Daily Scripture

Scripture:

2 Samuel 7:18-19, 24-29
Mark 4:21-25

Reflection:   

 In olden days, streets had gas lamps.  And each evening a lamplight would go from lamp to lamp with a burning flame and light them up.

 

One evening the English writer John Ruskin watched the lamplighter at work.  Actually Ruskin didn’t see the lamplighter, because it was dark.  He only saw the torch and the trail of lit lamps that he left along the way.

Then Ruskin commented to the person sitting with him and said, "There’s a good illustration of a Christian.  People may never have known him, they may never have met him, they many never even have seen him, but they know he passed through their world by the trail of lights he left behind him."

Jesus says to us, "You are the light of the world." (Matthew 5:14)  Like a lamplighter it is our vocation to remove darkness and brighten up our world.
How do we do that?

When we refrain from lies and speak the truth, we brighten up our world.
When we stop nagging and point out the good we see in others, we brighten up our world.  When we lift spirits with music and humor, we brighten up our world.

When we reach out to the poor, when we show compassion to the sick and when we give a listening ear to the bereaved, we brighten up our world.

When we speak up for the respect of human life, when we take a stand for justice, and when we work for peace, we brighten up our world.

In a word, when we show love we brighten up our world.  So we pray,

 "Jesus, you light up our lives. May the brightness of your love flow to us and then through us to all the world."

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

Scripture:
2 Samuel 7:4-17
Mark 4:1-20

Reflection:
Father, help me to reflect with my Passionist family this day on the words of Jesus in the parable of the sower and the seed.  Let the word you s0w grow from a seed in our hearts to the longed for Kingdom of God, on earth as it is in heaven.

Jesus today clearly calls us to fully embrace God’s word.  We must find a way to be "good soil", ready, humble and open to God’s grace.  We must find a way to be open like Mary, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to thy word." 

This is not easy for us in today’s world, amidst the signs of our times.  Heated rhetoric and uncompromising positions pull us apart, as God’s word of inclusion and unity for all people tries to grow among the thorny bushes of our divisiveness.  The rocky soil of racism, anger and inequality keeps God’s love from taking root in our lives and our communities.  Birds of violence and intolerance swoop down and eat the seeds of compassion and peace in our lives before they have a chance to take root.  Yet, we still have hope!

The words of Jesus encourage us to keep on sowing the seed, because some will fall on "good soil".  We must sow the seed in every part of our lives, not just in the comfort of a captive audience in a Church or a house of prayer.  Our comfort level about where we "sow the seed" must be ignored.  We, as baptized followers of Jesus, must sow the seed everywhere in the context of the signs of our times no matter how difficult. 

Father, help us to s0w the seed everywhere in our lives, especially in places where we don’t feel comfortable.  Help us to be humble and nurture the seed of your word with the waters of compassion and kindness.  In the words from today’s Alleluia verse:

"The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower; all who come to him will live forever."

 

Terry McDevitt, Ph.D. is a member of our Passionist Family who volunteers at the Passionist Assisted Living Community in Louisville, Kentucky.

Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas

Scripture:

2 Samuel 6:12b-15, 17-19
Mark 3:31-35

Reflection:

In the gospel of today, Jesus reminds us, ‘The greatest among you must be your servant.  Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.’    Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest, Doctor of the Church, theologian, teacher, was a brilliant but simple man.  He wrote extensively, counseled important leaders, including several popes, taught in great universities, and is known as the patron of all Catholic educational institutions.  Yet, he was never comfortable with accolades and places of honor which others tried to heap upon him.  He maintained his life as a Dominican friar in a humble manner.  He was seen as great among peers yet all he wanted to do was serve, whether that was done in his teaching, preaching, writing or counseling, he never strayed from the example of Jesus Christ.  As a Church we owe a great debt of gratitude to Thomas for his gift of learning but even more so his model of humility and simplicity.  As we celebrate this Catholic Schools Week across the nation, may we recommit ourselves to providing an excellent Catholic education rooted in the teaching and lifestyle emulated by Saint Thomas Aquinas.

 

Theresa Secord is a Pastoral Associate at St. Agnes Parish, Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

2 Samuel 5:1-7, 10
Mark 3:22-30

Reflection:

When Nelson Mandela walked out of his prison cell on February 11, 1990, Catholic editors described it as a "Teilhardian" moment.  Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J., the Jesuit religious thinker and paleontologist, "was convinced that the human family is evolving toward greater unity – its strands converging, not diverging."

