Daily Scripture

Memorial of Saint Andrew Tae-gŏn
and Companions

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 15:35-37, 42-49
Luke 8:4-15

Reflection:

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Andrew Tae-gŏn and Companions.  For many of us St. Andrew is a "new" saint, canonized by Pope Paul II.  Though new to the liturgical calendar, St. Andrew and his companions are fellow Christians that we need to know because they are powerful witnesses to living the Gospel in real life.

St. Andrew is tied closely to the foundation of Christianity in Korea.  He wasn’t the first Korean Christian by a long shot.  By the time he was born in 1821, Christianity had been growing in Korea for about fifty years.  It is believed that Christianity had been brought into Korea by some Christian Japanese soldiers in the latter part of the 18^th century.   The Christian Japanese soldiers baptized the first Korean Christians and the Christian community began to grow quickly.  By the time the first foreign priest arrived in Korea in 1836 there was already a substantial Christian community flourishing there.  It’s the only known Catholic Christian community that first developed completely from the witness and work of lay Christians.

The rulers in Korea were not at all pleased to have this foreign religion thriving in their country.  At first they just discouraged it but soon enough outlawed this practice and began to actively persecute anyone who took it up.  As Christians were arrested, tortured and put to death the Church quickly moved underground

St. Andrew’s parents, members of the Korean nobility, were an important part of that early community and secretly remained faithful to their life with Christ.  Andrew was baptized at fifteen and soon expressed his desire to become a priest.  He traveled to Macau to attend the seminary and was ordained in 1845.  He was the first Korean to become a priest and returned home shortly after his ordination to help organize the Church and bring the sacraments to the faithful.  He ministered in Korea only a year before he was arrested and put to death.

There were intense persecutions of Christians in Korea in 1839, 1846, 1866 and 1867 and 103 Christians were martyred for their faith.  We celebrate these heroic martyrs on this day.

May their faith and courage inspire us to live our lives faithful to the Gospel and have the strength to be fearless witness for Christ in our everyday lives.

 

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

 

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Luke 7:36-50

Reflection:

Sometimes we need stories to see not just some truth or wisdom, but to see into our very souls.

Stories have a powerful force in life – they are one of the most ancient ways of expressing and handing on meaning and knowledge to others. They have a kind of transfixing power too – as most parents will testify – the power of those simple words "Once upon a time"  generally quietens the child (or as adults the child within us) and can transform a child from restlessness or resistance to a state of receptive listening and a surrender to fantasy.

As humanity has evolved we’ve certainly moved from fire side gatherings of the clan to listen to the elders tell us of the past, to printed stories that one could read to one’s self, to illustrated books and their successors – ‘motion pictures’. Now a new generation is entertained by reading or listening on devices like  Nintendo and eBooks, but the dynamic remains the same – we are made to listen.

We all need stories – even as adults our nights out to see a film or those at home to watch a DVD or an online streamed film are times we slip back into a child like state of where judgment is suspended, listening is enhanced and for just a moment we willingly re-enter a world of fantasy.  

Perhaps that’s the genius of a story – it sneaks under our guard and bypasses our normal sense of judgement and suspicion while travelling straight to the heart and to our emotions.

In the world of Jesus, story was a powerful teaching and preaching medium. He himself is well known for his story telling capacity and today we witness this teaching style of Jesus once more at work to reveal a truth and attempt to influence a heart.

So Jesus tells Simon a story, that unbeknownst to him, is actually one to illustrate his own lack of grace and manners. Simon readily identifies the correct path one should take whist it is disguised as the life experience of another, but in the real world he has failed to see his own inadequacies as a host.

But there is another lesson for Simon if he chooses to listen more deeply. Where Jesus has seen into the heart of the woman and recognised love at work, Simon has only looked upon the externals and seen a sinner. Where Jesus sees only love, Simon only sees a bad reputation. Where Jesus admits a person to a more intimate and loving dependence upon him Simon stays distant and critical.

This is the change called for in Simon. He is invited to move towards a stance that is closer to that of Jesus.

For us, the listeners today to this gospel story, we can take great comfort in the sure knowledge that  this is how Jesus looks upon us – he sees within to the levels of intention and desire not to the outer trappings and history of any failure or limitation of ours.

While we are faithful and we try our best, we know we are not always worthy, but if we love we can all confidently wait in hope and longing for Jesus to say to us also "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

 

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:

1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13
Luke 7:31-35

Reflection:

The Greatest of These is Love.

Love is a choice. We make thousands of choices a day but most important decision we will make all day is the one to love.

As St. Paul says in his letter, "If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing." 

Love is the greatest of all things and is the force with which the world turns. 

However, the type of "love" that we see most often today is not the kind of love into which Christ calls us.  This type of love is an even exchange, 50/50. You should only love someone who can give you something in return. This kind of love leaves no room for human brokenness. The minute we falter, we become open to the fear that we will no longer be accepted. 

