Daily Scripture

Scripture:

2 Corinthians 9:6-11
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

 

Reflection:

St. Paul tells the Corinthians, “whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”  In today’s gospel, Jesus tells us, “When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of other.”  Almsgiving must flow naturally from the heart of the Christian.  It must be free of ego consciousness.  It is like love and compassion jumping out of my heart into the heart of one in need.

I recently heard a story that illustrates what this teaching of the Scriptures is all about.

Many years ago, in the heyday of the circus, a father and his teenage son were standing in line to purchase their tickets to get in.   One family was in line in front of them.  There were eight children in the family, all below the age of twelve.  By the way they were dressed you could tell they did not have a lot of money, but their clothes were neat and clean.  The children were well-behaved, all of them standing in line, holding hands, two by two, excited as they could be about being at the circus.

The mother was standing next to her husband, holding his hand.  She too was excited about being there.  The father proudly requests tickets for each person.  When given the total money needed, you could see a moment of panic go across his face.  He counted his money and realized he did not have enough.  The cost was more than he thought it would be.

The father of the teenage boy standing behind this family, realized what was happening and in no time flat, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the twenty dollar bill he had, crumpled it up and threw it on the ground next to the father attempting to purchase tickets for his family.   He then went forward and picked up the bill and handed it to the father of eight, telling him that he must have dropped the money when pulling something from his pocket.

The father of the large family reached out and shook his hand, taking the twenty dollars, saying, “Thank you, thank you sir.  This really means a lot to me and my family.”

The father and his teenage son, without any money, got in their truck and drove home.  They did not get to see the circus but they received a joy of heart that only the angels know.  Can you imagine the lesson that father taught his son on how to give alms.

 

Fr. Blaise Czaja, C.P. gives parish missions and retreats.  He is a member of the Passionist Community in Citrus Heights, California.

Scripture:

2 Corinthians 8:1-9
Matthew 5:43-48

 

Reflection:

It’s a tall order to love one’s enemies.  Some days I can barely say “hello” to my condominium neighbors I’m so annoyed with them.

But love my enemies?? Love the terrorist, the rapist, the killer, the abuser? Love the corporate plunderer, the arrogant politician, the lazy, the entitled, the insufferable, and the list goes on and on? It’s good in theory, but are we humans really built to let go of our fear, anger and hatred of the perceived “other” and simply stand with them, shoulder to shoulder, in love and humility before God?

Jesus tells us that the call to love-not mushy, sentimental, romantic love-but a love that is forged out of the guts of our own resistance-is a call that reverses the very course of our human history, the history taking shape in space and time and the history unfolding daily within our own hearts.

I confess that there are times when I adore, like a false idol, my “righteous” anger at certain people and their actions or values. I feel entitled to it. I even enjoy it.  Maybe it gives me the sense that I am actually doing something productive or it affirms my “superior” nature. But in the end, it is all a distraction, I think, from what I’m really supposed to be doing.

As Christians we are called, tested even, to love each other generously and graciously, to be an image mirrored back of how our merciful Creator loves us (as difficult as that must be at times).  We know that Jesus felt intense anger while on earth, but that was at hypocrisy and injustice. That was the real “other” he was trying to isolate and cast out.

So if there has to be an enemy, let it be injustice. And if there really is an “other,” maybe it’s the stranger within us, the flawed heart just waiting to be healed by love for God, one’s self, and others.

 

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

Scripture:

2 Corinthians 6:1-10
Matthew 5:38-42

 

Reflection:

Wow!  The Apostle Paul can’t hold himself back. With a flood of words Paul appeals to the Corinthians to be reconciled with him. He pleads that the gift of God’s grace warms their hearts to reconcile with him. Don’t let the moment pass. This is the time! This is the day of salvation! It is a cry from the heart of a man who has given himself totally to ministry for others. His ministry has cost him hardships, beatings, and imprisonment. No matter. He reminds the Corinthian Church that he has endured these labors with patience and kindness, not by his own efforts, but in the Holy Spirit and in the power of God. We too can reflect on the paradox of our own experience. Like Paul our experiences have a dark and a bright side.  There is a time for sadness and a time for joy. We can have nothing in a material sense, but can give love and support to all who are needy. We can have few possessions, but be rich in spirit. Let us go forward then with confidence in God.

 

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

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.