Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Numbers 11:4b-15
Matthew 14:13-21

Reflection:

The Word of God is so clear today and shines a bright light on our own challenges when we are faced with, seemingly, insurmountable difficulties. Personally, I work with another Passionist priest, Fr. Bob Crossmyer, C.P.,  and a team of laity who are doing everything possible to maintain the launching of a college preparatory high school that invites only students from low income homes ($40,000.00 combined income or less) to attend. They are welcome here, provided they are willing to: 1. work, once  week,-at  an entry level, corporate job where they earn 70% of their tuition, 2.  do homework and maintain good grades, and, 3. set their aim on going to college. This program actually breaks the cycle of poverty (raised in poor neighborhood,get  poor education,have poor job, resulting in living in a poor neighborhood).This is the work of Jesus who says to us in the "deserted place" of his day: "They need not go away; you give them something to eat…Bring them here to me."  "…here to me," in our case, is the Catholic school  system. It is the Body of Christ, the Church working in our midst.

One of the interesting spiritual phenomena in doing something about insurmountable difficulties in Jesus name is that we are changed and transformed in the process. God is going to do what God wills, and desires that we act according to the image of God. That is the shaping and forming that goes on. The image of God in Christ is a powerful  one of compassion, not doing miracles. I suppose that Jesus could have said something like "don’t worry guys, I’ve got these resources that will take of it." No, it was the power of compassion. I know the distractions of lack of funds, and, just cutting corners and making excuses are easy cop-outs to faithfully taking action through  compassion. Why is a team, a "body," so important? More often than not I don’t feel the compassion, the challenges can drain me. Moses had this issue when he complained to God; he had had it. God would subsequently gather 72 to share in the responsibilities which Moses bore. The compassion of another team member just gives everyone the impetus to follow through. Maybe that is what happened when the disciples began distributing the meager amount of food available and then collected "twelve baskets full" of leftovers.  Faith in the face of the insurmountable, through compassion, gets communicated somehow  through His Body on earth. It is a matter of paying attention.

 

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

Scripture:

Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15
Ephesians 4:17, 20-24
John 6:24-35

Reflection:

Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves." This is how Jesus responded to the people who searched him out after the feeding of the multitude which we read about last Sunday. This response unlocks for me the message behind the readings for this Sunday. Similar to the structure of last week’s readings this week we are again reading and learning about an historical incident linked with a spiritual message in the Gospel, a similar incident in the Hebrew Scriptures, and a virtue-based message by St. Paul that is related to these incidents. Once again Bread becomes the symbolic instrument for the spiritual message.

A similar (but perhaps less tactful) response that Jesus could have made to these people is that they are "thinking with their stomachs and not with their hearts." In the case of the feeding of the multitude or in the manna that comes from heaven it seems that the people who are affected are seeing this as a form of divine welfare policy. God and Jesus are both suggesting to the people that this is not the case. In both incidents there is certainly the implied message that God will provide, but the heart of the message is not that. Instead what it is desired is that the people see this test or sign as an opportunity for them to relate with each other in a way that is similar to how God is treating them. This is an invitation not just to eat, but to share and to "perform the works of God."   

St. Paul also reminds us that this is an opportunity for us to put away our "former way of life… and to be renewed in the spirit." In this letter Paul reminds the Ephesian community that in the former way of life the Gentiles were "lost of all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of impurity." Following these verses we hear St. Paul offering some rules for the new life in Christ. These rules are based on a close relationship of solidarity to one another. We are expected to be truthful, slow to anger, compassionate and sharing. "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us."

These miracles can only be truly understood as part of the overall message that we are called to be in powerful relationship. On occasions God demonstrates this relationship between each one of us, our Divine Creator, and the cosmic forces of creation. These moments that we consider supernatural are moments where all creation testifies to the intense relationship that God calls us to be in. The manna from heaven, the feeding of the multitude, the resurrection of Christ, all these are moments that demonstrate a divine purpose where all of us are called to be in relationship with God and with each other. This relationship is a relationship based on love, integrity, and mutual sustainability.

