Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Wisdom 2:23-3:9
Luke 17:7-10

Reflection:

My beloved Uncle Leo died when I was 14 years old.  I remember standing frozen at the funeral home, looking at the lifeless body that just a short time ago contained unbounded joy, a delightfully wicked sense of humor, and more love than his human heart could hold, causing it to spill out onto all of us who knew him.  At that moment, I became convinced of heaven.  I simply could not fathom that this irrepressible spirit died with his body. 

I don’t recall whether today’s first reading, commonly proclaimed at funerals, was part of his.  It would have correlated well with my feelings, though.  It serves to reassure all grieving survivors that their loved one is dead to this world, but alive in Christ.  She is at peace, he darts about in utter freedom, and their spirits soar in ways beyond what we can imagine in this world.

This is a comforting message indeed.  And yet I continued to struggle with my grief.  I felt intensely conflicted – happy that Leo wasn’t suffering and had reached the paradisiacal goal we all seek to attain, while simultaneously missing him, feeling lonely for his physical presence, longing to hear his laughter, and needing the unconditional love he showered on me.  

My struggle was exacerbated when I confided in a teacher at my Catholic high school.  She told me my faith was weak and I was selfish, that if I truly loved Leo and believed in God I could not be sad.  I was devastated, and never showed my pain to another person.  I didn’t stop crying, but I cried in private or into my pillow.  And I felt profound guilt, convinced that God was disgusted by my immature and inappropriate tears.

I have learned so much about grief in the decades since then.  My teacher was wrong.   It is normal to wrestle with the conflicting feelings that flooded my heart.   A person of faith can be happy for their beloved dead and yet sad for their own immediate loss.  Jesus cried when his friend died.  The psalmists poured out their anger, confusion, and pain, emboldened not by weak faith but by a faith so deep they knew their relationship with God could withstand and even benefit from such transparent honesty.  Along with the first reading, they believed the words of today’s psalm: "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves." 

Trust in God’s promises does not mean denial of loss, loneliness, pain, and a broken heart.  It means living in the paradox, embracing both the joy and the sorrow of a loved one’s death.  

 

Amy Florian is a teacher and consultant working in Chicago.  For many years she has partnered with the Passionists.  Visit Amy’s  website: http://www.amyflorian.com/.

Scripture:

Ezekiel 47:1-2, 8-9, 12
1 Corinthians 3:9c-11, 16-17
John 2:13-22

Reflection:

The parents were going away for a long weekend and Grandma and Grandpa were coming to stay with the kids.  The mother trusted her adolescent sons and their younger sister to behave and to know what was permitted and what was not acceptable behavior.  They were basically good kids, and yet…

One of the blessings or curses of motherhood is the near compulsion to organize the details of her kids’ lives, to make sure there are no loose ends left dangling which could lead to trouble or at least unnecessary stress and tension.  Mother knew the children knew what was expected, but she could not help herself.

            "Don’t pick on your sister or fight with your brother,"

            "Get your homework done and no TV or video games after 9 o’clock"

            "Help Grandma with the dishes, feed the dog and put him out regularly."

            "And don’t try to pull a fast one on Grandpa or you will be grounded for 10 years when we get home."

As the liturgical year begins to come to an end, the readings focus on the "end things" and the departure of Jesus.  Today’s Gospel contains a series of sayings and admonitions from Jesus on the way his disciples are expected to interact without him.  It is almost like a type of last minute advice and warning about who they were expected to be.  Jesus needed to make sure they had understood the meaning of his life and the presence of his Father in him.  He trusted them and yet…

            Even though scandal will arise about you, don’t YOU be the source or cause of it. Be aware of what you do and how others see you.

            Correct each other lovingly if you are aware of wrongdoing.

            Forgive one another and ask for forgiveness with sincerity.

            Don’t doubt your faith – it will grow and deepen and you will be amazed at what will result.

