Daily Scripture

Fourth Sunday of Lent

Scripture:

Joshua 5:9a, 10-12
2 Corinthians 5:17-21
Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Reflection:

We all know the story of the Prodigal Son, who essentially proclaimed his father dead, took his inheritance, and shamed his family and himself by how he chose to spend the money. Even the son’s return home was based more on the necessity of survival than it was on sincere repentance. (Interestingly, his father’s open-armed, joyous reception probably did more to generate remorse in the errant young man than did his time sharing slop with the pigs.)

We marvel at the forgiving nature of the father. We spend far less time exploring the resentment of the elder son. I suspect that is because we relate so easily to his feelings. He did everything right – obeying all the rules, living as the model child, and sacrificing his own needs for his father’s. He doesn’t want to see an undeserving sinner receiving the reward he feels is due to him. So instead of joining in this experience of unmatched love, dancing with his brother and celebrating the once-again-intact family, the elder son turns away, refuses his father’s love, and places himself outside the family. He is now no less prodigal than his younger brother. (Perhaps we should change the title to “The Parable of the Two Prodigal Sons”).

This story parallels that of the vineyard workers who were hired at various times of the day, yet all received the same pay. If we worked long hours in the heat of the day, or did everything right like the elder son, we’d be angry over the unfair disparity in treatment, too. We demand justice. No, we demand equity. We want what we believe we have coming to us.

When his son turned away in anger, it is obvious the father’s heart was broken again. Just as he had waited patiently at the window for his beloved younger son to return home, he now had to wait at the window for his elder son to return. If the boy was as stubborn as I can be sometimes, he may have waited for a very long time.

God’s love and forgiveness, as the father demonstrates, doesn’t obey human rules of equity. We can’t earn it, no matter what we do. God simply loves and forgives, freely and lavishly, undeserving though we may be. That is an easier truth to accept when I have done wrong; when I sin I want to be welcomed back like the younger son. It is far harder to accept when I believe I am right, yet I see “a sinner” garnering praise and attention that I crave for myself. This is especially true when I work hard to overcome a certain flaw or sin, only to observe someone else practicing that very sin to manipulate people or situations to their own advantage. I know the short road toward anger and resentment when it seems more rewarding to do wrong than to stay on the right path.

How long did the eldest son remain a prodigal? We don’t know. Yet the operative question is: How long will I? Can I stay true to my calling as a follower of Christ even when I see the “rewards” that sometimes accrue to those who don’t? Can I rejoice just as heartily when the love and forgiveness that God lavishes on me is poured out on others in ways I may deem unfair? Can I turn around and lavish love and forgiveness on those who have hurt me?

I freely admit I’m not there yet. I am still working to transform my ideas of self-righteousness and fairness. I need to keep this parable in front of me, so I can continually let go of all the ways I act like the elder son. God is waiting patiently at the window, waiting for me to turn and come home.

 Amy Florian is a teacher and consultant working in Chicago.  For many years she has partnered with the Passionists.  Visit Amy’s website: http://www.corgenius.com/.

Scripture:

Hosea 6:1-6
Luke 18:9-14

Reflection:

 O God, be merciful to me a sinner. –Luke 18:13

Lent is a time of the liturgical year that requires me to reflect on my journey to becoming the person that God created me to be, my relationship with God and those around me. The readings throughout Lent take us through different aspects of human failings or hurdles, as I like to call them. These hurdles are challenges to growth in our spiritual life. Today’s readings bring us to another hurdle, judgement, and our efforts to recognize our own sinfulness.

In the first reading, the prophet Hosea reminds us of the things that God wants from us. In this reading we hear the love and knowledge of God is worth more than sacrifices and that piety is shallow and fades away quickly. Knowing God through prayer and reflection can be worth more than our Lenten sacrifices. Taking time to “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps 46:11) can do more for our relationship with God than giving up sugar in our tea!

