Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Ezra 1:1-6
Luke 8:16-18

Reflection:

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus says, "No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather he places it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light." If we can say that God has put the light of Christ in us, then we also know that God doesn’t want that light to be hidden. Instead, He wants it to shine through us, so that people can see the light of Christ when they encounter us or when they come inside the church.

We know the world has seen enough darkness. As we deal with the tragedy of yet another mass shooting, and we see people pick up the pieces of their lives in Colorado and Mexico, as well as refugees trying to survive, we know how much violence and suffering has clouded the lives of so many. So we are to bring light, and the only light that lasts is the light of Christ.

And the light is to be shared. Jesus also says in our Gospel reading, "To anyone who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away." This is not so much a picture of financial reality as it is a statement of spiritual truth. When we try to hang on and keep to ourselves what we have been given, it eventually disappears. When we share the blessings and the grace and the love, and the light, that we have been given, they grow; they do not diminish!

May the light of Christ grow in us, and the darkness be dispersed.

 

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

Feast of Saint Matthew

Scripture:

Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13
Matthew 9:9-13

Reflection:

When I was a boy, I lived for awhile in a residence housing a maiden aunt, not much older than myself.  Saturday evenings were important to her, for that was when she was more likely to get a phone call asking her out on a date.  That phone call meant the world to her.  Unfortunately, we were on the old-fashioned party line system with our phone, sharing the line with several neighbors, one of whom was a bookie named, appropriately, Fink (Martin).  Fink tended to dominate the system, allowing very few calls to squeak through "his business enterprise" to other parties on the line, such as ourselves.  On one particular Saturday evening, while my aunt was sitting close by the phone, a call managed to break through to our number and she leaped up to answer it before Fink butted in.  Unfortunately, her foot was asleep, and she broke her ankle.   The call remained unanswered, ruining her Saturday night.

Calls are important in many other settings too, such as our bible readings for the day illustrate.  When we reflect on Paul’s message to the church in Ephesus, we note his reference to "the call" the church received to, in citing "the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all…" (3-6).  This was an important call, even more so than the above call.  It was to everyone on the party line, ourselves included.

And when we listen to today’s gospel account of Matthew’s following of Jesus, we again note the prominence that "call" played in Matthew’s discipleship of Jesus.   "He said to him, "Follow me."  And he got up and followed him." (9)  What is more, Matthew, enjoying a position at the customs post, played the part of caller himself, inviting not only Jesus but "many tax collectors and sinners" to table in his house (10), giving Jesus, overhearing some criticism of this guest list, the opportunity to amplify on the significance of call in gathering this group: "I did not come to call the righteous but sinners." (13)

The call is an important element in the lives of us all.  "Don’t call me, I’ll call you" is the leitmotif of the party line we enjoy with God.  Like my aunt, or Matthew, or even Fink, the call dominates the flow of events in our lives.  We don’t initiate the call.  We sit back and wait for it.  God takes the initiative.  We sit nearby, awaiting it.  It will determine not only our Saturday nights, or the odds at the track, but it will spell out the dimensions of our lives, as Matthew found out.  We are in the position of one waiting for an opportunity to emerge.   It can make our day, as Clint Eastwood famously remarked. 

While it is true that God appreciates entrepreneurs (does He not help those who help themselves?), He does so only on behalf of those who recognize incoming calls/opportunities, and leap up to answer them.  Like Matthew, who was quick to get up from his customs post when Jesus said to him: "Follow me".

 

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

Scripture:

1 Timothy 3:1-13
Luke 7:11-17

Reflection:

It is so common for Paul’s writings to be taken out of context when we become overly concerned with the specific audiences Paul addresses. A more fruitful practice when reading Paul’s letters is to make yourself  the recipient of his letters. In other words, replace all target audiences Paul mentions with your own name. For today’s reading, you would replace the words "bishop", "deacon" and "women" with your own name. If you hadn’t already done so, go ahead and do it. How did the reading speak to you differently? What did you think when the first line of the reading changed to: "Beloved, this saying is trustworthy: whoever aspires to the office of__________ (insert your name) desires a noble task."How beautiful is that? Simply aspiring to be yourself is a noble task indeed.