Many people, as they approach the final years of life, have accumulated a depth of wisdom and insight about what really gives meaning and value to life.  Often as they are preparing to depart from this physical life,  there is a need to pass this wisdom on to those they love, to leave a legacy of lessons learned and truths understood.   Yet it can sometimes be a challenge to those to whom this wisdom is given to listen with love and humility and to acknowledge the need to be reminded that there is much to learn.  May we all be willing to share the lessons and insights life has bestowed but more importantly to listen to those who have so much to give.

 

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

Scripture:

Romans 16:3-9, 16, 22-27
Luke 16:9-15

Reflection:

It is interesting that the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans, which is his most formal presentation of the revelation of Christ, ends with greetings to some 26 coworkers he hopes to meet in Rome. Some of them are assisting him in Corinth, such as Tertius who was his secretary and Phoebe who was to be his messenger and take his letter to Rome.

We get just a glimpse at how organized the Church was some 25 years after the great events of the first Holy Week.  We see it is a Church of Apostles and a very active laity.

Aquila and Priscilla worked with Paul in Corinth and Ephesus and had now apparently returned to Rome.  The message of Vatican II is nothing new! Parish staffs, lay volunteers, some going out to distant lands as missionaries, are as necessary to the Church of the 21st century as they were essential to the time of Saints Peter and Paul.

The Vatican II General  Council insisted: "No less fervent zeal on the part of lay people is called for today; in fact, present circumstances demand from them a more extensive and more vigorous apostolate.  For continuing population increases, progress in science and technology, and growing independence between peoples worldwide have immensely enlarged the field of lay apostolate."

This call does not come as something new from our Church leadership.  It comes from the Living God.  "Lay people’s right and duty to be apostles derives from their union with Christ their head.  They are inserted into the Mystical Body of Christ by baptism and confirmation, it is by the Lord himself that they are assigned to the apostolate."

In that first generation of Christians, we find lay people taking up ordinary tasks that need doing.  Deacons began by waiting on tables,  taking care to provide food, shelter, clothing for poor among the newly baptized Christians.  Instructing new comers to the Faith, providing for traveling preachers, reaching out to the needy, sending Paul help when he was imprisoned.  Even a slave, Epaphroditus brought the faith to cities the apostles did not reach.  It was their Church.  Today the Church belongs as much to laity as it does to the Pope and the Bishops.  In it all are called to live the faith fully and to share it generously.

And today, the care for the secular world is part of the lay vocation. The Bishops thought it proper to warn: "Christians who shirk their temporal duties shirk their duties to their neighbor, neglect God himself, and endanger their eternal salvation."

Paul cited 26 names in his final paragraph, a Bishop today would need to write a book!  It is the age of the lay apostle!

 

Fr. Fred Sucher, C.P. is retired and lives in the Passionist community in Louisville, Kentucky.  For many years he taught philosophy to Passionist seminarians.  

Scripture:

Romans 15:14-21
Luke 16:1-8

Reflection:

If we had invested our money with Bernie Madoff, we might not appreciate the story Jesus tells in the Gospel reading. Madoff had billions of dollars from other people who trusted him to invest their money wisely and prudently. His Ponzi scheme was so clever, his costumers thought they were making money, not losing money.  Individuals, corporations and foundations lost everything to Madoff’s greed.  His greed and the losses he caused were enormous and unimaginable. The scheme is named after Charles Ponzi, who became notorious for using the technique back in the early 1920s.  Crooks have always been with us!!

Jesus seems to compliment the steward who wisely schemed to protect himself.  The steward had mishandled his employer’s funds and was about to be fired.  He strategically called in his employer’s debtors and reduced the amounts they owed.  By doing this, the steward hoped to be able to find alternative employment with one of them.  Surprisingly, the employer, far from being angry, praises the farsightedness of his dishonest steward.  Like Madoff, the steward acted with shrewdness and intelligence, according to the steward’s boss.

