Daily Scripture

Third Sunday of Advent

Scripture:

Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10
James 5:7-10
Matthew 11: 2-11

Reflection:

Pope Francis has written the Church an apostolic exhortation entitled the JOY OF THE GOSPEL. But it is obvious in reading the exhortation that the gospel, the Good News, is a just a special moment in God’s ongoing relationship to the world that has been characterized by the gift of joy. The oracle that we read in Chapter 35 of Isaiah celebrates one of those moments:  the return of the exiled Jews to Jerusalem from Babylon. All nature joins in. The parched land exults and the steppe rejoices. The flowers of field break out in joyful song. The glory and splendor of the earth meet the glory of splendor of the Lord God. And we are there with our feeble hands, weak knees, and frightened hearts. Isn’t that always so true? Maybe this is why the Church returns year after year to the Christmas story and the Easter story. These are the stories that make us strong and banish our fears. Our God comes once again to save us. If we open our eyes and our ears to the mystery we will proverbially leap like stag and sing like an angel.

Our oracle ends with the assurance that sorrow and mourning will flee and the redeemed will be crowned with everlasting joy. 

Last night I participated in an Advent Penance service. For the most part it was a wonderful experience as young and old came forward to be reconciled as they prepared their hearts for the celebration of Christmas. But then came a woman with a story of anger and grief that seemed to have no end. As I listened I almost froze.  It was too much. I immediately knew that anything I said would be inadequate.

I did say something, but kept it very brief. Then I reached out and placed my hand on her shoulders and began the formula prayer "God the Father of mercies….I absolve you from your sins."  When I finished there were a few seconds of silence. Then she said quietly "Thank you, father." I removed my hand from her shoulder. As she rose and left I could only say a silent prayer for her. For a few sacred moments we had connected in the mystery of God’s reconciling love. I only hope that her peace will grow into joy.      

 

Fr. Michael Hoolahan, C.P. is on the staff of Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.

Saturday of the Second Week of Advent 

Scripture:
Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11
Matthew 17:9a-13

Reflection:
On their way down the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James and John asked Jesus about Elijah.  Why must he return before the coming of the Messiah?

We ask the same question every year at this time.  Why must we face John the Baptist – Elijah, if we have eyes of faith – before the coming of the Messiah, before Christmas?

Every year, John the Baptist, that high voltage prophet, skinny as cactus, bursts onto the Advent horizon.  He blocks our way.  He points the way.  John blocks our expectations of a risk-free, sentimental notion of baby in a manger.  He points the way to the true Messiah.  He calls us to repentance, to metanoia, to change our lives, to go in a new direction, different than that of our culture. 

The season is full of wrappings and trappings: baking special foods, hanging colorful lights, buying gifts at the mall, having the kids photographed with that man in the white beard, wearing a bright red outfit with a shiny black belt.  Are these activities important?  Yes.  There is nothing wrong with all that. 

Nevertheless, this unpleasant-looking prophet reminds us that this is secondary stuff.  It is time to prepare our souls, our lives for the Coming.  In light of eternity, nothing else matters.  It is time to enter into the wilderness, that place where we are stripped of all distractions, all trappings, where, in the silence, the holy waiting, we encounter God.

So why must Elijah return before the coming of the Messiah?  Unless we first accept and listen to the prophet at Advent time, we will be ill-prepared to welcome the Messiah.

It won’t be difficult to recognize John the Baptist.  Like Elijah, he will be the one shouting in the wilderness, with scraggly beard, clothed in rough camel skin and a leather belt around his waist.

 

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

 

Friday of the Second Week of Advent

Scripture:

Isaiah 48:17-19
Matthew 11:16-19

Reflection:

I have often heard "prosperity evangelists" quote today’s first reading and psalm.  They say, "See?  God intends for you to be rich and prosper.  All you have to do is obey God’s commands and you will be healthy, wealthy, and wise, with trouble-free children, a long life, and a peaceful death."  What an attractive message!  It’s no wonder they draw millions of adherents (and millions of donors).

But we are in Advent, awaiting the celebration of God’s incarnation in human flesh.  That incarnation seems to contradict the prosperity evangelists at every turn.  Who obeyed God’s commands more perfectly than Jesus?  Yet did it result in a life of privilege?  Did our incarnate God have lots of money, faithful friends, success in everything he tried, a large family of perfect children, and a long and happy life before he died peacefully in the arms of those he loved?

Perhaps we humans misinterpret.  Perhaps we impose our own thinking on God’s, and hear what we hope to hear.  It would be a human thing to do, like the people in the gospel who wanted John the Baptist and Jesus to conform to their preconceived ideas of how a prophet or a Messiah ought to act.  But true wisdom and genuine discipleship don’t work that way.  God doesn’t promise us an easy life.  God promises faithfulness, no matter what life brings. 

