Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18
Matthew 25:31-46

Reflection:

When I was in grade school, we were tested and re-tested on our ability to recite the Ten Commandments. Some people proclaim these ten laws to be the only things you need to know to follow God faithfully. It is interesting, though, that Jesus never quoted the Ten Commandments or held them up as central truths of our faith. Instead, he speaks of loving God and neighbor as being the highest commandments of all, and he tells the story about sheep, goats, and serving the least of God’s people as illustration of how to enact that love.

The command to love your neighbor as yourself comes from Leviticus. It is the ending statement of a section that begins much like the Ten Commandments, but the text then expands on the instruction. It dictates that we are not to show partiality to anyone because of their position in life. We are not to take revenge (in fact, we are not even to hold a grudge!) We are to harbor no hatred in our hearts, even against one who has done wrong and needs to be reproved. We are not to gossip. We are not to stand idly by when our neighbor’s life is at stake.

These seem in close parallel to what Jesus has in mind for us, which perhaps is why he quoted it. Yet when I let this expanded version of the Ten Commandments sink in, I am challenged to the depths of my soul. There are so many ways I fall short. I’ll choose just one: In many ways, I fail to live out the precept against standing idly by when my neighbor’s life is at stake. Examples:

– Millions of children in the U.S. go to bed hungry every night. I never do, and in fact I sometimes let food go bad in my fridge. How can I waste less, take more to food pantries, serve in or support soup kitchens, and donate more to hunger organizations like Second Harvest?

– People in many parts of the world have to carry heavy jugs of water for miles in order to stay alive. Yet I think nothing of taking long showers and barely consider ways to conserve water usage throughout the day. Can I change my ingrained habits, learning to act as if my own water supply was extremely limited? How can I also support organizations dedicated to providing clean, safe water worldwide?

– Congress keeps voting to cut back food stamps and "safety net" programs for the poorest people in our country. Have I done so much as write a letter in protest? Can I volunteer my time in one of those "safety net" programs?

– We have the highest rates of incarceration in the world, often inflicting harsh sentences for minor crimes. The death penalty, the ultimate form of retribution, is still enacted in 34 states. Can I become a pen-pal for someone in prison and bring respect and hope to someone without it? Can I volunteer as a driver to take children to visit incarcerated parents, or at least support those who do? In what ways can I oppose the death penalty and advocate for humane treatment of prisoners?

– Immigrants to this country often experience profound discrimination because of their clothing, religion, or accent. Indeed, I catch myself complaining when I can’t understand them, or being exasperated until I "finally reach someone who can speak English." Can I instead reach out with patience, a smile and a kind word for immigrants on the phone or on the street, treating each one with the respect and care I’d want to be shown in a foreign country? Can I encourage the blending of cultures at my parish, attend ethnic celebrations, learn from those whose culture is different from mine, and welcome them fully?

I could go on and on. You may not agree with all of my examples. That isn’t the point. There are countless ways that my behavior puts another’s life at stake. Yet I sit more or less idly by because it isn’t in my face and doesn’t affect my day-to-day life.  As long as I am not hungry, thirsty, a stranger, in prison, or in danger, I let myself get complacent.

Perhaps we all need to take the challenge of these laws more seriously. Choose one, and ask God to soften your heart, open your arms, and show you ways that you can more faithfully live out the challenge of that precept. If we all do just that…just one command…the word of God can shine forth more brightly, spreading truth, justice, and light to the ends of the earth.

 

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/.      

 

First Sunday of Lent

Scripture:

Genesis 2:7-9, 3:1-7
Romans 5:12-19
Matthew 4:1-11

 

Reflection:                 

Lent: Working on Our Relationship with God

Eve saw that the fruit of the tree was good to eat, beautiful and desirable for knowledge. But Eve and Adam after eating the fruit see something else. They see themselves in our fragile humanity, exposed, knowing good and evil. The image of God holding the sleeping Adam at Chartres Cathedral has been interpreted as taking place outside the Garden. God leaves the Garden looking for Adam and Eve who are in exile. God finds them when they sleep and embraces them, because God cannot stop loving them. They have been made in the divine image.

John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus is leading us to the Father; Jesus is leading us back to the Garden. He is the Gardener as Mary Magdalene correctly named him. The reading entitled ‘The Rending of Hell’ from the Office of Readings for Holy Saturday tells of Jesus descending among the dead after his dying on the Cross. He goes to the prison where all of the dead wait, finds Adam and takes him by the hand and leads him and all who wait with him to the heavenly banquet.

