Daily Scripture

Scripture:

2 Peter 3:12-15a, 17-18
Mark 12:13-17

Reflection:

There is a line in today’s Gospel that is frequently quoted: "Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." It is often interpreted as a guide for how a Christian should relate to civil authority. But when the Pharisees and the Herodians asked Jesus, "is it lawful?," they were asking, "Is this right in the eyes of God?" For the law they were referring to was not civil law but the Law of Moses. This law was given to bring the Hebrew people closer to God and repair humankind’s relationship with Him.

So when Jesus says, "Repay to Caesar what is Caesar’s," is He just talking about paying your taxes?

Perhaps He was giving us a way to order our lives. There are times when I agree with the psalmist–"Seventy is the sum of our years, or eighty, if we are strong, and most of them are fruitless toil, for they pass quickly and we drift away." I often find myself running through my day, constantly reviewing the many to-do lists in my head, revising and reordering them based on shifting circumstances and my energy level. I operate under the illusion that if I can just get the order correct, if I can clear all of today’s lists and set up tomorrow’s before I drop off to sleep I will be as Peter suggests, "Found without spot or blemish before Him, at peace." However, when I am only focused on clearing my lists, that peace evades me. Jesus in this lesson points to the solution.

Keeping the ordinary details of my life in order seems to me to fall under ‘repay to Caesar.’ Jesus says we are to do these things. But we are also to pay to God what is God’s. I wonder if Jesus isn’t telling us to go about our lives, do those things required of us by this world, but remember that just doing them doesn’t elevate them to the level of grace. Grace comes about when I tend to my relationship with God, whether in quiet prayer alone or in the interactions with other people that come about while ‘paying my taxes.’

 

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

 

Scripture:

2 Peter 1:2-7
Mark 12:1-12

 

 

 

Reflection:

Responsible Stewardship & Discipleship

Today’s Gospel parable of the vineyard and the tenant farmers is familiar:  a vineyard is planted, leased to tenant farmers who tried to take over the vineyard for themselves alone.  Repeated efforts were made to collect some of the produce of the vineyard; each attempt was met with rejection, and ultimately the owner’s son was killed in a far-fetched plot to obtain the vineyard.  Jesus’ immediate audience for the parable was  the scribes and elders.  As they realized that they themselves were the focus of the parable their contempt of Jesus continued to build!  For Jesus, another step on the road to Calvary…

There’s another dimension / angle to the parable:  the beginning of the parable has many interesting details.  Jesus could have simply said, "a man planted a vineyard, leased it to tenant farmers, and left on a journey."  Instead, Jesus included the words "put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower."  Why did Jesus include these details?

These parable details can provide insight about Jesus’ relationship with his Father, and Jesus’ hopes for us as well.  Today the Father provides us with the theoretical equivalents of a hedge, a wine press and a tower as we "work" the vineyard of Christian life in the 21st Century.  God loves each of us, and walks with us in all the aspects of daily life.  We are blessed with the Scriptures, with the Sacraments, with the tradition of the Church, with the example of one another, etc.  These many helps (the hedge of protection from harm and limitations, the wine press of personal and institutional resources, and the tower of a global connection with the Church universal) encourage us to labor enthusiastically and tirelessly in proclaiming the Good News today.

Perhaps these days of Ordinary Time in the Church can help us wake up and take notice of our labors in the Lord’s "vineyard" of our daily lives.  Do we notice and gratefully use the gifts God provides us?  As we face the challenges of life as responsible Christians, are we humble and responsible – or greedy, power-hungry and mercenary?  Are we good stewards?  We can all-too-easily reject God as did those represented by the tenant farmers in the Gospel parable…

Today, God loves us dearly in Jesus Crucified; we are called to credibly and generously share that love in word and deed.  May we be blessed.

 

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

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity 
Scripture:
Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40
Romans 8:14-17
Matthew 28:16-20

Reflection:
"Fix in your heart that the Lord is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other."      

