Daily Scripture

First Sunday of Lent

Scripture:

Genesis 9:8-15
1 Peter 3:18-2
Mark: 1:12-15

Reflection:

“Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.  Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth” (Genesis 9:15-16)

When I was growing up it was difficult for me to decide what to give up for Lent such as candy or going to the movies.  As an adult, I look for opportunities to grow spiritually rather than give something up.  Slowing down for daily prayer allows us to bring our many concerns and questions to God. How long will we be cooped up?  How long will I have to work from home? How will I pay the bills being furloughed from my job?  Will my mother be healed from her cancer? Will I make it through the pandemic?  Why is God letting this happen to me?

In today’s first reading from the book of Genesis, God makes a covenant with Noah and his descendants and when a rainbow appears in the clouds we will remember God’s covenant with us.  For a rainbow to occur it requires both sun and rain.  God doesn’t promise us there will be no more storms with thunder and lightning.  God promises to always love us and be with us and there is life after the storm.  This Lent let us slow down and reflect upon our experiences of God’s covenant in our own life.  Let us slow down to marvel at the wonder of our rainbows.

Carl Middleton is a theologian/ethicist and a member of the Passionist Family.

Scripture:

Isaiah 58:9b-14
Luke 5:27-32

Reflection:

The Lenten message is simple, but easily missed and almost always quickly forgotten: Following the ways of the Lord brings happiness and life. If we do what is right and good—if we especially seek justice for the poor and afflicted—we will be healed and renewed. If we stop dancing with evil, freedom will be ours.

In the first reading from Isaiah, the prophet tells Israel that if it wants light to shatter the darkness and joy to scatter sadness, they must confront the evil surrounding them by replacing injustice with justice. “If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted,” Isaiah promises, “Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday.” That’s all they have to do to be brought back to life. But Isaiah’s words are meant for us as well. If we deal with injustice wherever we find it; if we renounce lying and malicious speech; if we share what we have with the needy and reach out to the suffering and broken ones we see every day, then light and life will come to us.

In today’s gospel story from Luke, the Lenten message comes to us as an invitation. Jesus sees Levi, a tax collector, and with two words, “Follow me,” extends to him the unsettling invitation to leave everything behind for the sake of an uncharted future. Jesus calls Levi to strike out on a new path, a different way of being, and Levi unhesitatingly does. In a burst of pure freedom, Levi redefines himself from tax collector to disciple. The gospel suggests that if Levi is to find hope and new life, freedom and peace, he must reimagine not just his life, but even his identity. He must think of himself as an initiate on a new adventure, a disciple on a path to a different but richly promising way of life.

If Lent is all about being healed and renewed, forgiven and redeemed, today’s readings suggest this begins by reimagining who we are and what we should be about day after day.

Paul J. Wadell is Professor Emeritus of Theology and Religious Studies at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, and a member of the Passionist Family of Holy Cross Province.

Scripture:

Isaiah 58:1-9a
Matthew 9:14-15

Reflection:

Our Lenten season began with the prophet Joel’s exhortation to “rend your hearts, not your garments.” The challenge to “fast” stares us once again in the face and confronts us.

The children of Israel are indeed performing the outward acts of devotions and prayers to God. However, to the examining eye, their hearts are indeed far from God. The fasts end in quarreling and sunken faces. The outward actions are not drawing them closer to God and to each other. Why? Because they lack pure heart and pure intention.

When I go out to assist at mass, inevitably, people are interested in my vocation story. They ask, “Why did you become a Passionist? Why did you become a priest?” There is also an iteration of “Oh you must be very passion-ate. I say, “I hope so and I hope that passion bleeds through.”

I can say I joined the Passionists because I saw passion-ate Passionists. The Passionist family, the laity and the vowed, were dedicated to their ministries. They preached Christ Crucified and were made themselves present to the People of God, loving them. The Passion of Jesus bled in their hearts and continues.

In a special way this Lenten season, God is calling us to be passionate. Lord, help us to be passionate Passionists! May these pillars of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving come from our heart and bleed through to the ministries and the people we serve.

Fr. Phillip Donlan, CP, is the Associate Director of Ministry at Christ the King Passionist Retreat Center, Citrus Heights, California.

Scripture:

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

Reflection:

In our Gospel reading for today, after Jesus predicts His own Passion and death and resurrection, He tells His disciples what it means to be a disciple: “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?”

When Jesus speaks about losing and saving one’s life, it seems that He is talking about the rewards of eternal life. But I think He is also speaking about our life here on earth.

We can be leery of giving of ourselves too much. We’ve seen people in co-dependent relationships; their sense of themselves dependent only on what others think. So they do what they do to win the approval of others. But that’s not the basis of “denying” oneself. For me, to deny ourselves is to deny that we are the center of things. Instead, we put God first, and we put Jesus’ command to love, first and foremost in our lives. And, as contrary to what seems obvious, when we put God and His command to love first, we don’t lose ourselves, we find ourselves!

When we give of ourselves in this way, it is from the sense of ourselves that we are children of God, loved by God to a degree beyond our understanding. When we give ourselves over to greed and selfishness, that is when we really lose ourselves; when we have sold our soul, so to speak.

In our first reading from Deuteronomy, Moses presents a choice to the Israelites: “I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the Lord, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.

May we trust in God and choose life!

Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P., is the local superior of the Passionist Community in Birmingham, Alabama. 

Ash Wednesday

Scripture:

Joel 2:12-18
2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Reflection:

Between the jubilant melodies of Fat Tuesday and the delightful chocolate bunnies of Easter Sunday lies the season of Lent.

