Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Sirach 47:2-11
Mark 6:14-29

Reflection:

As a high school Passionist seminarian, I had great hopes of saving the world. I wanted to be like David so beautifully described in our first reading for today.

 

"He made sport of lions as though they were kids,
and of bears, like lambs of the flock.
As a youth he slew the giant
and wiped out the people’s disgrace…" Sirach 47: 3-4

I got my first hint that that dream might be a bit challenging when I got a response back from a letter I had sent to my older sister Marianne who had just gotten married. She wrote back that she could handle her own marriage, thank you, and that I’d best concentrate on being the best seminarian I could be and not intrude in others’ lives, especially lives of people that I had no inkling of what they were about. I didn’t keep that letter, but I remember the advice to this day.

I did keep a letter she wrote four years later. I was in the Novitiate then and thinking about leaving. In that letter she told me: "Furthermore if you might decide actually you are selfish and the priesthood is no place for you–forget about the married state too."

It’s hard for this old man, and I imagine even harder for the young man in the novitiate to hear today’s first reading and not want to conquer the world, to save it and be a hero like David. My sister’s letter taught me that it’s me I have to conquer. I am the enemy.

Today, I try to do this by giving thanks as David did further in the reading, accepting the life, gifts and the faults I’ve been given and making the most of them. Maybe, but probably not, many years after my demise, someone will say like they said of David: "Remember that Dan, he conquered the enemy, he slew Goliath; he showed the way. What a great guy!"

 

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

Scripture:

I Kings 2:1-4, 10-12
Mark 6:7-13

Reflection:

First Book Kings begins with the death and burial of King David. David’s end is Solomon’s beginning, his reign as the new King of Israel, David’s son and builder of the first Temple in Jerusalem. Solomon is recognized for his wisdom, wealth and power, but also for his sins of idolatry and turning away from Yahweh which will lead to the kingdom being divided. The main prophet during this time will be Elijah. Look forward to some old stories of triumph and tragedy during the next two weeks.

At the end of November, in an 85-page document, Pope Francis wrote, "I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security." In today’s Gospel the Twelve are sent out with power and authority to do what Jesus has been doing: preaching the Kingdom, calling people to repent, liberating people from compulsions, and healing the sick. Jesus wanted the Twelve to get their hands dirty by being out on the streets. By word and deed they acted on what they preached and made the Kingdom a reality in people’s lives.

When Jesus spoke of power and authority, he did something often ignored. He linked power and authority with love and humility. The "world" often seeks power for selfish gain. The "world" desires to keep its hands clean and be above the mess. Jesus teaches us to use power and authority for the good of our neighbor.

The Church is to be on the streets to help alleviate what ails the world; the Church is to be on the streets to heal; the Church is to be on the streets to evangelize, challenging the world with different values, attitudes and lifestyles.

A man worked at a firm and constantly complained about it to his friends, neighbors, family and associates. He complained about the place to anyone who would listen. When his oldest son grew older, the dad offered to see if he could get his son a job at the company. The son replied, "Dad, why would I want to work at such an awful place?" Feeling hurt, the father asked, "Why would you think it is such an awful place?" The son replied, "Because the people are the place and you are not happy." The people are the place. If we want people to become Catholic, if we want people to grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ, then we need to be the place.

Are we active in the Church or just spectators watching from the sidelines? Are we inviting people to a new life, or are we keeping our hands clean. Are we a healing force in the world or are we shaking our heads instead of shaking hands? If we do not let the love of God flow through us in active service, then how will anyone know what God’s love is like? If we do not work to heal others of their pain, then how will others ever know the healing power of Jesus?

Dirty hands can point to a healthy Church.

 

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

Scripture:
2 Samuel 24:2, 9-17
Mark 6:1-6

Reflection:
"What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands!
Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon?
And are not his sisters here with us?"
And they took offense at him."

"Local boy does good" is writers’ shorthand for a story about a locally-known, but previously insignificant, fellow making it big. This is just the sort of news that was being spread about Jesus in his hometown. "What mighty deeds are done by his hands!" But then the mood of the crowd turns. Why is this?

As a teacher, I am often asked to share my insights on a child’s behavior with his or her parents. It is usually the case that when I tell a mother or father how their child has been behaving, they look incredulous and exclaim "Why doesn’t he act like that at home?" They often express surprise at how well mannered and helpful their child has been to others.

This sometimes happens between spouses as well. One is told how lucky they are to have such a nice person as their spouse, while thinking, "yes, but you should see the mess they leave in the bathroom." It is almost human nature for us to hold those closest to us to a higher standard of behavior then people that we don’t know as well.

Jesus’ friends and family recognize the reports of His great and mighty deeds. But they just can’t accept the fact that this fellow that they know and grew up with, has accomplished all of this. And this doubt hinders his ability to work mighty deeds. It seems we do the same when we hold those around us (especially those we love) in low esteem. We hinder them. We keep them from being all who they can be. It can be a challenge to see someone we know so well with fresh eyes. To look at them the way a stranger does. Or even better yet, to see them as God does.

Today I pray that I see those in my  "native place" as they truly are. A beloved child of God, capable of mighty deeds.

 

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

Scripture:

2 Samuel 11:1-10, 13-17
Mark 4:26-34

Reflection:

"To what shall we compare the Kingdom of God…"

In today’s Gospel we have two parables where Jesus uses two different images about seeds to express the mystery of God’s kingdom. 

When our three children were each in their early years of school, they all were involved in that somewhat universal school project, you know the one, where you plant a seed in a little container, water it, put it on the classroom windowsill, and by the end of the school year it’s sprouted and grown. It’s a great lesson about patience and about how things work.
It’s also a lesson about the kingdom of God. Jesus uses seeds today to tell us what His kingdom is like and how we are called to be of service.

In the first parable, the seed is sown by the farmer and he simply waits for harvest time. The cycle of growth follows its own secret rhythm; how it happens the farmer does not know.

In the second parable, Jesus compares the kingdom to the little mustard seed that grows into the largest shrub so that the birds of the air can shelter and nest in it.

So what can we learn from these two kingdom parables about seeds?  Well, several things.

The first is that the kingdom of God has a life of its own – with or without us.  The farmer scatters the seed; but it grows into fullness on its own – even while he is asleep. 

Our faith is a mysterious gift of grace from God… a gift that God brings to fullness within us.  Faith is not something that we can manufacture within ourselves. God first put it on our hearts.  As we pray and try to be of service to God’s people, in response to that seed of faith, God continues to bring our faith into greater maturity. 

In the second parable, Jesus gives us that familiar comparison of the kingdom of God and a mustard seed that starts out so very, very small – yet ends up as the largest of plants.

Obviously then, we see that God can do much with very little. Each and every one of us can be used as instruments by God to accomplish great things for the kingdom.

Maybe we don’t want to think that way because if we do then we have to accept our responsibility to nurture that seed and to spread our faith. No one can exclude him or herself by claiming that our faith is insufficient.  It only takes faith the size of a mustard seed. Others of us may not want to think this way because if we do, then we have to honor and reverence each and every human person who searches in any way for God. We have to put aside our differences and quit judging. Who knows, God may very well take someone whose faith is tiny and use that person to do great things, maybe for even greater things than he uses us !! Thinking this way requires a lot of humility on our part.

There are a lot of those mustard seeds out there – lots of them dropping to the ground awaiting an opportunity to grow.  Our challenge is to nourish, and not judge, those whose faith is small…

 

Deacon Brian Clements is a retired member of the retreat team at Mater Dolorosa Retreat Center in Sierra Madre, California.

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.