Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Joshua 24:14-29
Matthew 19:13-15

Reflection

Imagine yourself smack in the middle of today’s first reading. Joshua has “gathered together all the tribes of Israel at Shechem,” and you are right there with them. The purpose of the assembly is for all those present to renew their commitment to God. Joshua exhorts the Israelites to make a decisive confession of faith by publicly declaring who will rule their hearts. Will they give themselves to Yahweh, the only true God, or align themselves with “the gods your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt” or “the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling”? After asserting that they will never “forsake the LORD for the service of other gods,” you hear the tribes of Israel recite a stirring litany of God’s saving actions for them, beginning with their ancestors’ deliverance from slavery in Egypt up to their present life among the Amorites. That liturgy of remembrance enables them to jubilantly declare: “Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God.”

It is easy to picture ourselves participating in this covenant renewal ceremony because we all give our hearts to something. We can even say that we are naturally lovers because we hand ourselves over to whatever we think will complete us; whatever we believe will satisfy the deepest hungers and yearnings of our lives. This story from the book of Joshua reminds us that every person worships some god even though it may not be the true God. Joshua warns the Israelites about serving “strange gods.” Today those “strange gods” could be money and possessions. They could be our successes and achievements. Or maybe our strange god is making sure we always get what we want and always have our way. When we look back over our lives, we discover that we forsake the true God for strange gods all the time.

And whenever we do, we learn that no matter how alluring those strange gods might be, none can offer us the life and peace and goodness and joy and hope that the only real God can and always has. And so today, let us join our ancestors in the faith in joyfully proclaiming: “As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

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:

Joshua 24:1-13
Matthew 19:3-12

Reflection:

A Living Commitment to Companionship

“Love consists of a commitment which limits one’s freedom – it is a giving of the self, and to give oneself means just that: to limit one’s freedom on behalf of another” (John Paul II, Love and Responsibility).  The above words of John Paul II can help us understand better the anthropological and theological meaning of today’s scripture readings. In effect, in light of such papal statement, we can say that God’s life-giving plan of creation and salvation is all about living a mutual commitment to companionship.  That is why today’s gospel alludes to the Book of Genesis by telling us, in Jesus’ words, that: “From the beginning the Creator ‘made [humankind] male and female’ . . . [so that] ‘a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'” in order to populate the earth and be God’s stewards of creation.

For the above theological and anthropological reasons, Jesus reminds us of the gospel words that are central to the Rite of the Sacrament of Matrimony, that is, “what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”  Therefore, a married couple is to be “one flesh” living, under God’s grace-giving blessing, a mutual commitment to companionship.  For the purpose of marriage is that the couple gives each other their selves by mutually limiting their freedom on behalf of each other.

In a similar way, we see God being faithfully married to the people of Israel, whom Joshua summons at Shechem just to remind them that their living God has limited his own freedom on behalf of them.  In other words, because God is good and “his mercy endures forever,” as the Psalmist prays, we find in the first reading a saving God who is fully committed to accompanying his chosen people, from Terah’s to the Patriarchs’ to Joshua’s to our times.  For God reminds Israel that, “it was not your sword and your bow,” but I who “gave you a land that you had not tilled and cities that you had not built, to dwell in; you have eaten of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.”  Likewise, we are reminded that it is not by our merits that we have what we possess, especially the most valuable nonmaterial things, such as faith, hope, love, unity in diversity, and peace, but by God who is just and merciful.

In conclusion, today’s readings, especially the gospel, tell us that any God-given Christian vocation is to be lived in communion with God and one another, as well as in service to God and one another.  We are to live a living commitment to mutual companionship, a sacramental communion in and through Jesus Christ, who is true man and true God.  Out of love, we are to live, as John Paul II suggests, a commitment which limits our own freedom on behalf of others.  For Jesus states, “whoever can accept this ought to accept it . . . for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven.”  We should therefore reflect on and evaluate our own Christian commitment to love and serve God and one another.

Fr. Alfredo Ocampo, C.P., is a member of St. Vincent Strambi Community in Chicago, Illinois.

Scripture:

Joshua 3:7-10a, 11, 13-17
Matthew 18:21-19:1

Reflection:

To be a Christian is to live a forgiven and forgiving life. It is to extend to others the liberating mercy that God always extends to us.

