Daily Scripture

Scripture:

Galatians 5:18-25
Luke 11:42-46

Reflection

Today’s gospel is filled with woe. In a rather short passage, a clearly disgruntled Jesus utters four declarations of woe, warning the Pharisees and a “scholar of the law” that they will all come to a sorry end if they do not redirect their misguided lives.

The gospel is a lesson in how easy it is to get sidetracked by the trivial or to be all tangled up with things that aren’t nearly as important as we think. Jesus is exasperated with the Pharisees because they are so obsessed with paying tithes on garden plants or so concerned about having the best seat in the synagogue where they surely will be noticed that they have completely forgotten what truly matters. Similarly, the lawyer may be a wizard when it comes to legal matters, but since he’s especially adept at making things harder for others (“You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.”), his life is hurtling in the wrong direction.

But are we really any different? Haven’t all of us, like these Pharisees and the lawyer, sometimes lived by the wrong priorities? Haven’t we too occasionally given lesser things far more attention than they deserve and more important things not nearly enough? If so, Jesus’ promises of woe are meant for us as well. And yet, there is hope. We can move from woe to well being, from death-in-life to real life, if we replace all that might be misguided about our lives with the fruits of the Spirit that Paul delineates in the reading from Galatians. As he assures us, we make our way into the Kingdom of God when our lives are characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. If we embody those virtues, all our woes will soon be left behind.

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:

Galatians 4:22-24, 26-27, 31 – 5:1
Luke 11:29-32

Reflection:

Have you heard the concept of “putting a fleece before the Lord?” It appears in the book of Judges, when Gideon demanded undeniable proof of God’s will and God’s intention to live up to his promises. He directed God to make a fleece wet while the surrounding ground stayed dry, and then vice versa, before he would act on God’s word. He clearly didn’t trust God. He wasn’t willing to take a risk, as failure might cost him. He wanted certitude.

Fast forward almost 1200 years, and similarly, people kept asking Jesus for a sign. Despite hearing of his miracles, they wanted to see one (or more) for themselves before believing him. Only with undeniable proof would they act. Jesus rightly refused to play that game. We could distance ourselves from these stories, except another 2000 years after Jesus, we persist in doing the same things.

For instance, I assumed God’s will was a road map laying out every decision I should make – what college to go to, who to marry, what job to take, where to live, and on and on. When faced with a decision, especially a major one, I searched for signs and confirmations. I begged God to write on the wall, so I’d know for sure, and was filled with angst when I wasn’t certain. I didn’t trust enough to step out in faith and make a decision. I didn’t trust that even if I made a mistake, God would be there to help good come out of it. I didn’t trust God to hold me up, guide me, and support me all along my life’s journey wherever it led. Oh, ye of little faith!

I’m trying to do better. When I practice contemplative prayer and sit still before God, my heart becomes more in tune with the Divine melody and I gain courage to act on the promptings coming from my heart. Are they from God? I don’t know for sure. If they are from God and I don’t act, I’m stifling God’s will in my life. If they are not from God, I’m still trying to do God’s will and I know God honors that. Besides, I’m convinced now that God’s will is not a laundry list of decisions I am divinely directed to make. Instead, there are many paths I can take and still be living God’s will. As long as my motivations, values, and goals are centered in the Gospel, love of God, and a desire to do God’s will, God brings resurrection, joy, and purpose into my life, ultimately guiding me to become the best Amy that I can be.

As St. Augustine said: “Love God and do whatever you please: for the soul trained in love to God will do nothing to offend the One who is Beloved.” That is way more comforting than a wet fleece!

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:

2 Kings 5:14-17
2 Timothy 2:8-13
Luke 17:11-19

Reflection:

Dazzling Gifts

A woman shared with me the reason for her divorce.  On her birthday (and other occasions) she discovered her husband was sending his secretary to shop and buy his gifts for her! Gift giving is complicated. There are subtle rules best not to break.

Naaman brings Elisha a treasure of gifts in gratitude for saving him from leprosy. Elisha will not take them. He serves the God of Israel who is the giver and restorer of life. Naaman who has met God in this miracle takes with him two mule-loads of earth. He will use the holy ground of Israel in Syria. We learn that he is in a bind, he must accompany his king when he offers sacrifice to the Gods of his nation, but it will be on the Holy Ground of Israel where he met God that his true faith will be celebrated.

One of ten lepers falls at the feet of Jesus to thank him. He is a poor man, and this is his only gift. He is a Samaritan, but his gratitude and faith shows that he will never forget what Jesus has done for him. In the great miracle that gives meaning to all the other miracles that Jesus performed, he is also saved.

Naaman and the Samaritan leper do not know the God of Israel, but they meet God in their misfortune and respond to the gift that God gives them. We see their gratitude and faith. Last week Luke told the apostles that if they had faith the size of a mustard seed, they could say to the sycamore, ‘Be uprooted and transplanted it into the sea,’ and it would obey them. Today two men by their faith are transplanted into the boundless sea of God’s gift.