The love we are being called to in Christ is a selfless and inclusive love – a love that knows no bounds and is not "self-seeking". St. Paul gives us a list of the characteristics of love that we should strive to emulate. These are not just instructions for a married couple, but for all of humanity. This list shows a variety of ways we can exemplify this love: being kind, patient, and selfless; this kind of love never fails. 

Yes, we are human and our love is not perfect. That does not mean we should give up hope. We are called though to shine forth a facet of Christ’s light and love. To strive for the unconditional love that we are given every moment. In that intention is where we exemplify that love. Our greatest example of this kind love is Christ crucified where He poured out Himself for us. All things lead back to Christ, especially our love for one another. 

"There is no human love that is not broken somewhere. When our broken love is the only love we can have, we are easily thrown into despair, but when we can live our broken love as a partial reflection of God’s perfect, unconditional love, we can forgive one another our limitations and enjoy together the love we have to offer." – Henri Nouwen’s Bread for the Journey

 

Kim Valdez is a Pastoral Associate at Holy Name Passionist Retreat Center in Houston, Texas.

 

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27-31a
Luke 7:11-17

Reflection:

Today’s first reading strikes me as a celebration of who we are to the Church like no other.

Each of us can probably think back to times in our lives when we felt unimportant or unneeded; perhaps our insecurities brought our self-worth into question and we wanted to simply fade away into the background and let others step in for us.

But today’s reading is a clarion call to each of us to treasure our participation and importance in the Church, in the living body of Christ, no matter what our gift is. We are enthusiastically invited to "drink of one Spirit" even while sharing our unique talents–from the gift of prophecy to an ability to teach to a talent for administration.

The incredible human body that God gives us is rich in its diverse abilities and functions. From a single cell to the complexity of our brain, nothing is wasted; no part is useless; every particle of our being has value to the whole. The living Body of Christ, into which we have been baptized, is similarly rich and diverse and complex-an amazing sum of its many parts that includes you and me.

Today we celebrate St. Cornelius and St. Cyprian, both powerful men of the early Church. Their contributions to the body of Christ are different than ours will be, of course, but St. Cyprian echoes the words of today’s reading: "God is one and Christ is one, and his Church is one; one is the faith, and one is the people cemented together by harmony into the strong unity of a body."

Perhaps today we can remember how blessed we are to be so uniquely important to the Church while also experiencing the beautiful unity that is the Body of Christ.

 

Nancy Nickel is the Director of Marketing and Communications for Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross 

Scripture:

Numbers 21:4b-9
Philippians 2:6-11
John 3:13-17

Reflection:

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Our Scripture readings, then, speak to us about the meaning of the Cross. Quite a few years ago, I came across a book entitled, A Theology of Christ: Sources, edited by Vincent Zamoyta. It’s an old book now, published in 1967. I lost my copy when I moved to Detroit, but was able to get another one. In the section "Modern Developments – Protestant Thought" there is an article written by John A.T. Robinson, an Anglican bishop, entitled "The Man for Others." The description of Bishop Robinson in the book is that he was a "controversial scholar," and the article is provocative, but I think the article has an interesting take on our second reading from Philippians (2:6-11), in which St. Paul is talking about Jesus emptying Himself, becoming obedient "to the point of death, even death on a cross."

The common interpretation of the passage is that Jesus emptied Himself of all use of divine power so as to sacrifice Himself for us. Robinson’s take is that rather Jesus emptied Himself of the all-too-human tendency to be self-absorbed, to grasp "equality with God," and in that emptying He gave His life for all of us. In the article, Bishop Robinson’s conclusions might be found contrary to orthodoxy about Jesus’ divinity and humanity, but the article has some insights which I find helpful.

Whatever the case may be about Jesus’ self-emptying, the fact remains that Jesus did sacrifice Himself for our sake. As we hear in our Gospel reading from John (3:13-17), "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that he who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life." Jesus did what He did out of obedience to the Father and love for us!

If we are to follow Jesus, we need to be willing to empty ourselves of the desire to be the center of everything, in other words, to be the "God" of our own lives. We need to empty ourselves of looking at others and at all of creation in terms of what we can get from them. In the words of Alcoholics Anonymous, we need to be relieved "of the bondage of self."

As we follow Jesus, and become more for others and less for self, we find we cannot isolate ourselves from the world, as tempting as that is today. God did not "give his only Son" so that we would turn our backs on the world that He loves so much, as soon as we believed in Jesus! The world, in such pain and distress, needs what has been given to us in Jesus Christ!

Obviously, we can’t do this on our own. I know I need grace in order to get outside of myself, and let go of being only concerned for myself. But the great thing is that God’s grace in Jesus Christ is always available! God’s grace is poured out on us continually! May God empty us of the desire to solely gratify ourselves, and give us the grace to follow Jesus and be obedient to His will for us, so that the world may know His love in Jesus Christ!

