Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Hebrews 1:2-3;22:2-4
2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14
Luke 17:5-10

Reflection:

It is Sunday, the day of celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the core hope of our mission journey through time. The integral "DNA" of the Catholic Christian, the paradigm or pattern out of which we live, and move, and have our being is the "PDR" – the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Living, dying, hoping.

The Sunday celebration brings to consciousness this pattern out of which we live.

At Holy Family Cristo Rey Catholic High School there are two reminders the administration and faculty hold up to one another. First, that nothing which happens negatively, as in facing major obstacles, necessarily effects the carrying out of the mission that the "Spirit of God has given us." And, second, in the very weakness, limitation, frustration and fear that I endure, I make a conscious choice through the feelings, that these  indicators  tell me that "the Spirit God has given us is no cowardly spirit,  but rather one that makes us strong, loving, and wise."

Is it the ordinariness of our life that gets to us? Jesus recognizes that, and encourages us to recognize the same. The one, who would see that faithfully carrying out daily tasks is valuable, is that servant who is just carrying out his or her tasks dutifully. That is enough.

Convinced? Is my prayer request like that of the apostles? "Increase our faith."What is Jesus’ response? Take the smallest, tiniest (as in mustard seed) action in my life, and accept that this is "my job in God’s sight," and do with it what I can, not counting the consequences.

Is not this the meaning of stirring into flame the gift God gave you?

Let’s guard the rich deposit of faith, with the help of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.

 

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

Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels 

Scripture:

Job 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17
Matthew 18:1-5, 10

Reflection:

The disciples approached Jesus and said, "Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?"  He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, "Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.  And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.

"See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father."

On September 29, we celebrated the feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.  On that day we remembered how the role of the angels in the Scriptures is always linked to the "messenger"-function explicitated in the word "angelos-messenger" in the Greek language.

The message is always the same, "prepare to receive the Holy One sent from God, your Lord and Savior."  Such a message is now fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ, and in the proclamation of the Good News, the Gospel of our salvation.

Since the reality of our faith has reach fulfillment in Christ Jesus, it is anachronistic to try to append to the roles of the angels the anticipation and the expectation of what was yet to come.

Since that first night of the angel’s song announcing the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem, the message and the role of the angels is now conjoined with the mystery of the incarnation and the redemption.

As Guardian Angels, the angels protect and oversee the gift of God’s indwelling in us that derives from Baptism.

In Guardian Angels, the presence of God is especially felt in those who are the most powerless and innocent of God’s creatures, the children.

By the Guardian Angels, our consciences are prompted to alert us to the entry of evil into our thoughts and actions; our Guardian Angels remind us that we belong to God and have been made members of the Body of Christ.

Today is a liturgical memorial of the reality of our spiritual selves.  What a loss if we should so forget that we are spiritual beings, that the role of the Angels in our lives should be nullified by our indifference.

Yet, what a blessing, if today we could ask God to bless us with a desire to acknowledge, to listen to, and to respect the guidance that is ours because we have the Angels to speak to us of God and of God’s love for us.

 

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

Memorial of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus

Scripture:

Job 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5
Luke 10:13-16

Reflection:

She was, by all measure of judgment and estimation, a remarkable woman. It was not due to longevity. Length of days, of course, has its place. Certainly we all aspire to it. But the quality of person and the depth of character trump longevity. She was, according to her own writings and the testimony of kin and kith, a fragile woman. Her health was never good. Born in 1873, Therese Martin lived with bouts of illness and TB. Death came all too soon. She was only twenty-four. Terribly sad! Such a gifted life cut so short. 

Therese Martin was born into a family steeped in piety and love. She entered the Carmel in Lisieux as a young teenager. Such a joy, she felt. To be the beloved of Christ. During these years she lived a consecrated life in the cloister. I say this because her parents lived a holy and consecrated life in the world. Unlike her contemporary, Bernadette of Lourdes, who saw visions of our Lady, Therese lived without notoriety. 

So why has she been so acclaimed as a saint? Why has she so influenced many Catholic women of my mother’s generation? Why was this contemplative Carmelite declared a patronness of the missions? Was this all fin de siecle French piety and saint-making propaganda?

I think there are two qualities that Therese, also known as the "Little Flower," embodies and exemplifies. First, she was a woman of extraordinary faith and profound love. Her intimacy with Christ in prayer, her devotion to God, and her living out of the consecrated life brought her to a depth quite remarkable for such a young woman. Love trumps longevity. Love is the goal. What kind of love? Self-emptying and self-donative. This kind of love is fashioned in the crucible of suffering, illness, and generosity. It manifests a discipleship formed in the heart of Christ Crucified.

The second quality, one that is enduring about Therese, is that she did the ordinary extraordinarily well. She paid attention to the matter at hand. She offered a "little way." She showed that living the challenge of daily life — attending to the beggar with coin and kindness, sharing a cup of soup with the homeless old lay, listening to a lonely, burnt-out teenager — made a difference. She inspired Dorothy Day. Dorothy wrote one of her longest pieces on Therese. Pretty good example of one saint influencing another, eh?!