Jesus is not really condoning the steward’s dishonesty and corruption.  His point is that even greedy people who defraud others work hard at providing for their futures.  We, as children of the light, must also work hard to prepare for our future, for the final judgment.  We should be taking the necessary steps to guarantee our future life with God, not by greed or dishonesty, but by building a life, here and now, based on truth and integrity, on love, compassion and justice.  Our future is best prepared for not by fraud or by getting people to like us, but by reflecting to others the image of Christ in our words and deeds.  Our work is to build up the kingdom of God by making God’s will our own will.  If we do this on a daily basis, even though we are not always successful, then we have nothing to worry about and our future is assured.

 

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

 

Scripture:

Romans 14:7-12
Luke 15:1-10

Reflection:

Earlier this week, as we celebrated All Saints Day on Sunday and All Souls Day on Monday.  I was thinking about the landmarks on our journey.   I believe these two days provide us with a tremendous authentic sense of who we are.    This is so necessary because in our day-to-day life we tend to get so busy with the details that we forget the truth.   Landmarks are specific elements which aid us in navigation and when we spot them they confirm that the navigation of our path is accurate.  Isn’t that the role of honoring the saints in our lives.  In honoring them, don’t we find ourselves pondering their paths and reaffirming the accuracy of our navigation?   On All Souls Day as we remember the dead, do we not ponder our mortality and understand that our future must take us on this path as well?  These are some pretty bold landmarks for our spiritual journey. 

I’m very much reminded of this as I read Paul’s letter to the Romans.  Paul informs us that living for ourselves is not going to get us anywhere except lost.   If we live, we live for the Lord.  If we die we die for the Lord.  Our journey, as Paul reminds us is living and dying with the Lord and for the Lord.  That is our journey.   Whatever takes us off this path leads us to being lost.   Is being lost necessarily a bad thing? 

Well, Luke shows us that the state of being lost reveals something of the kingdom.  This Fifteenth chapter of Luke’s Gospel is about being lost and being found.  And Luke will set it up so that Jesus tells three parables of something which gets lost and then later that something which was lost is then found.  The first parable is about a man who loses a sheep.  The second parable is about a woman who loses a coin.  And the third parable is about a father who loses a son.   And in each scenario, the owner finds what he/she has lost.   Each of these three parables is about losing something and then finding something.  Yet when that which was lost is found, there is another element in the equation.  In each of these three parables, the finding of that which was lost always introduces the cause to rejoice, the desire to celebrate and the need to tell others.  And this is precisely what Luke is trying to suggest that the Kingdom of God represents.    Moreover, Jesus is speaking to Pharisees who most likely happen to be fathers themselves.  He is trying to give them a new landmark to understand their path.  Will they rejoice or will they cling to their self-righteousness?  This is the question Luke leaves us with as the 15^th chapter concludes.    

Landmarks on our journey assure us our navigation is accurate.  Yet Luke believes that the rejoicing which happens by finding that which is lost is kingdom energy.   How is your ability to rejoice this day.  And can you rejoice at somebody else’s favor?

 

Fr. David Colhour, C.P. is on the staff at Christ the King Passionist Retreat Center, Citrus Heights, California.

Scripture:

Romans 13:8-10
Luke 14:25-33

Reflection:

At first glance it seems that the words of Jesus in the Gospel are a contradiction of St. Paul’s words "the one who loves another has fulfilled the law".  Jesus talks about the need of turning one’s back on parents, spouse & children, brothers and sisters.  Yet Jesus is using a typical Semitic way of making a point by exaggeration:  He wants to emphasize that nothing and no one can stand in the way of our Christian duty to love one another. 

And yet sometimes, we stand in the way!  Part of St. Paul’s statement today is cited by Jesus in the Gospels, and is based on the Book of Leviticus:  "…you shall love your neighbor as yourself…"  Perhaps some of us have difficulty with that statement, "as yourself" — for we often zero in on the first part about loving our neighbor and forget the last two words!  Indeed, true love as witnessed by Jesus includes a genuine love of self.  If we look down on ourselves (a false humility?), we will likely find it impossible to reach out to others with a gracious and sincere love, or to relate to God in a mature way. 

