Daily Scripture

Christmas Eve

Scripture:

2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16
Luke 1:67-79

Reflection:

"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’"

This night the Virgin Mary will bring God closer to us than ever before in Salvation History.  Thanks to this great Lady we can approach a God with a human heart.  With John we can lay our head on the chest of Christ!  We can be touched by God in a thoroughly human way by hands formed by Mary. We can experience the fingertips of God with all their 3,000 touch receptors in a pair of human hands.

As God touches us so we can now touch Him. Thanks to Our Blessed Mother God invites us in a human way to experience Him.  "See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have." LUKE 24:39   The Greek word for handle means to rub or touch the surface from psao.  With faith we can now experience a human encounter with God.

It is fascinating that the God of the galaxies billions of light years away comes to us in an utterly physical way as a smiling little baby.  Now we can look into the eyes of a human being and know we have our image on the retina of God.  The prayer of the Psalmist over 2500 years ago is now realized: "Keep me as the apple of your eye".  The Hebrew word for apple is eeshone or little man.   I can see me as "little man" reflected in the eye of God.

Christmas is indeed a feast of our Emmanuel. God has never spoken so plainly to us as He does this Feast Day. A wonderful companion to be with us this eve is Mary.  Who can appreciate this human side of God better than she.  Truly, He is our Emmanuel.

 

Fr. Bob Weiss, C.P. preaches Parish Missions and is a member of the Passionist Community in Detroit, Michigan.

Scripture:

Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24
Luke 1:57-66

Reflection:

As we come nearer to Christmas, our Scripture readings point to all the events leading up to Jesus’ birth. In today’s Gospel reading we hear about the birth of John the Baptist. We see that there are miraculous happenings associated with John’s birth. First, there is the angel appearing to Zechariah, with Zechariah made mute because of his doubt. Then we see that Elizabeth, thought to be barren, does conceive. And when John is born, and Zechariah confirms that his name is John, Zechariah’s voice returns, and he begins to praise God.

Of course, all those around Elizabeth and Zechariah are not oblivious to what has gone on, and ask each other, "What then, will this child be?" For, as Luke says, "…surely the hand of the Lord was with him." The circumstances around our birth may not have been as miraculous as those around the Baptist’s birth (although some of us may have a near-miraculous story to tell!), but if we look at our lives, we recognize that the "hand of the Lord" has also been with us. There have been numerous times when God has given us a second or a third or even a tenth chance. There have been other times when God has brought us through some crisis or illness, when we weren’t sure what would happen next. And there are other times when we realize that God was opening the proverbial door for us when another one was closed.

If we acknowledge that God has worked in our lives, we may need to ask ourselves the same question asked about John: "What, then, are we to be?" Are we open to being heralds of Jesus Christ? Are we open to live our lives in such a way that everything about us points to Jesus? The hand of the Lord has indeed been with us. May we proclaim His coming.

 

Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P. is pastor of St. Mary’s Parish, Fairfield, Alabama.

Scripture:

Sg 2.8-14
Lk 1.39-45

Reflection:

Today is the winter solstice, when the sun is at its greatest angular distance from the celestial equator, leading (in the northern hemisphere) to the shortest day and the longest night of the year.  For northern hemisphere people, it initiates winter, possibly a depressing thought for cold-blooded people, but, by the same token, it reverses the diminishment of sunlight, and commences the six month climb toward the lightsome time of the year.

By her selection of today’s biblical readings, the church prefers to take the glass is half-full approach as preferable to the half-empty viewpoint.  For she presents a delightful reading from the Song of Songs, a love duet, largely dominated by the woman who grows rapturous at the prospects of: "Hark! My lover-here he comes".  This is a high-energy piece appropriate to two youthful people.  They are obviously on their way to a marital union, a life together, and the begetting of a family.  It is a fitting companion piece to a similar event on the church’s calendar: the beginning of a new family on the part of a young couple, Mary and Joseph, whose love must certainly reflect that of the two in the Song of Songs.

So, even though winter is just getting underway today, we can read between the lines of this Song with its remarks that "the winter is past" and "the flowers appear on the earth" and "the fig tree puts forth its figs".  These are all prescient harbingers of the new life-forms about to appear, both in terms of the developing union between the couple in this Song, and also in Luke’s gospel account, where he describes Mary’s visit to Elizabeth.

For Mary is already pregnant, leading Elizabeth to exclaim: "And how does this happen…that the mother of my Lord should come to me?", and Mary’s travel to the "hill country" of Judah corresponds geographically to the woman’s remark in the Song about her lover "springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills".  In this selection we have a soliloquy of Elizabeth (for Mary is silent at this moment), reminiscent of the young woman in the Song, who is the main speaker, except for the last section.  In sum,  these readings display a feminine perspective pervading today’s Advent preparation for the birth of the Lord.  For they accentuate the loving, relational, family-oriented qualities for us to appropriate as preparation for the Christmas event that is near at hand.

