Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Jeremiah 1:17-19
Psalms 71:1-2; 3-4a, 5-6ab, 15ab and 17
Mark 6:17-29

Reflection:

An old friend and I were speaking recently about the rise of violence against religion throughout the world today. As younger men we were both actively committed to the peace movement and subsequent dialogue among faiths that "religious" people encouraged. Were we just too idealistic? As my friend pointed out at the end of the conversation with a sigh, "People die in the name of religion everyday!" And I sadly had to concur.

My thoughts wandered back to that conversation as I read the gospel assigned for today. As I read my focus fell on the person of Herod Antipas rather than John the Baptist. What motivates a perpetrator to kill a person of faith?  What motivates a whole ideology to slaughter those who disagree with it? The early Christian community considered John the Baptist a great figure. Jesus speaks of John as the "last of the prophets" and considered John’s baptism of repentance as a sign of the coming of God’s own Kingdom. It is obvious reading Mark’s narrative that jealousies, envy, fear and lack of moral courage motivated Herod to take John’s life.

Jealousy, envy, fear, and lack of moral courage tend to characterize most of the martyrdoms that have taken place before and since.

Take for example Passionist Bishop and Martyr Eugene Bossilkov, CP. Bishop Bossilkov was born on November 16, 1900 in a small town in northern Bulgaria called Belene. He came from peasant stock, but being attracted to the Passionists who had been missionaries in that area since the 1700s, he joined them. Studying in Passionist seminaries in Belgium and Holland, he professed his vows in 1920 and was ordained a priest in 1926. After doctoral studies in Rome, he returned to Bulgaria in 1933 where he served both as his bishop’s secretary and then pastor of a parish. When his bishop died after WW II, Eugene Bossilkov was ordained Bishop of Nicopolis (of Northern Bulgaria) in 1947 just as the Stalinist purges behind the Iron Curtain were gaining strength. Between 1947 and 1951 Bishop Bossilkov, true to his Passionist vocation, encouraged his people to remain faithful and to know that in all their sufferings they shared in the Passion of Jesus.

Finally in mid 1952 mass arrests of church leaders began. On July 16^th of that year, 40 priests, religious and lay leaders were rounded up and arrested. In the midst of them all was their Bishop, Eugene Bossilkov. Family and friends reported that all during his incarceration Bishop Bossilkov remained faithful to the Gospel despite physical, emotional and mental torture.

One day his niece, a religious, came to the prison to retrieve a basket she used to deliver supplies to him. The basket was returned to her untouched. She was stunned. When she questioned the guard as to what happened to her uncle the Bishop, she received silence. One guard, however, wrote on a small slip of paper that her uncle had been shot a few days earlier and his body disposed of – nowhere to be found. The guard returned to her the Bishop’s bloody shirt and a cassock.

It was not until 1975 that Paul VI received verbal confirmation of Bishop Eugene Bossilkov’s death from an official.

John the Baptist, a little known Passionist Bishop, and all the thousands of unnamed persons of faith, both Christian and non-Christian, who die due to jealousy, envy, fear, and lack of moral courage. What would Jesus think; Jesus himself who died for those same reasons?

 

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

Feast of Blessed Dominic Barberi, CP

Scripture:

1 Thessalonians 2:9-13
Matthew 23:27-32

Reflection:

Today we celebrate the feast of Passionist Blessed Dominic Barberi.  Orphaned as a small child, Dominic was raised by a maternal uncle and aunt and learned to tend sheep.  As a young man, Dominic experienced his true calling: join the Passionist Congregation and someday set up a Passionist Mission in England. 

In today’s First Reading, all are encouraged to live with the fullness and hope of a God who will one day welcome us into His eternal Kingdom of Glory.  "In receiving the word of God from hearing us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe." 

Dominic Barberi truly felt the word of God at work in his heart.  After years of ministries in Italy and then Belgium, Blessed Dominic was finally able to fulfill his vocation; in 1842 he was sent to establish the first Passionist residence in England.  During his time in England, Dominic Barberi preached missions and received many converts to Catholicism including Anglican John Henry Newman.  Dominic lived his life as a son of the Gospel, proclaiming the word of God to all. 

Blessed Dominic was a true believer.  He lived his life as God’s will; when people saw and heard him preach, it was evident he spoke from a spirituality deep within.  Unlike the Pharisees in today’s Gospel: Jesus scorns them, calling them hypocrites, admonishing them for their two-faced ways.  He likens them to "white-washed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth."  

Aren’t we all a little hypocritical in some aspect of our lives?  What about people as a society?  What is it then, when we smile good-natured toward others, but the minute they turn around we gossip about them behind their back?  Where is our tolerance, faith in others and faith in God when we see someone in need of our help, and although we do the righteous thing and choose to help them, we do nothing but complain about the whole experience afterward? 