 

John Gonzalez is the Executive Director of the Passionist office for Peace, Justice and the Integrity of Creation.  He lives with his family in New York.

Scripture:

Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38
Matthew 13:47-53

Reflection:

Today’s Responsorial Psalm is from Psalm 84: "How lovely is your dwelling-place, Lord, mighty God!"

Our first reading from Exodus directs our attention to the Dwelling that housed the Ark of the Covenant.  The Dwelling was carefully constructed by Moses, and was considered a holy place.

In every Catholic church we have a tabernacle.  The Blessed Sacrament is kept in the tabernacle.  And reverently we genuflect to the Lord present there when we enter the church. The tabernacle is considered a very holy place.

However, there is some place holier than the Dwelling Moses built.  There is some place holier than a tabernacle.  And that "place" is the baptized Christian.   St. Paul tells us, "Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you (1 Cor 3:16 )? "

A tabernacle may be made of gold and covered with diamonds.  But it is still just a thing.  It has no mind, no will, and no heart.  It is not alive.

We are living tabernacles, with minds that can know truth, wills that choose good, and hearts that can love.  What a wonder of creation and grace is the human person in whom God dwells. How lovely is the dwelling-place that is you!

St. Augustine said, "Those who are filled with love are filled with God."  The people of the Old Testament had a cloud and fire that directed their journey through the desert.  We of the New Testament have the words of Christ and grace of the Holy Spirit directing us on a journey of love.  Filled with God, we advance with grateful hearts.

 

Fr. Alan Phillip, C.P. is a member of the Passionist community in Sierra Madre, California.

Feast of Saint Alphonsus Liguori

Scripture:

Leviticus 25:1, 8-17
Matthew 14:1-12

Reflection:

Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church.  A lawyer at 17, Alphonsus overlooked important evidence and lost a case. He resigned, became a priest and founded the Redemptorist Order of priests. He wrote extensively on moral theology and is patron of moral theologians and confessors. 

It is appropriate on this feast that the first reading today offers us insights into the Old Testament Law. In addition to the day of rest for human and beast provided by the weekly Sabbath in the Mosaic Law, the land itself was to have a year of rest every seven years with the Fiftieth Year being a year of Jubilee. The Book of Leviticus also required that land could never be sold or mortgaged beyond the next Jubilee year and that the property was to be returned to its original owner every 50^th years and all crops were free for everyone. Thus the law of the land strongly emphasized the inalienable character of family holdings and God’s presence with the poor and defenseless.

Today’s gospel invites us into the story of John the Baptist’s fidelity to the law and how, in challenging Herod, who had unlawfully taken the wife of his brother, Philip, John was imprisoned and beheaded without even the pretense of a trial.  We know the story!!!

What might these scriptures  say to us today?  The first question that comes to mind is: Do I celebrate a weekly Sabbath rest in mind as well as body?  What about family weekly worship and rest? Do we plan this day together?  Who in your family or neighborhood is celebrating a 50^th jubilee sometime soon? Would it not be appropriate to ponder the deeper meaning of this celebration as a family of faith and share your reflections to all who celebrate?

Throughout all this, our Psalm prayer for today reminds us that we come before our loving God in prayer and say together as a community:

May God have pity on us and bless us.  May God’s face shine upon us.
… The earth has yielded its fruits; God, our God has blessed us. 
May God bless us and may all the ends of the earth fear God!

 Sr. Marcella Fabing, CSJ, is on the staff of Christ the King Passionist Retreat Center, Citrus Heights, California.

Scripture:

Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37
Matthew 13:54-58

Reflection:

"…..Is he not the carpenter’s son?"

"A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house".  Jesus was identified.  They knew who he was – the son of Joseph the carpenter, the son of Mary.  They knew just what the son of a carpenter was expected to do, but Jesus was daring to speak like a rabbi, and he was saying things that even the rabbis weren’t saying.  He was talking about the kingdom of heaven coming in our midst.  And he spoke with wisdom and performed deeds of power.  But he was the son of a laborer.  And the people around him were convinced that God wouldn’t speak through someone like that.

