Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Nahum 2:1, 3; 3:1-3, 6-7
Matthew 16:2428

Reflection:

Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me…

Have you ever had something happen to you that really took the wind out of your sails?   Sometimes we find ourselves facing situations that are simply and completely devastating.  When you experience the death of a loved one, a terminal health diagnosis, rejection by someone you love or some other life changing challenge, there is a temptation to let it take over your whole being. You go to bed thinking about it and it’s your first thought when you wake up.  You either don’t eat or you overeat.  When you see other people, you wonder if they know what a hard time you are having.   If you find the will to pray, your prayer is "O God, why me?"  I am sure God accepts this – after all, he knows and loves us just as we are.  But in today’s Gospel, Jesus asks us to do something different with our problems.  Jesus says to us, "Take up your cross and follow me."  I think Jesus is saying, take up your pain, your problems, your suffering.  Don’t stop and dwell on it, put your focus back where it belongs because if your focus is too much on your cross, it can’t be on Jesus. 

Jesus wants us to follow him with ALL our problems and ALL our joys.  He wants us to follow him with all the things that our lives encompass.  We are human; we will be sad and overwhelmed by some of things that happen to us.  But we need to accept the crosses that come to us in life.  We also need to accept the joys.  It’s important to remember that all of this is part of life-sickness and death, and births and new life, good times and bad, happiness and sadness – take these all up and follow Jesus.  Think of Wedding vows; the couple promises to stay together in good times and bad, sickness and health – in other words, throughout life.  This is what Jesus wants from us – promise him you will continue on the journey no matter what life holds – that your life will be the very journey of following Him.    

 

Mary Lou Butler is a long-time friend and partner in ministry to the Passionists in California.

 

Feast of the Transfiguration

Scripture:

Daniel 7:9-10,13-14
2 Peter: 1: 16-19
Matthew 17: 1-9

Reflection:

In the first reading we are told about Daniel’s vision of God’s glory. In the second reading Peter recalls the vision that he, James and John had of the majesty of Jesus. The Gospel reading presents to us the transfiguration, which Peter mentioned in his Second Letter

A football coach encourages the players to envision themselves as winners. A CEO will talk about a vision of the company becoming a leading international manufacturer. John the Apostle had visions which became the basis for his Book of Revelations. St. Francis had a vision of rebuilding the Church. St. Theresa of Avila had visions and spent years trying to understand their deeper meaning. St. Paul of the Cross had visions: "After these visions of the tunic and the sign, God gave me a stronger, compelling desire to gather companions and with the approval of holy Mother Church to found a Congregation…" (Letter to his spiritual director in 1720).

What can be said about religious visions? The Transfiguration gives us some guidance. The vision comes from God and not from ourselves. Jesus invited the three apostles up the mountain. God initiated the vision, not the apostles. Peter wanted to stay in this awesome experience, but he was disregarded and the apostles were steered down the hill with the instruction: "Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."

A true religious vision will take us beyond ourselves. We enter the bigger picture of life. I am not the center of life; I am not the most important person in the universe. A hallucination is a projection from one’s unconscious mind into the outside world, e.g., delirium tremens experienced by someone withdrawing from alcohol or as a result of a psychotic breakdown. Hallucinations keep us in our own world, a small and self-centered world.

A true religious vision will help make us better prepared to work in the "real" material world. In contrast, the schizophrenic becomes isolated from society and much controlled by hallucinations. Theresa felt no pride, no greatness because of visions. To her, her visions were not the point of her spirituality. Her visions lead her to be of service to God for others.

Notice that Jesus instructed the apostles to remain quiet about the vision, at least until after the resurrection. Visions need time to mature. It is good to be wary when someone claims to have received a vision from God. Visions must be tested, which takes time. Paul of the Cross instructed Agnes Grazi: "I am much afraid that in your frequent imaginary visions you are being tricked by the devil." In fact he said that it was better to remain quiet in prayer and not to be looking for visions. A religious vision must be tested by scripture and spiritual direction. Paul of the Cross revealed his visions to a bishop or a spiritual director. "In this I defer to the judgment of my superiors, submitting to whatever they decide under the grace of the Holy Spirit."

