert him.

I wonder though whether in fact it is faith that fails us in crisis times or indeed if it is courage that fails us. By this I mean that faith is a deeply resolute part of our lives, it may be challenged but is rarely completely extinguished. Rather it is often courage that fails us when we encounter opposition, strife and even persecution. When confronted with a moment in which the ‘fight or flight’ tendency takes over, it is often flight that people choose. This is not to say they no longer believe in God, nor that their faith is extinguished, but they flee to safety rather than standing tall and strong and living as a witness to deeper values in the moment.

But let us not forget that over these past few years we have also seen wonderful examples of Christian men and women standing for their faith and suffering for it too. Faced with all kinds of evils, in too many troubled lands, Christians have faced opposition even to the point of martyrdom for the sake of their faith and for no other reason than they believe. We sadly see this on our nightly news services, and it echoes a theme reflected again and again from the Vatican itself that Christians are amongst the most persecuted peoples in the world today.

Perhaps this is the sense of Jesus concluding words in today’s gospel – “In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”

Of course our trials and tests come to us disguised as daily events, small and large, and each and every one has the potential to scatter us, to send us to our own ‘home’ (that place of safety where we are not confronted by the challenge before us). Faced with daily moments like these, let us pray that we will place our lives continuously in the hands of Jesus and stand with him in those moments of trial.

Let us believe he has conquered the world and that he will always be for us.

 

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 1:15-17, 20a, 20c-26
1 John 4:11-16
John 17:11b-19

Reflection:

“After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the Kingdom of God.”  Acts 1:3    It was an exciting time for the early believers.   Jesus would suddenly show up alive at his tomb, or on the Lake, or especially at meal times.   His followers could touch Him, plunge their hand into his wounded side,  or throw their arms around Him.

The readings remind us that now no longer can we experience Jesus with our senses.   “So then after the Lord Jesus spoke to them was taken up to heaven.” Mark 16:19   Now we have to relate with the Risen Jesus only by faith.   Faith is the eye by which we can see Him, the hand by which we touch Him, the arms by which we embrace Him.   We no longer have to wait for an unexpected visit from Jesus to our senses, but now have constant contact with Him in faith.   The epistle to the Hebrews tells us that “faith is the substance of things hoped for.”  Hebrews 11   The word for substance in the original Greek NT is hoop-as-tas-sis.    When we approach Jesus with the arms of faith we get our hands on him in a very real and substantial way.

In this life there is no real communication with the Risen Christ outside of faith.

The Ascension does not mean Jesus is taken away from us, but now becomes accessible to us in all times and places.   St. Paul of the Cross used to speak of our contacting Jesus in naked faith.   Many times we do not feel Jesus present but we know by faith that we have our hand on him every bit as much as the women at the tomb had their arms around him.  On earth this is the only real way of union with Christ.

Faith is a precious gift from God.   We must always ask for more of it.   “Lord, increase our faith.”    Faith can put us deeply into the arms of the Living Christ.

Our faith can bring Christ closer to us than our wildest imagination could do.   By faith we live and move and have our meaning in Him.

 

Fr. Bob Weiss, C.P. gives parish missions and retreats.  He is a member of the Passionist community in Louisville, Kentucky.