Quite a woman! Quite a life! Quite possibly worth emulating, eh?!

 

Father John J. O’Brien is a Passionist priest living in Framingham MA. He teaches and writes, preaches and prays. He also serves in local parishes and prisons. 

 

Scripture:

Job 19:21-27
Luke 10:1-12

 

 

 

Reflection:

Poor Job.  Not only is he going through a lot of pain and sorrow.  His friends turn against him.  Job could have used the support and encouragement of his friends.  Instead they accuse him of sinning and deserving God’s punishment.   With friends like that, who needs enemies?

True friends are not judgmental but believe the best about us.  True friends stand by us to cheer us on.  They want us to succeed.  They want us to be happy.  In fact our pain is their pain and our joy is their joy, so closely do they identify with us.

In the book of Sirach we read, "A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure.  A faithful friend is beyond price, no sum can balance his worth. Sirach 6:14-15

Job realizes that his most faithful friend is God.  Job calls him "my Vindicator."  This vindicator will "stand forth upon the dust."  And Job can’t wait to se him.  "My inmost being is consumed with longing."

We learn about friendship at the foot of the cross.  Jesus said, "No one has greater love than this, to lay down ones life for one’s friends." (John 15:13)  He said it and then he did it.  Jesus raises the bar for friendship.

In our gospel Jesus sends out seventy-two disciples to preach the kingdom.  Will they succeed in reaping a great harvest?  Only if they befriend, that is, love the people they are sent to.  That means they must die to selfishness.  That means they must sacrifice self-focus in order to be to keenly present to the other.  That means they must respect, affirm and believe in the people they serve.  …It was not easy for them, nor is it for us, to be a disciple of Jesus.

 

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:

Job 3:1-3, 11-17, 20-23
Luke 9:51-56

Reflection:

Have you ever had one of those days when you wish you hadn’t been born?  That is how Job felt in our first reading today.  He was wallowing in pain and sorrow and wished he were dead.  Job was a good man and, despite his suffering, he remained faithful to God.  However he lived in Old Testament times.  He didn’t know Jesus and had no knowledge of baptism.  As a result, Job could see no meaning to his misery.

We who are baptized into the body of Christ Jesus have a strong motive for enduring suffering when it comes our way.  We know that we do not suffer alone.  In some way, because of our union with Christ, it is he who suffers in and through us.  And Christ does not suffer in vain.  Therefore, our suffering has eternal value.  Calvary continues in us.  How incomprehensible are God’s ways and how unsearchable are his judgments that he would involve you and me in the saving work of his Son!

The story of Job had a happy conclusion.  Eventually his suffering ended and he prospered for the rest of his life.  I suspect Job came to the same realization that the apostle Paul did.  In his letter to the Romans, Paul taught, "We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who love him."(Rom 8:28)  After Calvary came Easter.  From death comes life. 

May the Passion of Christ be always in our hearts.

 

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

Scripture:

Job 1:6-22
Luke 9:46-50

Reflection:

For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest

I was watching my kids navigate their way around a crowded playground the other day, and I was amazed.  Even young kids are concerned about who is leading and who is following, which friends should be included in play and who just isn’t worthy that day.  There are always lots of hurt feelings and not as many apologies.    Everyone wants to be first for everything-in line, on the bus, at the snack table.  The kid with the coolest toy at show-and-tell has the biggest crowd around him after school.  But this isn’t what amazed me.

What made me really step back in awe was to think about myself and the other parents and how far we haven’t come from our own days on the playground.  Status, wealth-we may have advanced the concepts, but aren’t we still all jockeying for position somehow?  Don’t we complain about how much more we deserved the promotion at work than our neighbor?  Don’t we feel a tinge of jealousy when we see our neighbor’s expensive new car?  Don’t we spend time envying the lives of our favorite famous celebrities?  Not very far advanced over the politics of the playground, if you ask me. 

In today’s gospel, the disciples are arguing about who among them is the greatest.  Can you imagine this for a moment-sitting in the presence of Christ and squabbling about who is better or smarter or stronger?  Our Lord quickly puts an end to the bickering by inviting a child into their midst, "whoever receives this child in my name, receives me."  I have often wondered about this passage, but I think I have a clearer view since having my own children.  Trust me, to care for a child is to serve him, and it will quickly deplete any amount of arrogance you may have!

But, it’s not just about how we treat others.  (Though  in seeking power and greatness, it is always at the expense of someone else.)  It is also about what it means to have real faith.  In taking Christ as our Savior, we are saying that we do not define our worth by the world’s flimsy standards.  What matters is our standing with God. 