That’s the message of today’s gospel, a passage that begins with what may well be the most famous question posed in the scriptures. Peter asks Jesus if it is ever permissible to stop forgiving. Can we put limits on forgiveness? Can we cease being merciful? As he often does, Jesus responds with a parable. It’s the story of the unforgiving official, the man who had been rescued by mercy but who brazenly refused to show a servant the same mercy the king had extended to him. Both the official and the servant’s future absolutely depended on the gift of forgiveness because neither could pay back his debt. Both the official and the servant fell to their knees and begged for mercy. But the one who had received it, instead of imitating the mercy he had so lavishly been given, had the servant jailed until he could repay all that he owed. The parable ends with the unforgiving official, now stripped of the mercy he had received, tortured and tossed into prison, and with Jesus’ ominous warning that the same fate awaits us if we withhold forgiveness to anyone.

Each of us has a mission of mercy. Each of us is to be a living sacrament of God’s merciful love in the world. It is a vocation every Christian shares, a calling to which no follower of Jesus is ever exempt. That is because God has been endlessly and patiently merciful to us. God’s extravagant mercy is the gift that makes all of us equal and all of us one; indeed, God’s mercy is the foundation of our lives. Thus, to withhold mercy—to refuse to offer it whenever we can—is not only to be horribly ungrateful and scandalously unjust, but also to blaspheme God.

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 of Holy Cross Province.

Scripture:

1 Kings 19:9a, 11-13a
Romans 9:1-5
Matthew 14:22-33

Reflection:

The readings for today focus on three distinct characters in our Biblical traditions. Elijah, the Old Testament prophet; Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles; and Peter, the one Jesus chose to lead the church. The first reading, and the gospel, touch on well-recognized elements in our lives of faith—fear and doubt. Rather than considering our doubts or fears as weaknesses of faith, I believe they are opportunities to grow deeper in trust and strengthen us as we journey along from day to day.

In the first Book of Kings, the verses before today’s text speak of a threat to Elijah’s life by Jezebel. Upon hearing this, he flees and prays for God to take him. Feeling he has failed God in his mission, he doubts his value. Then the angel of the Lord tells him to go to Horeb, the mountain of God. Our reading highlights his search for God’s voice. Like Elijah, we sometimes look for God only in displays of the fantastic. We often assume that simple, quiet, or ordinary things might not be worthy of God’s power. Yet, that is what Elijah experienced in this particular moment. Sometimes, on the other hand, loud and chaotic events in our lives do drown out God’s presence. We recently cared for our three youngest grandchildren while their parents took a well-deserved break. Navigating the schedule of a 7-, 6-, and 3-year-old can be dizzying. Then we were doubly blessed to add their cousin and his high school football schedule. While I know that God is always present in all situations, including fantastic feats of nature, I found his quiet spirit in the laughter, the earnest eyes, and the happy play of each grandchild.

I admit to times when I felt myself drowning like Peter in our gospel. Knowing I invited this happy chaos upon myself in my “yes” to our kids, “Of course, you go on vacation, take some time away, we’d love to have your children all to ourselves”…. I could only call out to Jesus to help me when doubting my ability to fulfill my promise.

While my recent insight into this gospel passage is not exactly earthshaking, it is valuable in reminding me of God’s constant presence and desire to touch my life. That is real. Jesus responded to Peter’s call for help by plucking him out of the water with the statement, “O, you of little faith, why did you doubt?”(v.31b). Yet, this is not a statement of smallness of faith so that it is useless. In chapter 17:20, Jesus teaches that the power of “small faith,” the size of a mustard seed, can move mountains.

We must never forget that even the smallest grain of faith—despite doubt—benefits God’s kingdom. Pope Francis, in one of his reflections several years ago suggested:

“If we put what little we have into the hands of Jesus in order to share with others, it will become an overabundant richness.”

In our second reading, St. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, writes of his “great sorrow and constant anguish” (v. 1b) for his own people who have rejected the good news of Jesus Christ. Who of us cannot relate to his sentiments? We also can lament children, siblings, and friends who may have walked away from our church. Without whose presence we are somehow less. Yet, Paul ends by giving God praise. “God blessed forever” (v. 5b).

Finally, we pour all our hope, faith, doubt, and worship into the words of the Psalm as we state emphatically,

“Kindness and truth shall meet; justice and peace shall kiss. Truth shall spring out of the earth, and justice shall look down from heaven.” (Psalm 85:11-12).

May we always and forever, through all the joys and challenges of life, place our faith and trust in our loving God. Amen.

Jean Bowler is a retreatant at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center in Sierra Madre, California, and a member of the Office of Mission Effectiveness Board of Holy Cross Province.