A "fixed heart" tells me that I am convicted about a relationship with God, of which the choice to be in relationship with this loving Creator is primarily God’s! I seek to "pay attention," which is primary for a "yes." In this Trinitarian relationship I have three-fold  benefits. First, of "being myself," I am my own man, because I have the confidence of a loving Father.  Second, that I can face the greatest threat to my ego, (what I feel like being and doing rather than the right choice) and do the right thing, because I have a brother, by adoption, who happens to have overcome, once and for all, the fear of death. And, third, even with that kind of understanding, I can lose it, when I know not what to do next. Then, there is a guidance system through the Holy Spirit that is with me, even if it is not humanly detectable.

For me that is living a "Trinitarian life." This is not magical but it contains a lot of mystery. And mystery is basically truth not revealed yet. This mystery of truth and love unfolds when I make a choice over feelings not to quit, not to give in, not to let popularity, power or perceptions fool me into conformity or mediocrity.

The word "adoption" assumes we know what it is to be lonely, or feel disconnected, abandoned or directionless. This is in the normal running of the "human race." When I review my relationship with the Most Holy Trinity, I find "it" in the very areas where I am striving to be honest, where I am seeking to persevere through a commitment, or have chosen, over feelings, to forgive again.

I believe I am on this path of relating to the Trinity in this three-fold way in order to accompany those along the way who are searching, trying to figure out the path upon which they find themselves. I am talking, especially, of those within my own family. The Trinitarian life is about constant healing, which I address constantly in so far as I make every effort to maintain relationships with those who are so abandoned themselves. I don’t worry about the outward signs that I am doing the right. I attempt to stay focused on being faithful to this three-fold relationship from which God’s Plan gets revealed.

 

Fr. Alex Steinmiller, C.P. is president of Holy Family Cristo Rey Catholic High School, Birmingham, Alabama.

Scripture:

Jude 17, 20B-25
Mark 11:27-33

Reflection:

Today’s Gospel reading is a selection that is situated in the days leading up to the Passion and death of Jesus.  The events of Palm Sunday are related in Mark’s Gospel at the start of Chapter 11.  The next day, Jesus comes back to Jerusalem and "cleanses" the Temple of its merchants.  Now, a day later, Jesus once more comes back into the environs of the Temple, and continues his teaching (something routinely done at that time by walking among the porticos and passages of a public space).

With time running out for him to personally engage his followers, he takes the perilous but necessary step of affirming his right to teach.  However, the religious leaders challenge him, they question his authority to teach.  Jesus does not back down from their challenge; instead he shows how well he knows their minds by reminding them of John the Baptist, whom the people considered a prophet, and whom the religious leaders rejected.

Woven throughout this episode of Mark is the question of authority.  Authority belongs to the religious leaders.  Authority belongs to Jesus.  Authority belongs to the Prophet, John the Baptist.  When authorities clash, the outcome is not necessarily a validation of one’s authority.  When Herod sought to kill the Child Jesus, innocent children were slaughtered in vindication of Herod’s hope to continue ruling.  When the religious leaders of Jesus’ time decided that it was better than one man should die for the sake of the nation, it was an abuse of authority that sent Jesus to his death.

On the other hand, the authority of Jesus is not like that of religious leaders of his time.  His authority is based on his divine and pre-eminent respect for the human person.  His authority is the engine that drives his mission on earth.  His authority is not diminished by the sinfulness displayed among his followers.  The authority of Jesus invites others to follow him and carry on his mission. 

The exercise of authority in the Church is both the expression of Christ’s abiding presence in the Body of the Faithful, and a reminder of the very fallible human nature that abides in Christ.  When we have crises of authority in the Church, we should not be surprised.  The leadership and authority exercised by some United States Bishops when presented with knowledge of sexually abusive priests appears to have little in common with the leadership of Jesus over his flock.

On the other hand, we sympathize with and pray for the Religious Women whose Leadership Conference appears to many of us to have many of the attributes of Jesus’ authority and leadership.  Authority is a charism in the Church.  Authority is not created by the Church’s hierarchical structures, it is a gift of the Holy Spirit.  Authority in the Church is a sharing in the parenthood of God, and the obedience of the Son. 

Religious Communities are a charism, a gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church.  They are usually born outside of the hierarchical structures of the Church, and they recognize the need to incorporate themselves into the hierarchical structures once they have proven their viability.  They are not just one more department in an ecclesiastical bureaucracy, nor should they be treated as such.