How do we make it right?  How can we, as spiritual and moral followers of Christ, learn to live our lives less in the ways that are easy and more as the will of God?  It does not have to be in the form of a call to religious life as Dominic Barberi received.  Rather, making a decision based on what is right and not what is easy and acting upon that decision.

 

Claire Smith ([email protected]) is on staff at the Holy Cross Province Development Office in Chicago, Illinois.

Scripture:

1 Thessalonians 3:7-13
Matthew 24:42-51

Reflection:

"Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming." 

Take a moment to reflect on the countless ways you prepared for the unexpected today.  We certainly lock our doors at night before going to sleep.  You may also set a house alarm just in case the locks fail and someone makes their way inside.  We spend thousands of dollars on home, car and possibly even life insurance.  We click on our seatbelts before we start the car.  Moms pack their diaper bags with bottles and baby wipes, band-aids and extra clothes.  We always check with the weather forecast before grabbing sweaters, umbrellas or sunscreen.  These days we don’t dare leave the house without our cell phones just in case of emergency.  And especially as of late, we monitor our bank statements and listen to the endless expert advice on how to save for college, protect our investments and shelter our retirement funds.  Pretty impressive. 

Yet I wonder, what have we done to ready our souls?  In today’s Gospel, Matthew tells us that we "must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."  Like a "thief" in the night, he will come.  And will we be ready?  I am fairly sure that a safe investment portfolio and a state-of-the-art car alarm will not suffice.  Christ didn’t sugar-coat his message here.  He is coming.  We don’t know when.  So we better be ready at all times.  Just like a thief doesn’t give notice or warning, neither does the Son of Man.  And the consequences of being ill-prepared are devastating.  When a bugler comes to an unarmed home, he takes everything of value he can get his hands on.  When Christ comes, the wicked servant who took advantage of Christ’s delay "will be punish[ed] severely."

As Christians, we are challenged to live the ordinary days of our lives all the while knowing that there is a much larger, more extraordinary possibility in every day-Jesus’ return.  And for those who "stay awake" and serve God in their lives, he promises eternal rewards.  For the faithful servant, our Lord "will put him in charge of all his property."  What strikes me is the example of the good servant in Christ’s parable.  What makes this person worthy in life is that while the master is away, he serves the household meals at the appointed time; ‘Blessed is the servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so."  In other words, he hasn’t slept with one eye open every night.  He hasn’t berated his fellow community members for their failings.  He hasn’t suspended his responsibilities to home and family for constant prayer and penances.  He has simply served dinner "at the proper time."   

Can it possibly be this easy?  Well, yes and no.  I think the message is that we don’t have to preach God’s word from the highest mountain or leave our families for a life of sequestered meditation.  But we do have to live the life God gave us with honesty, integrity and faith.  This might mean caring compassionately for an aged parent, suspending a lucrative career to raise young children or treating our employees with generosity and understanding.  We can find holiness and grace in the regular responsibilities of our everyday lives.  In doing that, we can be ready for anything.

Marlo Serritella ([email protected]) is on staff at the Holy Cross Province Development Office in Chicago.

 

Scripture:
Ruth 2:1-3, 8-11, 4:13-17
Matthew 23:1-12

Reflection: 

"Blessed are you who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways… your children (will be) like olive plants around your table."  (Ps 128: 1, 3b)

We are blessed indeed to have raised 4 children. We tried to teach them to seek the Lord and His will for their lives, and that they would be truly happy when they said "yes" to His plan. We gave them all back to Him when they were teenagers and we knew the time was coming for them to leave home. Now, years later, we are in the process of letting go again.

We have three sons and one daughter. And wouldn’t you know it, it’s our daughter who is discerning a religious vocation with the Sisters of Life in New York. Since we live in Portland, Oregon, it’s hard to see her move so far away from us (although a friend did remind me that it’s much closer than India!)

It’s been quite a roller coaster of emotions and of letting go of our dreams for Julie (Jim walking her down the aisle, she and I leading women’s retreats together, etc.) for a better dream – God’s dream for her. One day when I was on the grieving part of the roller coaster, I asked the Lord to speak to me about His plan for her. As I listened, this is what I sensed Him saying to me:

"My sacred heart is aching for you. Truly I know the pain you are feeling. I will bring so much good from it, I promise. I love Julie. I have called her from her birth. I have kept her for myself. Thank you for helping Me by loving her so well and by passing on the gift and spark of faith. Your love for Me helped her to fall in love with Me. I will take good care of her. I will provide for all of her needs. And I will help you continue to love her and hold her in your heart. She will always be a part of you even though distance separates you. Cling to Me and my promises. You are precious to Me too. Don’t be jealous of Julie’s vocation – she wouldn’t be here without your vocation! Let Me have her now with no reservations. Let her run to Me – let her go with all joy and with all wonder. Give her back to me again."

