Daily Scripture

Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle 

Scripture:

Ephesians 2:19-22
John 20:24-29

Reflection:

"You are no longer strangers and sojourners…" the opening lines of St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians,  the proper reading for today’s feast of St. Thomas the Apostle. Yes, I can get in touch with being "stranger and sojourner." When I am up against an evil that I cannot change but can resist, like racism, or solutions addressed with deadly force (abortion, war), I know what it means to be the stranger. When I make every attempt to contribute to the change of another’s life for the good, and do not look for results or acknowledgements, I know what it means to be a sojourner. Thomas gets the rap for being the "doubter," and that is a good thing..someone with whom we can identify. A spiritual blog I read says, "Out of chaos often comes the greatest creativity. We know this is the very nature of the universe. And the only thing that can endure deep doubt or anxiety is deep faith. ..those who can tolerate ambiguity and hold darkness are those who rise to great faith. Faith gets purified every time you go through the cycle of doubt and failure." So what does Jesus want Thomas to do, in order to believe from within, in the face of certain doubt? "Put your finger here…" Who knows where the Spirit  wants to lead us during our mission journey on this planet. The Spirit led Thomas to India.  Who knows where taking our doubts to Jesus will lead us. Don’t be afraid of touching the wounds through which He invites us into His mission of global reconciliation. It is all part of our Passionist charism.

 

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

Scripture:

Amos 7:10-17
Matthew 9:1-8

Reflection:

I don’t usually turn on the TV in the morning, but today I wanted to check the weather.

A cable station came up first. The man being interviewed was young and handsome and quite earnest. He was talking about his strength of faith. He didn’t seem artificially certain about it, but very genuine and full of life.

The camera pulled back and what was revealed in the longer shot was that he had no arms or legs; just one tiny foot beneath his trunk.  I don’t know if he had been born to a mother who had taken thalidomide or not.

He talked about how deeply he carried Christ in his heart. He talked about how he had come to be at peace with himself. What particularly struck me was when he said (to the best of my memory), "What I learned was that I was a broken man not because I had no arms or legs, but because I was broken within. Once I realized that I could be whole inside, I no longer felt incomplete."

Today in the Gospel, Jesus performs a miracle. Making the lame man walk is, of course, miraculous, but before that, he heals the paralytic’s sins.  This, Jesus reminds the scribes, is the far harder thing to do, perhaps in part because the one who is lost must be open and accepting of the grace that is being offered.  Our bodies can be restored and that is a wondrous gift, but it is our hearts’ readiness to receive the spirit of Christ that is truly transformative.

Clearly this young man opened his heart to receive a grace that has made the nearly unbearable, bearable.  His embrace of his cross has opened a door into a new life: a life where he is whole, where he is loved, and where, in his words, he is "not a broken man but a child of God." 

 

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

 

Scripture:

Amos 5:14-15, 21-24
Matthew 8:28-34

 

 

 

Reflection:

In the Broadway Play, My Fair Lady, we have these words from Eliza Doolittle to Freddie,

                 "Sing me no song! Read me no rhyme!
                  Don’t waste my time, Show me!
                  Don’t talk of June, Don’t talk of fall!
                  Don’t talk at all! Show me!"

The young lady wanted more than mere words about love. She wanted some demonstration that made these words believable.  

In today’s reading from the prophet Amos, God tells his people he wants more than mere words and external sacrifices.  They are empty of meaning, indeed a lie, unless they are followed by actions of justice and goodness.  God wants authentic worship or no worship at all.

These words challenge us to reflect on how well we live out what we do at Sunday Mass.  At Mass we offer ourselves with Christ to the Father.  We say "Amen," receiving Christ into our hearts and recommitting ourselves to be his followers.  Then we are sent forth into the world

That means that, during the week, we are to seek good and not evil.  That means we are to express compassion, show hospitality and forgive. That means we are to work for justice, show patience, wash the feet of others and serve.  That means we are to hug the earth and all those who live on it.  

In short, during the week, we are to think like Christ, speak like Christ, act like Christ, and love like Christ.  Our focus is on doing the Father’s will, and into the Father’s hands we continually commend our spirit.