And they set us up to be beneficiaries of yet another beatitude (apart from those of the Sermon on the Mount): "Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."  It only remains for us to discover what it is that the Lord speaks to us.

 

Fr. Sebastian MacDonald, C.P. is a member of the Passionist formation community at Catholic Theological Union, Chicago. 

Scripture:

Judges 13:2-7, 24-25a
Luke 1:5-25

Reflection:

"It is he who will begin the deliverance of Israel." Judges 13:5

Have you ever noticed how many times God has included ordinary people in the Plan of Salvation? One would think that God is having a problem being God! If God is so powerful, why doesn’t God do it all? Why does God depend upon us humans to bring about Salvation, Redemption, Everlasting Life?

It seems that God has fallen into a pattern. The two Scripture passages for today’s Liturgy illustrate this pattern in clear and simple terms. When things seem to be stalled or even going backwards, God sends someone who helps us begin the movement back to God. In the first reading, a barren woman gives birth to a son who prepares to deliver Israel from the hands of its enemies. The son’s name: Samson. He was one of the many messengers that God sent to rescue Israel from their troubles because of their infidelity.

In today’s Gospel, we hear how God sends us John the Baptist to prepare us for the coming of God’s Son, Jesus. John, like Samson, was born of a woman who had been barren all of her married life, and was now thought to be too old to have children. God proves to us once again that nothing is impossible with God.

When we begin to reflect in a prayerful way upon our lives, we begin to see that God sends us so many people who prepare us for the coming of the Lord, Jesus. Some of us are so focused on looking for the big "miracle," the extraordinary events that we think are God’s signs of Love and Life, that we miss the ordinary miracles of everyday, the daily signs of God’s Love and Life. Some of us are like Zachariah, John’s father, so full of questions and doubts, that we miss the true miracles that God keeps sending us as preparation for the coming of Jesus in our lives.

The people who prepare us for the coming of Jesus are all of the ordinary people who call us to live faithfully, a life of faith, hope and love. Sometimes, these messengers come in the midst of our darkness and they pull us out of the doldrums of hopelessness and depression. Sometimes, these messengers confirm our deepest convictions and longings, to be united with God and with one another as we make our way through life. God never tires of sending us messengers who prepares us to walk the Way of the Lord and guide our feet into the way of Peace.

As we prepare of the Feast of Christmas, the Miracle of the Incarnation, the Birth of the Baby Jesus, let us be attentive to all of the many messengers that God sends us to prepare for that most Wonderful Gift of All, God’s Incarnate Love!

 

Fr. Clemente Barron, C.P. is a member of the General Council of the Passionist Congregation and is stationed in Rome. 

Scripture:

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

Reflection:

Many people today enjoy studying their family tree.  I, on a regular basis, get an ad on my computer, offering, for pay, information and documentation on individuals who make up my family’s history.  This has been an interest that may go back from the early beginnings of the human family on earth.  At times, families are surprised to discover some of the characters who are included in their storyline.  "My great, great, great uncle is said to have been a pirate".

In our first reading from the book of Genesis, we are told of the blessings or curses that Jacob placed on each of his 12 sons.  Today’s reading centers on the blessings Jacob gave to his son Judah.  Of his twelve sons, it would be Judah and his descendents that would have great prominence.  David would be of the tribe of Judah and from this tribe and the house of David, the Messiah would come.

In our Gospel today, in a more patterned fashion, St. Matthew names, in three groups of fourteen, the ancestors of Jesus.  The number fourteen is a doubling of the perfect number seven.  St. Matthew is telling us that the time is ripe for the coming of the Messiah.

Embedded in this genealogy is the teaching that God is in control of history.  It is not by happenstance that certain people come upon the scene.  There is a planned pattern of salvation unfolding at each point along the line.  Certain people in the story teach us a specific lesson.  There are three foreign women included – Tamar, Ruth and Bathsheba.  Each of them had a blight on their character.  Their inclusion teaches us that the family of God is formed by including the stranger and foreigner, even people with a "bad reputation".  Jesus would teach us the same lesson by associating with sinners and tax collectors, calling them to repentance and giving them a place in his kingdom.

In a male dominated world, these three women also prepare the way for another woman, Mary, and her very special role in God’s plan of salvation.

Today’s readings show us the special preparation that God did for the coming of his son, our Savior, Jesus.  The flow of history and its story continue, as Jesus calls millions of others into his kingdom, that he will one day present, perfectly transformed, to his Father as a gift.  How wonderful it will be for each of us to be part of that gift. 