When you feel "the morning star rise in your hearts" don’t be afraid of it. If it is of God, it will do the work God intends. God may communicate through visions even today, but we need to check carefully any such guidance we receive with the Word of God and a qualified spiritual director.

 

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

Scripture:

Jeremiah 31:31-34
Matthew 16:13-23

Reflection:

Growing up in a large family is not easy, especially if you are one of the younger ones. Oh sure, it’s fine when you are an infant. You are the center of attention-all you have to do is cry and someone changes your diaper, feeds you or solves your problem. That worked for me for about a year or two. I’m not exactly sure when I started hearing statements like: "Stop crying, you’re not a baby anymore; or you’re old enough to do that for yourself." But eventually I heard them.

Of course that didn’t stop me from continuing to think I was the center of the universe, at least my universe. This thinking took awhile to correct, about thirty-eight years to be exact. Oh, God didn’t appear to me in a burning bush or anything like that, but I got the message just the same: "There is a god, and he’s not me." That rude awakening left me lost and finally willing to at first question and then eventually to seek a real god.

That searching which continues to this day thirty-one years later, gives me much hope especially when I read the promise God makes through Jeremiah in today’s scripture passage: "I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people." (31:33)  Yes, I include me in the "them" and "their" and "my people". You of course, can do the same.

 

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

 

Scripture:

Jeremiah 30:1-2, 12-15, 18-22
Matthew 14:22-36

Reflection:

Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

 

I’m sure you’ve all seen that bumper sticker that says, "Next time you think you’re perfect, try walking on water!" This has always sounded a little condescending to me, especially in light of today’s Gospel reading.

The scene is a dramatic one. There is a fierce storm upon the sea. The time is somewhere between 3 AM and 6 AM. The disciples already seem agitated, because when they saw Jesus, "they were terrified." They mistake him for a spirit or a phantom. But Jesus reassures them by saying, "It is I. Do not be afraid." Now Peter, who is known even to casual readers of the Gospels as far from perfect, says, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." And what does Jesus do? He answers with a single word: "Come." So Peter gets out of the boat and begins to walk on water.

But of course, we know the ending of the story. Peter begins to sink and calls out, "Lord, save me!" Then Jesus says, "Oh you of little faith!" Now, I’ve always heard those words spoken with a booming voice of condemnation in my head. But, if we go back to the Greek, the word used here is "oligopistos." This is a combination of two Greek words that literally means "little-faith." It’s more of a chiding nickname than a condemnation. Who exactly is Jesus saying Peter lacks faith in?

Peter has given up everything to follow Jesus. He’s seen Jesus raise people from the dead, cure a variety of illnesses, and preach with great authority. He has shown great faith in Jesus as the Messiah. Surely, Peter’s lack of faith is not in Jesus, but in himself.

The sea in scripture often represents chaos or disruptive forces. That, with the addition of the storm that is raging, gives a picture of what Peter is being asked to calmly walk across. It is as if Jesus is saying to us, "Come. You can calmly walk across the chaos of your life without sinking. I am here to help you. You only need to have faith."

My prayer for today is that when I am confronted with the chaos (or even minor disruptions) of my life, I remember to have faith that Jesus is there to help me walk calmly.

 

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

 

Scripture:

Isaiah 55:1-3
Romans 8:35, 37-39
Matthew 14:13-21

Reflection:

All of the readings today are about God taking care of us or feeding us. In the first reading we hear: "Heed me and you shall eat well, you shall delight in rich fare." The response to the psalm is: "The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs." In the second reading we learn that "nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" and in the gospel Jesus multiplies five loaves and two fish to feed thousands of people.

