Daily Scripture

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Luke 9:22-25

Reflection:

I presume that many of you are like me when I am saying goodbye to someone.   " It’s been so good to see you!  Take care of yourself until I see you again."  That would be followed up usually with a big hug.   Nothing like a word of encouragement and a hug to seal it.  It’s interesting to look back and realize that those "goodbyes" and hugs go with whatever age our loved ones are at: the healthy, the sick and homebound, the old and the young, the happy and the sorrowful.    

Friendship is not frozen into a photo.  Here we are the day after Ash Wednesday, at the beginning of our trip into the awesome season of Lent.  There’s a feeling of seriousness in the air.  Nothing wrong with that.   Christmas is behind us.  The baby Jesus has grown into a mature person.  There is a seriousness about Jesus.  His sincere concern about you and me is laid out very honestly: "If anyone wishes to come after me, he/she must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and come follow Me."

Friendships grow as the persons grow.  At the baptism of Jesus we read, "…heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove.  And a voice came from heaven, "you are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."  His relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit is affirmed with the outpouring of love to Him as God Incarnate, the Redeemer, who was to be called "Jesus" because "he would save his people from their sins."   It would take courage and lots of love as Jesus moved closer and closer to Jerusalem and crucifixion.

You and I are all at different moments in our lives.  No need for shame as we flinch or gasp at what we are facing as we grasp our own cross in 2010. We are not alone.  There is a need never to forget the precious reminder, "Greater love than this no one has but that he lay down his life for his friends."  Can I gently remind you that Jesus has that love…and that…you are that friend that He is willing to lay down his life?"

You and I will have the opportunity to think about, reflect on, sit quietly with, perhaps being helped by holding a crucifix in our hands .  Can you and I be open to hearing in our hearts those words of Jesus crucified, who says to you, "I love you.  You are my friend. "  This Lent could bring a deep, profound grace as we move along each day with realization, "Jesus loves me." Who knows what impact this will have. ..especially if we can respond, "And I love you, too."

 

Fr. Peter Berendt, C.P. is on the staff of Holy Name Passionist Retreat Center, Houston, Texas.

 

Scripture:

Jeremiah 17:5-8
1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20
Luke 6:17, 20-26

 

 

Reflection:

What a charming coincidence that the romantic observance of Valentine’s Day falls on a Sunday when the Word of God is literally packed with powerful messages of warning and hope, love and blessedness!

When so many lovers and very well-married couples will be sharing cards, candy, and poetic protestations of affection, we will all hear at Mass on Sunday the heartfelt words of Jeremiah, St. Paul and Jesus himself.  Jeremiah cries out like the great prophet he is, first with warning…"Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings…" but then quickly and lovingly reassures us with the hopeful heart of his message…"Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord…"  And as if we need even more convincing Jeremiah poetically describes those who hope and trust in the Lord as being like a tree planted beside cool, refreshing waters.  What a soothing and heartening image.  Hallmark Cards are not the only ones who send the very best to the ones they love!

Paul contributes to this feast of loving reassurance, much like Jeremiah, with a somewhat shadowy introduction, but concludes in his letter to the Corinthians with the proclamation that we all share in the glorious resurrection of Christ raised from the dead.  Our faith is indeed in vain if Christ has not been raised.  In fact, if Christ has not been raised we are still in our sins!  What a horrible thought!  But clearly Paul encourages us and wants us to remember that we are not still in the grasp of sin, that the Lord is risen and that we have reason to place our hope and trust in him.  Paul and Jeremiah, each in his own way, gives us a message even greater than the most loving Valentine I would say.

The Gospel from Luke on today’s feast is the most powerful gift of all on this Valentine’s Day.  Luke gives us his own perspective of Jesus preaching the Sermon on the Mount in which he sets forth the great beatitudes.  But Luke’s sermon is shorter than Matthew’s and has the addition of several verses of woes, warnings to those who are wealthy and who very possibly ignore the poor.  Clearly Luke has Jesus preaching to a different audience than does Matthew but his meaning is clear for all of us: living a life of beatitudes is not only about being poor, hungry, weeping, or persecuted.  Even more we must make sure that we reach out to and care for those who have less than we.  If we do this we will be blessed by God.  This Sixth Sunday in Ordinary time, dear friends, can be a Valentine’s Day even more memorable than those of the past if we warmly receive the reassurances of Jeremiah and St. Paul that for those who trust in the Lord and place their hope in him their reward shall be to live with the Christ raised up from the dead forever.  Yet, Luke brings a sobering reminder that we who are destined for eternal life must also spend a lifetime of caring and loving one another, especially the poor and those in need.