 

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

 

Our Lady of Sorrows

Scripture:

1Corinthians 11:17-26, 33
John 19:25-27 or Luke 2:33-35

Reflection:

When I read the first scripture reading for today I scratched my head. How does it refer to Mary? Then I realized that Mary is not explicitly mentioned by name in the letters that Paul wrote to his churches. He began to write those letters in 50 AD and Mary might still have been alive and in her late sixties. There is no indication that he ever met the Mother of Jesus. He may have heard some of the stories referring to her that eventually made it into the gospels, but they were written after he was martyred in Rome. Our reading is concerned with the supper held by the Corinthian community when they gathered together. With the division and selfishness on display Paul says "it is not to eat the Lord’s supper". For that supper is in remembrance of the "death of the Lord" and goes back to "the night he was handed over" and celebrated the Passover meal with his apostles in the upper room. It was there he spoke the words "This is my Body that is for you" and "This cup is the new covenant in my blood" accompanied with the command: "Do this in remembrance of me". Maybe by choosing this reading the church wants us to contemplate Mary as she participated in the Lord’s Supper in the years she lived in the care of the beloved disciple.  With what devotion and faith would Mary have eaten the Bread and drank the Wine that mystically united her with her son. We too can ask our mother Mary to help us with a deep awareness and appreciation of the Eucharist.

 

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

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 10:14-22
Luke 6:43-49

Reflection:

Today’s Gospel is taken from the last two sections of Luke’s Sermon on the Plain. We have the next installment of "how to" live life in-Christ with the analogy of trees and fruit. Good fruit, bad fruit, and those unable to produce other than what they were made to produce; you cannot gather grapes from brambles. This is in reference to an Old Testament notion addressing false prophets who could not produce good fruit (Jeremiah 23:9ff). For Luke, this was no less true in the early Christian community; and true for us today.

The parable of the two houses demonstrates the difference. A true prophet was one who does three things in sequence: comes to God, listens to his word, and acts on it. Only then can we produce good from our store of goodness. Unless we dig deeply our foundation in-God -intentionally, and with care-we will remain weak in our faith, we will not produce good fruit nor be properly equipped when challenges come our way.

Paul is teaching on the same principle. He is revisiting the question of eating meat sacrificed to idols; there are two opinions on this practice. Those who believe Jesus Christ, and see no issue with eating meat sacrificed to a non-god; and those who are scandalized by this action because of what it says-actions complicit with worshipping idols. Paul asks sensible people to reflect-does this action build up the body of Christ or tear it down? We who share the body and blood of Christ are one in him and each other. As I partake of the one loaf, I am called to be mindful of my actions and how that affects the community of which I am one part.

 

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.

The Most Holy Name of Mary

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 9:16-19, 22b-27
Luke 6:39-42

Reflection:

Today the Church celebrates the "Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary." Mary’s name called out by the Angel Gabriel, a name touched by God to do God’s Will so that salvation and hope would finally enter into the world’s history. The most holy name is iconic. Put your name into hers, for we are begotten by the same Spirit that conceived her. Just be "in Mary" like before an icon, and allow her to speak to you. And in that name, (I borrow here from a song entitled "Peace" sung by Honey In the Rock) "I write your name on every common object, on the top flame of the fire / On my friend’s forehead, on each body I love / On every outstretched hand, on absence without loving / On loneliness behind bars, on the stairway to heaven / On health won back, on danger passed, on baseless hope / I write your name/ And by the weight of one word I start my love all over again / I was born to know you and call you by name / Peace…" And, pray, "be it done according to Your Will, today."

Along with entering into the iconic name, Mary, I dwell upon Jesus’ observation that "a disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher." Yes, to be like Christ. I want to know, love and serve Christ. I want to be like him. Remember when he told us the he was going to the Father, and that after his departure we would discover ourselves to be with his Spirit? Due to our Baptism and the Pentecost event, the Spirit, like little tongues of flame, disappeared inside us to be with us through eternity. Just like the Risen Jesus vanished into the two disciples who had been pouring out their souls to Christ in the wake of the apparent tragedy – His death on the cross. So where are the signs of that Spirit among us? We get a hint to the answer when Jesus washed the feet of the disciples at the Last Supper. Afterwards he said, "You call me Lord and Master and rightly so, I am. If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you must wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you (John 13:14-15) It begins with a self-examination of our ability to surrender, to copy and to serve as a "fully qualified disciple." To whom am I at one’s service today? Not to worry what I will say or do, the flame is within.

 

Fr. Alex Steinmiller, C.P. is president of Holy Family Cristo Rey Catholic High School, Birmingham, Alabama.