Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Isaiah 45:1, 4-6
1 Thessalonians 1:1-5b
Matthew 22:15-21

Reflection:

In our Gospel reading for Sunday (Matthew 22:15-21), the Pharisees, who have been trying to trap Jesus into saying something that would get Him into trouble, come up with a question they just know will work. They start out with some insincere flattery, and then ask Jesus, “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” It is an ingenious trap, because no matter how Jesus answers the question, somebody will get offended or angry, or take some action against Him.

But Jesus knows they are trying to trap Him. So, He doesn’t really answer the question. Instead, He asks them to produce a coin that pays the tax, and asks them, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” They reply, “Caesar’s.” And He replies, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”

I think it is fair to say that throughout the centuries, Christians have grappled with Jesus’ words. I think it is because Jesus seems to be challenging us to think about where our loyalties lie, or even ask the question from an old protest song, “Whose side are you on?”

In the U.S., and many other places, we uphold the value of loyalty to one’s country. When we see servicemen and women or veterans, we often say, rightfully so, “Thank you for your service.” Very often we see loyalty to our country and loyalty to God as almost the same thing.

But in these divided times, it seems to me that we are tempted to put so much a value on loyalty to our group, our “tribe,” our political party or political leanings, even our ethnic group, or our church, that we demonize and dehumanize those who are “other.” It’s almost as if we define ourselves by those whom we put ourselves against. We see ourselves as righteous, while we see “them,” (whoever they are) as the ones who are unrighteous and underserving of anything good. We know that throughout history there have been attempts at genocide, when this perspective is carried out to its logical and final conclusion. The question for us is does our loyalty to our group demand that we disregard God’s commandment to love? If so, are we repaying to God what belongs to God?

In His encounter with the Canaanite woman, which we heard a couple of months ago (Matthew 15:21-28), Jesus demonstrates loyalty to the people of Israel: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But He did not let that desire to save His people stop Him from helping the woman who was not of the house of Israel.

It seems to me that loving as Jesus loves, even to the point of showing mercy, even to the point of loving one’s enemies, is repaying to God what belongs to God. Just as Jesus continued to elude the traps the Pharisees laid for Him, may we avoid the traps of hatred and fear, and by God’s grace, put our trust in the love that God has for us and the world and repay that love by loving others.

Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P., is the local superior of the Passionist Community in Birmingham, Alabama. 

Scripture:

Romans 4:13, 16-18
Luke 12; 8-12

Reflection:

He believed, hoping against hope…  –Romans 4:18

Have you ever had days where nothing was going in your favor.  Things go from bad to worse.  Maybe you lost your job or received an unfavorable diagnosis, or your spouse asks you for a divorce.  In these circumstances how does one have hope and cope?  At these times God seems so far way or silent. And yet God is present within us even amidst the crisis. God never stops caring and loving us.  It is sometimes challenging for me to really believe that and act on that faith belief. 

St. Paul of the Cross, Founder of the Passionist Congregation encourages us to  “Walk in faith. The true way of holiness is the way of faith. He who walks in pure faith abandons himself into the hands of God, as a child in its mother’s arms.” (Summary of Christian Holiness in the words of Saint Paul of the Cross, Google)

When sad times or bad times occur and they will, take a few deep breathes and visualize putting your hands into the hands of God.  Image putting your hands into the hands of God just as when you were a child, you put your hands into your mother’s or father’s hands or arms. St. Paul of  the Cross tells us in the tough times to walk in faith that God never ceases to love us.  It seems that during these times God needs me “to have a little faith to hold on to the hope that all will be well” and God’s unending love will see us through. (Living Faith, Saturday, October 21, 2023, Vivian Amu, “Hold on To Hope”)

Loving God, when the times get tough and my faith is wavering, enable me to have a little faith and visualize putting my hands into your hands and being surrounded by your love.

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

Feast of St. Paul of the Cross

Scripture:

Jeremiah 1:4-9
I Corinthians 1:17-25
Matthew 9: 35-10:1

Reflection:

Today, we Passionists celebrate the feast of our Holy Founder, St. Paul of the Cross.  I know that many of you have a devotion to this great saint so please join with us in thanking God for this wonderful and saintly man.  St. Paul’s life was a remarkable story of God’s great love for the people of his time, especially those who were often forgotten or were on the margins of society.  Surely, in remembering him we are opening ourselves to the goodness of God revealed in the sufferings of Christ.  Let’s remember together a few of the important moments in Paul’s life.

