Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Hebrews 2:14-18
Mark 1:29-39

Reflection:

Years ago, dear friends, I saw a fellow walking through East Los Angeles with a very interesting expression printed on his baseball cap, or cachucha as they often say in Spanish.  I will translate for you, but first the expression:  Que viva la suegra….muy lejos de aqui!  Very tongue in cheek, the lines on the cap read:  Long live (my) mother-in-law…very far away from here!  There you are, another mother-in-law joke!  Not having a mother-in-law I am hardly in a position to comment on why such genre exists in humor, be it jokes told on a stage or expressions found on a young man’s baseball cap.  However, the jokes are out there and, as we discover in a passage from today’s Gospel, even Simon Peter had one…a mother-in-law that is, not a joke!  And the Lord loved her very much and cured her from a debilitating fever, even as he cured many others in the same town.  Naturally, the people flocked to the front door of Peter’s home searching and hoping for something miraculous to happen.  Yet, Jesus’ response was most revealing as he later said very quietly, "Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also.  For this purpose have I come."  How often we seek the Lord for his miraculous cure and healing touch, yet more important to the Lord is that we listen to his message, to the heart of his preaching as the one sent to us by God.

In our beautiful passage from Paul’s letter to the Hebrews we learn even more about this one who was sent by God for our sake.  Paul tells us that Jesus is just like us, one who shares in blood and in flesh.  And because he is one like us in all things but sin Jesus has the power even to overcome "the one who has the power of death, that is, the Devil."  And still more heartening and endearing is Paul’s reminder that Jesus did not come to help angels, but rather, to bring his healing message to us, the descendants of Abraham.  In this wonderful passage Paul concludes by saying, "Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested."  Jesus, the one sent by God, the one who is just like us, the one who knows the meaning of suffering and struggle, he is the one, our faithful high priest who stands before God on our behalf.  What hope and encouragement God’s holy Word gives us this day!

 

Fr. Pat Brennan, C.P. is the director of Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.

Scripture:

Hebrews 1:1-6
Mark 1:14-20

Reflection:

When I read today’s gospel, I am astounded.  I try to imagine what it would take for someone to call me with such power, charisma, and force that I would instantaneously walk away from my job and family in order to hear more.  I cannot fathom it.  At the same time, I long for that experience.  I yearn to know for sure whether I am "fishing" in the right ways, in the right waters, with the right people, for the right goals.  I want Jesus to call me as clearly and forcefully as he called his disciples in the gospel.  I want to be drawn irresistibly in God’s direction, so I can be certain of the path.

Yet, the shock value of this gospel causes me to pause and wonder whether the story is repeated exactly as it happened.  Were the disciples really that certain?  Did they follow without doubts, without wondering whether they had made the right decision?  Did their family and friends support them in their choice?  Were they shaken in their resolve when the road became rough?  Did they at times wish they could just go back to their nets and their fishing boats?  (And didn’t they in fact do so after Jesus was crucified?).

Perhaps they are more similar to me than I previously imagined.  They, too, had to struggle to discern God’s will, even though they had God standing right in front of them.  Indeed, one of them had such doubts that he betrayed Jesus to the Roman officials.  It is unreasonable for me to expect certitude beyond theirs.

Instead of lusting after that certitude, instead of unrealistically exaggerating the experience of the disciples, and instead of using these false images as an excuse, perhaps I need to realize that my challenges are the same ones the disciples faced:  How open am I to hearing God’s voice?  When God speaks, how prepared am I to answer the call with all my heart?  What am I willing to leave behind?  Over what am I willing to relinquish control in order to follow the will of God?

Confronted with these questions, I fall on my knees every morning and pray.  May I serve God with my life.  May I be given all that I need to do God’s will, and be an effective instrument of healing and loving power.  May God grant me eyes that see, ears that hear, and most of all the courage to follow.

I may never have the audacity of the disciples, dropping everything in my life in order to follow Jesus.  All I can hope is that if I live this prayer and answer God in little ways every day, then if the call comes to leave it all behind, perhaps I will not only hear God’s invitation but answer it.  May it be so.

Postscript:  To those who have been praying through my husband’s surgery, I offer my heartfelt thanks.  Rejoice with us that although the tumors are rare, the pathology report says they are benign.  It appears that instead of facing our last days together, we have the prospect of many more years to come, as we continue to be carried forward by the river of God’s love and grace.

 

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/.

 

The Baptism of Our Lord 

Scripture:

Isaiah 42:1-4, 67-
Acts 10:34-38
Matthew 3:13-17

Reflection:

With today’s feast of The Baptism of Our Lord we conclude our celebration of Christmas. God has shared our humanity. We can come to know through our human love the Divine, the love that created us.

Matthew has given us the child’s name, Jesus, and told us he is Emmanuel, God, who is with us. Before he begins his ministry Matthew leads us to know more about Jesus. Through the opening between heaven and earth we hear ‘a daughter of a voice’, i.e. an echo of a word spoken in heaven. Daniel Harrington’s, "The Gospel of Matthew" (Sarcra Pagina), tells us that in these words from heaven biblical figures are given to help us understand the person and activity of Jesus. This is the Beloved, my son, the one in whom I am pleased. The Davidic King is the adopted son of God; Isaac, the Beloved (Gen. 22:12); and the suffering servant of Isaiah (42:1), the one in whom God is well pleased.