Our first reading today establishes our relationship with our Loving God. We can imagine  being where Adam and Eve are before the fall, if we could just remove their mistake. In the Gospel Matthew reflects on our relationship with God. He looks to chapter 6-8, of Deuteronomy, where Moses recalls God’s faithfulness to the Covenant with Israel: God set his heart on you not because you were great, you were the least of all peoples. God chose you…know that your God is God indeed, a faithful God who is true to the covenant. Moses encourages Israel to remember their forty years in the desert as they prepare to go into the Promised Land. They have learned much. Be true to the Covenant. However Israel will not always be true to the Covenant.

Matthew shows us Jesus, Son of God, who passes the tests set forth by the tempter and who is the model of faithfulness to the Covenant and love of the Father. "We have one who has been tempted in every way that we are, though he is without sin" (Heb.4:15).

The first preface for Lent calls it a joyful season. It is the time when we try to live fully our Christian lives, to tend or relationship with God whose love is faithful and embraces us. Using the metaphor of journey for Lent is good because every journey has its tests and challenges, be it an epic of ancient history or a recent trip to another city for a visit with family and friends. Our Lenten journey cannot be without ‘tests’ because we are rending our hearts, working on our relationship with our God. We are dealing with those everyday demons who get in the way of living fully our Christian life.

Lent will take us to the celebration of Our Lord’s Passover from death to life as we celebrate the Paschal Triduum, and we will come in the end to renew our Baptismal Covenant and to sing the Alleluias with those who approach the ‘waters of refreshment’. The gates of the Garden are opened. The failure of Eve and Adam is the happy fault that reveals to us the love of so great a redeemer. From beginning to end we are in a relationship with God. Let us respond to the invitations of grace these days as we tend the garden of our relationship.

 

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

Saturday after Ash Wednesday

Scripture:

Isaiah 58:9b-14
Luke 5:27-32

Reflection:

One of the messages of today’s Gospel was recently addressed by Pope Francis.  "If we don’t feel in need of God’s mercy and don’t think we are sinners, it’s better not to go to Mass."   In some ways, it was a little hard to hear Pope Francis’ words.  Even though we begin the Mass by confessing we are sinners,  sometimes we think of ourselves as the "good guys" and others, those who don’t come up to our standards-that is those who don’t  pray as we do, dress like us, donate enough, behave as we do- as the "sinners."   Like it or not, we need to remember that we are sinners just like everyone else and that we join together in communion as a body of repenting sinners. 

That is what Francis has been preaching through his words and actions since becoming Pope and that is the message that resounds through the New Testament.  Francis speaks loudly by washing the feet of the poor and the imprisoned, by reaching out to the disabled, and by saying to the world, "who am I to judge?" 

And today Jesus gives us the example of eating and drinking with the tax collectors and sinners.  Not only does he sit at table with them, but He tells us that this is the very reason he came.  

As disciples of Jesus, we not only need to acknowledge that we are indeed sinners, but also that we are given the charge to follow his example.  We are called to sit at table with other sinners, to invite other sinners to join us at Eucharist, to be one with them- we are called to truly and completely welcome all into our church family.  As Francis asks, "Does the Eucharist we celebrate lead me to consider all of them [sinners] as brothers and sisters? Does it increase my ability to rejoice when they do and to weep with those who weep?"

And aren’t we, as sinners, further called to go out from our churches, from our homes, from our safe lives to reach out to our fellow sinners, inviting them into our Eucharist, and to join us on our journey to find salvation.  After all, Jesus, did not stand on the steps of the temple, saying to people, "come in" – but rather he went to them- in their villages, in their homes – sharing with them the Good News!  May this Lent be a time of increased evangelization in our churches as we go forth proclaiming Jesus through our words but  especially through our actions.

 

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

Scripture:

Isaiah 58:1-9a
Matthew 9:14-15

Reflection:

I have never liked Lent. As a very young child I remember a time of the year (and it seemed to come every year) when life seemed tense and just miserable. Those around me seemed much more irritable and less patient. The fun of the Christmas Holidays was over and the new clothes I got were now worn and ordinary. The days were cold and I was tired of being stuck in the house. Today, I figure that time of the year, must have been Lent.

