The Passionists of Holy Cross Province

The Love that Compels

Daily Scripture, February 8, 2011

Scripture:

Genesis 1:20-2:4a
Mark 7:1-13

Reflection:

Everywhere I look, I see the creativity of God. When I go to visit my mom in Florida I always walk along the beach at the Atlantic Ocean. Some stand there and see a huge, obscure blue body of water. When I look out I "feel" the fish and other creatures that teem in the sea. I see the intelligence, creativity and passion behind it all. Everything points to God. Yesterday Fr. Blaise gave me some pictures of a trip he and I took to the Grand Canyon. Seeing those pictures reminded me of the breathtaking beauty and goosebumps I felt when I looked at the vast colored chasm before me. Countless years shaped its beauty under God’s guiding hand.

I just received an email with a YouTube video about the Hubble telescope. Some years ago the telescope was aimed at a seemingly dark area near the Big Dipper, the size of a grain of sand at arm’s length. After ten days aimed at the same spot, astronomer’s were stunned to see some 3000 galaxies, each containing billions of stars. The Kepler spacecraft, launched less than 2 years ago is beaming back pictures of planets similar to ours adding more fuel to the argument of life on other planets. The population of our planet is due to pass 7 billion this year! And God said it was very good.

We are made in God’s image. In addition to the awe and amazement I feel when I try to fathom the environment in which we live, I can’t help get in touch with an urge and passion within. A spark of God’s creativity lives in me that I must cultivate and surrender to. This aspiration is one of the forces driving me to preach, write, produce and risk. Get in touch with the imaginative fire of God all around you and within you. St. Paul of the Cross said, "Love is ingenious." Allow the daring, unlimited, imagination of God to take you where you’ve never gone. 

 

Fr. Cedric Pisegna, C.P. is a missionary preacher, author of 14 books and creator of television and radio programs airing in many cities. You can learn more about his ministry at: http://www.frcedric.org/

 

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.”