Paul also gives us a beautiful "job description" if you will for what we are all meant to be in the Church. According to Paul, we are called to be: irreproachable, married only once, temperate, self-controlled, decent, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not aggressive, gentle, not contentious, not a lover of money, have a good reputation among outsiders, dignified, not deceitful, not greedy for sordid gain, holding fast to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience, tested, and not slanderers. Certainly, this is a job description meant not just for bishops, deacons and women; it is a job description for all!

Today’s gospel also provides a very important ingredient to the "job" of being a Christian–our response to the pain of others. Ask yourself: When you approach someone who is in obvious pain (mental or physical), what is your response? Do you respond as Jesus did for the widow who lost her son? What does it mean to be "moved with pity" for someone?

In a number of places the gospels record that Jesus was "moved with pity" when he met with individuals and groups of people. The English word "pity" doesn’t fully convey the deeper meaning of the original Hebrew word which expresses heart-felt "sympathy" and personal identification with the suffering person’s grief and physical condition. Why was Jesus so moved on this occasion when he met a widow and a crowded funeral procession on their way to the cemetery? Jesus not only grieved the untimely death of a young man, but he showed the depth of his concern for the woman who lost not only her husband, but her only child as well. Jesus deeply desires to become one with us in our suffering. The challenge, then, for us is: Are we becoming one with others during their moments of suffering? It’s part of the job description.

 

 Tony Cortese, is the Campus Minister at the Newman Catholic Community at Sacramento State University.

Scripture:

1 Timothy 2:1-8
Luke 7:1-10

Reflection:

It belongs to the Church, whose missionary character is rooted in the apostolic tradition of Christianity, to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ among nonbelievers, so that we "may become one body, one spirit in Christ," as the formula for Eucharistic Prayer III states.  But, what if nonbelievers, those we seek to convert to Christianity and more specifically to Catholicism, give us a stronger and more solid witness of faith, as occurs with the Roman centurion in today’s gospel.  In fact, Luke’s Gospel, which is addressed to a Gentile-Christian community, shows us a Jesus who easily relates to Gentiles and so he is amazed at the centurion’s public declaration of faith.  Moreover, he humbly remains open to learn from the faith of this man who loves the chosen people of Israel, albeit he belongs to the hated people of the occupying Roman force. We therefore see Jesus turning and declaring to his followers: "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." Such a witness of faith effects a mission in reverse, as contemporary missiology would suggest, for a "nonbeliever" teaches "believers" something new and invigorating about faith in Jesus Christ.  This thought deserves to be further developed from a biblical perspective.

It is in Matthew’s Gospel, which is addressed to a Jewish-Christian community, that we repeatedly hear Jesus refer to his disciples as people "of little faith" (6:30; 8:26; 14:31; 16:8; 17:20), because they were a "doubting" people (28:17).  Like Luke, Matthew also recounts the centurion’s faith story, but he further adds that "many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 8:5-13).  One thing is clear in all the gospels, that is, Jesus expected his followers, as he still expects from us today, to demonstrate an unwavering faith at all times and in all circumstances.  For, aside from today’s story, the gospels give us more examples of such a faith from people who did not belong to the chosen people, such as the Syrophoenician woman who asked Jesus to "drive a demon out of her daughter" (Mk 7:24-30), the Greeks who wanted to see Jesus through Philip during a festival (Jn 12:20-33), or the Samaritan woman who believed Jesus was the Christ and so became his emissary to her people (Jn 4:4-42).  Do we, like Jesus, learn from "nonbelievers" or people of other faiths?  Or do we pretend to know everything and to have an extraordinary faith? 

Jesus expects us to firmly believe, as the centurion did, that salvation is for everyone and that it is found in the will of God and the "knowledge of the truth," namely that "there is one God, [just as] there is also one mediator between God and [humankind], the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as ransom for all," as today’s reading from 1 Timothy states.  Hence, Jesus expects us to fully trust in him as we pronounce the centurion’s words in each Eucharistic celebration, for we say: "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed." If we are people of unwavering faith, we should then trust that time and space cannot limit the redeeming, healing power and grace of Jesus Christ.  For, where two or more of us gather to lift up "holy hands, without anger or argument," and offer "supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings" to God for everyone, Jesus Christ is in our midst interceding for us before God. We should therefore ask ourselves if Jesus finds in us the same type of faith he found in the centurion.  Otherwise, let’s ask him to increase and strengthen our faith in him through his Holy Spirit at each Mass.

