Daily Scripture

Scripture:
Genesis 49:2, 8-10
Matthew 1:1-17

Reflection:
During this past year I felt called by the Lord to purchase some video equipment and begin producing some videos, of myself and others, that I can publish on the Web or on the different Social Sharing sites.

From the beginning I wanted to learn how to use the "green screen" method of producing.  This is where you put up a green screen, light it evenly and have your talent stand about ten feet in front of it.  You then videotape the talent with the green screen behind them.  When you put this in the computer, using one of the movie making programs, you can insert behind your talent, replacing the green screen, just about any video or picture you want.  I can put myself preaching in the cathedral here in Houston or even in St. Peter’s in Rome.  If I am clever enough, I can even have the Holy Father in the congregation.

How difficult it can be to make the foreground (talent) merge with the inserted background.  You need to use video controls and make the edges of the religious habit look normal.  Human hair is a real challenge to look sharp and crisp.  Even when you have it looking very good and then "render or publish" it, put it together for use, the two different layers of video retain a life of their own.  You can begin to play the finished product and for some reason the background (inserted video) become pale while the upfront talent looks good.

Our Christian faith grew out of the Jewish religion.  Judaism had a long journey before Christ came along.  We are told in today’s gospel that it was often challenged to incorporate non Jews into its ranks.  The genealogy of Jesus that St. Matthew gives us today, tells how three foreign women, Tamar, Ruth and Bathsheba,  became grafted to the Jewish Church. This inclusion probably did not come easily.  But when the dust of time settled, there they are in the genealogy, listed with all the Jewish greats.  How difficult it can be to get two different realities to come together as one. 

We know of the conflict in the early Church when Paul the Apostle began bringing the Gentiles, non Jews, into the community. 

One of the problems in the American Catholic Church today, is not getting non Catholics or non Christians grafted but our big problem is getting Catholics of different national backgrounds to merge and become one parish.  Like the two layers of video in the green screening project, unity will take quite a while, but the Holy Spirit will pull it off sooner or later. 

Like myself, setting at my computer, working with the video controls I have, trying to get the two layers of video of cleanly merge, parishes and dioceses today are trying different things to create more harmony where there can be frustrating, even embittered, division.  The season of Advent tells us to be patient, to wait, to be open to the surprise that Christ will bring us at Christmas. 

 

Fr. Blaise Czaja, C.P. gives parish missions and retreats.  He is a member of the Passionist Community in Houston, Texas.

 

Thursday of the Third Week of Advent 

Scripture:

Isaiah 54:1-10
Luke 7:24-30

 

 

Reflection:

When I have had a significant disagreement with a friend or a quarrel with a loved one, there is nothing so unsettling as the aftermath, the intervening time before a resolution and return to peace (hopefully) takes place.

During that time, my thoughts return often to the disagreement.  I concoct phantom rebuttals in my head or nurse my psychic wound, making myself even more upset. My nerves are jangled. And then…one of us phones or we talk things out face to face. It literally feels like a wall is crumbling and suddenly fresh air streams in! The tension subsides and life feels right again. I can breathe!

Today’s first reading describes the wonderful lushness of life that unfolds when things are made right with God. Jerusalem and her people, likened to a barren wife, have been forgiven their wrongdoings and swept up with great tenderness into the loving arms of God. Suddenly, where there was painful desolation, life bursts forth!  A promise of fulfillment, a covenant of enduring love is made with these prodigal sons and daughters.

Just as it was for them, it is a painful thing for us, too, not to be right with God. Isn’t that what "sin" really is? We feel lost, burdened; our relationship with God has been wounded and our spirituality may be on life-support. But as the Gospel reveals, in that barren place, that desert of isolation, there is a prophet urging us to look to the One who is coming, who has come to bring us Life everlasting.   

As we celebrate this season of Advent, let’s await the birth of the baby Jesus with great joy. He is the covenant of God’s love made flesh! In seeking out the manger, we are acknowledging our trust that there is a way back from the desert of our separation from God and all that is good. So small, so tender, so full of life, the child opens wide our world and our hearts. He confirms with his presence God’s enormous love, and, Alleluia, we can feel right with God, ourselves and our neighbor once more.