Today’s feast is not about our Baptism. But in our Baptisms when the perfumed oil is abundantly spread over our heads and its fragrance fills the senses of those around us, there is a revelation of who we are! At times in the liturgy we will be incensed, when we are brought to church on our final journey to the cemetery we will be surrounded by the fragrance of incense. These moments remind us of the dignity given us at Baptism when it was revealed who we are: prophets, priests, kings or queens, Other Christs. A prayer I have heard accompany the anointing with Chrism prays boldly, "Remember who you are, and the anointing on your body, raise you head….you are another Christ." Our dignity as chosen and loved by the Father is fixed. We go from the font to love as Christ loved, to see the world and one another through the eyes of Christ, to be Christ in our world. 

Consider the revelations that Matthew gives us about the person of Jesus, and remember the revelation proclaimed over you at your Baptism. With Jesus let us go forward to show the Love Divine in the flesh of our humanity. In the most ordinary, frustrating and difficult paths you may walk remember ‘who you are, the anointing on your body, raise your head….you are another Christ.’

 

Fr. William Murphy, CP, is pastor of St. Joseph’s Monastery parish in Baltimore, Maryland.

 

Scripture:

1 John 5:14-21
John 3:22-30

Reflection:

Self knowledge is a great gift.  Self acceptance is an even greater blessing.  To really know one’s gifts, abilities, talents and natural traits, as well as the limitations in other areas can reduce stress and tension and even inner turmoil.  A man who is 5’3" is unlikely to be a starting center in the NBA.  A woman who has little patience with the high energy of small children will probably not find herself drawn to a career as a preschool teacher.  A friend, Mary,  is a wonderful listener and insightful counselor, but she is painfully shy in large groups and considers herself to be very ordinary and plain looking.  She confided to me once that it took her years to accept that she would never be like a mutual friend who was cute and perky and vivacious and had the kind of personality the was attractive to other people.  Mary had struggled to grow into self acceptance and to value her own gifts and abilities.

John the Baptist seems to have really known who he was, his role in life, and the gifts that were given to him by God.  John had been looked upon as a prophet to whom people came from great distances.  Crowds would listen to him preach and many would accept his call to conversion and be baptized.  But when Jesus appeared on the scene and people flocked to him, John did not express any jealousy or need to compete to "get his numbers back up".  He accepted that he had done what he had been called to do, used his gifts to the fullest and now it was time to step aside for another.  In today’s world the same scenario could have turned out much differently.

Today, competition, conscious or unconscious, seems to be in the air we breathe.  Money, possessions, friends, accomplishments of our own or our children, and lifestyle can easily determine our sense of self and our acceptance or rejection of who we are.  It takes great wisdom and inner strength and maturity to accept that we are each given gifts and abilities by God to use as fully as possible.  But true joy comes when we realize, like John the Baptist, that our talents are not given for personal status or enhancement but for the growth and spread of the reign of God.  And it often takes a lifetime to realize that all has been given to us from above.

 

Cathy Anthony is on the staff of St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat and Conference Center, Detroit, Michigan. 

Scripture:
1 John 5:5-13
Luke 5:12-16

Reflection:
In the first reading for today’s Liturgy, we are given a message of comfort and strength. The question is asked: "Who is the victor over the world?"  And the answer comes out boldly, "The one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God!"

John the Evangelist finds three witnesses to this truth.

Jesus is the one who came through water-a precious water in which he was baptized and undertook our redemption, the water that foretells our baptism and the removal of sin. It was at this baptism that the Baptist proclaimed "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. I have seen and testify that he is the Son of God." The Baptist was informed by God that  the "one on whom the Spirit descended was the one sent to baptize with the Spirit."

There was the testimony of blood. The blood shed for many. The blood of the Cross. The blood offered by an eternal spirit. The blood that saves us. The blood given for us. The blood offered through the Holy Spirit.

The Apostle is encouraging the first Christians with a vision of the source of their power to overcome the attractions of the world for which Jesus did not pray.  Jesus overcame the powers of evil, he disarmed our enemies and he pours his strength into us through the removal  of our sins in water. We have rejoiced in God’s magnificent gift to us, even the Divine Son.  

The Christmas cycle has had us commemorating the events surrounding the birth of our Savior, our promise of victory.  Today’s reading has St.John assuring us the promise has been kept.  Baptism, in the Jordan, Sacrifice on Calvary is our Redemption.  "We are more than conquerors!"

 

Fr. Fred Sucher, C.P. is retired and lives in the Passionist community in Chicago.  For many years he taught philosophy to Passionist seminarians. 