When did we lose the idea that God is the God of surprises, the one who reveals the extraordinary in the midst of the ordinary?  When did we decide that God was tame and predictable?  In today’s gospel, Jesus was disrespected because he was lower class, not well educated…..the son of a carpenter, and yet he dared to suggest that the common people – not just the powerful – mattered to God.

Through God, the ordinary are chosen to perform the extraordinary.  This has been God’s pattern throughout history.  We never know just whose voice may be important.  God uses many different voices to be instruments through which the Word is spoken to reach this diverse, hurting world.

LORD……..HELP ME TO DEVELOP "SPIRITUAL EARS" TO LISTEN FOR YOUR VOICE 

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

Scripture:

Exodus 34:29-35
John 11:19-27 or Luke 10:38-42

Reflection:

Today on this Feast of St. Martha the Church offers us the option of two possible gospels for our reflection. I chose Luke’s story of the conversation between Martha and our Lord. It is a familiar story for most of us. Jesus comes to visit his friends Martha and Mary who lived with their brother Lazarus in Bethany. Now Martha, being the good hostess, was busy with all the serving, tending the needs of all the guests. (My presumption is that Jesus did not go alone but brought at least his disciples. There were probably others from the village there also as well as the news of the arrival of a famed teacher and healer like Jesus would have spread through the village like fire.) Needless to say, the house was more than likely crowded with folks that needed to be fed and cared for.

Martha therefore had her hands full. And it seems reasonable that she would be a bit perturbed by her sister’s lack of assistance. While Martha was running around like the proverbial chicken with its head off; there sat Mary at the feet of Jesus soaking in every word, every gesture of the Master. Martha complaint does seem justified. "Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me." You would think Jesus being reasonable and just would have taken Martha’s side. Yet as is Jesus’ way he turns the situation upside down telling Martha that she worries and fret about so many things…but Mary has chosen the better part.

How often do we choose the better part? How often do we sit at the feet of the Master contemplating his word and soaking in his every gesture?

It is interesting to note that St. Paul of the Cross, our Founder, made it a priority for all members of the Congregation to take time away to sit at the feet of the Master. In his 1775 Rule Paul of the Cross specifically refers to the houses of the vowed members as "retreats." These "retreats" were not at first places where the laity would gather for preaching and reflection on the Passion the way many of our retreat centers now are. Rather they were homes for the vowed members to rest and rejuvenate their spirits after the preaching missions they were sent on throughout Italy and beyond. These "retreats" were their home base where they could recharge their batteries and seat at the feet of the Master to be replenished. As an analogy from the first reading from Exodus, these "retreats" were the mountains where members could go to meet God face to face as Moses did in order to bring God’s people the word of life itself.

It is not enough for a Passionist, vowed or lay, just to preach the Passion of Jesus. Those dedicated to the Good News of the Passion must also spend time reflecting on it and its implications for their lives and the life of the world. Can we take time this summer to sit like Mary at the feet of Jesus? I am sure in the end Martha did.

 

Patrick Quinn is the director of planned giving at the Passionist Development Office in Chicago.

 

Scripture:

Exodus 32:15-24, 30-34
Matthew 13:31-35

Reflection:

"Alas, this people have sinned a great sin; they have made for themselves gods of gold.  But now, if you will forgive their sin-"

 

We all know this story.  I can’t count the number of times I have read or heard reference to this famous narrative of the "golden calf" and its lesson about the worship of false gods.  Moses goes up to Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments and comes back to find the Israelites in obscene celebration praising an idol-an image of a calf fashioned from their golden jewelry.  The image is so popular that it’s become almost secularized, often used to refer to people’s obsession with wealth over more important, more enduring things.  So, I was surprised when a very different lesson struck me upon my most recent review of the passage.  Forgiveness.