 

Nancy Nickel is director of communications at the Passionist Development Office in Chicago.

 

Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent 

Scripture:

Isaiah 45: 6c-8, 18, 21c-25
Luke 7: 18b-23

Reflection:

The first reading is part of a longer section which began in chapter 43: 44ff which praises King Cyrus, the Anointed of the Lord, who will free the Hebrew people from their captivity in Babylon and send them home to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. The sovereign God has freely chosen Cyrus as his instrument. This is the God who is the creator of all things. By the power of this God justice will descend like gentle rain from the skies and salvation bud forth. This is the undying hope of Advent: that the just and saving God will do now what he has always done. Therefore, let every knee bend and every tongue swear that the Lord brings justice and salvation. Yes, for us, as for the people of Second Isaiah’s day, the Lord is the vindication and the glory of all the descendents of Israel!

Jesus is our Advent hope. May the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers be cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead come to life. And to the poor and the oppressed may the good news be proclaimed that Jesus is Lord.

When Jerome translated Isaiah 45:8 he made explicit what the hope really is: "Let the clouds rain down the Just One, and the earth bring forth a Savior!"

As we look out on our world today we need the hope more than ever. Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus!

 

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

Scripture:

Zephaniah 3:1-2, 9-13
Matthew 21: 28-32

Reflection:

There are several passages in the readings today that strike me. But there are a few in particular that are very powerful to me:

 

When John came to you in the way of righteousness,
You did not believe him;
But tax collectors and prostitutes did.
Yet even when you saw that,
You did not later change your minds and believe him.

Conventional wisdom might say that if tax collectors and prostitutes believe in someone – run in the other direction! But Jesus, who lives and breathes beyond the confines of all that is "conventional," challenges the chief priests and elders to get beyond their own egoistic judgment which keeps them from the true source of love and peace. The first reading, too, mirrors the sad isolation that comes from such headstrong, spiritually immature and destructive behavior:

She hears no voice,
Accepts no correction;
In the Lord she has not trusted,
To her God she has not drawn near.

We have been given the incredible gift of a God who will love us even when we doubt, even when we err, even when we are foolish, childish and obstinate for a time. In order to "draw near to our God," which is where our ultimate peace lies, we’re not expected to be anything close to perfect; we just have to be willing to bend, to trust, to believe, to surrender. And we can mess it up and still have a chance if only we will try again!

There is a beautiful passage at the end of the first reading that captures, so simply, the gift that awaits the humble people who take refuge in the Lord:

They shall pasture and couch their flocks with none to disturb them.

Amen to that.

 

Nancy Nickel is Director of Communications at the Passionist Development Office in Chicago.

Scripture:

Numbers 24:2-7, 15-17a
Matthew 21:23-27

Reflection:

As Christmas rushes closer we are brought up short by the introduction of the mysterious prophet Balaam, son of Beor.  What he has to say is first of all a blessing on the tribes of Israel. Balaam sees the future power and glory of the Davidic kings and more especially one king. He dimly foresees him, but he says that he will come as a star rising out of Jacob and as a staff rising from Israel. For many centuries the Israelite people thought that this prophecy was fulfilled in David who firmly established the kingdom. Yet God had a greater plan in mind, His Son, Jesus Christ. The gospel passage today presents us with Jesus coming into the temple and teaching with authority. His enemies challenge his right to teach and ask him, "By whose authority are you doing these things?’  Jesus confounds them by asking his own question about the authority of John’s baptism. When they refuse to answer, he does not answer them. As we look forward to Christmas we sense the power of Jesus’ coming into our world. He is a person with quiet authority. May we accept the gifts he brings, especially his message of hope and peace.

 

Fr. Michael Hoolahan, C.P. is on the staff of 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. 

Today, as I mark 55 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.

This is not empty sentiment for me.  I am spending my birthday in a hospital, where my husband just had surgery to remove what we hope is a benign mass.  Within a few days we will know what may or may not lurk within that tumor, and it is a frightening time.  Daily, hourly, sometimes by the minute, I find myself returning to that river for sustenance, letting my tears flow unto it and drawing courage from its depths. 

