Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Acts 11:1-18
John 10:1-10

Reflection:

As the hind longs for the running stream, my soul longs for you, oh Lord. Bring me to your holy mountain….   -Psalm 42

My soul has been in a dark place, Lord.  I have been in what Fr. Randal called “the dry times of prayer”; the times when I reached out to You, my Father, but somehow received nothing in return.  It seemed no matter how long or how hard I listened, I could not feel your voice within me.   I needed Your counsel and peace so very much those past dimly lit days, as I struggled with the challenges of aging, injury and pain.   

I feel ashamed when I think of the self-pitying visions of abandonment I allowed to grow in my heart during those empty times. Mea culpa, my Father. You are truly ever faithful. You answered my prayers in a way I couldn’t understand because it was not what I wanted/anticipated hearing.  

Today’s readings show Peter answering his Jewish followers who criticize his actions in dealing with Gentiles.  He relates his dream/vision that ended with a voice that told him, “What God has made clean, you shall not profane.” Peter answered them but they would not / could not hear his voice. Trials sent to me are made clean by You, Lord.  I must not make them profane by reacting with anger or despair. Only You know the pathways we are destined to travel before we can attain entrance to your holy mountain, Your heavenly Kingdom. I beg your forgiveness for my lack of faith, my Father.  Help me grasp that I must endure whatever is sent to me with patience and in peace, understanding and acceptance ~  I will seek You first to understand that the ragged rocks in the stream my soul tumbles over must be endured as they scour and sanctify me.  Then may I be made worthy of the place You have prepared for me in Your Heavenly kingdom. Jesus and Mary be praised forever and ever. 

Ray Alonzo is the father of three children, grandfather of two, and husband to Jan. He is a USN Vietnam Veteran and a 1969 graduate of Mother of Good Counsel Passionist Prep Seminary. Ray currently serves on the Passionist Alumni Council.

Good Shepherd Sunday

Scripture:

Acts 4:8-12
1 John 83:1-2
John 10:11-18

Reflection:

Today, the fourth Sunday of Easter is Good Shepherd Sunday. There are certain elements that stand out in the gospel and are highlighted by Sister Faustine Maria Pia, S.V. (Magnificat, April 20224, Vol. 26, No. 2 pp-323-324). The first element is that Jesus is the Good Shepherd and the sheep  recognize his voice. I once asked a farmer how do sheep learn to heed the shepherd’s voice? The farmer responded, the sheep are with the shepherd night and day from birth. Jesus calls us to good pasture which is life with him.

The second element is the sheepfold of this life is shown as a vulnerable place. “My sheep hear my voice…and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them  out of my hand (Jn 10: 27-28). When the wolf comes, the hirelings flee abandoning the sheep. Jesus lays down his life for his sheep calling us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute you (MT 5:44). (Ibid. p. 324.)

The third element is the Good Shepherd shows the sheep their worth. We all were created by God as unique, precious, most loveable and loved. Listening to Jesus’ voice we come to realize that “I know my own and my own know me. (Johnn 10:14)” Listening to Jesus we experience how loveable and how loved we are because of Jesus’ infinite love for us.

On this Good Shepherd Sunday, let us find a quiet place to just listen to the Good Shepherd’s voice speaking to us. What is he saying? What is he calling us to do? The Good shepherd promises: “I am with you always” (MT 28:20) (Ibid. p. 324)

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

Scripture:

Acts 9:31-42
John 6:60-69

Reflection:

Walking with Jesus

One of the saddest lines in New Testament is “many of his disciples went back to the things behind (what they left to follow Jesus) and were not walking with Him anymore”. John 6:66   The teaching of Jesus on the Eucharist was too difficult to understand and they walked away from Him.  The word for walk away is the NT Greek ap er chomai; from “apo”( away from) and erchomai;( to go)   The sentence ends with “they were not walking with Him anymore!”   The English translation fails to give us the total sadness of the great walk away from Christ.

In the 56 years of my priesthood I sadly saw this great “walk away” by so many Catholics in our country.  Years ago it was estimated by some that about 70% of our Catholics in this country were faithful to Mass attendance while now something less than 50% are attending with regularity.   To add to our concern the Covid 19 health threat has deeply deprived so many from having the faith experience of the centuries, the Eucharist! 