To live out the Mass means to let Christ enter our hearts and take over our lives.  With his justice surging in us and his goodness flowing through us, our words and sacrifice on Sunday will be very authentic and very pleasing to the Father. 

 

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:

Amos 2:6-10, 13-16
Matthew 8:18-22

Reflection:

Today’s Gospel offers us a challenge.   Sandwiched between stories of Jesus’ miracles, the Gospel calls us to total commitment.   It is almost as though Jesus is telling us:   Look what I do! Does this not tell you who I am?  Do you not know that you must make me and my message the biggest priority in your life?  "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead."

For many of us, it is at this point that Christianity gets to be a bit more than we may have bargained for.  We are caught up in a world of daily chores, worries and problems that take a toll on us.  We are busy people.  Our conversation with God  might go something like this.  Well, I want to follow you, but first I have to make one more sale at the business, or arrange my daughter’s wedding, or plan the Soccer team outing, or go to this concert or…..  But Jesus says, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead."

It isn’t that the things we do are evil – in fact, many of them are acts of goodness and kindness.  But Jesus says, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead."   What does our commitment to Jesus and to Christianity mean in our lives?

Today is also the Feast day of St. Ireneaus.  St. Ireneaus was an early Bishop and Church Father.  Born in the Second Century, he did much to define Christianity and to refute heresies.  St. Ireneaus as Bishop and Missionary,  certainly must have led a busy life, filled with many demands, and yet, he found time to write several books that proved to set foundational beliefs of our Church.  I wonder what he would have said to God about his commitment.  Did he say, I want to follow you, but first I have to….or did he listen well to the message "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead?"  It seems as though  he  must indeed have set Jesus and Christianity as his top priority.

How deep is our commitment?  Do we really put Jesus first in our lives?  Do we listen to Jesus and "…let the dead bury their dead?"

 

Mary Lou Butler ([email protected]) is the interim administrator at Christ the King Passionist Retreat Center, Citrus Heights, California. 

Scripture:

Lamentations 2:2, 10-14, 18-19
Matthew 8:5-17

Reflection:

"He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases."

In today’s Gospel, Jesus encounters a centurion who asks Jesus to come and heal one of his servants.  This soldier, in command of other soldier’s below him understands what it means to be in a position of authority, but also what it means to be subject to authority.  He humbly tells Jesus that he is not worthy to have Jesus enter his house.  Moved by this soldier’s strong faith, Jesus heals the servant. After this event, many were brought to Jesus to be healed.

How many times have we prayed, even begged, asking Jesus to heal or cure a loved one?  I know I’ve done it too often.  What about the stories we hear of people who have been miraculously cured of an illness?  Is that not Jesus present in our lives? How else does Jesus heal us?  It does not have to be a physical illness.  Even just having a good day where everything seems to fall into place, everything works the way it is supposed to and all is good.  Is that not a form of healing?

The next time something goes right in our lives; maybe it’s a project we’ve been working on, or you just have a really good day and are in a great mood, pause for a moment and say thank you, Jesus, for that little bit of healing.

 

Claire Smith is on staff at the Holy Cross Province Development Office in Chicago, Illinois.

Birth of St. John the Baptist 

Scripture:

Isaiah 49:1-6
Acts 13:22-26
Luke 1:57-66, 80

Reflection:

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."     At first glance John the Baptist can appear very harsh and severe.  If we look closely at his message we see he really wants us to change of mind about God.  The word for repent in the inspired Greek New Testament is metanoeo which means to think differently about God.  

John the Baptist is passionate about God because God is passionate about us.   From the opening pages of Scripture God’s feelings about us are ardent.   I think most of us have very little notion of just how strongly God feels about us.   John the Baptist even to this day is to move us to care more deeply about God. 

John is to prepare us for God’s ultimate expression of love in Jesus.  It is fashionable today to be casual about religion.    Somehow in our culture to be laid-back about God is considered the sophisticated and acceptable way to act.  In our anxiousness to please others and avoid rejection we are slack and limp in preaching the Gospel by our words and manner.

John the Baptist is a man on fire.   When he was asked who he was he said I am a voice crying out in the desert.  ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ "  The greatest evil in the world is not the oil spill, or poverty, or injustice.   The greatest evil  in the world is not to have Christ.   This is the greatest disaster  and catastrophe that can happen to individuals and society.    For John the Baptist all else was secondary and important  only as a way to prepare for the coming of Christ. 

