Daily Scripture

Feast of Martin de Porres

Scripture:

Romans 14:7-12
Luke 15:1-10

Reflection:

This is the feast day of Martin de Porres (1579-1639). "Martin of charity" he was called, born of mixed race, in Lima, Peru. At the age of twelve his mother sent him to a barber-surgeon to "learn the art of medicine" as it was known in the day. One commentator described his experience as "learning the art of healing."

Initially, Martin became a "lay helper" in the Dominican order. His spiritual routine of prayer, sacrifice and availability to the poor, led his religious brothers to encourage him to become a vowed religious. He lived the Word: "Your kindness should be known to all–the Lord is near," (Philippians 4:5) by making himself available to slaves and other marginal people. This was his "art" and God’s grace working through him.

Do I work at the art or craft to which God has called me to make God’s Presence "known to all?" Do I pray for that particular grace and skill? Am I accepting of whatever way, as humbling as it may appear, the Lord wants me to manifest His love?

Lord, what do you want of me today? I am totally open to your inspiration and guidance.

 

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

All Souls Day

Scripture:

Wisdom 3:1-9
Romans 5:5-11 or 6:3-9
John 6:37-40

Reflection:

Every year, on November 2, we Catholics pause to remember our deceased family members, loved ones, and friends.  This day of "All Souls" used to be a dreary and even morbid liturgical day, with "obsequies" [committal prayers offered for the dead prior to internment] offered at the end of Mass.  Now, thanks to an enlivening Holy Spirit, we gather to share in the traditional readings, but with a renewed understanding that "life is changed, not ended" (Preface for the Funeral Mass).

Those traditional readings remind us that "Those who trust in him shall understand truth, and the faithful shall abide with him in love: because grace and mercy are with his holy ones, and his care is with his elect."  (1^st Reading, Wisdom 3:1-9)  What a reassuring message of God’s providential and merciful love for all of us.

The early generations of Christians considered their baptism a "dying with Christ", and so they could live in the certainty that sin had no power over the life of the risen Christ which they shared.  Their life in Christ would be theirs to the full as they passed through death into eternal life.  "If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him."  (2^nd reading; Romans 6:3-9)

Jesus’ words in his instruction to his disciples in his Eucharistic discourse are a promise of eternal life, "For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day."  (Gospel, John 6:37-40)

I woke up this morning, November 1, at the Passionist Bishop Molloy Retreat Center in Jamaica, Queens, New York.  On the radio (NPR), Susan Stamberg was interviewing Joan Didion, author and widow of author John Gregory Dunne.  Both women had experienced the deaths of their husbands, they shared their response to what people say in offering condolences: "People trying to be sympathetic will say, ‘Well, you have your memories’ – and Didion says she never really knows how to respond to that. ‘Yes, I do,’ she says, as though the memories make it better. (Quoted from the NPR website, November 1, 2011)

Don’t memories make it better?  For the Carrillo family, and for many families who grew up like us: close to the parish and its priests, part of a Catholic School culture, used to having less than more, and with an abundance of siblings, we have grown old with our memories, and they have been among the most loving tributes we have shared of our parents, our aunts and uncles, extended family and friends.

Mike Villegas died on October 25, 2011, in Los Angeles CA.  He was our bus driver, maintenance man and general "fac totum" for Resurrection School and Parish for all of the years that we were growing up there.  As soon as I had notified my family with an e-mail that "Mike" had died, the memories began to flow over the internet.  Great memories and stories of Mike and his family.  My brother, Sean, wrote:  Mike Villegas and Jose P. Carrillo worked together at a job most of us would consider beneath us, but I never have. It fed us (beans and tortillas sometimes), it clothed us (White Front and Zody’s) and it made for countless memories of a youth I would never trade a day of. En paz descanse.

My brother, Jim, wrote: I always remember the long yellow bus from Resurrection pulling up somewhere in the vicinity of Our Lady of Victory Chapel to pick us up for school. Nothing was as reassuring as seeing Mike grasp that big handle to open the door and seeing his calm and smiling face when the door fully opened to let you in.