We have worked hard these last ten years to raise the level of understanding and responsibility that we need to show for young persons in the Church.  Let us work as hard to raise the level of understanding and responsibility that we have for the charismatic life of the Church that is Religious Life. 

 

Fr. Arthur Carrillo, C.P. is the director of the Office of Mission Effectiveness for Holy Cross Province.  He lives in Chicago, Illinois. 

Scripture:

2 Timothy 2:8-15
Mark 12:28-34

Reflection:

When I was a young undergraduate at DePaul University in Chicago, I was accused of being a willy-nilly idealist. I suspect the person(s) who called me that thought it demeaning. I didn’t then (1960’s) and I still don’t today. I further believe this idealism puts me squarely with Jesus when he responds to the Scribe in today’s scripture passage that the second greatest of all commandments is:

"You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Jesus wasn’t the first to suggest such a commandment. Confucius (551-479 BCE) as well as Buddha (c. 470 – 390 BCE) also taught this. Luckily, there are people around today who live this command. I was just reading about Jeff Skoll, the first president of Ebay who received Canada’s highest civilian award, the Order of Canada. When asked why he cared about inner city school children, he responded:

"It’s because these neighborhoods affect everybody, whether it’s crimes or poverty or drugs or prison populations. We’re all better off if these neighborhoods are better off."

Personally, it’s been easy for me to profess such a belief. It has not been easy for me to live it out. While I professed such altruism in the 1960’s, I’ve spent my entire life trying to live up to that simple statement, to love my neighbor as myself.

I made some pretty good progress in the mid 1980’s when I learned that one way of accomplishing this was by seeing how I was like other people, and not constantly seeing how I was different. This didn’t come easy. I had to hear this old retired Chicago policeman, Mike L. constantly repeat his mantra: "See how you are like others, not how you are different". Luckily I heard him say that once a week for a couple of years, while attending the Monday, noon meeting at the Pittsfield Building in downtown Chicago. After hearing that week after week I finally started identifying with others. Today instead of thinking that the person who says they are hurt by something someone else says is thinned-skinned, I try to realize that I could and often am hurt by what another person says. When a person shares that they are afraid of not being up to the task at hand, instead of thinking they are a wimp, I try to realize that I often feel the same..

Today I also struggle with loving those who think differently-those dummies who are on all the wrong sides of current issues. I find it extremely difficult to listen to their rhetoric, yet that’s just what I want them to do for me, listen to my side.

Thank you God for the likes of Jeff Skoll and help me listen today to those who think differently and to treat them with the same respect I want for myself. Of course, that doesn’t mean I have to agree.

 

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

Scripture:

1 Peter 4:7-13
Mark 11:11-26

Reflection:

Today in his first letter, St. Peter encourages his brothers and sisters to live in the Lord, for the time is soon coming when they shall meet Him face to face.  "The end of all things is at hand."  In my imagination, back with those first Christians listening to Peter, I smile a bit – for my hindsight tells me almost 2000 years have passed awaiting that end time of all things.  But then Peter makes a statement that thrusts me right into our own day: "Beloved, do not be surprised that a trial by fire is occurring among you." 

"A trial by fire. . . " What flashes before my mind is the cover-up by our hierarchy, from the Vatican on down, of the clerical sexual abuse and defilement of our youth.   Meanwhile, in the Vatican, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, whose main job according to Benedict XVI is to clean up this sexual scandal, turns instead upon our American Sisters.  The CDF is going to clean up the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. A five-year purge has been imposed upon them.  Truly indeed "a trial by fire is occurring among us."  Yet Peter cautions us not to be surprised.  "Rejoice," he says, "to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ."

My recent experience of the last few months comes into my reflections.  I have joined a group of people who are pondering whether they should form a local unit of Call to Action.  From their meetings, almost by accident, these people drew me to participate in another sequence of meetings — those of a parish founded intentionally to promote the forward-looking directions of Vatican II.  Through these people – single and married, women and men, mothers, fathers, grandparents, Sisters, and priests – I have been enriched with hope.  For all the Tuesdays of May they have met on the cathedral steps to show our support for the Sisters.  In all the media they have declared the great wonders the Sisters have done for our church and for our country, pioneers opening the west to God and graced humanity. And they recount what the Sisters continue to do as real spiritual ministers and missionaries of the Holy Spirit here and throughout the world.   On the steps of the cathedral they stand in silent prayer for the Sisters and the LCWR, that the Holy Spirit sustain and inspire the Sisters in this second trial imposed by the Vatican just as She did in the first trial – and in prayer for the CDF, that the Holy Spirit may open their hearts and their eyes to the truth.  I am grateful to be part of this group – grateful to the Holy Spirit and grateful to these committed people.  The tremendous hope of our laity has given me hope.

