• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

The Passionists of Holy Cross Province

The Love that Compels

  • Online Masses
    • Passionist Online Masses and Services
  • 300th Jubilee
    • Jubilaeum Video
    • Opening Mass of the Passionist Jubilee Year
    • Video: 300th Jubilee – English
    • Video: Jubileo Pasionista – Español
    • Jubilee Icon Itinerary
    • Jubilee Resources
    • Jubilee Song
  • Pray
    • Daily Reflections
    • Prayer Request
    • Sunday Homily
    • Passionist Spirituality and Prayer
    • Video: Stations of the Cross
    • Prayer and Seasonal Cards
  • Grow
    • Journey into the Mystery of Christ Crucified
    • Celebrating the Feast of St. Paul of the Cross
    • Subscribe to E-News
    • Passionist Magazine
      • Passionist Magazine, Spring 2020
    • Passionist Ministries
      • Preaching
      • Hispanic Ministry
      • Haiti
      • Parish Life
      • Earth and Spirit Center
      • Education
      • Fr. Cedric Pisegna, CP, Live with Passion!
    • Retreat Centers
    • Passionist Solidarity Network
    • Vision Fulfillment Newsletters
    • Sacred Heart Monastery
      • History of Sacred Heart Monastery
      • A Day in the Life of Senior Passionists
      • “Pillars” of the Community
  • Join
    • Fr. Nicholas Divine, CP, Ordination
    • Are You Being Called?
    • Discerning Your Call
    • Pray With Us
    • Passionist Vocation Directors
    • Lay Partnerships
  • Connect
    • Find a Passionist
    • Passionist Websites
    • Fr. Cedric Pisegna, CP, Live with Passion!
    • Passionist Alumni Association
      • Reunions
      • 2019 Passionist Alumni Reunion
      • Welcome
      • Letter from the Provincial
        • These Men We Call Our Brothers
      • Mission Statement
      • CrossRoads Bulletin
      • Alumni Enrollment Form
        • Alumni Survey
      • Reunion Photo Gallery
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Monthly Giving
    • Leave a Legacy
      • Giving Matters
      • Ways to Give
      • Donor Relations
      • Testimonials
    • Prayer and Seasonal Cards
    • Privacy Policy Statement
  • Learn
    • 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, June 14, 2010

Scripture:

1 Kings 21:1-16
Matthew 5:38-42

Reflection:

Do you ever wake up and wish there were a quick and easy "owners manual" for how you are to lead your life?  It sure would make life less stressful and challenging.  Our contemporary society is one that reinforces the quick and easy solution to everything and there seems to be an application for the iPhone or iPad to solve every problem.  I propose today a better application to guide The Way-iSermon.  With this new download, you would have direct access to the teachings and applications found in the wisdom teachings from the Gospel of Matthew…for the Sermon on the Mount is indeed our most beautiful, faith-filled "owners manual". 

I fear, however, that there would not be a world-wide queue for the release of this new application.  While the temptations of the electronic Apple products are very enticing, iSermon would not offer the "easier, softer way" that our contemporary society pays big money to capture.  As today’s Gospel reading explains, the answers to life’s challenges and conflicts cannot be found in shortcuts to living.  The real answers are found in choosing the more difficult way.   In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was not preaching an easier, softer form of Judaism. Matthew’s Gospel professes a more intensified commitment to God that extends beyond the letter of the Jewish law. In addition, Jesus pointed to one of the many challenges of living in a Roman occupied society.  In the occupied regions, people were often pressed into service to carry the bags of the Romans as they traveled to and fro.  Jesus taught that they should not resent being pressed into service and merely carry the baggage the distance, but instead, should volunteer to go twice as far. 

In all cases, Jesus is clearly saying that we cannot afford to live an "easier, softer" way.  Nor can we afford to harbor feelings of resentment or anger for transgressions and hurts in our lives.  Indeed, festering resentments and bottled up anger are at the heart of many mental and physical diseases that plague our world today.  A profound cure is offered to us this day in the Sermon on the Mount.  Popular or not, I intend to continue to "download" these teachings onto the hard-drive of my life and pray that I may be transformed.

 

Angela Howell ([email protected])  is a retreatant and volunteer at Mater Dolorosa Passionists Retreat Center in Sierra Madre, California.

 

Footer

Facebook Feed

Support the Passionists

Contact the Passionists

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 © 2021 | Log in