The NPR, Morning Edition, web page I’ve cited, says the following: "In Blue Nights, Didion writes that in theory, these mementos should bring back the moment, but in fact, they only make clear how inadequately she appreciated the moment back when it happened."

My experience is that the memories we treasure are precisely the memories of the moments we most appreciated.  Perhaps the power of these memories may also assuage our sorrow by reminding us of how thoroughly we did enjoy the moments spent with our loved ones, whose retelling now in memory is a tribute to them and to the love that endures…unto God.

 

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

Feast of All Saints

Scripture:

Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14
1 John 3:1-3
Matthew: 5:1-12a

Reflection:

Today is the Feast of All Saints.  This day our favorite saints may come readily to mind: Paul of the Cross, Francis Xavier, Teresa of Avila, Therese of Lisieux, Mary Magdalen, Clare, Francis Assisi, Anthony (forever finding lost objects for us), our name saints, etc.

This day commemorates too all those millions of saints who were never officially beatified or canonized by the church.  And it includes also all those who responded to God’s great gift of holiness, making them like Himself/Herself, without ever having known or ever having heard of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The church has chosen to emphasize this somewhat overpowering truth in the first reading.  John "heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal, 144,000 … the children of Israel."  But then he saw in a vision "a great multitude which no one could count."  These would be the Christians who died in the Lord.  But surely they include too the vast multitudes of the Gentiles both before and after Christ who knew nothing empirically about Jesus of Nazareth.   These are the ones, Matthew tells us, who will say to the Lord at judgment, "When did we do these things for you, Lord?  We didn’t even know you."  And Jesus will reply, "When you did it to one of these least of my brethren,  you did it to me."  And we celebrate and rejoice in their company today.                                                                                         

This day too, I believe, asks us to celebrate those saints still living here on this earth.  That means us.  Perhaps we let our knowledge of our failings, our faults, our sins take too much of our attention – take too great a hold on us.  We downplay or forget (and perhaps don’t believe) the truth that we are saints, "the holy ones" of God – a truth that the second reading emphasizes.  God our Father (and Mother) loves us so much that "we may be called the children of God.  Yet so we are. …We are God’s children now."

Finally, in today’s gospel Matthew has Jesus call us to celebrate our holiness, our sanctity.  For human as we are, we are also being divinized – made holy by God’s great love for us, in and through Jesus Christ.  "Blessed – happy – are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven."  Be happy, rejoice, for God’s Love dwells in us – we are Christ’s, and we are Christ himself, to each other and for each other.  Be happy!  We are among the saints, so let us have a rousing chorus, New Orleans style:

Oh, when the saints go marching in 
Oh, when the saints go marching in 
Lord, how I want to be in that number 
When the saints go marching in.

                      

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

Scripture:

Malachi 1:14b-2:2b, 8-10
1 Thessalonians 2:7b-9, 13
Matthew 23:1-12

Reflection:

The cross is the most universal symbol of a Christian.  The cross decorates our churches and our liturgical vestments.  Blessings are bestowed with the sign of the cross.  We bless ourselves with holy water as we make the sign of the cross.  Perhaps we wear a cross on a chain around our neck, or have a cross hanging on a wall at home.

What would be another strong symbol to identify us as Christians?  What if we wore a t-shirt or carried a banner that had a picture of a pitcher, a basin and a towel?  I think that would be a great way to identify who we are, or at least what we strive to be. 

Jesus tells us today that we are to be servants.  "The greatest among you will be the one who serves the rest."  At the Last supper he showed us what he meant.  He took a pitcher, a basin and a towel and washed his apostles’ feet.  Then he told them (and us) to do the same.  We are to reach out and serve those in need, esp. the poor and the outcast. 

How about wearing a symbol of a heart to show who we are?

I suggest that we proclaim who we are by wearing a t-shirt or carrying a banner with a picture of an ear and a mouth?  That might catch people off guard at first.  But a picture of an ear and a mouth symbolize that as Christians we strive to do two things well: to listen attentively and to speak kindly.

