• 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
    • Lent 2021
    • Daily Reflections
    • Prayer Request
    • Sunday Homily
    • Passionist Spirituality and Prayer
    • 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
    • Nicholas Divine, CP, Ordination to the Diaconate
    • 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, October 23, 2019

Scripture:

Romans 6:12-18
Luke 12:39-48

Reflection:

Even though it is not explicitly mentioned, I see both of our readings for today looking at the implications of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In our reading from Romans, St. Paul speaks to his brother and sister Christians about how, in Christ, they are “not under the law but under grace.” And then he speaks to a very human response to this: “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Of course not!”

I think we would be tempted to “sin because we are not under the law but under grace” if our relationship to Jesus was merely a legalistic one, and we were only trying to push the “legal” boundaries of what we could or could not do. But if we were in a personal relationship with Jesus, and we truly grew to love Him, why would we consider abusing the relationship in that way? To me, thinking in that way is an abuse of a loving relationship, just as it would be between two human beings. We don’t take our loved ones for granted in that way, do we?

I think Jesus says something similar to His disciples when He uses an image of a master of a house and a thief coming to break in to talk about being prepared for when the “Son of Man will come.” When Peter asks if this is meant for them (the apostles) or for everyone, Jesus uses another image: that of a “faithful and prudent steward” who is found doing his duty when the master arrives. He also says: “But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the manservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk, then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour and will punish him severely…” Again, if that unfaithful servant had a loving relationship with his master, he would not have been unfaithful.

If we get away from a legalistic or transactional kind of relationship and instead accept God’s love and seek to love God in return, we will be willing to be faithful servants. And when we do turn away from God, it will not take much for us to turn back. May we be willing to enter into that kind of relationship with God in Jesus Christ.


Fr. Phil Paxton, C.P., is a member of the Passionist Community in Birmingham, Alabama. 

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