In a strange short story, ‘Parker’s Back’ by Flannery O’Connor we meet a man who loved tattoos so much that he has covered almost his entire body with them. While working on the farm he has an accident. His tractor hits a tree, and both tractor and tree go up in flames. Parker like Moses encounters God in this burning bush. He goes directly to the tattoo parlor and in the only open space on his body, his back, is tattooed with the face of Christ. He hurries home to share this ‘gift’ with his wife, who proceeds to chase him out of the house hitting him with her broom. The story ends with Parker sitting under a tree, crying.

Parker’s wife believed that God was only spirit, the very face of Jesus an idol. Parker is offering his gift, sharing his burning bush theophany. He wants to give her the gift of God’s love in the flesh, the God whose eyes look upon us with compassion. He wanted share what the prophets (like Parker himself) shared with Israel, and so often ended up beaten and rejected. He wanted to share what God gives to the non-believers in our readings today, a gift that binds them to the love of the God that Israel knows.

The poet Mary Oliver does not mention the word ‘gift’ in her poem, ‘Good Morning’, although it describes beautiful gifts around us. Her concluding words may be a wakeup call to us about God’s gifts: “It must be a great disappointment to God if we are not dazzled at least ten times a day”. One leper was, nine were not!

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

Scripture:

Galatians 3:22-29  
Luke 11:27-28

Reflection:

We are Blessed Because of Our Faith

As a child I always thought that being connected with the church makes you holy and justified to be a child of God. Go to church on Sunday, become an altar server, lector, hospitality minister, parish council member or join a church committee and you will automatically go to heaven, be blessed, and become a child of God. If you did anything associated with the church, you were a child of God, blessed, and you were going to heaven. Mary being the mother of God was automatic, right? But scripture tells us that just being the mother of God did not make Mary blessed. Yes, she was born full of grace, but she was justified through her faith and with her yes to God’s will.

A woman called Jesus’ mother blest in the Gospel, because her womb bore Jesus and her breasts nursed Him. Jesus corrected the woman by saying that we are blest when we hear the Word of God and keep it (Luke 11:27-28). When we hear the word of God and keep it, it is called faith. It is through faith that we can be called a child of God. It is through faith that we can ascend to heaven to partake of his divinity and of his glory. We are blest because we hear the Word of God and keep it. We are blest not because of our connections with Jesus but because of our commitment to Him. The Lord is calling us not to be merely connected with Him but totally committed to Him. He is totally committed to us and calls us to be totally committed to Him.

Deacon Peter Smith serves at St. Mary’s/Holy Family Parish in Alabama, a retired Theology teacher from Holy Family Cristo Rey Catholic High School in Birmingham, a retired soldier from the US Air Force, and a member of our Passionist Family.

Scripture:

Galatians 3:7-14
Luke 11:15-26

Reflection:

Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste
and house will fall against house.  -Luke 11:17

I don’t know what possessed me, other than the fact that I was 12 years old, to join the Cardinals, a kids’ football team in my neighborhood. Looking back, it turned out to be a life changing decision. In the two years I played with them, I learned a lot, a lot besides how to rush the quarterback. I learned that in life there are winners and losers and if you wanted to be anybody, you had better be on the winning team. (The Cardinals never lost a game in those two years, 1957 and ‘58). I learned that there is a hierarchy of respect on a team. After the coaches (they were gods), the quarterback was top man on the pole, then came the running backs, the ends and then the lowly linemen—that’s what I was. Then there are the “strings”—I was second string. The girls’ job was to cheer us on to victory. Of course, no one ever voiced these life axioms and maybe the football field was really not more important than the classroom, but that’s what I learned.

Looking for a job after college, the fact that I played football always seemed to come up in the job interviews. I don’t ever remember the fact that I was a lineman or even second string discussed, just the fact that I played football.  I eventually ended up teaching at a school for “bad” boys (The principal said and I agree, they were boys with bad problems) and I can’t help think that I passed all the hurdles for that teaching position because of my having played football as a kid. I lost my teaching position after ten years and decided to try another field of endeavor, selling.  Salesman made much more money, and of course that makes them much more important on the greater world stage or so my thinking went.

Today at the ripe old age of 77, I realize that the most important people in my world were and continue to be, my teachers: my parents and church who loved and cared for me; my little sister who was “profoundly mentally disabled” and needed 24/7 care; the boys at the school where I taught, who intuitively knew they were not getting what they needed (respect and love) in the hierarchical school system they were forced to attend; the pets and animals in my world which only as a retired person have I had the time to really get to know; and finally the plants I’m learning more and more about these days. Did you know plants have twenty senses compared to our five?

I’m learning that what makes me godlike is not my superiority or how much money I make. That is divisive and as today’s scripture selection from Luke suggests leads to destruction.  What makes me godlike is my willingness to get totally enmeshed or in love (at one) with the world around me and to say: “Thank you God!” I pray that I might keep learning—it’s a lot of fun.