The month of November encourages us to look to the lives of those who have gone before us:  "official" saints, and those "everyday" saints.  Each in their own way witnesses to the fact that a life of love as a disciple of Jesus includes loving God, our neighbors, and ourselves – no dimension can be downplayed or skipped!

Today, as you seek to follow Jesus Crucified, why not "do" one specific act of love for yourself?  Treat yourself to something you really enjoy:  a walk amongst the autumn leaves, a quiet time after supper, your favorite meal or drink, a phone call to a family member / friend, etc.  Your Christian love will grow, freed from personal limitations.

"Jesus, help us live all the words of your commandment of love."

Fr. John Schork, C.P. is the local leader of the Passionist community in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Romans 12:5-16b
Luke 14:15-24

Reflection:

I describe being a Passionist as someone willing to be a channel, a "go-between," for the suffering love of Jesus from the cross toward those in sufferable situations. Whether in preaching or other ministerial work, Passionists deliberately put themselves in situations where there is obvious awkwardness, vulnerability, uncertainty, inconvenience or downright threat.  But, no matter when we are in the presence of human suffering.  The charism "moves" us to respond, as Christ Himself was moved with pity for the helpless crowds, and, as was the Samaritan called "good," moved to help the beaten foreigner. Our saint for the day, Bro. Martin de Porres, O.P., is exemplary for his move to minister to the poorest, most destitute in the African slave ships in Lima, Peru. He had a great devotion to the Holy Eucharist. Martin included the poorest in the spirit of St. Paul’s opening line in today’s scripture, "We, though many, are one Body in Christ and individually parts of one another." (12:5) This reading could be one’s mission statement. Ponder it, make it your own. The contrast to such a spirit is the attitude of the person at table with Jesus who is obviously enamored of Jesus and the grand possibilities of staying close to Him, like at a meal. "Blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God." But Jesus knows who the most valued guests would be – those from the alleys, streets, hedgerows and highways, making them feel at home with a place to belong. Being of mixed race, Martin knew humiliation. The grace of Eucharist enables us to respond to suffering, even through our own woundedness. Taking all of this to the Cross, daily,  puts the charism in the lens of how we see life, and in the soul of our ability to address the suffering that we encounter.

 

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

Scripture:

Wisdom 3:1-9
Romans 5:5-11 or 6:3-9
John 6:37-40

Reflection:

Today’s feast of All Souls summons powerful waves of memory for each of us and recalls the richness found in human relationships.  As we pray for our beloved departed we are immersed in the recollection of so much shared with those who have walked ahead of us into the mystery of eternity.  This is a day for gratitude, for sorrow and grief, for deep prayer.  More than all else, this feast invites us to renewed hope.

Death severs the cords of relationship binding us to others.  In loss we are reminded of how deeply our own lives depended upon theirs. Sharpened awareness underscores how much richness and blessing friends, relatives and even common strangers brought to our lives.  In grief we are brought up short in humble awareness of how little we can do, accomplish or achieve without the support of others.  The power of death is real and unkind; loss diminishes us.

Thanks be to God for the gift of our Christian faith!  Today’s readings sound notes of joy, of triumph, of victory.  Our true focal point is the Resurrection of Jesus.  The source of our hope is God’s stunning power that broke the chains of death.  And faith holds the promise of reunion with all who have gone before us.  We are reminded of those invisible bands of divine love that keep us and our dead bound together.  For, truly, they are not dead, but eternally alive by his triumphant love.  We and they are one people, one church, held together in His eternal heart that flames with life and joy.  He works so that, one day, all who have believed will be united and eternally praise His unsurpassed goodness.

 

Fr. Jim Thoman, C.P. is the director of St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat Center, Detroit, Michigan.