The Parable of the Tax Collector and the Pharisee point out the light and dark sides of humanity. The dark side is described as judging others by our own standards of how we live our spiritual life. The Pharisee rattles off all the tasks that make him a more worthy individual before God than the Tax Collector who is an outcast because he works for the Romans and takes the hard-earned money of the people. The Tax Collector takes on the physical posture of humility. He recognizes that he is a sinner and asks for forgiveness before God. This is also one of the qualities of the Saints. They knew and recognized that they were sinners, keeping their condition at the forefront of their minds every day. This allowed them to have humility and thus be able to open their hearts fully to God.

Humility is not about degrading ourselves. It is about how we think of ourselves in the presence of others. The readings today remind us that humility is one of the goals to have to allow us to enter more fully into the Light of Christ.     

May your Lenten journey be fruitful.

Linda Schork is a theology teacher at Saint Xavier High School in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Hosea 14:2-10
Mark 12:28-34

Reflection:

The two greatest commandments: Love God and Love our Neighbor!  The first is pretty much a given, loving God who loves us unconditionally is really a no-brainer!  How can we do anything else but be grateful, thankful and blessed to know that no matter how many times we stray from that love, we are always welcome back!  The second commandment to love our neighbor can be more challenging!  It’s easy to love those who agree with us, share our hopes and dreams, challenge us lovingly to be a better person. Most of the time these folks are our closest friends, family, co-workers, people who literally do live next door to us.

Jesus calls us to love all people, especially those we don’t really care for, those who have different views, those who may not even like us! we live in such a fractured world.  It is very easy to get caught up in the infighting on social media or the harsh words exchanged at the dinner table or board room.  We must work to be that light to the world, to be that small flickering sign of Christ’s love for all.

Our parish theme for Lent this year is ‘Return to Me and Be Transformed.  Lent calls us to stay connected to our loving God and see that love and goodness in all of creation.  Truthfully, this is not easy for any of us.  During this Lenten season, may we find it in our hearts to be Christ for all those we encounter. Let us be transformed as we turn our negative thoughts into positive energy as we feed the hungry at the local soup kitchen, organize a call to action to help the poor in our neighborhoods have better access to adequate housing and employment, visit a friend or relative we have been avoiding because their views may not be our views. Let us do all we can to send positive energy into our world.

However you choose to spend these Lenten days leading up to the great celebration of Easter, may you remember the two greatest commandments to LOVE God and neighbor which calls all of us to be a strong witness of Christ’s love to the world, especially in the difficult times.  Peace!

Theresa Secord is a retired Pastoral Associate at St. Agnes Parish, Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Jeremiah 7:23-28
Luke 11:14-23

Reflection:

What does the Kingdom of God look like?  Today’s gospel tells us – or better, it shows us.  “Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute, and when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the crowds were amazed.”

This exorcism led to a debate among the crowd: How did Jesus accomplish this wonder?  Some rejected Jesus.  Beelzebub, the prince of darkness, or literally “Lord of the Flies,” must be the power behind Jesus’ healing.  In other words, demonic powers control Jesus, and therefore his healing is evil.  Others took a wait and see attitude.  We want more proof, they demanded.  More miracles might persuade them.

These two possibilities – reject Jesus or give more proof – summarize the reaction of many in the crowd, and of many even today.

Jesus took these arguments to their absurd conclusion.  If Jesus casts out demons by Satan’s hand, then by whose power do their own followers cast out demons?  Did they really want to degrade the activity of their own exorcists by such logic?  They were stuck in a dilemma.  “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house,” he argued.

Then Jesus offered another alternative, one he unveiled with dramatic flourish.  “But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,” he said, “then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.”  Jesus is telling the crowd – and us – that his exorcism was not meant to astound, or amaze, or even to give proof of the existence of God.  No.  This and all the wonders he performs are testimony, evidence of the arrival of God’s promised, redemptive rule.  In Jesus, the Kingdom has arrived.  God is breaking peacefully into this creation through Jesus to reclaim humanity from Satan’s mute grip.  Jesus’ exorcism was loaded with theological meaning.  Satan’s power is the power to make mute, to silence.  But Jesus’ power is the power to exorcise us from Satan’s silence so that we might boldly proclaim that the Kingdom is at hand.

In this struggle between demonic silence and the proclamation of the Good News there is no neutral territory, no Switzerland.  “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me, scatters.”  Jesus rejects fence-straddlers.  He warns us that lukewarm neutrality is equivalent to opposition to him.