My birthday was a few days ago.  As I mark my years on this earth, I bring to God all the messiness and pain of my life as well as the joy.  I have known miscarriage, being widowed at a young age, financial uncertainty, and a host of other sufferings.  Yet I have also known the deep love of two wonderful men, the births of three children, the strength of trusted friendships, and a vast array of joys which our language is inadequate to describe.  Through it all and beneath it all, I experience a different type of prosperity – the quietly flowing river of God’s love and grace.  No matter what happens, that river will sustain me, carry me, strengthen me, and hold me, until the day when the embrace becomes total and I return to the waters from which I came.

I have no illusions that my obedience to God will "save" me  and erase all the difficulties from my life.  I simply trust the river to keep flowing, and I try to allow myself to flow with it rather than fight the current.  If I can do that, I know God will lead me on the path where I should go, that my name will never be blotted out from God’s presence, and that I will have the light of life even in the midst of darkness.  That is prosperity indeed.

  

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/.

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Scripture:

Zechariah 2:14-17
Luke 1:26-38

Reflection:

Why only be a Christian when you can be another Christ?

To be another Christ we have to give birth to Christ as Mary did. The spirituality of the Advent season serves as a Lamaze class for believers.

The Gospel (Luke 1:26-38) for this feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a central lesson in the birthing class. The miracle of the annunciation is not merely an historical event. It is a message addressed to every woman who searches for her own dignity and to every man on a quest for the meaning of his humanity. Our completeness comes in discovering the birth of the inner Christ in the womb of our hearts.

At various times, whispering angels suggest that we are blessed beyond expectation. They encourage us to look within to see in our hearts a seed, an embryo, a fetus, or maybe even a small baby – but, to recognize God within. As with Mary, the task of our spiritual life is to feed, cloth and nurture the child so that we may mature into the fullness of Christ.

 

Fr. Joe Mitchell, CP is the director of the Passionist Earth & Spirit Center in Louisville, Kentucky. See his website: http://www.earthandspiritcenter.org/

 

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception
of the Blessed Virgin Mary                                         

Scripture:

Genesis 3:9-15, 20
Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12
Luke 1:526-38

 

Reflection:

The Gift of Mary’s Immaculate Conception

Our opening prayer on this feast of the Immaculate Conception says that Mary is the graced one, blessed among women, because of her role in salvation. This gift to Mary enables her to serve God.

Passionist artist, Bro. Michael Moran, did a pen and ink drawing of the temptation in the garden, our first reading. Adam and Eve stand together beneath an overhanging branch, not far from the head of a large snake. Eve holds a fine apple in her hand. But through the branches we can just catch Adam’s elbow pushing her arm and moving that apple closer to her lips! An artist’s interpretation of the most familiar of stories saying that Adam cannot place the blame entirely on Eve!

In our Old Testament reading today there is another unusual interpretation that may be pertinent. The first verse that we hear is Gods’ words to Adam and Eve when God enters the garden. "Where are you?" Someone has suggested that God is not thinking geography, but rather asks the pair, ‘how do you feel now? Are you where you should be in our relationship? Are you where we should be together?’

The work of Jesus is to lead us back to the garden, to walk together there again. Our intimacy with Jesus is the way to intimacy with the Father. Mary shares the work of salvation, she is the new Eve. The mystery of sin that has tainted the sons and daughters of Eve make it impossible for us to choose well. But God’s gift to Mary, conceived immaculately, places her in the position that when she will be called to make a great decision, she will be able do that more like Eve than any other of Eve’s daughters before her.

It is not a given that the request carried on the lips of Gabriel will be a ‘yes’. St. Bernard reflects on this as he describes the Annunciation. Gabriel tells Mary not to be afraid after his initial greeting, and he tells her the Holy Spirit will overshadow her and her son will be child of God, a savior. Then Bernard stops time! He reads for us Gabriel’s thoughts. The angel is frightened that Mary will say no, and God will have to start the long process of preparing for a savior over again. With Gabriel all the angels of heaven, Adam, Eve and all creation hold their breath awaiting the word of Mary. They pray, ‘Please say yes and save us!’ And Mary said, ‘Let it be done to me according to you will’.

Mary’s Immaculate Conception leads her to share the work of Jesus uniquely. But what she shares is not so unique: an unplanned pregnancy, Jesus’ birth in poverty, homelessness and fleeing her native land, a son ridiculed and rejected, and then his violent death in her presence. So many people know these sufferings. Mary as our mother given to us from the Cross by Jesus, shares our suffering as did her son. And she shares   with us also the victory of her son.

Let us be one with Mary in her love and praise of God today for the gift that God gave her to share in the work of Redemption and to undo the bond of sin from all of her children.