The gospel for the day then speaks to us of Jesus’s cleansing of the Temple.  Jesus tells us, "My father’s house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves."  What would Jesus call it today?  The media has given an answer – "a den of corruption," "a den of vice," "a den of snipers."  Our laity, filled with anger and courage, the two beautiful daughters of Hope according to St. Augustine, follows the cleansing action of Jesus in quiet public prayer on the cathedral steps across the country.  Their silence is eloquent.

 

Br. Peter A. Fitzpatrick, CFX, a Xaverian Brother, is a Passionist Associate at Ryken House, St. Xavier High School, across the creek from the Passionist Monastery in Louisville,  Kentucky. 

Scripture:

1 Peter 1:18-25
Mark 10:32-45

Reflection:

"When you care enough to send the very best."  This is the well-known advertising slogan of a greeting card company.  One obvious faith application of this thought is John 3:16.  "God so loved the world that he sent his only Son."  Yes, God cared enough to give us Jesus, the very best!

What did God give to Jesus?  At the Last Supper, when Jesus prayed to his Father, he said, "They (the apostles) are your gift to me." (John 17:24)   Yes, the apostles were a mix of both talents and faults, but yet they were "the very best."  They were human beings!  They had minds that could know truth, wills that could choose the good and hearts that could love.  They (as we) were made in the image and likeness of God and therefore good and valuable.

Today’s epistle reading from the first letter of Peter takes us further.  Not only are we human beings valuable because of the inner goodness we possess from creation.  We are infinitely valuable because we were ransomed "not by any diminishable sum of silver or gold but by Christ’s blood beyond all price."

C.S. Lewis said, "Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object present to your senses."

Next time someone criticizes us, harasses us or bullies us, we need to call to mind how valuable and holy we are in the eyes of God.  We are God’s gift to Jesus!  And he takes us with him and gives us back as gift to the Father.  All we have to do is say "Yes."

 

Fr. Alan Phillip, C.P. is a member of the Passionist Community at Mater Dolorosa Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.

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

Reflection:
Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age…"

These are comforting words from today’s Scripture readings.  Jesus encourages us.  Jesus reminds us of the abundant rewards of leaving everything behind and preaching the Gospel, proclaiming the Kingdom of God.  We are asked to give up everything in our lives which might prevent us from focusing on the Gospel message.  So what are the hindrances in my own life, what do I need to "give up" in order to be free to preach the Kingdom of God?

As I age I have realized that material things are losing their meaning and grip on my life.  I’m not so entangled in my belongings anymore and I don’t really fear "giving them up."  The allure of money, power and position has faded as I realize that indeed "money can’t buy you love" and being "first" is a temporary experience.  Jesus reminds us of this in the Gospel reading; "But many that are first will be last, and the last will be first."

I’ve also realized that relationships, so important and vital in our personal and communal lives, cannot be my sole source of support in the Kingdom of God.  Solitude reveals the truth that all my relationships with others flow from and are tied to my relationship with God.  It really doesn’t matter how many people "friend" me on Facebook.

So what do I need to give up so I will be free to preach the Kingdom of God?  For myself, and I think for many others today, giving up fear is a great place to start.  Fear has a way of driving us toward the middle of every issue when it comes time to speak up.  Many of us move toward the statistical mean of every situation in an effort to be seen as a rational, measured, balanced, middle class Christian.  Today’s Gospel doesn’t seem to be a call toward this type of calculated approach to following Jesus.

As Passionists we proclaim the heart of the Gospel as we preach Christ’s love for us on the Cross.  We can’t afford to be timid or fearful as we do so.  Our world longs for and desperately needs this message of love.  Let us pray together and support each other, giving up our fear and preaching the passion as we stand with the poor, oppressed and powerless of our world.

 

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