Moses has just rescued his people from a life of imprisonment and slavery.  They witnessed the greatness of the Lord swallow up their captors with the waters of the Red Sea.  But life is rough out in the desert.  Food and water are scarce, and the people are restless and unsure of their future.  So to ease their fears, the Israelites fashion a gaudy statue for praise and worship.  When Moses comes upon this scene, he is so enraged that he breaks the tablets upon which the Lord has bestowed the Ten Commandments. It almost seems like this could be the end of it all right here.  But he doesn’t abandon his people.  Instead he goes back up the mountain-this time to beg mercy for the weak and foolish Israelites.

So, Moses asks God to forgive what seems like the unforgiveable-a betrayal of the God who saved them from certain death.  Remember that Moses’ relationship with God is a new one.  He didn’t know what the answer would be.  Would God give pardon or punishment? 

Perhaps in my more self-righteous youth, I focused on the sins of the Israelites.  It was easy to point to the failings of others.  But now, I find myself understanding the hope for mercy and forgiveness and the pain of wondering if such mercy will be forthcoming.  Am I worthy of forgiveness?  Is there some limit to God’s compassion?  Am I asking too much of God?  In other words: Will God forgive me my sins?  I am sure we have all sat in the heaviness of this silence waiting for God’s answer.

But God’s answer to Moses-and to all of us-has already come in the form of the sacrifice of his only Son.  The power of God’s word, sown in our hearts like the tiniest of seeds, will grow and flourish.  Its branches will be tall and strong and give shelter and comfort.  Through faith in Christ all things are possible, whether it be the transformation of a tiny seed to a majestic tree or the forgiveness of great sin.  Now, we need only sow the seed.  

 

Marlo Serritella ([email protected]) is on the staff at the Passionist Development Office in Chicago, Illinois.

Scripture:

2 Kings 4:42-44
Ephesians 4:1-6
John 6:1-15

Reflection:

I write this reflection from a Benedictine monastery perched on a mountaintop in Big Sur, California-overlooking the vastness of the Pacific Ocean.  Having traveled to the Holy Land, I can attest that my current landscape is very similar to the prospect enjoyed by the faithful gathered with Jesus as described in today’s Gospel reading. 

During my present retreat, I took time to read and reflect upon Pope Benedict’s latest encyclical Caritas in Veritate-hot off the press. In many ways, Charity in Truth connects beautifully with today’s gospel reading.  It is emphasized in the encyclical that the transcendent is made known through our quest for knowledge of God in communion (as a community.)  The breaking of bread brings hope and builds the community of faith in our world. 

Today’s reading from Matthew which describes the multiplication of the loaves and fish (also related in the gospels of Mark, Luke and John) challenges each of us to consider how we can provide for our hungry world-both literally and spiritually.  Clearly, charity in truth as revealed in the multiplication of the loaves and fish, provided an important revelation of God’s mission in our world-and our mission today as disciples of Jesus Christ.  We are called to be in communion with our world and to care for our human family.  Pope Benedict’s encyclical reminds us of our rich tradition of Catholic Social Teaching and inspires us to live out this call.

At a Passionists meeting a few years ago, UN delegate Fr. Kevin Dance, CP, reported some alarming statistics.  790 million men, women and children were suffering from malnutrition and starvation, and 1.3 million people lacked access to clean water. And, by 2012 the population of the world is projected to be 7 billion, and ½ of these people will live in extreme poverty.  Recently published statistics from the UN project that we will soon have over 1 billion individuals suffering from hunger.

Like the disciples in today’s gospel, we too may feel overwhelmed and discouraged when confronted with the enormity of the needs in our community and world.  "Send the crowds away" might be our response as well.  But, if we are truly called to be a living Christian community, we must reach out beyond our boundaries-as Jesus modeled.  Our commitment to a Eucharistic life must inspire us to take action on behalf of those in need.  May our communal actions be inspired by Caritas in Veritate…Charity in Truth! 

(Written on the Feast of St. Benedict.)

 

Angela Howell ([email protected]) is a retreatant and volunteer at Mater Dolorosa Retreat Center in Sierra Madre, California.