 

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

Saturday of the First Week of Advent

Scripture:

Isaiah 30:19-21, 23-26
Matthew 9:35-10:1, 5a, 6-8

Reflection:

Christmas as a child in the 50’s was the most exciting time of the year for me. New catalogues filled with colorful pictures of bikes, games, and clothes-everything you could possible dream of-started coming in the mail daily after Thanksgiving. I would studiously look through each new arrival, wondering if I would be so lucky as to get a new Erector Set or maybe a new Lionel train set like Dwight, my neighbor had?

For me life hasn’t changed much here in my seventh decade of life. Oh, I stopped watching TV because I find myself more interested in the advertisements than the actual shows. What they call "reality" really doesn’t fit my sense of that at all.  I’ve stopped all the catalogues in hopes of saving a few trees, but I still dream of winning the lottery, finding that perfect home and solving all the great mysteries of life.

In my more sober moments however, I’ve learned the truth of today’s responsorial taken from psalm 147: "Blessed are all who wait for the Lord." I’ve learned that

waiting to win the lottery, hoping in any kind of Santa Claus is nowhere as exciting as waiting for the Lord, "the Lord who is good and gracious. The Lord who rebuilds my life. He gathers the dispersed, heals the brokenhearted and binds up our wounds. He sustains the lowly and casts the wicked to the ground."  What more could I want? I can’t wait!

 

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

Friday of the First Week of Advent

Scripture:

Isaiah 29: 17-24
Matthew 9: 27-31

Reflection:

Eye care professionals most commonly correct bad eyesight, like myopia or hyperopia, through the use of corrective lenses, such as glasses or contact lenses. Sometimes surgery is suggested. Metaphorically, the first condition, called shortsightedness, describes a person who makes shortsighted decisions by focusing on the immediate. The second condition is called farsightedness and refers to decisions that may be visionary but sacrifices short term consequences.

Both readings today speak about seeing. In the first reading from the Book of Isaiah, the prophet attempts to give sight to his people. The Israelites are surrounded by experiences of exile, loss, disrespect, rootlessness. They are homeless and hopeless. They began to concentrate so completely on the darkness that they failed to see any blessings; they gazed on the dirt of life and failed to see the divine in life; they were so limited to that which was immediately seen, they forgot that unseen opportunities exist. Isaiah paints a picture of possibilities so that his fellow citizens can move beyond their nearsightedness. "And out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see." If they have the faith of Abraham, their eyes will be opened and they will perceive new possibilities.

In the Gospel reading Jesus heals two blind men who asked Jesus to have pity on them. He touched their eyes and their eyes were opened. This miracle is not just the restoration of their physical sight. They have gained in-sight. They can really see! They can see who Jesus really is, God’s presence among us. Their experience with Jesus is not something that they can keep to themselves; they have to share that experience with everyone else, even though Jesus asked them not to talk about it with others.

As disciples of Christ we need to be able to see possibilities beyond the immediate frustrations and disappointments. We need to see Emmanuel, God with us, even in the midst of the darkness and the messiness of life. If we are to celebrate Christmas properly, we need to learn to see deeply into life and discern how Jesus is present (born) in new ways today.

 

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

Wednesday of the First Week of Advent

Scripture:

Isaiah 25:6-10
Matthew 15:29-37

Reflection:

In today’s Gospel, Jesus walks by the Sea of Galilee and encounters "great crowds" of needy folks:  the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute…and He cured them!  And He lovingly fed them with the seven loaves of bread and the few fish that his disciples had brought along.  There were leftovers…and the Message of God’s Love continues to be spread by you and me.

I can’t help but think of the crowds of recent days…crowds of shoppers, some even turning to violence in pursuit of their "treasures".  Definitely some needy folks, like those of long ago.  Dealing with loneliness, frustration, various physical and psychological illnesses, selfishness and greed, a consumer spirit, etc.  Jesus wants to come and meet their needs, cure their aches and pains, and feed their spirits…with a great feast like that mentioned in our first reading from Isaiah.

Among ancient peoples bread was the fundamental source of nourishment, and therefore a symbol of all the good things needed to sustain life.  Even now we speak of a person who earns a living for their family as the "bread-winner".  Who of us can resist the inviting aroma of fresh-baked bread and the warm feelings that bread inspires? 

This Advent we journey as people of hope – needy, hungry people seeking Jesus who is "Bread for the Life of the world"…Life that is wholesome and lasts!  Advent becomes a celebration of the transformation of all creation – in Jesus!  These special days we look to the great event of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem (House of Bread), to Jesus’ presence in our midst in the Eucharist and the Scriptures and one another, as well as the great coming of Jesus at the end of all time.  These days let’s open our hearts to God who saves us, nourishes us, and loves us even to the last drop of His Life’s Blood. 

As Church we pray:  Come, Lord Jesus!

 

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