 

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

 

Scripture:

1 Kings 12:26-32; 13:33-34
Mark 8:1-10

Reflection:

Some of us Passionists, vowed and lay, have had the privilege of serving at the LOAVES AND FISHES soup kitchen in downtown Sacramento, California.  In the years I volunteered, 1985-89, the building was ramshackled, yet the sign out front, bold letters on a green sign, pointed to hope.  On Mondays, people from various Catholic and other Christian churches, many inclined to charismatic prayer, came and diced onions, carrots, cut meat, opened cans, etc., all for the hundreds of people that would come for the noon meal.  Our leaders, Roberto or Ann, led us in prayer.  So often, after giving thanks, we prayed that God would send someone with some extra meat or pasta or fruit, whatever was still needed for a well-balanced meal.  EVERY SINGLE TIME GOD PROVIDED. "How many loaves do you have?", Jesus asked the disciples.  They gave what they had and Jesus multiplied their supply for all.  So much so that there were leftovers.  God will provide, God always provides, we just have to ask and do our part.

In contrast, Jeroboam, in today’s first reading is anxious about his standing: "…the hearts of this people will return to their master…"  He stands in for any of us (we could say greedy bankers or dishonest politicians, but in reality all of us) when we take our eyes off of God’s goodness and Providence.  We hear sadly at the end this reading that Jeroboam’s house "was to be cut off and destroyed from the earth."  

As we stand on the cusp of Lent, we know God’s constant reminders to us to mirror his goodness to others in our lives.  By simple acts of sharing of loaves of bread, of fish, of our moments of giving attention to the needs of others, the reign of God breaks out.  

 

Fr. Bob Bovenzi, C.P. is stationed in Houston, Texas.

Scripture:

1 Kings 11:29-32; 12:19
Mark 7:31-37

Reflection:

Evagrius Ponticus, a fourth-century Christian monk, instructed his disciples: "Strive to render your mind deaf and dumb at the time of prayer and then you will be able to pray." Evagrius was offering advice on a form of contemplative prayer called meditation. As a mystic, he trusted that God is present in the depth of the human heart and that inner Divinity could be accessed through the discipline of meditation.

The goal of meditation is to encounter the presence of God within the Silence of one’s Heart. This is accomplished through a gradual withdrawal of the physical senses from stimulation with the external world. Step by step, the meditator cuts off contact with the outside world by closing the sense doors one by one. First, the eyes go shut (that is the easy part). Then the meditator begins to encounter the constant chatter of the ego-mind which is agitated with desires, volitions and opinions. By advising the Christian meditator "to render the mind deaf and dumb," Evagrius is pointing the way to God which is beyond words, images and mental concepts. He is encouraging the meditator to continue the inner battle with the ego which fiercely resists being quiet. In time, the presence of God will be revealed within the depths of one’s self. This penetrating dynamic is described by the Psalmist as "deep calling unto deep" (Psalm 42:7).

Whenever the Gospels speak of Jesus healing physical afflictions, anyone walking the spiritual path realizes that the story also points to an inner healing. The transformative grace of meditation comes when we are finally able to go "deaf and dumb" in prayer – when we move our consciousness beyond words and concepts. For then the spiritual ears are open to the inner voice of God and any impediments to communication with the Spirit are removed. The blessing received by the impaired man in the Gospel is once again manifested: "the deaf hear and the mute speak."

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

See his website: www.earthandspiritcenter.org

Scripture:
1 Kings 11:4-13
Mark 7:24-30

Reflection:
Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs."  Then he said to her, "For saying that, you may go–the demon has left your daughter." So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

No amount of biblical gymnastics can soften the insulting words of Jesus.  He called this nameless Syrophoenician woman a dog.  She begged Jesus to heal her daughter, but he compared her to a dog and the Jews to children around the table to whom he’s feeding bread. 

But this woman’s faith was unshaken.  She understood what Jesus meant.  She’s not a Jew; she is not one of the "children" but one of the "dogs."  She’s an outsider.  And she also understood that Jesus gives out bread.  She was willing to beg for the crumbs she knew she didn’t deserve.  She appealed to his mercy, not his justice.

Jesus saw the woman’s great faith and healed her daughter.

The faith – and humility – of this nameless woman, stands in stark contrast to anyone who believes that God owes us – owes us a good life, owes us happiness, owes us a great job, owes us trial-free life.  We deserve it; after all, we’re faithful Catholics, we never miss Mass, we pray the rosary.  These are good practices, don’t get me wrong.  But God’s grace isn’t something we purchase with our good works.  God’s grace is rich and complex, his love for us is freely given, pure gift.

Why doesn’t Scripture give us the woman’s name?  It does.  It’s your name and mine.

In sin, we all stand as outsiders.  In faith, we are invited to stand at the table with that nameless woman and humbly beg for God’s crumbs.