God didn’t promise that His will is easy, or that it never hurts. But He did promise to be with us always, and that He will turn our mourning into dancing. As we pray for religious vocations, let’s pray too for the families who must let them go.

Janice Carleton and her husband Jim live in Portland, OR and partner with Passionist Fr. Cedric Pisegna in Fr. Cedric Ministries. Janice also leads women’s retreats. She is the mother of 4 grown children and grandmother of 2, soon to be 3. Visit Janice’s website at http://www.jcarleton.com/ or email her at janice@frcedric/org

 

 

Scripture:

Proverbs 9:1-6

Ephesians 5:15-20

John 6:51-58

 

Reflection:

 

There is a popular Bruce Springsteen song that contains the lyric, “Everybody has a hungry heart…Everybody wants to have a home.” The song has a through-line of yearning, and although its focus is romantic love, I think the essence relates very much to the Scripture readings today.

 

All three readings contain reference to nourishment, not the kind in our bellies, which we humans know about all too well, but the deeper, more lasting nourishment that feeds the hunger in our souls.

 

The “bread and wine” of our human lives, that which keeps us living and contented as physical beings—the food we eat, the people we love, the work we do, the material objects that provide a modicum of comfort—ground us in reality and give a measure of sustenance that we need and appreciate.

 

But Jesus challenges the crowds, and us, to confront the fleeting needs and satisfactions of our human flesh and instead find eternal Life through the Flesh and Blood of the Son of Man.  It is our communion with Christ that gives life everlasting.

 

Living as we do in a world waging war with itself over how to keep or get goods to survive, I can relate to how crazy Jesus’ words must have sounded to the crowds who were being asked to put their faith in the nourishing power of a different kind of “food.” Could there truly be something even more filling than the loaves and fishes that had taken away their bodies’ pangs of discontent?

 

Yes, Jesus assures us. If we go to Christ, if we become one with Him, we will be seated at the banquet of God’s love. It is at this table that the hunger in our hearts is finally satisfied and where we find the place that we can truly call home.

 

 Nancy Nickel ([email protected]) is director of communications at the Passionist Development Office in Chicago, Illinois.    

Scripture: 
Judges 9:6-15
Mtthew 20:1-16

Reflection:

"Are you envious because I am generous? Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last." (Matt. 20:16)

This is how Jesus sums up his teaching in today’s Gospel. For us who are brought up with a "First World" notion of fairness, this teaching does not make much sense. Many of us were brought up with the expectation that the more personal effort we put into something, the more reward we should expect. Personal worth is very much tied up with the personal investment we give to our job, our life and into whatever we do. The more work we do, the more pay we should receive.

Jesus certainly challenges this understanding of how life is to be lived with his teaching in today’s Gospel. Our salvation, our saving grace is a generous gift given to us by a loving God. And that tenet of our Catholic faith tells us that it is through this generosity on the part of God that we become heirs of the Reign of God, that is, God’s children and Jesus’ brothers and sisters and, thus, brothers and sisters to one another. God’s generous reward for working in God’s vineyard is absolute communion with God and with one another.

Our human tendency is not to measure our worth by God’s standards, but by our own measuring rod. Our human way of doing things is to measure our rewards according to the efforts we put into our work, into our life, even into our salvation. This approach to spirituality will ultimately lead to quantifying our spiritual exercises. Those who fall into this temptation will want to do more in order to accumulate more reward, yes, even a higher reward, like those workers who began working at the first crack of dawn.

On the other hand, those who get invited to enter into God’s vineyard at the last minute may be tempted to think that their last hour of work is not worth the effort, and so they may decline the invitation to come and work. In this parable, we are not told of how many workers decided not to go with the owner just to do an hour’s work. It is our desire to respond to God’s invitation that leads us to eternal life. That is what all of the workers of the vineyard have in common. They said yes to God and to the work that God had them do.

The owner of the vineyard in this parable asks the key question of this Gospel passage: Are you envious because I (God) am generous? During the course of our lives, we sometimes find ourselves complaining to God as to how unfairly God has treated us. We see people who seem to have more even though they have lived a more sinful life than we have. We see people lie and cheat to get ahead in this life and they seem to get away with it. We think we work hard every day, trying to resist temptation, seeking forgiveness when we fail and doing everything the Church tells us to do, and yet less "worthy" people get the attention they don’t deserve. Envy dehumanizes us. Envy makes us less forgiving, less charitable and less Christ-like.

