The Passionists of Holy Cross Province

The Love that Compels

Daily Scripture, December 4, 2018

Scripture:

Isaiah 11:1-10
Psalm 72
Luke 10:21-24

Reflection:

Radical Hope:  The Advent Challenge

As we move into the spirit of Advent, today’s Scripture passages invite us to enter this special season with radical hope:  God’s Love is greater than we can imagine, even in our wildest dreams!  The challenges, the limitations of daily life are transformed by God’s activity in ways both big and small.

Our first reading from Isaiah is “classic” in the prophetic tradition so fully witnessed by Isaiah himself.  A budding shoot from a dead stump; the Spirit of God transforming life; God’s involvement with the least / the last / the lost – all life is a gift from God to be both treasured and freely shared.  With God, all things are possible…Life rises from the least likely sources…and we have reason to hope!

The Gospel passage from St. Luke invites us to be “the fly on the wall” as Jesus prays to His Father His heartfelt words of praise, gratitude, openness, service, Jesus then turns to his disciples and encouraged them to be generous and diligent in their discipleship…they were privileged to witness first-hand the Love and Life enfleshed in Jesus’ every word and deed.  They – and we – have reason to hope!

Today our world is challenged by repeated graphic experiences of violence, mistrust, bullying, poverty, prejudice, etc. – challenging our belief in God who is greater than we can imagine and who lovingly reaches out to us in daily life.  This season of Advent serves to spark renewed hope in our lives that love triumphs over evil, that Jesus comes to share transforming love for all of creation.  In Jesus, we have reason to hope…in December 2018…in our homes, our parishes, our cities, in our world.

The Advent season is young; society calls us to feverishly embrace the Christmas event “right now”…and skip the Advent opportunities for deepening our faith, bolstering our hope, and renewing our discipleship.  May we join the Prophet Isaiah and those early disciples of Jesus in opening our eyes and our hearts to the Hope and Life shared in the person of Jesus.  With the Psalmist and Psalm 72, we pray that in Jesus justice shall flourish…and fullness of peace…forever!  Come, Jesus.


Fr. John Schork, C.P. is a member of the Passionist community in Chicago, Illinois. 

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.”