Scripture:

Philippians 2:1-4
Luke 14:12-14

Reflection:

We understand that there is a direct relationship between how we relate to God and how we relate to others with whom we live, work and play. To be "of the same mind, with the same love" as St. Paul, we are to "do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory." The constant challenge is to want to do our own will and to have others do the same. It is a control thing. Relationships are not healthy when my control of you is the order of the day. We think, for example, that we know what the poor need. We may give, in charity, when we do not understand in which way the needy are really in need. Dolling out charity does not empower. But "looking out for the interest of another," means that I am willing to let go of my control of the situation and outcome! Is not that which Jesus asks the Pharisee to do when He asks him to "invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind?" Control needs are our desire for a certain outcome. The poor cannot repay with the outcome I want. Example: what happens when they don’t need me anymore? To be one with Christ through the example of Paul, let’s look at our willingness to see the other as "more important than ourselves", and let God work in this relationship.  Is not our daily prayer "your will be done, your kingdom come?"

 

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

Feast of St. Charles Borromeo 

Scripture:

Philippians 2:5-11
Luke 14:15-24

Reflection:

Jesus’ skill as a prophetic story-teller reaches across the ages to challenge us in the 21^st century:  what does it mean to follow him as his disciple?  Our response is based on both faith, a generous heart, and the example of fellow believers.

Our reading from Philippians 2 is "classic":  this "Song of the Philippians" highlights Jesus’ free gift of himself in the great plan of salvation.  He came among us, humbled himself — even to death on the Cross!  The words of verses 10 and 11 are used by many Passionists to begin their praying of the Liturgy of the Hours; indeed, we bend our knees and confess that Jesus is Lord!  No doubt these deeply meaningful words regularly guided the prayer of our Holy Founder, St. Paul of the Cross.

Luke’s Gospel selection contains Jesus’ parable of the great dinner to which many were invited, but few willingly came.  Their excuses "I’ve purchased a field…I’ve purchased some oxen…I’m newly married…" all border on the ridiculous for such a great dinner invitation.  Others were then invited — the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame — and the banquet hall was filled.  No doubt, quite a party — as only Jesus could "throw"!

Jesus, our Crucified Savior, invites us to join in His Banquet of Life, to follow Him in the 21^st century by lives of Christ-like virtue and civic responsibility.  Faith, generosity, and determination help us to say "yes" each day — summarized by those few words of the Lord’s Prayer:  "your Will be done".

In the 16^th Century, St. Charles Borromeo was invited to use his personal and spiritual talents to help reform the Church.  As a bishop, he encouraged good example and an apostolic spirit in the lives of the religious leaders of his day.  He himself sacrificed greatly, giving his time & treasure, caring for the poor and sick of his own day.  Charles saw Jesus Crucified in his neighbor, and responded generously to the invitation to selfless love and service.

Today, may Jesus — and St. Charles Borromeo — inspire us in our service of God and one another, especially the faith-witness of our responsible voting.  Jesus is Lord!

 

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

Feast of All Saints

Scripture:

Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14
1 John 3:1-3
Matthew 5:1-12

Reflection:

Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?" (Rev. 7:9)"

 As we ponder the vision of the great multitude of holy men and women from every nation presented to us in our first reading on this feast of All Saints, let us focus our reflection on "… where do saints come from and how do the readings today help each of us to become saints.

 As we pray our Psalm response together this day, we come before the Lord as "…the people who long to see your face."  What a beautiful and ancient prayer of yearning, seeking, expressing our desire to receive the Lord’s blessings in His holy place! Yet, we are called to come with hands that are sinless, a heart that is clean and our desire not for what is vain…

John, in our second reading, reminds that we are beloved of God… God’s children now… and in this reality is our hope.

 But it is in our Gospel today that Jesus himself teaches us where saints come from … and how each of us… everyday people become saints. His teaching is a summary of how to live the whole gospel… They are the foundation statements for the life and community of his followers, his disciples…that’s each of us! They are a summary of living the whole gospel. We know them as the Beatitudes. They invite each of us to examine our lives and values carefully and honestly; to look at what is important and what is not; to experience what brings real happiness and what does not. 

