• 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, September 11, 2009

Scripture:

1 Timothy 1:1-2, 12-14
Luke 6:39-42

Reflection:
Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Plain to his disciples. But many who opposed him were also present — scribes and Pharisees, themselves teachers. Jesus warned his disciples about the danger of following the wrong teacher.

History is full of wrong teachers who have led others into destruction.  Most notorious in recent times are "teachers" like Jim Jones who led almost a thousand people to Guyana where they drank poisoned Kool-Aid.  David Koresh led an innocent group of people to a fiery death because they chose to follow his teachings.

Most of us are not so gullible as to follow fanatics like them.  Nevertheless, all too many unsuspecting people follow other kinds of false teachers.

After I had finished delivering a morning talk to retreatants, one individual rushed up to me insisting we needed to speak in my office right away.  There he told me gently, but firmly, that certain remarks in my talk were unwise and unsound.  He opened a well-worn, heavily underlined and highlighted book to quote a popular New Age author and public speaker as his authority.

"Do you read Scripture?" I asked him.  "Is your Catholic Catechism as dog-eared as that book?"  No, he answered.

But you do believe the Bible is divinely inspired and that the Church is its proper teacher?"

"Yes."

"Then why do you trust and quote someone whose work is neither of those rather than follow Scripture as taught by the Church for 2,000 years?"

He had no answer.  I strongly urged him to toss his New Age book and its unwise and, worse, false teachings, and instead to listen to a good teacher – The Church.

Otherwise, that New Age teacher will surely lead him into the ditch.

 

Deacon Manuel Valencia ([email protected]) is on the staff at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, 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