When I was a kid, we had a long piece of marked linoleum in the basement – a game called shuffleboard. In this game players use sticks to push metal-and-plastic weighted pucks down the linoleum path into a scoring area at the opposite end of the strip. Today, it’s easy to fall into a different kind of game called "ain’t it awful". We attempt to score points by topping each other with disheartening data, verbalizing how our global society is deteriorating. Ethnic cleansing, unparalleled poverty, and unspeakable violence seem to saturate our social media. But our generation has also been blessed with extraordinary leaders… Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi and Rosa Parks, Dorothy Day and Oscar Romero, and countless others, fighting for the dignity of all humanity.

Today’s liturgy offers other charismatic leaders, dreamers, if you will. King David, in spite of his limitations, was God’s choice to inspire ancient Israel.  Jesus, too, engaged in that struggle, and he, too, was misunderstood. In the verse preceding today’s Gospel, the family of Jesus come to take him home, convinced he is crazy! And St. Angela Merici, who founded the first women’s religious community to educate and catechize poor children.

In Miguel de Cervantes’ play, Don Quixote, our hero is confronted by animosity, others who also misunderstood; holding large mirrors before Quixote, they thunder, "See life as it really is!" And Quixote replies:

I have lived nearly fifty years,
and I have seen life as it is.
Pain, misery, hunger … cruelty beyond belief.
I have heard the singing from taverns
and the moans from bundles of filth on the streets.
I have been a soldier and seen my comrades fall in battle …
or die more slowly under the lash in Africa.
I have held them in my arms at the final moment.
These were men who saw life as it is, yet they died despairing.
No glory, no gallant last words … only their eyes filled with confusion, whimpering the question, "Why?"
I do not think they asked why they were dying,
but why they had lived.
When life itself seems lunatic,
who knows where madness lies?
Perhaps to be too practical is madness.
To surrender dreams – this may be madness.
To seek treasure where there is only trash.
Too much sanity may be madness –
and maddest of all: to see life as it is,
and not as it should be!

Lord, grant us the grace to dream!

 

Fr. Jack Conley, C.P. is the director of the Office of Mission Effectiveness.  He is a member of the Passionist formation community at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

Scripture:
Isaiah 8:23-9:3
1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17
Matthew 4:12-23

Reflection:
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom
a light has shone.

And so the ministry of Jesus begins.  He leaves his home in Nazareth and heads for Capernaum that sits on the Sea of Galilee, a place that once was the region of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali.  These two regions in the north of Israel were renowned for its rich land and plentiful water.  But they experienced great trials for having strayed from God.  Yet into the midst of their darkness and gloom, a light has shone (first reading from Isaiah 8:23). 

This darkness and gloom can pervade our hearts and lives as well, as it seems to have for the people of Corinth to whom Paul writes: For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers and sisters, by Chloe’s people, that there are rivalries among you. I mean that each of you is saying, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ."  Paul exhorts the community to be united in mind and purpose.

We can scan our world today and find the scourge of war, poverty, slavery, and division.  Far too many people live in a land of gloom.  In our own politics and, sadly, in the church at times, we experience some of that same gloom.   Division, bitterness, back-stabbing, and gossip are all examples of this darkness in our lives. Yet it is precisely there that Jesus begins his ministry in and among us:  "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

In the longer version of today’s Gospel, Jesus begins to gather together his apostles.  They hear his voice…not just his words.  They experience inexplicably somewhere deep within the call to follow him.  They experience the light that dispels the dark.  They see hope and possibility.  The come together in community.  They participate in his ministry.  Let us listen again to that voice that dispels our disappointments, sins, and hurts; a voice that calls us to follow Jesus by caring for those around us who need our light to dispel their darkness.

 

Robert Hotz is a consultant with American City Bureau, Inc. and is the Director of The Passion of Christ: The Love That Compels Campaign for Holy Cross Province.

Scripture:

1 Samuel 24:3-21
Mark 3:13-19

Reflection:

And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him.
Mark 3:13

 

One of the most important words of New Testament is the word "call".    All of us must be "called" by God before we can belong to Him.  "He called to himself those  whom He wished."  The word called here in Greek New Testament is proskaleo i.e. called to Himself.   Without this wonderful call of Grace we can never be associated with Christ!  It is a dangerous thing for us ever to forget we are vessels of His merciful invitation.  

Even the whole Church is called in the Greek Scriptures eklesia which means: ex from and called i.e. called by God.    The Latin uses vocatio for call from which our English word vocation comes.  St Paul calls himself  klētos apostolos a called apostle.  It is this gracious call by Christ that makes us someone special.   Christ makes us singular after the call rather than before it.  His call makes us the luckiest people on earth.  Oh, I know luck has nothing to do with it.  It is all about the undeserved call from the eye and heart of Christ.