  As each of us pray these reading together today, let us pray for one another as we are all in the process of becoming "Saints"!

 Sr. Marcella Fabing, C.S.J. is on the staff at Christ the King Passionist Retreat Center, Citrus Heights, California.

Scripture:

Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11
2 Peter 3:8-14
Mark 1:1-8

Reflection:

St. Mark probably produced his gospel in Rome around the year 60. So a learned convert of Peter’s or Paul’s might have cherished reading an early copy. He would have noticed that opening line – St. Mark was calling his document "An Announcement of Good News." That was the meaning of the Greek Mark took over. ("evangel") As St. Mark reviewed the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, he saw it as another inbreaking of the goodness of God into a needy world. Some five hundred years earlier a prophet whose name has not come down to us was inspired amid the depressed and discouraged Chosen People to deliver a message of hope: "Comfort, my people, your guilt is expiated…" One hundred years earlier the great Isaiah of Jerusalem had warned, "Jerusalem and its temple will perish in flames, its people will know exile and death." The message and the messenger were mocked. But the People confined in Babylon experienced its fulfillment. Now came another prophet with a message of hope and deliverance, and his words were added to the scrolls of the First Isaiah.  St. Mark knew those words and now found them realized even more truly in John the Baptist the prophet who was the forerunner of the very Son of God, come as our Supreme Comfort!

Our Liturgy tells us the message of Isaiah and Mark is meant for us today. The "Good News" is meant for us. Handel’s "Messiah" sets the words of "Comfort" to superb music, but we need to let the words themselves be music in our hearts. We are facing hard times. The Almighty $ has failed us, banks have been swallowed up, civil leaders are facing great difficulties. We are not in Babylon, but we may feel confined and trapped. What is life offering us? Our God is with us, our God is for us. Isaiah and Mark affirm that. Our God delivered the Chosen People. Our God saw the Church in Rome emerge triumphant over Rome’s vaunted power. Our God saw the tiny American Church emerge strongly in this country. John the Baptist tells us our part is to believe and open ourselves to the God who comes, Emmanuel!

 

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:

Philippians 3:17-4:1
Luke 16:1-8

Reflection:

"My brothers…I so long for you who are my joy and my crown…"   Here we see the great St. Paul, God’s Chosen Vessel, the Mystic at home in the "Third Heaven" as a man of great sensibility who was a faithful, loyal, loving friend!

Earlier in his life, Paul was going from town to town in Asia Minor, the area we now know as Turkey and proclaiming the astonishing word God’s love for us human beings.  He intended to continue working in that area, but the Holy Spirit sent him to Europe.  So we find him at Philippi in Macedonia converting a Jewish business woman, and later rebuking an evil spirit.  That got him flogged and imprisoned.  An earthquake loosened his chains and converted his jailer.

The judges found out they had flogged a Roman citizen and were relieved to escort him on his way with honors.  The Christian Community at Philippi was the only one that Paul allowed to provide financial aid for his missionary work.  It is ten or so years later that Paul writes the letters we know as Philippians.  Paul was in prison, probably in Ephesus, where the Philippians sent him aid along with the person of the slave Epaphraditus.  Paul writes his thank them. 

A second letter takes up a problem that plagued Paul all his career.  Some Christians, former Essenes perhaps, claimed Paul was delivering only half the Gospel.  They demanded that Gentile converts needed to be circumcised as well as baptized if they were to be Christian.                                        

Paul had refuted that teaching in Jerusalem and Galatia.  He mounts a fierce frontal attack in defending himself.  His defense gives us his wonderful testimony: "My righteousness (comes) from God, depends on faith to know him and the power of his resurrection, the sharing of his sufferings by being conformed to his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead."  (3/9-11)

Paul invites his followers, and that includes us, to share his grace and calling: "Join with others in being imitators of me, conduct (yourselves) according to the model you have in us."  He concludes by reminding us: "…our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we also await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.  He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorious body by the power that enables him to bring all things into subjection to himself."

We all are meant to be "the joy and crown of the very Son of God! 