Actually we need not wear any symbols at all.  When we encounter others, they will experience in less than five minutes whether or not we are Christians.  Do we serve them by the gift of total attention, striving to understand what they are going through?  Do we serve them by using words that encourage, praise, support and affirm them.  If we do, we won’t have the time or the desire to "exalt" ourselves, as Jesus warns against today, because the focus of our listening and speaking, the spotlight of our mind and heart is on the other.  And they will know we are Christians by our love.

 

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:

Romans 11:29-36
Luke 14:12-14

Reflection:

"When you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus talks about how to create a guest list and He teaches us that giving has a certain quality to it.  The way we give and the spirit in which we give is what is important.  True giving must have "no strings" attached…..no expectations of getting anything in return.

Years ago, when I began to discern my invitation from God to become a deacon, I wanted to be of service to God’s people most in need.  The first time I went to help serve a meal at our local homeless meal site, I was told that the first, and most important thing I needed to do, was to sit down and have dinner with the members of our homeless community that were present that night. And later I would be given the opportunity to serve. 

As I became willing to share a meal and spend time with my brothers and sisters,to get to know their stories, and allow them to get to know me, to really enter into each other’s lives, something profound happened to me.  I was able to put a "face" to a "condition." And as a result, my perspective changed.  "Homeless" was no longer a concept, but a person–Jesus with skin! "Whatever you do for these, the least of our brothers and sisters, you do for Me." (Matt. 25)  How blessed I was that day. The same experience has been true in my prison ministry. I discovered Jesus behind the walls.

How can we invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind into our daily lives?

IN OUR OWN LIFE:  Am I willing to invite someone to dinner who is alone and has no family?  Am I willing to reach out to a neighbor who is crippled by fear, anxiety?  Am I willing to visit someone who is poor in spirit at a nursing home?

AT OUR EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION:  Do we welcome "the crippled, the lame" to our churches by being wheel-chair accessible?  Do we provide sign language interpreters for the deaf?  Large print material for the visually impaired?

True acts of love are not done so that you can benefit from them. They are done because the benefit is in being able to do them.  Yes, you are repaid and rewarded for doing good for those who can’t repay us because in doing so you "will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." 

However, as you do those acts of love and kindness, you will be rewarded in the here and now as well in ways that you will not understand until you look into the eyes of those you are blessing.

 

Deacon Brian Clements was formerly on the staff of Mater Dolorosa Retreat Center in Sierra Madre, California

Scripture:

Romans 11:1-2a, 11-12, 25-29
Luke 14:1, 7-11

Reflection:

In today’s passage from Luke, Jesus teaches us to be "humble".  "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."  As I read this verse I remembered a person who once reminded me of this passage.  Fr. James Patrick White, C.P., on one of my first attempts at a homily in front of our Passionist Family, whispered to me at the exchange of Peace during the Mass, "Stay humble".  I always thought it was a curious way to wish someone peace, but I have since realized that staying humble often does result in a more peaceful relationship with God and others.  Yet I often wonder about what "being humble" really means.  Nature may offer some guidance.

Right now my wife Mary Rita is preparing her garden for the winter and spring to follow.  She is nurturing the soil so it will be naturally open to growth and the grace of a beautiful spring.  Perhaps to be humble is to be open like the garden, to be ready for God’s grace and movement in my life, to be receptive and not controlling.  As a child on the day of my first holy communion I prayed such a prayer from the St. Joseph’s Missal for children.  "O come, great Christ my King.  The garden of my heart is ready.  Won’t You please, Oh please, come in!"  This was a child’s humility, later to become an adult’s challenge, maintaining humility in a culture that exalts power and status.

As I reflect on today’s gospel teaching, I must remind myself of the simple message of humility.  The garden of my life and ministry as a Christian must be open to God’s movement, ready to respond to the growth God wants, not the power I seek.  Whether I am grappling with the message of the social gospel in today’s culture or simply speaking with the grocery store clerk, I am called to be ready to receive God’s grace and will in humility.  I must follow the lead and request of Jesus in today’s Alleluia verse.

