The Passionists of Holy Cross Province

The Love that Compels

Daily Scripture, August 4, 2012

 

Feast of St. John Mary Vianney

Scripture: 

Jeremiah 26:11-16, 24
Matthew 14:1-12

 

 

Reflection:

Ministering God’s Love:  Zealous Charity

In today’s Gospel, St. Matthew recounts the death of John the Baptist at the crazy whims and jealousy of both Herod and Herodias.  John the Baptist gave his life for Jesus and His proclamation of the Kingdom of God.  God gave John the Baptist the power even to die as he witnessed to Jesus in his preaching and public ministry of the Good News.  What zeal, what strength, what love!

The reading from Jeremiah also tells of another earlier prophet who witnessed God’s love to the people of his day – and was threatened with death!  Jeremiah continued to be firm in his statements and prophesies, and God changed the hearts of those seeking to kill him; his life was spared and he continued to minister God’s love to even more people.  Again, what zeal, what strength, what love!

Today another example of faithful ministering of God’s Love is given us in  the example of the 19th century saint, St. John Mary Vianney.  He was a simple man with a humble background, an unsophisticated theology – and a zeal to spread God’s love!  He is especially known for his gracious and generous ministry of the Sacrament of Reconciliation at his parish in Ars, France — regularly spending hours sharing God’s love through the Sacrament with thousands of penitents who traveled great distances for those few graced moments with him.  His loving ministry flowed from an intense spiritual life based on prayer and mortification.  St. John Mary Vianney truly witnessed the age-old love of the Lord witnessed in the lives of both Jeremiah and John the Baptist.  In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI named him patron of all priests worldwide.

Jesus and St. John Mary Vianney pose some questions for our faith journey:  How zealous are we for our faith?  Do we offer forgiveness to those who threaten to hurt us?  How do we really listen to those who come our way?  Do we zealously and tirelessly give of ourselves in service to our sisters and brothers?  We have many great examples of zealous, charitable love of God and neighbor.

As we honor the "patron of priests", pray this day especially for priests — active, retired, deceased — and for those discerning a priestly or religious vocation:  for a deepening faith — and a greater, zealous love.

 

Fr. John Schork, C.P. is the local leader of the Passionist community in Louisville, Kentucky. 

Ash Wednesday

On March 2, the Church celebrates Ash Wednesday. 

Most of us learned early in our Catholic lives that Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent, and that is a time of special sacrifice in preparation for the Easter celebration of Jesus’ Resurrection.

Dear brothers and sisters, every moment of our lives is a time for believing, hoping and loving…. These words of Pope Francis, taken from his Lenten Message of last year, 2021, and echoing the virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity, can still inspire our answer to the question: “What am I giving up for Lent?” 

We can draw our Lenten sacrifices out of our daily life: 

Share our faith in God’s presence by sharing in prayer with our family or with those in our parish community.
Share our hope in God’s promises by encouraging positive and respectful dialogue in our family circle and among our friends. 
Share the charity God has bestowed on us in the Passion of Jesus, with those whose sufferings are ignored or aggravated.

Let us pray for one another as we enter the season of Lent. Our Passionist “motto” can be our daily prayer during Lent, “May the Passion of Jesus Christ be always in our hearts.”