I have no illusions that my obedience to God will "save" me from being widowed again or erase all 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/.

Thursday of the Second Week of Advent 

Scripture:

Isaiah 41:13-20
Matthew 11:11-15

Reflection:

This second week of Advent the prophecy of Isaiah shows us a New Exodus more marvelous than the first. God does not provide water for the people in the desert; water is everywhere, and the hand of God is planting; we are in a new Eden. The fertility of which Isaiah speaks looks to the coming of the Messiah.

This Advent day we honor two holy men. The humble Juan Diego, whose feast falls close to his ‘mother’, the Virgin of Guadalupe. Although Mary’s feast will be largely celebrated in the Mexican communities this year because if falls on next Sunday, there will still be the portrayals of the appearance of Mary to her "little Juan", processions, pinatas and feasting. The Virgin of Guadalupe is pregnant, full of maternal solicitude for her little ones.

The other holy man is quite different than Juan Diego. He is Blessed Bernard Mary Silvestrelli, C.P. who died in 1911 at the age of 80. His devotion to Mary would have been expressed through our Mother of Sorrows, patroness of the Passionists. Bernard was a priest and for his 54 years as a Passionist served his religious order in roles of leadership, being its superior general for 25 years.

Juan was hesitant to ask about the building of a church for the ‘beautiful lady’, but Bernard established the Passionist community in Spain, Mexico, Chile and Argentina. Unlike Juan who didn’t get beyond the hills of Mexico, Bernard crossed the ocean to be the first General to visit the United States.

He appears a strong man, outspoken like John whom we meet in the gospel today. Paul Boyle, a former General of the Passionists, wrote the introduction to Fabiano Georgini’s biography of Bernard. He describes him as living faithfully the Passionist rule of life as an expression of obedience to the will of God. He held to the contemplative and community aspects of the Passionist way of life, at a time when many wanted to lay them aside for pastoral reasons. He was strong at a time when there was need for strength   as the Church revived from a period of suppression throughout of Europe.

John the Baptist is a model of faith. He stands in a certain balance against Jesus, desiring to decrease that He may increase. We might see today two holy men, models of faith, different weights in the balance; one strong, the other humble. Both in their unique way showing God’s will that was manifest to them, helping others arrive at the goal of their journey.

 

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

Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent

Scripture:
Isaiah 40:1-11
Matthew 18:12-14

Reflection:
Isaiah continues to be the prophet of God’s marvelous mercy as he proclaims, "Here is your God… Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs and leads the ewes with care…"

St. Matthew gives us the words of Jesus fulfilling the prophecy.  Jesus is the Good Shepherd  who goes in search for the stray and is happier about that one than about the ninety-nine that did not wander away.

And he makes sure no one, not the most stringent Pharisee or none of the rigorist challengers of shepherding Popes would miss the truth that is what God wants!

"It is no part of your heavenly Father’s plan that a single one of these little ones shall ever come to grief."

Neither Isaiah, nor Jesus are trying to tell us an appealing story of a shepherd’s care for sheep.  Both are revealing something of the Heart of God for us.  God did not create to show his power in the unimaginable Big Bang that gave the astoundingly large universe its explosive start.  He was not amusing himself with astronomical fireworks.

Creation came from love, creation was to give us the power to love.  It also gave us a freedom that is too often abused.  But the God who loved us from eternity comes as the Good Shepherd to seek and save that which has gone astray.  He will not allow his love to be defeated.  For that reason the Son of God is born as the tiny Son of Mary, and grows up to be the Good Shepherd seeking the stray.  He rejoices every time he brings one back to his love.

Perhaps there have been actual shepherds who died defending their sheep from wolves, bears and lions.  There is no doubt the Divine Shepherd gave up his life to bring us all into his arms and into eternal glory.

That is the reality of Christmas — God’s Gift of His Son as our Savior and Shepherd.  Let us pray God for sinners and rejoice in every redemption!

 

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