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am meek and humble of heart."

 

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 Simon and Saint Jude, apostles

Scripture:

Ephesians 2:19-22
Luke 6:12-16

Reflection:

The letter to the Ephesians, Paul’s beautiful letter about the church, speaks of unity and of our being one body, one church.   In today’s reading from Ephesians, we hear a wondrous description of the Church.  We are told that we are fellow citizens with the prophets and holy ones, that the structure of the Church is built upon the foundation of the Apostles, and that Jesus is our capstone holding us together to become a dwelling place of God in the Spirit!  This is a day then to reflect a bit on the strength and durability of our Church.  In a world where political systems, governments, institutions and even families seem to change and disappear before our very eyes, Christianity lives and continues and thrives.   We may become exasperated with local parish concerns, and we may not always agree with decisions made by the hierarchy, but we should hold close this Church, this great gift from Jesus and his Apostles. 

In the Gospel, Jesus gives us another gift – the example of prayer.   Before he chooses his Apostles, he goes up to the mountain to pray.  So often we see Jesus praying in the Gospels.  Do we follow the example?  Do we as individuals, as families, as Church take the time to "go up to the mountain" to pray before we make decisions.  This is often a challenge for me.  I frequently find myself in a hurry to get things done – and so rush to make decisions – and all too often too busy to remember to invite God to the table.

Today is also the Feast of St. Simon, the Zealot, and St. Jude, often referred to as the patron of hopeless causes.  We don’t know much about Simon and Jude.  We do know that they were simple, ordinary men who heard the call and answered it.  Simon’s zeal, and both Simon and Jude’s belief in Jesus and their faith, their hope and their love caused them to be martyred.  We honor them and we ask their intercession but let’s also pray in gratitude for their lives and for the gift of Church that they and the other Apostles passed on to us.

And let’s remember that we, like Simon and Jude and the other Apostles, are called to spread the Gospel and the love of God!  

 

Mary Lou Butler is a former staff member and a longtime partner of the Passionists in California.

 

Scripture:

Romans 8:31b-39
Luke 13:31-35

Reflection:

I had a tough time with the gospel this week.  Most often, the passages speak to me with some clarity about living a Christian life.  But it took some tossing and turning this time.  This actually leads me to the first thing I am moved to reflect upon.  Sometimes, we go to Mass, we go through the motions, but nothing is really making its way into our hearts. 

You hear words like "Herod" and "Pharisees" and perhaps you tune out a bit-nothing to do with my life today, you might think.  But this might be an opportunity to pay even closer attention to see what you might find.  When I did that this time, I feel like I sort of stumbled upon a sort of hidden theme this week-freedom. 

Jesus knows that part of the journey to His destiny lies in Jerusalem.  And yet, he openly recounts Jerusalem’s tragic history of rejecting prophets: "you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you."  But He doesn’t react with hatred and anger.  Instead, He speaks of a loving desire to shield Jerusalem "as a hen gathers her brood under wing."  And why can’t God and his Son protect the children of Jerusalem?  Why can’t they simply make it be that everyone’s eyes are opened to the love and salvation of Christ?  Why can’t Jerusalem be spared the gruesome legacy of stoning prophets?  Christ tells us in three tragic words, "you were unwilling."

God can’t make the right choice for us.  Perhaps more frustrating, He can’t even force us.  Every moment of our day, we are given choices.  And though we may not think of it in these terms, so many of these choices offer a chance to choose Christ or to turn from Him.  How will I treat my friend when he has wronged me and asks my forgiveness?  Will I talk about my boss behind her back?  How do I react when someone cuts me off in traffic?  Do I pretend not to see the homeless person? 

Yet even for those "unwilling" in Jerusalem who would reject Christ, our Lord’s love and tenderness towards them is evident in the image of the mother hen.  If this is how He feels for those who would stone and kill Him, how much love and forgiveness awaits us for our everyday mistakes? 

Freedom is a beautiful gift, but only if we use it wisely.

 

Marlo Serritella is on staff at the Holy Cross Province Development Office in Chicago.