 

Fr. Alfredo Ocampo, C.P. gives retreats and parish missions.  He is stationed at Holy Name Passionist Community in Houston, Texas.

Our Lady of Sorrows 

Scripture:

Exodus 32:7-11, 13-14
1 Timothy 1:12-17
Luke 15:1-32

Reflection:

When Sunday readings are before us we have an abundance of spiritual nourishment. In Exodus we grapple with God’s judgment and mercy. The people have committed the grave sin of idolatry by worshipping the golden calf. God’s judgment is swift as he announces to Moses that his blazing anger will consume them. Moses implores God to remember his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and God relents. But the people will now be wandering in the desert for forty years until a new generation is born. Our advocate is not Moses, but Jesus. How much more hope we should have for ourselves, our family, and our Church. At every Mass Jesus is offering himself to his Father and making intercession for us. We have every reason to hope.

In his letter to Timothy Paul is giving thanks for his conversion from a persecutor of the Church to one who proclaims the gospel. With great fervor he proclaims: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners," and he adds: "Of these I am the foremost."  We all need the mercy of Christ.

In the gospel Luke tells the story of the shepherd who searches and finds the lost sheep. A joyful celebration occurs on his return home. Likewise the housewife who finds her lost coin throws a party for her friends and neighbors. What was lost and found is the sinner who repents. These stories encourage us to respond to God’s invitation to approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Do we have ears to hear the "rejoicing among the angels of God".

Finally we have the beloved story of the Father and his two sons. While I understand why Jesus made the Father the central figure, I think the story would have been truer to life if a Mother was the protagonist. The Father shows the heart and emotions of a mother. I think this was the feeling of the great painter Rembrandt. If you carefully look at his painting of the scene where the returning prodigal  knells and embraces his Father who in turn places his hands on the sobbing shoulders of his son, one of those hands is feminine and the other masculine. It is a masterful image of a God who embraces his wayward children. We should never the scandalized at God’s mercy as was the elder brother.  

 

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

Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Scripture:

Numbers 21:4b-9
Philippians 2:6-11
John 3:13-17

Reflection:

Dear friends, today as I prepare to share some few thoughts with you about the feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross, my mind is also filled with other images, painful and terrifying images, in fact.  This week we remembered the twelfth anniversary of the horrid attack of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, the attack on the Pentagon and the courageous passengers who tried to retake Flight 93 that crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The entire World was stunned that such massive evil could unfold at the hands of violent men.  Even in the midst of our shock and disbelief there were signs of courage, hope, and new life.  I am sure you will remember how many huge pieces of metal from the Twin Towers, several of which remained standing in the form of a cross at the heart of the location, were taken from this site of evil and destruction and fashioned into a memorial of love and remembrance.  This cross of death will be found at the epicenter of a new memorial to healing and new life.  All the world will remember and feel what needs to be felt whenever it gazes upon that metallic cross now so lovingly fashioned in remembrance of those who died.

The Cross of Christ is certainly the model for such remembrance, not only in our present time, but for all of history.  The instrument that brought death to the Lord we carry in our hearts as a sign of triumph, exultation, and victory.  There is a song that we Passionists frequently sing at various feasts proper to our special love and devotion for the suffering and Passion of Christ.  The song is entitled, Now We Remain.  It is a wonderful hymn as well as a mediation so fitting for the feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross that we celebrate today.  The words are lovely.  "We hold the death of the Lord deep in our hearts, living now we remain with Jesus the Christ."  With these words we declare that we will not forget, that we shall always remember what it is that our Crucified Lord did for us in that desolate place called Calvary.  In some profound way that surpasses human understanding what happened there and what so horribly took place at the Twin Towers is forever fused as one in the saving memory of the Passion of Jesus.