We could look at God feeding us in several ways: one way is that He feeds us in the Eucharist, which is free and available to everyone who believes. The second is that He feeds us with His Word "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God." Mt 4:4 And the third is to look at this as actual food for our physical bodies as in the feeding of the 5,000.

In the case of the third, what’s going on today that so many people in the world go to bed hungry every night? Online I read that one in eight (870 million people), were suffering from chronic undernourishment in 2010-2012, and that nearly 1 billion people across the globe went to bed hungry each night in 2013, 200 million of them children.

We know that God doesn’t change – He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So, knowing how He cares for us and provides for all of our needs, why are so many of His children hungry?

The only conclusion I can come to is that we have dropped the ball. God works through us to help others. Maybe what is different today is that we aren’t listening to the Spirit prompting us to eat a little less and to share a little more. Maybe it’s just easier to go on as we always have, not wanting to feel deeply the pain of the mother who can’t feed her children and has to watch them die.

The numbers on hunger are staggering to me. I have more than enough food to eat every day. And while I donate to ministries that help the poor, maybe there is more that I could be doing. Please join me today in praying that we will all look again to see what each of us can do to alleviate the hunger in the world today. "For I was hungry and you gave me food." Mt 25:35

 

Janice Carleton and her husband Jim live in Portland, OR and partner with Passionist Fr. Cedric Pisegna in Fr. Cedric Ministries. She is the mother of 4 grown children and grandmother of 6. Janice also leads women’s retreats and recently wrote her first book: God Speaks to Ordinary People – Like You and Me. Visit Janice’s website at http://www.janicecarleton.com/ or email her at [email protected].

Scripture:

Jeremiah 26:11-16, 24
Matthew 14:1-12

Reflection:

In our Gospel reading at Sunday Mass last week (17^th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle A), we listened to one of Matthew’s parables of the Kingdom.  Jesus drew an example out of the merchant or the field worker, both of whom discover something of such great value that each sells all that he possesses in order to acquire the article of great value (the "treasure", the "pearl of great price").

The message is very straight forward: "there is nothing of any greater value for one’s life, and it is worth surrendering all that one has in order to possess it."

In today’s reading from Jeremiah, he asserts his claim that God has called him to prophesy to the people, to call them to repentance and to fidelity to the covenant they have with God.  He is willing to surrender his life, should they reject his preaching and turn against him.

In the Gospel selection from Matthew, we hear the often told story of the death of John the Baptist, murdered at the instigation of Herodias, the sister-in-law of King Herod, whom he had married after the death of his brother.

It might be said that Jesus, in describing the commitment to the Kingdom of God, asks each of us to be willing to surrender all that we have in order to give ourselves to the Kingdom.  What does it mean to surrender all that we have?  Ultimately, as in the case of Jeremiah and John the Baptist, it means to proclaim the Kingdom of God’s Covenant even when we risk the antagonism and persecution of those who choose other gods.  We know that it means the willingness to surrender one’s life.

Very recently in the news media, we have read and heard a comparison of the present bellicose events of the Near East, of African Nations, of Islamic states, with a new "Cold War," the stand-off that conditioned our mid-20^th century international relations with Russia (USSR).  Today, the stand-off is not only with modern Russia, but with other, more aggressive and terroristic governments and militias whose regard for human rights is not evident.

Who will raise the voice of Jeremiah, of John the Baptist, of Jesus?  Who is willing to surrender all that he/she has in order to serve the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, to possess the "treasure" and "pearl of great price"?

 

Fr. Arthur Carrillo, C.P., is the director of the Missions for Holy Cross Province.  He lives in Chicago, Illinois.

 

Scripture:

Jeremiah 15:10, 16-21
Matthew 13:11-46

Reflection:

Today’s gospel is about priorities.  What is most important to us? What is the "pearl of great price" in our lives?

 

Love songs often express the priority of one’s beloved.  The lyrics speak of climbing the highest mountain, swimming the deepest ocean, and letting nothing get in the way.  From the musical group Bread, we have a song titled Everything I own.   It contains these words:

I would give everything I own,
Give up my life, my heart, my home,
I would give everything I own,
Just to have you back again.