This Scripture today invites us to deal with this sinful attitude of envy, often overlooked in our Spiritual lives, and often glossed over because of its implications. Today, we are invited to pray for total acceptance of God’s generosity, because that is what makes us Children of God and heirs of the Reign of God.

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

Scripture:

Judges 6:11-24a
Matthew 19:23-30

Reflection:

Both readings bring us face to face with some basic challenges. 

Gideon puts his concern right out there: "For now the Lord has abandoned us."  The Midianites are about to annihilatethe Israelites.  The fact that God boughtthem through all the trials and ordeals in Egypt seems to mean nothingnow.  And the solution of having Gideonlead the Israelites to conquer the Midianites doesn’t make too much  sense. "My family is the lowest and I amthe most insignificant."  Not toopromising!  God reassures him, however,that all will work out.  "Be calm, do not fear.  You will not die" in the upcomingstruggle.  The challenge is for him torealize and accept that he is not alone.

In the gospel we find Peter seeking recognition:  We havegiven up everything and followed you. What’s in it for us?"  Jesusis very honest in His reply: "Foreverything that you have given up, you will receive a hundred times more."   Peter is looking ahead.  Reality, however, will settle in as thingscontinue to unfold day by day.  Jesus,the popular one, irritates the Jewish hierarchy.  Ever so slowly yet convincingly the truthbegins to dawn on the Apostles that Jesus is the suffering servant foretold byIsaiah (Chapter 53).  And then, comes theplea, "Take up your cross and come followme."    Peter will have to endure a real humblingpurgation.  What happened in thecourtyard of the High Priest at the trial of Jesus—his denial of anyassociation with Jesus—would lead to an outburst of tears as he realize whathe had done.  That scene evidently neverleft his memory.  Later he would ask thathis own death on a cross be such he would be hung upside down. 

Can you and I resonate with Gideon and Peter?  To honestly be myself is of greatimportance.  It brings peace.  To wander through life envying others is tofail to live.  Giving up things, lettinggo of things is not to contradict what has been given to us.  It has to do with making choices as to how I will use my gifts andtalents.  And no matter what vocation inlife we choose, there is the ongoing challenge to let nothing get in the way ofmy loving God, my brothers and sisters, and myself. 

 

Fr. Peter Berendt, CP, is on the retreat team at Holy Name Retreat Center in Houston, Texas. 

Memorial of St. Pius X

Scripture:
Ruth 1:1, 3-6, 14b-16, 22
Matthew 22:34-40

Reflection:

Patterns of migration are commonplace throughout the contemporary world.  These occur both within nations, as population groups move from one part of a country to another, as happened in our nation during the 1920s and 1930s, with African-Americans, especially, moving from southern, agricultural, states, northward, to industrial states.  And it also occurs between nations, as is happening now, in the movement of peoples from Mexico to this country, again, largely for economic reasons.

Most of these migrants think of their moves as temporary, allowing them enough time to earn some capital for themselves and their families, so that they can then return home, to lead a better life there.  Of course, it doesn’t always work out that way.

We hear of a similar move, in today’s readings, on the part of Elimelech, as he and his wife Naomi and sons, left Bethlehem for the plains of Moab, whether for economic reasons or not is unclear.  Tragedies intervene for Naomi, as she loses to death, first, her husband, then her two sons.  So she decides to go home to Bethlehem, and one of her daughter-in-laws, Ruth, accompanies her.

How familiar a scene, both biblically and contemporaneously: exile, tragedy, return.  These are the makings of disintegration and fragmentation, and yet something prevails to bond the pieces together: love-the love of Ruth for Naomi.  Ruth will not leave Naomi alone.

So Ruth anticipates Jesus’ reply to the somewhat intrusive lawyer, inquiring about the law and its center-piece.  Love, Jesus instructs him, is at the heart of things: love of God, love of one another.  Jesus notes the powerful bonding force of love, uniting the more than 600 pieces of a fragmentary law, plus many prophetic injunctions, into one whole cloth.  Jesus may have remembered Ruth.

Pius X went about this process in his own way: he opposed what he judged to be the disintegrating impact of Modernism on his flock; and he offered what he thought to be the answer: the unifying force of the Eucharist, extending it to young children, and encouraging adults to approach it more frequently.  Fr.Roger Mercurio venerated Pius X for this reason: he loosened pastoral practice on the Eucharist.

As we journey through life, we can well look to a love nourished in the Eucharist, to prevent us from wandering too far off, by bonding us more closely with one another.

 

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