In today’s unapologetically secular world, ever rife with materialism, some traces of Lent still show up in common conversation, like the act of “giving something up” and remembering Jesus’ sacrifice on Good Friday.

For active Christians, the true treasures unfold when they engage wholeheartedly in the Church’s plea for reconciliation with God during the Lenten season. This period unfolds like a rich tapestry, starting with ashes and culminating in the profound observances of Holy Week. Within this structured journey lies a path to reconnect with the divine—a journey marked by prayer, fasting, abstinence, almsgiving, and acts of sacrifice.

To seek reconnection and reconciliation, we are called to deepen our prayers, such as drawing strength from today’s sacred words of scripture: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation.” Engaging in prayers and practices like the Stations of the Cross and the sacrament of Confession during Lent can lead us a little closer to the purity of heart we seek.

Reconnection and reconciliation also involve sincere fasting and abstaining, practices essential not only for spiritual nourishment but also for physical well-being. Embracing an act of sacrifice, whether it be abstaining from over-indulgence or offering up something for the benefit of somebody suffering, is a profound commitment to self-renewal.

Moreover, what better way to manifest reconciliation than through almsgiving—by generously giving our time, talents, and resources to those who need them? This act not only brings joy to the recipient but also nurtures the giver’s soul. Let this season of Lent serve as a training ground for a continued life of generosity and good deeds throughout the year, leading us toward the purity of heart we yearn for.

Jack Dermody is the editor of the CrossRoads bulletin for the Passionist Alumni Association and a member of the Migration Commission for Holy Cross Province. He lives in Glendale, Arizona. 

Scripture:

James 1:1-11
Mark 8:11-13

Reflection:

Today’s readings present a captivating contrast between faith and agnosticism.  In Mark’s gospel, Jesus has arrived in the region of Dalmanutha, on the northwest coast of the Sea of Galilee.  He has come there after the second miracle of the loaves in Mark’s gospel.  “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat.”  Jesus fed 4,000 faithful follows who had listened to his teaching for those three days with minimal provisions.  They were so moved by his teachings that they were able to put aside their hunger, their tiredness and perhaps their brokenness just to hear the precious words being spoken.

In contrast, the Pharisees present when Jesus arrived in Dalmanutha were skeptical.  Because of their hard-heartedness and closed-mindedness, the same teachings that had so inspired the 4,000 left the Pharisees unsatisfied.  They even argue with Jesus seeking a sign from heaven “to test him”.  Jesus “sighed from the depth of his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Amen, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” He then, seemingly abruptly, gets into the boat again and goes off to another shore. 

We understand that faith is a gift from the Holy Spirit.  However, the lesson from the stories of the multiplication of the loaves and the argumentativeness of Pharisees shows us that we must been openminded and humbled to accept that gift.  James is very clear in his letter about the need to be open to the work of the Spirit: “Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it.  But he should ask in faith, not doubting…..”

The choice clearly is ours: either we are in the company of the faithful followers who hear the words without the signs, or we are in the company of the Pharisees who remain unmoved by the same words.  As James suggests, let us continually ask God in faith to be openminded to the words that Jesus shares with us in every moment of our lives.

Bill Berger has had a lifelong relationship with the Passionist Family. Bill and his wife, Linda, are currently leaders of the Community of Passionist Partners (CPPs) in Houston.

Scripture:

Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46
1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1
Mark 1:40-45

Reflection:

“If you wish, you can make me clean.”

Several times in the Hebrew Bible, God punished people for their disobedience by inflicting them with leprosy.  The Israelites naturally assumed that leprosy was the punishment for sin. 

Moreover, leprosy had at least three dimensions — medical, religious, and social.  The afflicted person suffered medically from a serious skin disease.  This disease made them ritually, that is, spiritually unclean and thus forbidden from entering a synagogue or any place of worship.  Perhaps leprosy’s worst immediate punishment was social.  Lepers were required to live in isolation and to keep a distance of at least 50 paces from other people, so as not to spread the disease.  Only the examination by a priest and his pronouncement that the person no longer had leprosy could he or she return to their family and society.  Until then, the afflicted person, unable to work, was reduced to begging

This was the dire situation of the leper who approached Jesus.  “If you wish,” the leper pleaded, “you can make me clean.”  In making his request, the leper violated the distance rule.  He came close to Jesus.  And Jesus, too, broke a serious rule by reaching out and touching the leper.  “I do will it,” Jesus said to the leper.  “Be made clean.”  And the leprosy left him immediately.

Jesus then warned him, “See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest…”  This once leprose man who had disobeyed Mosaic law by approaching Jesus, now disobeyed Jesus by proclaiming how he had been made clean by Jesus.

Ironically, the man once isolated from family and society, now freely entered the town, having been cleansed medically, religiously, and socially.  And Jesus, who had touched the leper, now was forced to go into a kind of “leprose” isolation from people. 

This, undoubtedly, is what Paul meant when he wrote, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 6:21).  Symbolically, Jesus became a leper so that the cleansed leper might become the righteousness of God.

So too with us, the lepers of today, we rightly approach Jesus in faith and hope, asking for his help, his compassion, and his forgiveness.  Jesus’ outstretched hand touches us today, most especially in the sacraments of the Church, as well as in our prayer lives.  On the cross, Jesus became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God by the way we reach out to the lonely, the ill, the poor, the discouraged who need our touch, the divine touch who is Jesus.

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