Some of you may recall a professional football player of the 1960’s named Gale Sayers.  He ranks among the greatest running backs of all time.  Around his neck he wore a gold medal about the size of a half-dollar.  On it were inscribed three words: "I am third".  These three words became the title of his best-selling autobiography.  If you were to ask him what those words meant, he would tell you, "The Lord is first, my friends are second, and I am third."  

In his autobiography Gale Sayers wrote, "I try to live by the saying on my medal.  I don’t always succeed, but having the saying around my neck keeps me from straying from it too far."

The question is not, "What do we possess?"  The right question is, "What possesses us?  What grips us?  What motivates us?  What is in the center of our hearts?"

Jesus challenges us to choose him first and commit ourselves totally to him.  The goal is to be able to say with St. Paul, "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8: 38-39)

 

Fr. Alan Phillip, C.P. is a member of the Passionist Community at Mater Dolorosa Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.   http://www.alanphillipcp.com/

 

Feast of Saint Alphonsus Liguori

Scripture:

Jeremiah 26:1-9
Matthew 13:54-58

Reflection:

Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori, the founder of the Redemptorists and a Bishop and Doctor of the Church.  St. Alphonsus earned his reputation as preeminent moral theologian, a voice of clarity and reason concerning the moral obligations of being a Christian.

Although the readings for today’s Mass occur as part of an ongoing regular cycle and were not selected specifically for this feast, they have a strong moral tone as well.  In both the first reading from the prophet Jeremiah and in the selection from Matthew’s Gospel we hear again the voice of the biblical prophet and the cost of proclaiming the truth.

When Jeremiah does what God wants him to do and brings challenging words to Israel during the troubled reign of King Jehoiakim, urging them to repent so that they can experience God’s mercy.  But the people threaten the prophet with death and gather around him in a threatening manner.  This seems to be the fate of Jeremiah-his powerful words and gestures seem to fall on deaf ears and he is constantly persecuted and rejected.  It is not by accident that Jeremiah has a heavy tone, with the prophet constantly lamenting the fate of his people and their refusal to turn from their evil ways and return to God’s favor.

The responsorial psalm for today has a similar tone.  Like Jeremiah, the Psalmist laments the attacks he has had to endure-insult, shame, hatred, and isolation.  He turns to God for strength: "in your great kindness answer me with your constant help"!

The gospel, too, portrays Jesus as a rejected prophet, particularly in his home town of Nazareth.  Jesus preaches in the synagogue in a powerful manner (wouldn’t you like to be there to hear Jesus preach?!) but the reaction of his home town congregation is skeptical and all too human.  We know this man.  He grew up here.  We know his family.  Who does he think he is?!  Matthew’s Gospel notes that they "took offense at him"-in the Greek, they "found him an obstacle," the literal meaning of the verb eskandalizonto.  His relatives and friends could not get past the human face they thought they knew so well and find the mystery present there.  As the account concludes, Jesus laments "A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house."  Jeremiah would understand…

What are we to take for our own lives from these challenging readings?   The role of the biblical prophet was to speak the truth, even when no one wanted to hear it.  And there are occasions in our family, our community and in our workplace, when we are obliged to speak the truth, both to maintain our own integrity and to bring the light of truth to others, even when people would prefer to ignore it. The Scriptures today remind us about the cost of such prophetic courage.  At the same time, it is clear from the Scriptures that prophets such as Jeremiah and Jesus himself were not taking up their prophetic vocation out of a sense of arrogance or moral superiority not did they want to create turmoil for its own sake.  Genuine prophets bring to their people a message of hope and love-the realization that repentance will lead to new life.  Like what we call "tough love" there are times when God’s love should impel us to bring change to the way we live.

 

Fr. Donald Senior, CP., is President Emeritus and Professor of New Testament at Catholic Theological Union.  He lives at the Passionist residence in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.