• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

The Passionists of Holy Cross Province

The Love that Compels

  • Migration
    • Statement from Passionist Leadership Regarding Current United States Immigration Policies
    • The Global Migration Crisis: What Can a Retreat Center Do?
  • Laudato Si’
    • Laudato Si’ 2023-24 Report and 2024-25 Plan
    • Ways to Live Laudato Siˊ
    • Sustainable Purchasing
      • Sustainable Purchasing Guide
      • Hints for Sustainable Meetings and Events
      • Sustainable Living Hints
    • Passion of the Earth, Wisdom of the Cross
    • Passionist Solidarity Network
    • Celebrating the Season of Creation
  • Pray
    • Daily Reflections
    • Prayer Request
    • Sunday Homily
    • Passionist Spirituality and Prayer
    • Video: Stations of the Cross
    • Prayer and Seasonal Cards
  • Grow
    • Proclaiming Our Passionist Story (POPS)
    • The Passionist Way
    • Retreat Centers
    • Passionist Magazine
    • Passionist Ministries
      • Preaching
      • Hispanic Ministry
      • Parish Life
      • Earth and Spirit Center
      • Education
      • Fr. Cedric Pisegna, CP, Live with Passion!
    • Passionist Solidarity Network
    • Journey into the Mystery of Christ Crucified
    • Celebrating the Feast of St. Paul of the Cross
    • Subscribe to E-News
    • Sacred Heart Monastery
      • History of Sacred Heart Monastery
      • A Day in the Life of Senior Passionists
      • “Pillars” of the Community
  • Join
    • Come and See Holy Week Discernment Retreat
    • Are You Being Called?
    • Province Leadership
    • Vocation Resources
    • Passionist Brothers
    • The Life of St. Paul of the Cross
    • Discerning Your Call
    • Pray With Us
    • Passionist Vocation Directors
    • World Day for Consecrated Life
    • Lay Partnerships
  • Connect
    • Find a Passionist
    • Passionist Websites
    • Fr. Cedric Pisegna, CP, Live with Passion!
    • Passionist Alumni Association
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Monthly Giving
      • St. Gemma Circle of Giving Intentions
    • Leave a Legacy
      • Giving Matters
      • Ways to Give
      • Donor Relations
      • Testimonials
    • Prayer and Seasonal Cards
    • Privacy Policy Statement
  • Learn
    • Our Passionist History: Webinar Series
    • Proclaiming Our Passionist Story (POPS)
    • Our Founder
    • History
    • The Letters of St. Paul of the Cross
    • The Diary of St. Paul of the Cross
    • Mission and Charism
    • Saints and Blesseds
    • FAQs
    • Find a Passionist
    • STUDIES IN PASSIONIST HISTORY AND SPIRITUALITY
  • Safe Environments

Daily Scripture, July 14, 2024

Scripture:

Amos 7:12-15
Ephesians 1:3-14
Mark 6:7-13

Reflection:

Today’s responsorial psalm proclaims four God-like elements that lead to glory and salvation: kindness, truth, justice, and peace.

Let us reflect on the ultimate outcomes in our lives if we somehow agreed that those four elements were the most important criteria to judge ourselves by.

Take, for instance, a difficult conflict with your teenage son. Later in life, when the adolescent reflects on that incident with you, how would he rate your commitment to kindness, honest frankness, courageous and thoughtful justice, and unrelenting efforts to help bring comfortable peace to your relationship? And, from your role-modeling, how much of that has rubbed off on him as core principles for the rest of his life and his relationships with his own family and friends?

For a bigger example, consider a war among nations. A serious thinker must ask, “What is the end game of this war?” Is a nation’s (and a nation’s leaders’) view of justice a definable and defensible endgame? Or would you have to call the conflict more ‘revenge’ than ‘justice’? Are war plans for protecting non-combatants with kindness as powerful and as complete as the plans for destroying arsenals and offensive forces? How much of the core reasoning behind a war is based on defensible truth rather than raw power and sociopathic cruelty? Finally, if the end game is not unequivocally stated as long-term peace for the people on both sides of the conflict, what on earth could a justified conclusion possibly look like?

A meditation: How God-like might I try to be? How seriously have I identified and considered the elements of truth and justice for the challenge I face right now? Am I being the kindest I can be, and is peace a genuine aim?

Jack Dermody is the editor of the CrossRoads bulletin for the Passionist Alumni Association and a member of the Migration Commission for Holy Cross Province. He lives in Glendale, Arizona. 

Footer

Support the Passionists

Contact the Passionists

Name

The Passionists of Holy Cross Province
660 Busse Highway | Park Ridge, IL 60068
Tel: 847.518.8844 | Toll-free: 800.295.9048 | Fax: 847.518.0461
Safe Environments | Board Member Portal | Copyright © 2025 | Log in