I still don’t like Lent, especially when I read today’s passage from Isaiah:

This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking every yoke;
Sharing your bread with the hungry,
sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own. (Isaiah 58:6-7)

Do you really expect me to do all these things Isaiah? I support the local homeless shelter with a yearly contribution and I donate my old clothes to the Brown Elephant, a local resale shop benefiting the Howard Brown Health Center. I would never turn my back on my own, unless of course they got on my nerves.  Oh, and I volunteer once a year at the Chicago Food Depository. That’s enough right? What’s this releasing those bound unjustly and setting free the oppressed?

Hum? I think I know now why that time long after Christmas was miserable as a child.

 

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

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Luke 9:22-25

Reflection:

As we read the Gospels, we get a sense that many people followed Jesus. At times these people are described as multitudes or even thousands when Jesus multiplied the bread. I can imagine the contemporaries of Jesus were inspired by his preaching, amazed by his teaching, stunned by his miracles and excited to hear Jesus debate the Scribes and Pharisees. But Jesus was never impressed by the size of the crowd. We also find times when Jesus turned to the multitude of followers and put them in a position of having to choose. This is the situation in today’s Gospel story.

"If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." That is drawing a line in the sand! Jesus is asking the people whether they are fans or followers. Examples of fans are described later in this Chapter. First there is the man who tells Jesus that he will follow him. Jesus says the Son of Man has nowhere to place his head. The man disappears. Another man tells Jesus that he has to have time to bury his father. And finally a third man says he must first say goodbye to his family. These fans are saying that they want to follow Jesus but don’t ask too much of me. Don’t ask me to forgive the person who hurt me. Don’t ask me to let go of a grudge or bitterness. They want to pick and choose as if the teachings of Jesus were a buffet, where you take what looks good to you and ignore what you don’t like. A fan will tell you he or she wants to follow Jesus, but not right now. Now just isn’t a good time. We put Jesus off like we put off going on a diet. I’ll start tomorrow! Following Jesus half-way or part-time or half-hearted isn’t an option.

The invitation hasn’t changed. Jesus is still turning to the crowds and addressing us with the same words: "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." A fan admires the statement but never really acts on it. A follower responds to the invitation daily. A preacher said: "We are not invited to wear a cross; we are invited to bear a cross." We are invited to take up a cross, and we are given divine power to bear it in the spirit of Jesus. What particular cross do you need to bear this Lent?

 

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

Ash Wednesday

Scripture:

Joel 2:12-18
2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Reflection:

Last Friday was the title feast of our Passionist Congregation.  St. Paul of the Cross proclaimed the Friday before Ash Wednesday to be the Solemn Commemoration of the Passion.  Somewhere in my theology days, when I first had to preach on this feast, I realized the wisdom of St. Paul of the Cross.  It seems as though, if you are going to take a journey, it is essential to know where the journey ends.  And Lent is a journey which takes us to the foot of the cross.

Welcome to Lent.  Today is Ash Wednesday.  It is officially when we begin our journey and our foreheads are marked with ashes for everyone to see.  Again, it is the cross before us, right between the eyes.  The prophet Joel reminds us to "return to the Lord with your whole heart, with fasting, weeping and mourning."  And the Gospel of Matthew uses Jesus’ teaching to instruct us about the right attitudes especially in regard to almsgiving, praying and fasting.  Lent can be a time of great conversions, of spiritual growth, of getting ourselves back on track.  But I sometimes wonder how many times we let the Lord have the first word when it comes to our Lenten resolutions.

What I found in the Liturgy last Friday, was the power of the proclaimed Word; especially the Passion Narrative.  It humbles us.  It cuts through our pragmatic logic and selfish areas.  It sides us as disciples with Jesus while the crowds around him mock him and humiliate him.  It compels us with a strong desire to step in and do something for Jesus and with the realization of our powerlessness that we can’t change the historical story.  It pulls us into the story to the point of reawakening feelings of caring and compassion where time and daily burdens have numbed us.  And at the end of the proclamation, we are left with this unsettling question why the man who spent his life doing good things and helping so many people dies such a tragic and violent death?  What is wrong with this?  There is something about this narrative which just doesn’t sit right in the core of our soul. And yet the centurion, the Roman outsider understands, "Truly this man was the Son of God."

Ultimately Jesus lays down his life the exact same way he lived his life every day.  He pours himself out focused only on his Father’s love and mercy.  Of all the things that could have come out of his mouth, he looks at those humiliating him and instead of vengeance he continues to pour out God’s mercy as he says, "Father, forgive them."