Being called by Christ should fill us with hope and confidence.  When we are called we are gifted.  We have a power to do something beautiful for God, for others, and even for self.  The word of God’s call is not just an invitation but an enabling power.   When Jesus called to Lazarus in the tomb, a rotting  smelling corpse came alive and walked out.  God can enable us to do something wonderful when he calls us.

When Jesus said his reason for coming was "not to call the righteous, but sinners", it should cause us a sense of great excitement and expectation for our future.   Jesus just loves to have us do beautiful things when we are at our weakest.   " I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Phl 3:14

 

Fr. Bob Weiss, C.P. preaches Parish Missions and is a member of the Passionist Community in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

1 Samuel 18:6-9; 19:1-7
Mark 3:7-12

Reflection:

In today’s first reading from 1 Samuel, the women of Israel sing with joy about the triumph over the Philistines, but their song gives credit to David for killing more of the enemy than the king, Saul. And the Scriptures tell us that Saul becomes jealous of David, to the point of trying to kill him. As we read more and more of what happens to Saul and David, it seems that this jealousy is Saul’s undoing.

It can be very easy for jealousy to take hold of us. We can be jealous that others have, or seem to have, things or attributes that we don’t have. We can carry resentment against those people who seem to have more, or we can beat ourselves up for not having what they have.

All this jealousy does, though, is blind us to what we do have. It keeps us from seeing the many ways that God has blessed us. Whatever our economic status may be, neither nothing nor no one can take away the fact of God’s love for us in Jesus Christ! Nothing can take away Jesus’ gift of His very self poured out for us. We see Jesus’ generosity in our Gospel reading, as the crowds press in on Him to be healed.

Reflecting on the love of Jesus can help us get out of jealousy. First, we can be grateful for all that Jesus has done for us, and know that what He has done for us is not less than what he has done for others. Second, we can get outside of ourselves and be generous to others. Spending time helping others is a better way to live than grousing about what we don’t have. This doesn’t mean that we stop striving for justice and equality. Instead, we open ourselves to God’s love guiding us in how we work for peace and justice.

 

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

Memorial of St. Agnes

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 1:26-31
Matthew 13:44-46

Reflection:

A couple of years ago I was visiting our beautiful retreat center in Sierra Madre, California.  Situated in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, it looks out over the San Gabriel valley.  It is the haunt of numerous wildlife.  On this particular occasion there were warnings posted in the retreat center about being cautious in walking around its spacious grounds because a severe drought was afflicting the area, forcing the wildlife to come down out of the mountains in search of food, and especially drink.  This occurred especially in the feeding times, early morning, or dusk.  On this occasion, arming myself with a fairly formidable-looking walking stick, I moved around the property  early in the morning, and sure enough there was a mountain lion (so I thought) lurking in the bushes by one of the outside stations of the cross.  I think we saw each other simultaneously.  All I saw of him was his head.   I bravely brandished my club before him-some 30 feet away.  He focused on it, but made no move, fortunately.  My fame for bravery soon spread around the retreat center community, and I wore my red badge of courage with suitable humility.  Only later did I learn that what I saw had to be a bobcat, considerably smaller than the formidable, and fearless, mountain lion or cougar.

This long introduction comes by way of celebrating the exploits of the young girl, Agnes, on this her memorial.   At around 12 years of age she suffered martyrdom for her faith in Jesus Christ, leading us to ask how a defenseless young girl could muster the courage to do this.  In the example above, I displayed courage in sheer ignorance of what I was facing.  In her case, the readings for the day explain what was going on with Agnes, certainly not ignorance.  St. Paul explains how unlikely outcomes describe Christian behavior, such as the foolish shaming the wise or the weak outshining the strong or the insignificant nobodies emerging ahead of those "who are something".   So Agnes too was helped by (spiritual) elements in her marvelous stance, just as I was-although mine were considerably less admirable.

And in addition to Paul’s appreciation of what was enhancing Agnes is the parable of Jesus about the discovery of a valuable resource unknown to anyone else, and the fortunate person experiencing the tingling joy of a huge enrichment at finding a treasure in the field or a set of pearls in the marketplace.   Agnes was such a person, coming upon an endowment (her relationship to God) empowering  her for life, short as it was to be.

So it’s a matter of contrast between the defenseless but richly endowed young girl and my own bravado based on my ignorance of the facts of the case, though each accounts for behavior that is out of the ordinary.  When we ask, how could she have done what she did, we have to move beyond her to someone or something else to explain it: her faith. 

 

Fr. Sebastian MacDonald, C.P. is a member of the Passionist formation community at Catholic Theological Union, Chicago.