Today’s gospel should remind us of the memorable remarks made by Nazi Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel.  “We must take sides,” Wiesel declared.  “Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.  Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.  Sometimes we must interfere.”  To remain mute in the face of injustice, poverty, and discrimination is to be complicit with the forces of darkness.  He summons us to interfere, to speak out on the side of the oppressed, the victim, the tormented.  Lent is a time to make a choice, to ultimately surrender to the Love of God.  The Kingdom of God looks like that.

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

Scripture:

Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9
Matthew 5:17-19

Reflection:

Amnesia: A medical condition characterized by a partial or total loss of memories, facts, information and experiences.

In today’s scripture selections from the Book of Deuteronomy and the Gospel of Matthew, there are some serious references to the Law that comes from God. Moses is on the banks of the Jordan River imploring the people to not forget the commands of the Lord as they prepare to enter a new land after leaving captivity in Egypt. Jesus implores his disciples to stay faithful to the Law. But even Jesus understood that he needed to boil the Law and Commandments down to the essentials:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.

Yet we seem always to be afflicted with amnesia. Time and again we forget. We create and then worship idols. We imagine that others should be made in our, not God’s image and likeness. We raise up as contemporary “golden calves” pop stars or influencers or politicians.

Lent, at its best, is an opportunity to remember, that is, to be mindful of God’s goodness to us even when we fail to remember the source of all that is good. Even when we place our trust in idols made from our own hands or crafted from our prejudices, we can take a moment to remember…to be mindful again and hence make real again in our lives…that it is God and God’s love that gives meaning and joy to our lives.

Robert Hotz is a consultant with American City Bureau, Inc. and was the Director of The Passion of Christ: The Love That Compels Campaign for Holy Cross Province.

Solemnity of the Annunciation of Our Lord

Scripture:

Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10
Hebrews 10:4-10
Luke 1:26-38

Reflection:

One of the commentaries for today’s Solemnity of the Annunciation reminds us of how we often assume that Mary’s inner life is a spiritual blank slate before the angel appears at her door. We know from the Magnificat (Mary’s canticle of praise in Luke’s narrative) how Mary is well-versed in the Sacred Word. Mary already has a vibrant relationship with God before Gabriel shows up. It is not that the Annunciation leads her out of doubt and into faith; it is that her encounter with the angel leads her out of certainty and into holy bewilderment.

Mary hears she is to be overshadowed, that is, God will work in “cloudy,” overshadowing ways, as God did with Moses… When Moses wanted to see God face-to-face, God responded that Divine Presence would overwhelm him, searing his imagination. No one could see God face-to-face and survive.

So, God works INDIRECTLY, by OVERSHADOWING us, in CLOUDY, OBSCURE or MURKY ways. Not just in the lives of Moses and Mary… as this isn’t merely history, but mystery, OUR mystery.

That verb, “to overshadow” (or “come upon”) is a wonderful word! How are angels bringing Good News (Gospel) to you today? Maybe a grandchild who tells you that you are the best cook in the world! Maybe it’s the newspaper delivery person who makes an extra effort to place the paper just outside your door in inclement weather. Or perhaps your spouse who speaks of a God-experience they had today while you’re sharing a glass of wine together.

This week the Vatican released Pope Francis’ message for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. In this holy year designation of “Pilgrims of Hope,” Francis’ message recalls that every vocation—be it to ordained ministry, consecrated life, or the laity—should offer the world a sign of God’s hope for every person. He noted that young people frequently feel dismay and confusion when they look to the future, given the background of insecurity, identity crises, unjust treatment of others, and general indifference. “Yet the Lord, who knows the human heart, does not abandon us in our uncertainty,” said the Pope. “He wants us to know that we are loved, called and sent as pilgrims of hope.”

Happy Annunciation!

Fr. Jack Conley, CP, is the local superior of St. Vincent Strambi Community in Chicago, Illinois.