Our Lenten Journey has only one destination and that is the death and resurrection of Christ.  Lenten season finds us putting considerable energy into fish fry’s, devotions, and personal Lenten practices including  more liturgies, penance services, and additional prayer services.  It’s always a challenge to remember that it isn’t about what we do for God.  It is far more important to know what God has done for us.  We must allow God’s grace and redemption to be first.  That is why we tell the story, to keep the Passion of Jesus Christ always in our hearts.

 

Fr. David Colhour, C.P. is the pastor of St. Agnes Parish in Louisville, Kentucky.

 

Scripture:

1 Peter 1:10-16
Mark 10:28-31

 

 

 

Reflection:

God’s Generosity: It’s Real!

Today’s Gospel selection follows upon Monday’s selection which featured Jesus dealing with the rich young man who wanted everlasting life:  he had kept the commandments, but was unable to give away his goods and follow Jesus.  Peter is likely watching the young man walk away, and comments to Jesus about himself and the few others who had left everything to follow Jesus:  "what will there be for us?"

Jesus replies with a promise of a hundredfold return to those who give up everything to follow Him – both now, and eternal life in the age to come!  Peter’s eyes must have opened wide when he heard this promise of houses, and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands – now! – and the best of life in eternity.

No doubt about it:  no human can outdo God’s generosity…God’s generosity is unlimited!  In following Jesus, God’s generosity includes becoming part of God’s extended family.  Life is shared – and as Jesus subtly points out and witnesses in his own life:  persecution is also part of the "inheritance". 

We 21^st century disciples sharing in God’s generosity are encouraged by St. Peter in today’s first reading:  gird the loins of your mind, live soberly, and set your hopes on God’s grace – in short, reflect God’s life and be holy!

These encouraging words of Jesus and Peter are offered us on the "doorstep" of the annual season of spiritual renewal called "Lent".  We seek to follow Jesus in the nitty-gritty of our daily lives, and we are generously blessed with gifts in abundance.  The practical side of living for Jesus may include some "bumps" and "sufferings", but being part of God’s family helps us gain strength to keep our spiritual focus and "stay the course" of discipleship. 

May we each be blessed as we seek heartfelt renewal as we live for Jesus in the 21^st Century!  May Lent 2014 be a grace-filled experience of renewal in our prayer and our generous service of our sisters and brothers.  God’s generosity is real!

 

Fr. John Schork, C.P. is the local leader of the Passionist community in Louisville, Kentucky. 

Scripture:

1 Peter 1:3-9
Mark 10:17-27

Reflection:

The words of today’s Gospel reading may cause us, like the young man in the Gospel, to have fallen faces and walk away sad.  But let’s pause a moment and consider what Jesus tells us in this Gospel. Jesus says that to inherit eternal life – we must sell what we have, give to the poor and then we can follow Him.  Wow!  That’s a pretty harsh condition for salvation. 

Much has been said about the disparity of wealth in our country, and we can decry the 1%, but in fact, most of us – with our cars, computers, fresh water, ample food, adequate clothes and a place to sleep – are rich by the standards of the majority of the world.  In fact, if your income is $25,000 a year, you are in the top ten percent of the world’s incomes!  It’s not pleasant to think about – this admonition from Christ.  When Jesus says to us, sell what you have and give to the poor, I, for one, am inclined to walk away or at least quickly turn the page in my bible and try to move on.  Sure, we give to the poor – but most often we give from our excess.  We have become so comfortable with our lifestyle that material possessions have almost become our religion.  I am sorry, Jesus, I love you, but come on, I really can’t imagine giving up my computer or my car or the new outfit I bought for Easter.   And in fact, it doesn’t even seem remotely possible that we will give everything we have to the poor, but perhaps all is not lost. 

Maybe we can take some small steps toward following Jesus.  Perhaps we can give up a meal a week or skip a trip to the movies or limit our shopping and give the difference to the poor. And when Jesus sees us taking our baby steps, trying to embrace Christianity not materialism as our religion, maybe He’ll reach out His hand and say to us "Well, you haven’t got it quite right yet but, come follow me."  For indeed, although it is hard for us who are rich- at least rich enough to be in the top 10% of the worlds’ incomes, to enter the Kingdom of God, all things are possible for God! 

 

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