The Passionists of Holy Cross Province

The Love that Compels

Daily Scripture, February 6, 2020

Scripture:

1 Kings 2:1-4, 10-12
Mark 6:7-13

Reflection:

Today’s passage from the Gospel of Mark inspires me when I pack for a trip, even a weekend trip to visit family a hundred miles away.

What do I need to bring? What can I buy there? What will my hosts provide?

Jesus is straight forward: keep it simple.

But putting myself in this Gospel scene, I still have questions about this call to simple living. I wonder why he wants me to take the means of travel (staff, sandals), but not the sustenance (shelter, bread, money, wallet and extra clothes).

What’s his point?

Perhaps he’s telling me, “Quit being so self-sufficient! I’m trying to teach you that together we…you, me, our fellow believers… have a mission in life and I don’t want you getting caught up in thinking you’re going to do it all on your own. Get it?”

I don’t get it right away.

Living in affluent America…where we are taught from youth to make our own way, be financially successful, and to look down on those who are lazy or dependent on others to take care of them…it is foreign and uncomfortable to accept what Jesus is telling his apostles.

But the reason for his instructions is to free us from our enslavements to money, possessions, status, power. If we devote our lives to these false gods, we will be forever enslaved by them. Jesus wants us to focus on his mission: healing and resisting evil (casting out demons) in all its forms. This is an enslavement to God’s will, but, ironically, an enslavement that is liberating.

Under God’s protection, devoting ourselves to seeking God’s will for each of us, we are free from all distress and anxiety. God’s grace, God’s presence, God’s providence is there when we need it.

In our illnesses, loneliness, grief, in our consoling and comforting others, in speaking truth to one another, in resisting the forces that threaten life, we are carrying out our missionary duties.

God will provide the sustenance (shelter, bread, money, wallet and extra clothes). More importantly, God will provide the map to live each day in God’s company.

So, live simply and be fearless on your journey.


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