                                                                                                              

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:

Philippians 1:1-11
Luke 14:1-6

Reflection:

Today, we begin readings from the letter of St. Paul to the Philippians.  Paul appears to have a great love for these converts because of how they welcomed him and because of their generosity to the poor.  Paul seems convinced that God had begun good work in them and that he would bring that good work to completion, and Paul takes time out of his life to acknowledge his appreciation in this letter to the faith community in Philippi.

The Philippians were moved from conversion into service.  This is in direct contrast to the attitude of the Pharisees in today’s Gospel who objected to Jesus’ healing of the man with dropsy on the Sabbath.  They were more concerned with legalism than with the spirit of the law.  Jesus demonstrates that coming to the help of others in need is what he calls us to do. 

We all need to know that we are truly appreciated.  God has begun good work in us and in others.  He wants to bring it to completion by forming us into a people who reflect his kingdom here on earth. 

Lord…….Help us today to offer words of love and encouragement to those who come into our lives today.  Many people may come and go during our day.  Help us to be especially grateful for those who leave footprints on our heart.

 

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

Scripture:

Ephesians 6:10-20
Luke 13:31-35

Reflection:

Has this ever happened to you? You are glued to the TV set watching your favorite basketball team in the playoffs.  The score is tied.  There is one minute left to play.  Your team has the ball.  You are sitting at the edge of your seat to see what is going to happen next.  And then…there is a commercial break.  Ugh!  What a let-down.  It is not only the interruption in the action that you resent, but it is also the message.  Commercials may be about beer, or cars, or computers.  But the underlying message that comes across time after time is "the big lie."  Commercials tell us that "to be happy you have to buy lots of stuff."  Some people actually believe this lie, so they go out and buy lots of stuff.  They don’t feel any happier, so they go out and buy more stuff.  Still, no happiness.  These people scurry about, looking for life in all the wrong places.  Buying stuff just doesn’t work. 

In our first reading today St. Paul advises us to put on armor–the armor of God– to protect ourselves.  He is not talking about protecting ourselves from assaults by enemy soldiers, but assaults by the forces of evil.  And one of these forces is the big lie of advertising.  We need to shield our ears and the ears of our children.  We need to guard our minds and the minds of our children.  No, we don’t need lots of stuff to be happy.  For true happiness we need the Lord Jesus at the center of our lives.  Wisely Paul tells us "pray at every opportunity in the Spirit."   This will help us know what is really important in life.  Then Paul asks for prayers the he may "make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel."  We ask for the same strength to be girded in truth and advertise by our lives that Jesus is the only source of lasting joy.  

 

Fr. Alan Phillip, C.P. is a member of the Passionist Community at Mater Dolorosa Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.

                                                                           

Scripture:

Ephesians 2:19-22
Luke 6:12-16

Reflection:

Today we celebrate the feast day of SS Simon and Jude.  These two men, along with the other Apostles were simple men.  They did not become Apostles because of some great feats or because of some great role they played in their community or because they came from influential families.  They were ordinary folk, but they were ready to hear the voice of God.  And Jesus called them.  We don’t know why he chose these men from the other disciples anymore than we can know why he calls us to our path in life.   Throughout life, when we meet another crisis, when we are faced with yet one more challenge or problem, or sometimes even when we realize we are gifted with a special blessing, we may wonder "Why me, God?"     I think the answer is that Jesus has called us.  Called us to experience the deaths and resurrections that mark the life of a Christian.  "Come follow me," Christ tells us.

The Apostles followed Christ.  Reflecting on what happened from this small group of simple men who heard their call and went out and converted the world, it is easy to dispel any doubts about our faith.  Started by a group of twelve, with Christ as the foundation, the Church has continued to grow and thrive for over two thousand years.  From a small town, it has spread throughout the world.  Isn’t that unbelievable?  Isn’t that awesome?

How do we emulate the zeal of Simon or the simple faith of Jude?  Do we listen to the voice of Christ as he calls us to evangelize the word?  How do we celebrate this Church which is continuingly as Paul told the Ephesians "being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.?"  How are we following Christ?  How are we being Christian?

 

Mary Lou Butler is a former staff member and is now a member of the Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center Board, Sierra Madre, California.