St. Paul of the Cross was born in 1694 in a small town called Ovada, in Northern Italy.  He was one of sixteen children, only five of whom survived infancy.  His father, Luke Danei, owned a small clothing and tobacco shop that barely supported his large family.  His mother, Anna Maria, was a faith-filled woman, whose devotion to the Passion of Jesus was the source of her courage and strength as she endured the grief and loss of so many of her children.

From his earliest years Paul, by the example of his Mother, had a deep devotion to the Passion of Jesus and at the age of 19 had a vivid experience of the depth of God’s love.  As a result of this experience Paul became determined to give himself totally to God.  Due to family need, however, he stayed at home, helping to support the family by working in his father’s shop.  At 22 he joined the crusade against the Turks though it took only two months for him to realize that the army was not for him.  Returning home, he once again worked in the family business.

When he was 26, the circumstances of the family became a bit better and Paul finally felt free to pursue his own personal dreams. Bidding good-bye to his family, he went to Alessandria, where Bishop Gattinara, Paul’s spiritual director and confessor, clothed Paul in a black tunic on the day of his arrival and then sent him to the parish of St. Charles in Castellazzo for retreat.  In the small sacristy of the parish church Paul made a forty-day retreat.  It was during those forty days that Paul had the most extraordinary experiences of union with God and wrote the Rule of Life for the congregation he hoped to found.

After his retreat Bishop Gattinara sent him back to his home town where Paul lived in various hermitages for several years.  In 1721 Paul made his way to Rome in hopes that he could get his Rule of Life approved by the Pope.  He was turned away by a Vatican guard so Paul returned home, discouraged but determined.  On his return, his brother, John Baptist, joined with him to try living according to Paul’s Rule of Life.  Paul and John Baptist became well-known catechists and Paul was even invited to give spiritual talks by various groups.

In 1725, the brothers returned to Rome and this time Paul was given verbal permission to gather companions to live according to his Rule of Life.  Cardinal Corrandini asked the brothers to work in a newly established hospital there in Rome.  The president of the hospital was so impressed by Paul and John Baptist that he arranged for them to be ordained to the priesthood.

As more men joined with Paul and John Baptist, they moved the whole community to Monte Argentario, a promontory about 150 kms northwest of Rome, where they established the first Passionist monastery in 1737.

While contemplation and prayer were at the very heart of Paul’s life and the life of his new institute, Paul himself soon became a very famous popular preacher, spiritual guide, writer and mystic.  For Paul the Passion of Christ was the most vivid witness to God’s love for us and he constantly called upon his followers to remember the sufferings of Jesus.

During his lifetime Paul founded thirteen monasteries of Priests and Brothers throughout Italy as well as a monastery of Passionist Nuns.  Today the Passionists live and serve in more than 60 countries of the world and are enhanced by other religious and lay groups who find inspiration in the Charism of St. Paul of the Cross.

Paul Daneo spent his entire life embracing the mystery of Christ Crucified.  The depth of Paul’s compassion and commitment to the people in his life, from the outcasts of the Tuscan Maremma (marshes), to the families he guided, to the church leaders he advised, to the companions he gathered around him to share in his life, inspired them all to an ever-deeper conviction that God loved them beyond their understanding.  The love they experienced in Paul’s reflections on the Crucified Christ enriched their lives and deepened their own commitment to living their lives generously and faithfully.

 As we remember the example of this great Saint, we ask God to keep us centered in the love God has for us as revealed in the Passion and Death of His Son.

May the Passion of Jesus Christ be always in our hearts.

Fr. Michael Higgins, C.P. is the director of retreats at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre, California.

Scripture:

Romans 3:21-30
Luke 11:47-54

Reflection:

This is an age of boasting. Boasting is everywhere these days, but perhaps especially on social media where boasting knows no bounds. Athletes boast. So do celebrities and politicians. But so do most of us. We boast about our appearance, our accomplishments, the number of our friends, the size of our homes and all the stuff that fills them, the fun we are having at parties, concerts, or while on vacation. It’s as if we’ve become better at boasting than anything else—and that should worry us. The trouble with boasting is that it leads us to believe that if anything good happens to us, it’s all because of us. We have no reason to be grateful, no reason to give thanks, no reason to be indebted. If that’s the case, we are living deeply out of touch with reality.

In the first reading from Romans today, Paul bluntly asks: “What occasion is there then for boasting?” Paul poses the question in a passage where he recounts all that God has done for us. In a few swift sentences, Paul reminds us that God owes us nothing, but has given us everything. The rock bottom truth about every last one of us is that “all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God.” There is absolutely nothing we can do to rescue or redeem ourselves, nothing we can do to give ourselves hope. It is all a gift of God’s endless love, goodness, and mercy. Too, to know that we have, as Paul insists, been justified by faith is to realize that from the beginning to the end of our lives we are radically and continuously dependent on God’s grace. Even more, no person, no group, no community, and no nation can claim to be better or more deserving than any other person, group, community, or nation because all of us, Paul declares, are recipients of God’s mercy.