John the Baptist is antidote  for the poison of apathy towards God.   He is a powerful figure that reminds us that Jesus is the First and the Last of our lives.   The author of the Letter to the Hebrews says that Christ is everything to everyone.

 

Fr. Bob Weiss, C.P. gives parish missions and retreats.  He is a member of the Passionist community in Detroit, Michigan. 

             

 

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles 

Scripture:

Acts 12:1-11
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18
Matthew 16:13-19

Reflection:

Your typical reflection for today would most likely center itself around a panegyric to the lives of Ss. Peter and Paul. However I would like to take a bit of a different stance. I have learned that the martyrs teach us not only how to die for our faith but also how to live it. So instead of reflecting on the lives and martyrdom of these early leaders of the nascent Christian community in Rome, I would like to share with you the life lessons learned by one of their illustrious descendants: "il papa buono" Blessed Pope John XIII.

Here are Pope John XXIII’s 10 lessons to living a better life here and now!

1. Only for today, I will seek to live the day positively without wishing to solve the problems of my life all at once.

2. Only for today, I will take the greatest care of my appearance: I will dress modestly; I will not raise my voice; I will be courteous in my behavior; I will not criticize anyone; I will not claim to improve or to discipline anyone except myself.

3. Only for today, I will be happy in the certainty that I was created to be happy, not only in the other world but also in this one.

4. Only for today, I will adapt to circumstances, without requiring all circumstances to be adapted to my own wishes.

5. Only for today, I will devote 10 minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul.

6. Only for today, I will do one good deed and not tell anyone about it.

7. Only for today, I will do at least one thing I do not like doing; and if my feelings are hurt, I will make sure that no one notices.

8. Only for today, I will make a plan for myself, I may not follow it to the letter, but I will make it. And I will be on guard against two evils: hastiness and indecision.

9. Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good Providence of God cares for me as no one who exists in this world.

10. Only for today, I will have no fears. In particular, I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe in goodness.

The list is simple yet challenging and incredibly profound. We pray on this Feast of the Apostles, Peter and Paul and also through the intercession of Blessed John XXIII that we might try to imitate their lives of faith so that we too might merit their eternal glory in Christ.

 

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

Scripture:

2 Kings 25:1-12
Matthew 8:1-4

Reflection:

In today’s Gospel Jesus cures the man afflicted with leprosy.  In the gospels, miracles are signs of the reign of God overcoming the reign of Satan.  This particular miracle is especially poignant.  A person with leprosy must live outside of the cities.  They must carry a bell to warn travelers not to come closer than six feet.  They had to shout "unclean, unclean."  Their appearances were prescribed.  Their hair was to be disheveled.  Their clothing was to be ragged.  Their mouths were to be covered.  The average death from leprosy was nine years, but some lived with it for twenty to thirty years.

What is evident in this miracle story is that the man with leprosy had great faith.  He was willing to break the laws and enter the city to meet Jesus.  He was humble.  He did not ask that his leprosy be cured!  He said:  "If it is your will, let me be made clean!"  He paid Jesus homage.  The word used here for "homage" is the same word used for "reverencing the gods!"  He was a man of faith.  He was humble. He was reverent.

This miracle is another example of Jesus’ compassionate heart.  This is most evident because Jesus was not only willing to hold a conversation with this petitioner, but Jesus also reached out and touched him.  The man was cured.  He was restored to his community.   Jesus’ heart was so impressed  by this gentleman’s faith that Jesus was willing to break the codes prescribed by law.  Jesus  reached out and touched the man.

Robert Louis Stevenson was visiting a leprosarium staffed by sisters.  He said to one of the sisters:  "I wouldn’t do what you are doing for a million dollars!"  She replied:  "Neither would I."  Mother Theresa of Calcutta use to tell her sisters:  "When we help the poor we must feed, cloth, and heal the poor.  But never forget, when you are helping the poor you must touch the poor!"  This gospel story challenges us to touch the poor, to touch those no one else wants to touch.  The compassionate Christian heart calls us to it.    

 

Fr. Kenneth O’Malley, C.P. is the archivist at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.