Daily Scripture

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.

 

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 8:1-13
Luke 6:27-38

Reflection:

The heated argument within the Corinthian community some 2,000 years ago – whether to eat meat offered to idols – is not exactly a burning issue of our day.  The only real debate we face is whether we want chicken, steak or fish for dinner. We may ask who at the table is vegetarian, who’s the vegan?  Or even, who’s ready to eat anything, even that virtual foodstuff called spam?  Do our dietary circumstances make Paul’s corrective exhortation to the Corinthian community irrelevant for us?  A closer examination of this text may suggest that we too should heed the Apostle Paul.

At issue for the community living in the sometimes wild and wooly seaport city of Corinth was whether it was acceptable for Christians to eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols.  This question was creating ugly friction and division.

Paul responded to the issue in two ways.  First, he said that a piece of meat is a just piece of meat.  It makes no difference whether it was offered to some false god in a pagan temple.  After all, these false gods don’t exist.  The foolishness of the pagan cult doesn’t taint the meat.  It’s just meat.

But, Paul hastens to add his second point.  There may be some in the community who were former pagans and who grew up sacrificing to the idols.  For them to now eat the same meat that was offered to the idols is a scandal, even immoral.  It may not actually be wrong, Paul writes, but for some it feels very wrong.

Therefore, Paul concludes, it is technically acceptable to eat this meat, but if it causes scandal, if it harms the spiritual health of others, then Christians have the responsibility of love for one another to forego eating that meat.  It isn’t a matter of who’s right and who’s wrong.  If you have to choose between being right and being loving, then be loving. That is the heart of the gospel.

In so many ways, we Christians remain a conflicted and, all too often, a self-righteous bunch. For example, which Catholic newspaper or magazine is the "right" one to read?  Which side does one stands regarding the proper role and ministry of nuns in United States – the nuns or the bishops?  Who’s too liberal, who’s too conservative?  And the list goes on.  How does Paul respond?  He goes after all of us, all sides of the liturgical debate, the worship debate, and every other debate.  "You’re all puffed up!" he says to us.  Human knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

St. Augustine in succinct language urged us to heed Paul: "In the essentials, unity. In the non-essentials, freedom.  In all things, charity."

 

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

 

Feast of Saint Peter Claver

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 6:1-11
Luke 6:12-19

 

 

Reflection:

God’s Calling, Our Vocations

Our gospel today is the prelude to Luke’s version of the Beatitudes. There is a large crowd of disciples and a multitude of the people around Jesus. He cures, expels demons and then will begin to teach.

Our prayer might tend in the direction of vocations today. Jesus calls the Apostles. They are unformed and taken from the group of disciples who are with him. They receive no details of the work they will do. Later Jesus will send them forth to share in his ministry,  and after his death, in the Acts of the Apostles, we will see them picking up the prophetic mantel of Jesus.

Today we also celebrate St. Peter Claver. A Jesuit whose vocation to go to the missions was awakened by another Jesuit saint, Alphonso Rodríguez. Peter would work for forty years among slaves, meeting their ships as they arrived in Cartagena, Columbia in the 1600’s. He described his vocation as ‘the slave of the slaves’. He did what he could in giving human comfort to the frightened and sick who would be sent to plantations or mines. He would do what he could for them in the new harsh world in which they found themselves. It would seem Peter must have live with great frustration unable to right the wrongs inflicted upon the unfortunate slaves. He was incapacitated and seemingly forgotten the last five years of his life due to illness, yet strangely at his death, Cartagena erupted in celebration for his goodness and his work of charity. How much of a difference did Peter make in the hearts of slave owners during his life and after his death?

There is also before us the vocation of teacher. Power goes forth from Jesus, and the stage is now set for him to teach. Our schools are open, the new school year has begun. I offered a prayer when the teachers in our school came their first day. There were four new teachers and I could feel their nervousness. Everything was new. I imagined the teachers being dropped off by their moms and being gently pushed into the school and being told to go do their work! We all teach, but those who have that vocation with a capital ‘V’, have an awesome gift. Imparting important knowledge, yes; sowing seeds they will not see blossom, yes; and entering into dialogue where they become as vulnerable as the students they teach in their sharing.

How impossible to explain the vocation of an Apostle, a Peter Claver or a teacher. The Apostles would be the first to say they were involved in a mystery beyond their choosing. How did Peter Claver bring joy to the sorrowful and go to bed with hope each night? Do teachers their God-given gift of wanting to fill others with the gifts they have to offer in many diverse ways?