The haunting question of Jesus commands our attention: “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Jn 6:67  The Eucharist is momentously important for us as it contains Jesus Himself!    Experiencing the Eucharist is just as awesome an event as was the post Resurrection visit to the apostles of the Risen Jesus showing His wounds!  See my wounded and scared hands pierced by large nails!  Place your hand close to my open wounded Heart and be not unbelieving but believing!

The Second Vatican Council rightly proclaimed that the Eucharistic sacrifice is “the source and summit of the Christian life”.“For the most holy Eucharist contains the Church’s entire spiritual wealth: Christ Himself, our Passover and living Bread. Through his own flesh, now made living and life-giving by the Holy Spirit, he offers life to men”.Consequently the gaze of the Church is constantly turned to her Lord, present in the Sacrament of the Altar, in which she discovers the full manifestation of his boundless love.” 

Fr. Bob Weiss, C.P. preaches Parish Missions and is a member of the Passionist Community in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Acts 9:1-20
John 6:52-59

Reflection:

The conversion of Saul of Tarsus is truly one of the most compelling stories in the New Testament. In only 20 verses, we see a man so profoundly impacted by an encounter with Jesus that he goes from seeking to kill Christians to preaching to convert Jews. However, the change was not immediate. St. Luke recounts that after his experience of Jesus, Saul was unable to see for three days. When we seek encounters with the Lord, we tend to want Him to make Himself immediately clear in His answers to our questions. Yet, as with Saul, the Lord may withhold clarity from us for a time. In so doing, He asks us to trust Him and be willing to walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Cor 5:7)

As Saul waits in darkness, the Lord Is at work calling Ananias to go to him. Jesus claims Saul as one who is chosen for a great mission, but He also reveals that Saul will suffer for His name. In His great mercy, Jesus does not want the man who will become St. Paul to begin his difficult journey alone. Instead, He sends a brother to lead him to the Holy Spirit.

If we are feeling blind and uncertain even after encountering the Lord in prayer, let us remember the story of Saul’s conversion. What we perceive as darkness and confusion might be what the Lord is allowing to prepare us to receive the help we need for the important journey He has planned.

Megan Silas is a Lay Passionist at Holy Name Passionist Retreat Center in Houston, Texas.

Scripture:

Acts 8:26-40
John 6:44-51

Reflection:

The Necessary Passion of the Lord

As we follow the Scriptures during the fifty days of Easter we can see a great contrast between John’s Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. For John coming to believe is gradual, for the author of Acts (Luke) it can be instantaneous. But for both, John and Acts, the mystery of the Cross is indispensable in coming to believe in Jesus as Lord.

In John’s Gospel, the first believer is the beloved disciple who runs to the tomb with Peter. He looks into the tomb and believes, Peter is only amazed. John is the disciple closest to the act of Jesus’ life-giving love, with Mary he stands by the Cross. Could that be why he can believe? Could this also be why we do not hear of Mary in the resurrection stories of John’s gospel? Mary is the disciple who does not need this gradual growth in God’s love to come to believe. She is there already!

Mary Magdalene, first to the tomb to care for the body of Jesus with spices and perfume, comes back again looking for Our Lord. She asks the supposed gardener if he has taken the body to please tell her where it is so she can care for it. Mary does not yet believe, cannot see, Jesus is her Lord. The Good Shepherd who will not lose any of his beloved flock calls her by name, ‘Mary’, and like the Apostles at their first meeting with Jesus calls him “Rabbi”. Mary is like the woman at the well, Martha, the blind man of Siloam and Nicodemus. They all come to name Jesus the Lord gradually. Finally, Mary says, “My Master,” and goes to tell the others that she has seen, “the Lord”.

Mary Magdalene shared the Passion. She now can recognize the Lord.

In the Acts of the Apostles, we see immediate professions of faith and baptisms: the lame man who sat by the Beautiful Gate of the temple and the crowds who are added to the community of believers. The Passion is around them in the apostles who are being punished, in Stephen, and in those whom Saul will persecute.

Today we see another class of people represented by the Ethiopian Eunuch, who is also like the Apostles on the road to Emmaus. They meet the suffering Messiah through the Scriptures. The Emmaus disciples and the Eunuch have their hearts set on fire as they learn the Messiah must suffer and so come to glory. The disciples of Emmaus end up in Jerusalem that first Easter night united with the apostles as believers. The Eunuch enters into water of baptism, he believes, as the Spirit takes Philip off to announce the Good News elsewhere.