In reply to this, John tells Christ that the disciples witnessed someone doing good works in Jesus’ name.  But because he was not one of their small band of followers, they tried to stop him.  At this point in our lessons about pride, I half expected Jesus to say something along the lines of: "Are you kidding me?"   The goal is to serve and to move closer to God.   Does John really see this other person as a rival because he is serving in Jesus’ name apart from their tight knit group?  Is he really going to undermine this other man’s ministry?  Is John trying to bring glory to God or  to himself?  He might as well have come right out and told that man he had to get lost because he wasn’t one of the cool kids.  Jesus tells his disciples quite simply, "whoever is not against you is for you."

In other words-serve God, not your ego.  You might just earn a gold star at recess.

 

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

Scripture:

Amos 6:1a, 4-7
1Timothy 6:11-16
Luke 16:19-31

Reflection:

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

As I read the Scripture readings for today, the "Golden Rule" kept playing in the background of my mind.  "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  When I was in grade school, one of my teachers had this on the bulletin board in her classroom. It was one of the first things you would see walking into the room.  I was young and it took awhile for the meaning of this phrase to become clear to me (I think the word "unto" is what threw me off).  I finally understood!  Do/act toward others as I would want them to do/act towards me.

The readings for today highlight to me how the rich bask in the comfort and glory of the material things they have during life, but the poor know the riches awaiting them in heaven.  How do we balance the comforts we may have in life, while sacrificing something for those less fortunate; and not just financially.  We may be rich in many aspects of our life: love, happiness, good health, family life, friends, etc.   How can we share our riches with someone not as blessed?

I am reminded of this past July 4^th.  My family and I went to the annual Fourth of July parade; the same parade we’ve attended for over 20 years.  This year however, it was an extremely hot day in Chicago.  I think the heat index was above 100 degrees.  So, we packed our chairs and water bottles to try and make the heat more tolerable.

As I sat in the sun and watched the band march by, I noticed an elderly gentleman walking toward the parade.  He walked very slowly and was by himself.  I thought to myself, "I hope he’s ok in this heat."  He got to the street and stood to watch the parade go by.  After about five minutes I couldn’t let this go on.  I got up, moved my chair into the shade, introduced myself and asked him to sit down.  I proceeded to give him a cold bottle of water and made him drink some.  At first he was reluctant, but I think when he saw I wasn’t going to take no for an answer, he relented and was very appreciative.

I later learned that it took him 45 minutes to walk the three blocks from his house.  He is 99 years old, widowed 20 years, a retired Navy Captain and the last surviving member of his crew.  After the parade I pulled my car up and gave him a ride home.  Again, he was very appreciative.

The whole rest of the day I felt so happy and really good about myself; not in an arrogant way.  I thought that if that were me at that age, I would like someone to do that for me.  It was an opportunity for me to do something really good and I seized it.  It also became a great opportunity for my teenage sons to see the goodness in people.  I have always tried to teach them to be considerate of others, to do something nice and not expect anything in return.  I followed the Golden Rule, I shared my comforts and the gratitude I received that day was more than enough for me.

 

Claire Smith ([email protected]) is on staff at the Holy Cross Province Development Office in Chicago, Illinois.

Feast of Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, archangels

Scripture:

Daniel 7: 9-10, 13-14
John 1: 47-51

Reflection:

Judaism, Christianity and Islam, all three faiths speak about angels – messengers of God. From time to time even popular culture references the existence of angels and their supposed "mysterious" power to intervene in our human lives. Yet how are we as Christians, better yet, how are we as Catholic Christians to understand angels??

                Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this. Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

I find this scripture passage very telling. We as human persons cannot understand angels except through the lens of Jesus Christ.

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church (Second Edition), the Church clearly teaches: "Christ is the center of the angelic world. They are his angels…they belong to him because they were created through and for him. They belong to him still more because he has made them messengers of his saving plan…" (cf. 331) "From the Incarnation to the Ascension, the life of the Word Incarnate is surrounded by the adoration and service of angels." (cf. 333) The angels proclaim the joyous news of Jesus’ birth – the Incarnation.  They protect Christ in his infancy, minister to him in the desert and uphold him in his agony in the garden.  Again, the angels proclaim the good news of the Resurrection and will be with the Lord at the end of time.

As such, Jesus shares with Nathaniel the secret that he too will somehow be a witness to the experience of the angels. Like the angels Nathanael, a "true child of Israel," will take on the same role of the angels in their service to the Son of Man. He too will be called to proclaim the joy of the Incarnation, God sharing His very self with all of humankind. He too will be called to serve Christ in his sisters and brothers in the infancy of their new lives, in their deserts of doubt, in their agonies of disappointment. Nathaniel to, like the angels, will proclaim that Christ is conqueror of death and Lord of Life!

And while the archangels the Church celebrate today have specific roles and functions…Michael, protector, Raphael, healer, and Gabriel, divine messenger…Nathaniel , like us, will have the privilege to serve in all of those roles!

May these archangels and all the angelic powers continue to support us in the work Christ has called us to do. Like these angels may we see ourselves as servants of Christ.  May our lives be so centered on Jesus that we too may hear our Lord say to us… "Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him."

 

Patrick Quinn ([email protected]) is the director of Planned Giving at the Passionist Development Office in Chicago.