Dan O’Donnell is a Passionist Partner and a longtime friend of the Passionists.  He lives in Chicago.  

Scripture:

Galatians 3: 1-5
Luke 11: 5-13

Reflection:

I cringe when I hear a bad homily. Recently the celebrant preached on being persistent in prayer. Using a real-life example of someone pleading with God for a cure of a brother’s terminal cancer, the homilist sent the message that if you try really hard to convince God of what you want, God will eventually give in.

This is magical thinking, not Christian faith. In today’s Gospel, if read in snippets, you might conclude that sheer determination will get you what you want. This ignores the deeper quest Jesus wants us to have: to totally trust God.

In the few paragraphs before today’s Gospel Jesus teaches us how to pray. The first request of the “Our Father” is for God’s reign to come, not our reign. We plead to not be led “into testing” which, presumably, would lead us away or against what God wants. Both of these prayers of petition require total surrender our agendas in preference to God’s agenda.

Indeed, the core message of our faith is the cross. At the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus pleaded with his Father to escape the cross, to be spared the tortuous, cruel death on a wooden beam raised between two outcast criminals.

His plea went unanswered. His Father had a different idea. Jesus was slaughtered in a very public display before the people of Jerusalem, the same people who, a few days before, had welcomed him with a rally along the city streets, shouting praises and waving tree branches in joy.

The wisdom of God recognizes that we humans do not always perceive what is best for ourselves. We are “stupid” in Paul’s words from today’s Epistle reading (although I wish he had not used such a shaming word). Accepting what God hands us is sometimes very difficult, as with the man in the bad homily whose brother had terminal cancer. But, alone with God in prayer, a wisdom can be born, only by God’s grace, that draws us into a closer union with God as we accept sufferings, disappointments and even death as ways to resurrection.

Perhaps this is what Jesus means when he says, “Now if you, wicked as you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more your father will give the Holy Spirit from heaven to those who ask him.”

Let us pray today for the wisdom of this Spirit and for the grace to totally trust God in every circumstance of our lives.

Jim Wayne is a board member of the Passionist Solidarity Network (PSN), and author of The Unfinished Man. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky.

Scripture:

Galatians 2:1-2, 7-14
Luke 11:1-4

Reflection:

Watching contemporary news and sports it is becoming more common for TV commentators to respond to stories of loss or tragedy by saying, “Our thoughts and prayers are with you.”   It appears the pendulum is shifting and it is more acceptable and tolerable for people speaking in public on behalf of their broadcasting company to mention prayer in a generic sense.  

After working in ministries of retreats and parishes I ask the simple question, What causes someone to come to prayer?  Why pray? 

Frequently prayer begins where people are up against their limitations and find themselves falling short.  When there is little that we can do in the human realm we turn to God for assistance.  Other times we turn to prayer when we just need something from God.  Still another reason we pray is because it is a right and moral activity.  We pray individually and we pray communally in the liturgical setting as gatherings of people attend services and receive sacramental graces.  Yet prayer so often is a personal thing. 

“Lord teach us to pray.”   Simon requests, in today’s Gospel.  How would you answer that if you were asked to teach someone to pray? I am glad Luke includes this text in his gospel. For it gives a sample of what prayer is or could be.  Plus, to have it coming from the mouth of Jesus, how great is that!   Ministerially, I have found teaching a person to pray beyond some of the basic elements is difficult.  Prayer is different for each person.  It is different for introverts than for extroverts.  It is different for children than it is for adults.  And hopefully our prayer changes as we age.  When people engage in this conversation with me,  I frequently ask them how their prayer has changed over the last ten to twenty-five years.  If it really hasn’t changed then I’m left wondering how much are they truly growing?  I do believe our prayer styles and preferences change as we age and have more life experience to reflect upon.

Prayer shouldn’t be something which is a lot of work.  If prayer really is about spending time with God and we understand to even a small degree that God really cares about us, then prayer is about sitting in the presence of one who really loves you and cares about you.   Good prayer should be something you look forward to, and you relish the experience and commitment of God’s activity in your life.  

This past week I reconnected with a friend I hadn’t spoken to in over a year and a half.  We mutually agreed to set aside our Friday night just to catch up. As the week progressed, I found myself looking forward to Friday night.   And it was a wonderful, warm-hearted conversation.  It was truly a joy filled time to reconnect.  Throughout the following days I found myself relishing in the conversation.   To me this is a great lesson in prayer.  This was even the model St. Paul of the Cross used.  As he would return from his missions to his home he would retreat in prayer and hold the people from his missions in prayer before the cross.  These were people God brought into his life and he honored that gift and the sharing of faith. 

As Luke shares with us this day, good prayer begins by acknowledging the holiness of God.  May that holiness be found in your day today.

Fr. David Colhour, C.P. is the local superior of St. Vincent Strambi Community in Chicago, Illinois.