Maybe none of these vocations are ones you feel that you have. But what are yours? Where is your calling, the giving that makes you feel more full, the hard work that gives you energy? We can say that Jesus was ‘sent’ and was ‘called’, that he had a Divine Vocation. Today give thought to your vocations, their calling and sending, and how with your gifts God calls you, and sends you to bear his love through them to others. 

 

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

 

 

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 7:25-31
Luke 6:20-26

Reflection:

Paul makes an interesting assertion in his first letter to the Corinthians. After advising people not to marry if they are currently single, he says, "If you marry, however, you do not sin, nor does an unmarried woman sin if she marries; but such people will experience affliction in their earthly life, and I would like to spare you that." When I read that passage, I almost laughed out loud.

Having been married for decades, I can attest to the fact that marriage brings affliction! Despite the incredible joys, growth, and blessings that accompany a good marriage, it is extremely challenging and soul-stretching to live out the most intimate relationship possible on this earth, and to do so with another human being who is just as imperfect as I am.

With Paul absolutely convinced that the world was imminently coming to an end, he knew a marriage relationship would not have time to evolve and grow. More importantly, he could see the struggle of married people to balance their devotion to spouse and family with the crucial work of preaching the Gospel. Especially since his single-hearted focus was spreading the good news of Jesus Christ, he didn’t understand why anyone would want to split their devotion instead of wholeheartedly pouring out their lives in preaching and converting, saving as many souls as possible in the precious little time left.  

I hear echoes of Paul in discussions about whether to make the discipline of priestly celibacy optional and allow a married priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church. Opponents assert that married priests would be divided in their loyalties rather than singularly devoted to ministering to the flock. That is necessarily true, and thus there will always be a need in the Church for celibate ministers, whether priesthood requires mandatory celibacy or not. Proponents say that the difficult task of deeply loving another in a committed relationship is in itself a way of preaching the Gospel, and provides the growth and experience necessary to better serve the flock. They also point out that if married priests were allowed, we’d have a lot more priests to share the work, therefore allowing for family time as well. The arguments offered on each side have valid points to make.

Paul is careful to clarify that his teaching on staying single is strictly his own opinion, as he has no "word" from God about it, and he readily allows for his followers to be married if they feel called to that life. In fact, Saint Peter was married, as were many disciples, priests, bishops, deacons, and ministers up through the first millennium of the Church.

Perhaps in the same way as Paul, we need to be open as a Church to seriously discussing the issue of priestly celibacy, prayerfully opening our hearts and minds to see where the Spirit is leading. We need to listen to the experience of singles and marrieds, religious brothers and sisters, deacons, priests and monks, lay ministers, and anyone whose life experience can contribute wisdom to the discussion. It would be interesting, for instance, to discover how the experiences of intentional community in orders like the Congregation of the Passion, who consciously become brothers and live a deeply communal lifestyle, distract from and/or feed their ministry.

That kind of broad-ranging exploration could go a long way in helping the Church discern the best discipline (or combination of disciplines) for priests. The goal is to find a resolution that, though it may be extremely difficult, will best witness to the Gospel, embody the God of love, and effectively draw people to faith. I don’t know what that resolution will be, but I do believe the hour has come to have the discussion. Regardless of the time we have left on this earth, we want to follow the Spirit and live in ways that help us wholeheartedly preach the good news of Jesus Christ.

 

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

Scripture:

Ezekiel 33:7-9
Romans 13:8-10
Matthew 18:15-20

Reflection:

I’ll never forget Edwina Gately. I met her at "Lady’s Theology" in the 80’s –they let people like me come in those days despite my gender.  Edwina told a story about a particularly vexing day she had. On her way home she prayed that God would show Himself to her and help her make sense of her crazy mixed up world. As she neared her home she decided to stop in the corner tavern and have a drink. Not being a frequent visitor there, she figured no one would know her, and she’d be able to get a nice quiet drink and some time by herself. She took a chair at the bar, ordered a drink and then sat quietly fretting over her day.

Soon an old street person who smelled musty, wore raggedy clothes and was trembling came in and sat down right next to her. She asked Edwina if she would please buy her a glass of beer. If she would, the raggedy old homeless person promised to be on her way and not bother her any more. Edwina bought her a drink and asked her to stay awhile and talk. They did, but not for long. The homeless lady insisted she had to be one her way. Edwina told us how she realized later the visitor with whom she just shared a drink had answered her prayer.

I wonder how many times I miss God in my day-to-day living? I wonder further, if I will ever have to consciously stop reminding myself of Jesus’ promise in today’s scripture passage and just live my life as a person who truly believes that:  "Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, I am with them."

 

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