 

Scripture:

1 John 4:19-5:4
Luke 4:14-22

Reflection:

 "Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

Jesus developed a good reputation as a guest preacher at local synagogues." He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all."  Now, Jesus enters the synagogue of his home town of Nazareth. He is given the scriptures and read from the Book of Isaiah. Those listening to Jesus were economically poor and politically disenfranchised; life had not been good to them. They expectantly waited to hear how Jesus would interpret this popular passage. Maybe Jesus will speak words of exhortation to revolution and resistance. Maybe he will call for a state health care program for the citizens of Nazareth. Or a call for judicial reform so the illiterate and poor have equal access and a fair chance in the court system. Or a fair and just wage for a hard day’s work. Or maybe a guaranteed pension plan for the senior years.

But the home-boy Rabbi calls for none of these programs. With every eye riveted upon him he sits down! Isn’t Jesus going to preach, rouse their faith, call for greater commitment to the laws of God? He sits down and spoke a simple one liner, only nine words: "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." I imagine Jesus did not shout or rant, his tone was not judgmental or cynical. I can hear Jesus almost whispering, "Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

The word that is translated "fulfilled" means exactly that, "filled to the full." Pleroo is defined as: to render full, i.e. to complete, to fill to the top, so that nothing shall be wanting, to full measure, filled to the brim. It is a word that describes complete accomplishment. There is nothing for me to do here, and it drives our Western activist mind crazy! Salvation is a gift from God, the gift of the Son, not our achievement.

This does not mean no action on our part. In the first reading John tells us that if anyone loves God, that person will also love others.

Today, the scripture is fulfilled in our midst and we, too, are "amazed at the gracious words" that came from the mouth of Jesus.

 

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

 

Scripture:

1 John 4:7-10
Mark 6:34-44

 

 

 

Reflection:

Epiphany:  The Manifestation, Continued

We continue the celebration of the Epiphany, the "manifestation" of Jesus to the world.  In the welcome of the Magi by the Holy Family of Bethlehem, Jesus is indeed proclaimed the loving Savior of all people!

Today’s Scriptures are proper for the season, and drawn from the First Letter of St. John and St. Mark’s Gospel.  Both remind us in special ways that God is most gracious in loving us in the person of Jesus. 

St. John makes the point quite clearly when he says that love consists in this:  not that we have loved God, but that God has loved us and sent his Son as an offering for our sins.  We didn’t do anything to merit the sending of God’s Son…God took the initiative…gratuitously, freely given. 

In his life and ministry, Jesus showed this gratuitous love in his every word and deed.  Jesus freely taught the vast crowd, not like a contracted professor at a famous university being paid to teach – but as an act of love, free of charge.  He even went one step further:  he miraculously fed the crowd with just five loaves of bread and two fish…and had lots of leftovers after having fed over five thousand people!  That kind of love can’t be bought or forced.

Jesus’ gratuitous love continues to reach out to all people of all times and places, inviting them to live and share His love.  Today we celebrate the feast of a "contemporary" disciple:  St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the 19^th Century foundress of the first women’s religious congregation in the United States, and the first native-born U.S. citizen to be canonized.  Her special love for God included families, children, the poor of her day:  an outstanding example of generosity, service, and holiness — rooted in Jesus.

We recognize that everything we have comes as a gift from God:  our lives, our faith, our vocation, even the energy and talents with which we serve God and earn our living here on earth!  What Jesus did for the crowd He continues to do for us:  he graciously teaches us through the Scriptures and feeds us with his own Body and Blood.  The best of Gifts!!

May our New Year’s resolutions help build our personal resolve to live lives of gratitude and service, in the person of Jesus.

 

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

Scripture:

1 John 3:22-4:6
Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25

Reflection:

Ponder the holy name of Jesus. The child was named by Joseph; so named because he would "save his people from their sin." Wherever Jesus would locate, that name and the mission would be confirmed, even in the direst of circumstances. Like hearing of the arrest of his cousin, John. Jesus would move to the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali (Capernaum by the sea), the place which, the prophet foretold, was the "place of the Gentiles—the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light and for those who sat in the regions and shadow of death light has dawned." Let the Name be the sole focus of meditation to day. Is it not the commandment we read today, "that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ?"

Pondering and belief work together. Pondering His name fashions a world that makes sense to us. Pat Conroy, prolific author, describes the act of pondering words. "I grew up a word-haunted boy. I felt words inside me and stored them wondrous as pearls. I mouthed them and fingered them and rolled them around my tongue…I found that hive of words beautiful beyond all conveyance. They clung to me and blistered my skin and made me happy to be alive in the land of crape myrtle, spot-tailed bass, and eastern diamondbacks. The precise naming of things served as my entry way into art. The whole world could be sounded out. I could arrange each day into a tear sheet of music composed of words as pretty as flutes or the tail feathers of peacocks. From my earliest memories I felt impelled to form a unique relationship with the English language. I used words to fashion a world that made sense to me." (My Reading Life, p. 84-85).

Did not Jesus use words to fashion a world that made sense to Him? It was the sense of the Father’s Plan. Through words, He taught, proclaimed and cured "every disease and every sickness among the people." Ponder His holy name, and fashion a world that makes sense.

 

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