May the Word of the Scriptures continue to keep before us the Passion of Jesus through which we come to know the Lord. It is the unspoken word of the wounds that Jesus so often shows his disciples. It is the necessary step that reveals Jesus’ love and that he is the Messiah and Lord.

Fr. William Murphy, CP is a member of Immaculate Conception Community in Jamaica, New York.

Scripture:

Acts 8:1-8
John 6:35-40

Reflection:

Our lives can rightly be described as an ongoing search for what we think will fulfill and complete us, bringing peace to our frantically restless hearts. And our gospel today shows us how simple finding that peace really is. Jesus doesn’t leave us guessing but makes it as clear and straightforward as possible. “I myself am the bread of life,” he declares. “No one who comes to me shall ever be hungry, no one who believes in me shall thirst again.” Christ is the answer to the deepest and most poignant longings of our hearts. There is nothing else we need to know and no point in searching any further.

If we consume Christ entirely, if we open our hearts to him and allow him to remake us, we shall find life. If we make Christ the absolute center of our lives, truly abiding in him so that he lives in us and we in him, we will know eternal life; indeed, it will not be some unreachable future that is always before us, but the reality from which we live now. And when Jesus says that “no one who comes to me will I ever reject,” we learn there is no reason ever to feel anxious or worried or insecure because we are held fast by a love that will never let us go.

There are many ways to think about what it means to live from the power of Easter but knowing that we are held tight by a love that never gives up on us, a love that will never let go, and a love that promises to “raise us up” on the last day, surely gets to the heart of it.

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

Scripture:

Acts 7:51–8:1a
John 6:30-35

Reflection:

Our scripture readings point us to the powerful testimony of Stephen, a man filled with the Holy Spirit. He fearlessly confronts the religious leaders, accusing them of being “stiff-necked” and resistant to the Holy Spirit. Stephen boldly reminds them of their ancestors’ history of persecuting prophets. Despite their fury, Stephen remains steadfast, even forgiving those who stone him. His unwavering faith and commitment to truth inspire us to stand firm in our convictions, even when faced with opposition.

Jesus declares, “I am the bread of life.” The crowd seeks signs, recalling the manna their ancestors received in the desert. Jesus shifts their focus from earthly bread to the spiritual nourishment He provides. He is the true bread from heaven, offering eternal life to all who come to Him. His words resonate across time, inviting us to seek sustenance beyond physical needs. Just as bread satisfies hunger, Jesus satisfies our deepest longings, filling our souls with purpose and hope.

The passages call us to recognize divine truth and embrace it wholeheartedly. Stephen’s courage and Jesus’ promise of eternal life remind us that our spiritual hunger can only be satisfied by the Bread of Life. May we, like Stephen, remain faithful witnesses, and may our hearts continually turn to Jesus—the true sustainer of our souls. 

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

Scripture:

Acts 6:8-15
John 6:22-29

Reflection:

Eternal Life

Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give you. JN 6:27

They tell the story of the couple who were driving down the freeway at 75 MPH when the wife said to her husband “I think we are lost.”  Her husband said, “That’s OK we are making great time!”  Is this not the story of so many of us today!  We are so very busy but spend little time considering where we are going and hurrying to get there.

Today’s Gospel has Jesus telling us we are heading for eternal life.  So many of our concerns have little or no relation to the unending life Jesus promises us.  “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life.”   The New Testament talks about the next life around 300 times!

When Jesus come many, even religious people, had no concept of the next life.   Many thoughts at most the next life was very foggy.  “Who praises You among the dead (In Sheol who will give You praise)? Ps 5:5  Sheol  means underworld (place to which people descend at death):—Sheol is used 66 times in OT.

Many of the Jewish People to whom Jesus preached believed in the next life like the Pharisees.  But even to this day many orthodox have serious doubts about the resurrection of the dead.   So when Jesus taught He really emphasized “Eternal Life” by parables of Old Farmer (Lk12:16) and Last Judgement etc.

Jesus reassured us so many times to live in such a way that we have endless life ahead of us!  One of the biggest mistakes we can make on this earth is to think that death is the end of our existence!  It is the door of our eternal life with Jesus!

1. “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.
2. “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
3. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

 Fr. Bob Weiss, C.P. preaches Parish Missions and is a member of the Passionist Community in Louisville, Kentucky.