 

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

Scripture:

1 Kings 8:22-23, 27-30
Mark 7:1-13

Reflection:

Mothers of young children are accustomed to saying daily, in an automatic fashion, "Wash your hands before we eat" or "Did you remember to wash"? This reminder becomes almost a ritual preceding a meal, a tradition of motherhood.  It is good to instill the value of cleanliness and proper hygiene into children as they grow.  Some families even have a certain kind of soap in a special container for the kids.  Currently, because of H1N1 and fears of contagion, a tradition is developing of singing "Happy Birthday" while washing to ensure the appropriate number of seconds for a thoroughly sanitizing scrub.  But a 25 year old man singing "Happy Birthday" in a public washroom while scrubbing his hands would seem extremely odd and immature.   To that individual, the support for the value would have become equal to, if not greater than, the value itself.

In today’s Gospel Jesus is not denigrating the value of hand washing or of ritual cleansing to which the Pharisees referred.  However, he is confronting and challenging the hypocrisy of the Pharisees who ask a question but are really making an accusation.  Why don’t your disciples wash before eating? is really meant to say: your disciples are less holy than us; they ignore the traditions of our ancestors.  For the Pharisees, the minutia of tradition equates with holiness before God.  Jesus’ counter accuses the Pharisees that they have made their traditions superior of God’s commandment even to the point of circumventing the Law entirely.  To them, the practice of "korban", giving money to the Temple, is more important than caring for one’s parents.  The values of the Law, justice, charity and love, have been cast aside by greed, pride and arrogance, the result of a false use of tradition.

In the church today there are heated arguments over ritual and liturgical traditions, both old and newly established.  Who can stand where?  Who can say what? Who can wash the dishes?  Who has priority of status over whom?  The fundamental human need to worship God becomes all but forgotten in the piling on of dictates and practices that have more to do with control and power than with worship, justice, charity and love of God and neighbor.  One can only wonder what the response of Jesus to such arguments would be today.

 

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

Scripture:

Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8
1 Corinthians 15:1-11 or 15:3-8, 11
Luke 5:1-11

Reflection:

Our God is Love.  Sheer love gave birth to a material universe unimaginably extensive.  This universe was to be populated by beings capable of knowing God, capable of loving God and being filled with the very life of God.  God was and is so in love with the world and us human beings within it.!

In leading human beings to himself  The Father would send his Only Begotten Son who would become truly human while remaining divine,   "God so loved the world".    He would not only save the world, but would do it through humans like ourselves.

That is what we hear in the reading from Isaiah and the Gospel of St. Luke.  God seeks human leaders, human help.

Both Isaiah and Peter realize that no human is capable of being a partner in God’s love and God’s work of salvation.   But both find out that can and does bridge that infinite gap.  For Isaiah the sign is the burning coal, for Peter a catch of fish that nearly swamps two boats!  There is a response.  "Here I am.  Send me."

That same Jesus is calling today for other Peters, other Fishers of Men.

Isaiah was at first fearful.  "I am a man of unclean lips."   Peter would say to Jesus:  "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man."

Should the thought of being the Lord’s voice and heart cause you to want to hide, remember he who calls wills to sustain you.  What you cannot do on your own, you can do easily  in  him who strengthens you.  That can be priesthood, religious life.  That can be exceptional service to God’s People in other capacities.  Jesus may well need you to seek that which could be lost without you.

 

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 Kings 3:4-13
Mark 6:30-34

Reflection:

Solomon was the second son of David and Bathsheba and the third king of Israel. He ruled for about forty years, expanding the boundaries of Israel and amassing a great fortune for himself and his country.

In today’s first reading we hear from a young Solomon who finds himself in a powerful position that exceeds his capabilities. He tells God he is too young, not knowing how to act in leading such a huge number of people.

God gave Solomon a blank check, "Ask something of me, and I will give it to you." He could have asked for power, wealth, success, a life without headaches or heartaches, glory or the fulfillment of any number of personal desires. Today we might ask God for the winning numbers in a Mega Lotto, a healthy family, quickly moving up the ladder at work, a photographic memory, a computer that never has a problem, etc.

Solomon, in great humility, asked for an understanding heart and the wisdom to know right from wrong. Solomon knows he will need wisdom more than facts about leadership skills. Today, we live in what social scientists call the information age. Information, facts and theories abound and multiply. It is estimated that more than 2,000 new books are published every week worldwide. Add to that magazines, newspapers, journals, web pages. The total is far beyond the capacity of any person to keep track of, let alone read and absorb. Has this avalanche of knowledge made us any wiser? Has more knowledge eliminated greed, pride, anger or lust? If anything, we seem to be in a world that is greedier, prouder, angrier and more sexually oriented than ever before. The most destructive wars of last century were fought between the most educated nations on earth.

What would you ask of God? More knowledge to succeed, the skills to impress others, life without pain? Or an understanding heart to discern right from wrong? An understanding heart was the greatest gift to ask for thousands of years ago. It remains the greatest gift today.

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