If we would remember this, our boasting days would be over. And then we could really start to live.

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

Scripture:

2 Timothy 4:10-17b
Luke 10:1-9

Reflection:

“…The harvest is abundant…I am sending you…into whatever household you enter, first say, Peace…”

I am not a big gardener, my parents did not have a flower or vegetable garden – there wasn’t space nor time.  Over the years I have begun to ‘dabble’ a bit with gardening – a few flowers and vegetables here and there.  Self-taught along the way.  Whenever I hear this Gospel, the harvest is abundant…I always think of squash – zucchini, spaghetti, acorn – once planted it leafs quickly, and you watch, and watch and watch – you don’t see anything, then all of a sudden – you can’t pick them fast enough! 

The harvest is abundant…the world is ready… for the Good News of the Gospel!  Words of hope, love, forgiveness…words that assure us that there is a way to live together, to trust that we are truly a connected people – brothers and sisters in Christ.  The world is ready for the despair of today to be turned upside down – ready for transformation.

And God sends us!  Those who have heard the Word, who have cultivated an intimate relationship with God, those who live in hope!  God sends us to be his presence in the world – to preach with our person, our attitudes, our hopefulness, our very presence.  God sends us!  Whatever our message, whatever our actions, whatever our demeanor…we need to be sure that it is of God and not of us.  We are vessels for God’s peace to enter our world.

The world is ready, keep watching, look beneath the surface, lead with peace – you just may be surprised by the yield – you may need help harvesting – you may even be able to share the excess…

Faith Offman is the Associate Director of Ministry at St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat and Conference Center in Detroit, Michigan.

Scripture:

Romans 1:16-25
Luke 11:37-41

Reflection

Our gospel today zeroes in on the dangers of “limp religion,” an approach to religion that is easy, reassuring, and even uplifting, but so focused on the trivial that it lacks the power to take us anywhere good. All limp religion can do is offer false consolation. No truth, no life, no salvation can be found there because limp religion is impotent when it comes to changing hearts and reconstructing lives.

The sparks begin to fly in today’s gospel story when Jesus is invited to dinner by a man who, unbeknownst to himself, is about to have a very unsettling evening. The poor Pharisee feels the brunt of all of Jesus’ chagrin for reducing religion to nothing more than intricate but lifeless practices like cleansing cups and polishing dishes. The Pharisee is so obsessed with custom and ritual that he is completely unaware that the cleansing and polishing that needs to take place is in the depths of a soul that greed has made decrepit. Jesus’ point is that the outside looks fine, but something altogether different and dangerous is unfolding within. Nothing has come from all the ritual practices the Pharisee has performed so zealously for years. Nothing he has done religiously has had the slightest impact on his soul because he is still greedy and blind.

This gospel story is timely because it reminds us how easy it is to become experts at limp religion. We can “play” at religion that way, keeping all the rules and following all the regulations, but we don’t grow, and we never change. When limp religion rules our lives, we become experts at standing still. But there is hope, and it comes in a surprising form. At the end of his blunt exchange with his dinner host, Jesus tells the Pharisee that if he gives what he has as alms, “all will be wiped clean for you.” Apparently, a simple act of justice to the poor is enough to break the spell of limp religion and put us back on the path to life.

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

Scripture:

Romans1:1-7
Luke 11:29-32

Reflection:

Jonah the prophet, with great hesitancy, preached against the people of Nineveh. He was angry that Ninevites repented, and that God repented of the evil He threatened. The people of Nineveh respond to God’s call for conversion. The queen of the south also went to great lengths and distances to hear the wisdom of Solomon. However, Jesus notes both times, “Something is greater is here.” Yet, this evil generation does not respond.

Pope Francis released an addendum to his great encyclical Laudato Si’ this month on the environment. Pope Francis understood where Jesus was coming from. His own call to care for the environment has not been heeded. Instead, confusion, resistance, and power structures reign supreme. Pope Francis’ message echoes in our hearts.  “Reality, goodness and truth do not automatically flow from technological and economic power.” Rather the dignity of the human person is the supreme worth.

We are called to open our eyes, ears, and hearts to the words of the Gospel. Catholic social teaching calls us to be prophets and see the signs of the times. We are invited to see, to judge, and to act. The people of Jesus’ time do not see Jesus for who he is. The gospels constantly challenge us to answer the question of who Jesus is. We pray Lord, “Show us!”

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