Scripture:

2 Kings 5:1-15b,
Luke 4:24-30

Reflection:

Welcoming Jesus

A wonderful experience in my life was kneeling at the altar in the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, where Jesus took on our nature. Written under the altar in Latin is “Verbum caro hic factum est” The Word was made flesh here. Tomorrow’s feast of the Annunciation celebrates and reminds us of the most wonderful event ever to happen in the whole galactic universe!  Mary’s yes to God to receive and welcome the Father’s Son in our human nature was the moment of the incarnation of God.  God loved us so much that He became the size of a pinhead, a zygote! Our awesome God Who creates and empowers trillions of galaxies comes to us. 

The most important and amazing thing in our life is to welcome Him! Today’s Gospel tells us that Jesus after living 30 years in the then small village of about 300 people, he was not welcomed home! They missed the time of their life! “They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong.  But he passed through the midst of them and went away.” The inspired Greek text used a very strong and violent word for drive out “exballo” (throw out). One of the saddest words in the New Testament is “He went away” (poreuō)

Do we welcome Jesus? He has been with many of us for a lot more than 30 years. There are 11 words for welcome in the NT. The one used in today’s Gospel is dexomai is used 56 times. We can see how important it is to welcome or receive Him in our lives. Many times each day we must pause even for a minute to welcome Him!  He is very close to us 24/7. Pray to Holy Spirit to help us to be like Mary. No human being ever welcomed Jesus like our Blessed Mother! Don’t walk away from Him and lose the opportunity of your life to be with Him.

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

Third Sunday of Lent

Scripture:

Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15
1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12
Luke 13:1-9

Reflection:

In Sunday’s Gospel reading (Luke 13:1-9), Jesus tells a parable about a barren fig tree. The owner of the fig tree is frustrated. The tree has been there for three years without bearing any fruit. He tells his gardener to cut it down: “Why should it exhaust the soil?” But the gardener says, “Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.”

The parable is a parable of God’s mercy. Even though we may not bear fruit as much as we could, God is still willing to work with us and in us so that we may bear fruit in spreading the Good News and in sharing God’s love in Jesus Christ. Can God be that merciful? It is God’s choice to be so. When we hear the story of the call of Moses in our first reading from Exodus (3:1-8a, 13-15), Moses asks God what to call Him when the people ask, “What is his name?” God replies, “I am who am. This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you.” The same God who is the Source of all being is the same One who freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, and is the same One who continues to show us mercy and love.

But this parable also presents us with a few challenges. It implies that even though God is merciful, we should not abuse our relationship with Him. We ought not to take God’s mercy for granted. As St. Paul says in our second reading from 1 Corinthians (10:1-6, 10-12), “Therefore, whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall.”

The parable also challenges us about our relationships with others. Unfortunately, human history is replete with examples of one group saying about another something similar to “Why should it exhaust the soil?” It has been too easy for people to consider others as non-productive or superfluous, or even as a blight on the earth. In our Gospel reading, people tell Jesus how Pilate desecrated the blood of Galileans he presumably had killed. Then Jesus mentions some others who were killed when a tower fell on them. Jesus is quick to point out that these things were not a punishment for sins. God does not punish us like that! So why does Jesus warn the crowds that unless they repent they shall perish as those victims did? I believe it is because while God does not punish us with the evil of others, or with the tragedy of an accident, He does let us at times suffer the consequences of our actions.

Using the parable of the fig tree, if we resort to violence, whether it is physical violence to the point of genocide, or systematic discrimination or oppression, it is very likely we will suffer some violence ourselves. In various situations in the world we see a thirst for vengeance that never seems to be satisfied, and so one atrocity is answered by another. When we engage in condemnation and violence, how can we hope to bear any fruit? I know that we can say that we have not participated in any genocide or outright oppression, but we need to examine how often we resort to our stereotypes and prejudices to make sense of certain situations. Just being content with what is can help perpetuate what we know is wrong. When we treat others in a way that dehumanizes them, we need to remember the mercy God has shown us. I would think most of us can recognize times in our lives when we have been just like the fig tree in Jesus’ parable! Thank God that God has been merciful with us!

May we trust in God’s mercy, and show mercy to others. May we open ourselves to God’s love in Jesus Christ, and may that love bear fruit in us.

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