What an important thought for us whenever the anniversary of 9/11 draws near and we prepare for the wonderful feast of the Exultation of the Holy Cross.  Just as the death of the Lord won salvation for each and every one of us, so also do we pray, indeed believe deep in our hearts, that the darkness and devastation of terrible events will in some way not yet imagined, bring about the bright light and new life that emanates from peace, healing, and reconciliation.

 

Fr. Pat Brennan, CP is the director of St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat and Conference Center in Detroit, Michigan.

Scripture:

1 Timothy 1:1-2, 12-14
Luke 6:39-42

Reflection:

In our Passionist Parish in Tumbala, Chiapas, one of the challenges we have had for years is that of attracting people to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Some misunderstandings have happened in the past.  About 50 years ago, zealous missionaries told people that the poor need not go to confession. Their logic was that since the poor are God´s Elect no sin could be perpetrated by them. Fortunately, this, perhaps, only made sense to the missionaries and not so much to the people.

After a year of ministering here and as I get familiar with the culture(s) and cosmology(ies) of our parishioners, I have found in them a profound respect toward this sacrament. When people seek this sacrament, most begin with confessing their sins against their mothers or fathers. This left me perplexed, with more questions than answers. At first I thought that this was good-old Catholic guilt.

As a result of several conversations with catechists and other lay leaders, on the subject, I was told that, for them, our first sin is against the givers of life, mom and dad, and therefore God. By re-confessing their sins against their fathers and mothers they attempt to clear out that which blocks them from Grace. In other words, they are trying to not only clear out the splinters but also the wooden beams that do not allow them to participate fully in the Reigning of God.

Let us pray that between the wooden beams and splinters in our eyes, we too find some eye-drops for our hearts that may remove the vises that continue to disrupt the freedom and dignity to which we have been called by the Giver of Life.

 

Fr. Hugo Esparza-Pérez, C.P. is a Passionist of Holy Cross Province now working in Mexico with the Province of Cristo Rey.

Scripture:

Colossians 3:12-17
Luke 6:27-38

Reflection:

There have been a lot of town hall meetings on the proposed health care reform.  Many of them have turned rancorous, abusive, and rude, with people shouting so loudly that no one can hear the other person speak.  Even more frightening, people are showing up at gatherings with guns strapped to their bodies.  They issue death threats and hold signs saying the tree of liberty needs to be watered with the blood of tyrants (the same slogan emblazoned on Timothy McVeigh’s T-shirt the day he blew up the Federal Building in Oklahoma City).  They dare equate Obama with Hitler, an unforgivable minimization of the horror of the Holocaust.  Perhaps most discouraging of all, many of these "protestors" claim to be standing on their Christian faith.

Unfortunately, these scenes increasingly seem to reflect the nature of discourse throughout the country and even in the Church.  Civil debate is disappearing, replaced by self-righteousness, misinformation fed by sound bites, and scare tactics intended to detract from the real issues.  Jesus, if he were still in his grave, would certainly roll over in it.  This is not the behavior to which we are called.  "Love your enemies…Do good…Bless those who curse you…stop judging… stop condemning…forgive…do to others what you would have them do to you." 

Why are these teachings not being proclaimed from the rooftops and in the town hall meetings?  What can I do in my daily life to better live out their message?

First, I need to respond in love.  People are honestly frightened, even if only because they are misinformed.  I resolve to hear their fear and empathize with that.  I resolve not to judge or condemn them, even as I respectfully disagree and work for the truth to come out.

I resolve to listen well, without multi-tasking (you know – reading emails with half my brain while talking to someone on the phone with the other half). 

I resolve to inform myself on the real facts and then peacefully make my voice heard, writing letters to newspapers and members of Congress, and engaging in discussions on the real issues. 

I resolve to stand against injustice, deception, and fear-mongering.  I resolve to stand with the poor, the uninsured and under-insured, the disenfranchised and marginalized, and all those who are being lost in the midst of this raucous "debate".

I resolve to pray, asking blessings for those with whom I agree and those with whom I disagree.  I especially pray for wisdom and guidance for the leaders who are shaping and voting on this important policy, that the end result may indeed bring greater justice, better equality, and the benefits of decent health care to all who need it.

 

Amy Florian is a teacher and consultant working in Chicago.  For many years she has  partnered with the Passionists.  Visit Amy’s  website at http://www.amyflorian.com/.