 

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

Scripture:

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

Reflection:

I don’t have children myself, so I can’t speak of this from personal experience. But I can imagine what a parent must feel when their beloved child–for whom they have given all love, all care, all worry, all devotion-looks upon and treats them as a stranger.  To be disregarded or unknown by the one you created out of the breath of your own existence must be a pain that is very intense. 

In a historical sense, of course, the first reading is a record of the journey of the Israelites in committing to being a one-God centered people. But the reading is also an impassioned testament from God who reveals in the fullest of ways all that He has done and created for His people: I form the light, and create the darkness…Let the earth open and salvation bud forth; let justice also spring up! I, the LORD, have created this. God’s creation and His gifts are rich beyond our wildest reckoning!

And then, what additional gift can God possibly give us as a testimony to His immeasurable, passionate, crazy, enveloping love for us, His children? We, who fall away, get distracted, feel neglected, tend towards doubt, rail pitifully and settle into apathy? He gives us His Son, His only Son.

It’s as if God is saying: Can you hear me now?

The good news-and there is good news-is that the message is getting through. In the Gospel we see the Prophet John alerting his disciples to the reality that something dramatic is happening, that the one they have been waiting for has perhaps arrived.  God is no longer "out there" pulling the cosmic strings but He is among us, He is one of us. And He loves us dearly, even unto death.

As we move toward Christmas, what else can our hearts do but open up and receive the love that God has given us so generously, so abundantly, in the birth of the baby Jesus? We know the pain that is to come for Him, but for this moment, let’s simply rejoice in the beauty of this wondrous child, this tender being, who will change the course of the world with the flick of His tiny finger.

 

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

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Scripture:

Zechariah 2:14-17
Luke 1:26-38

Reflection:

Appearances by the Virgin Mary have been regularly reported throughout the centuries. Some enthusiastic believers go into great detail describing the experience. Yet the church has always been highly selective in affirming that an apparition is "worthy of pious belief." Ecclesial endorsements are rare. Vatican scrutiny is severe. In modern times, only ten apparitions have been officially deemed to exhibit characteristics "worthy of pious belief," and the earliest of these is the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe at Tepeyac (Jaroslav Pelikan in Mary Through the Centuries).

The significance of the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego in 1531 does not hinge on the historicity of the apparition. The miracle is manifested in the remarkable transformation which it evoked within the people of Mexico and the Chicano culture. Guadalupe has become a powerful cultural energizer. Her appearance was crucial in restoring dignity, humanity and hope to a conquered people. Truly, it lifted up the lowly.

An interpretation of the Gospel text (Luke 1:26-38) for this feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe can be understood in the same way. The miracle of the annunciation is not merely an historical event. It is a message addressed to every woman who searches for her own dignity and to every man on a quest for the meaning of his humanity. Our completeness comes in discovering the birth of the inner Christ in the womb of our hearts.

At various times, whispering angels suggest that we are blessed beyond expectation. They encourage us to look within to see in our hearts a seed, an embryo, a fetus, or maybe even a small baby – but, to recognize God within. As did Mary, the task of our spiritual life is to feed, cloth and nurture the child so that we may mature into the fullness of Christ. That is the miracle of transformation.

Fr. Joe Mitchell, CP is the director of the Passionist Earth & Spirit Center in Louisville, KY.

See his website: www.earthandspiritcenter.org

 

Scripture:

Isaiah 48:17-19
Matthew 11:16-19

 

 

Reflection:

"Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life."  Ps. 1

Today we honor St. Pope Damasus I, (born in 304; died Dec. 11, 384)

He was, to say the least, a man of contradictions.

He defended papal supremacy.  Yet, for a time he served the antipope Felix II, in defiance of the oath taken by Roman clergy not to recognize anyone else as Bishop of Rome while Pope Liberius, who was in exile, was still alive.

He had compassion for the poor.  Yet he lived lavishly, keeping company with the aristocracy.

As Pope, he was the vicar of the "Prince of Peace."  Yet, he and those who elected him to the papacy hired thugs to rout his papal challenger, Ursinus, and his supporters.  The violence turned so bloody that Emperor Valentinius was forced to intervene.

Some saint.  Yet, we are called to honor Damasus on this day.  Why, because despite those weaknesses "…he followed the Lord."

He defended the young Church against heresies.

He honored the martyrs and called on the faithful to do the same

He loved Scripture and wanted all to love the Bible.  In 382, he set down the canon of Scripture with the "Decree of Damasus."  The Council of Trent upheld that decree.  He commissioned St. Jerome to translate the Bible into Latin, the common language of the day, so that an accurate translation of Scripture would accessible to the faithful.

Damasus was a man of contradictions.  And for all that, we honor him on this day.  And why not?  Of him, we can say: "Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life."

Deacon Manuel Valencia is on the staff at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.