Monthly Archives: August 2010

We Have the Mind of Christ

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Click here for today’s Scripture readings.

1 Cor. 2:10-16
Luke 4:3137

Are Christians really different from other peoples?  After all, many are searching for truth; pursuing justice, peace and the elimination of exploitation.  So what makes us different??  The answer may be in today’s selection from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians.

As Christians we profess to have recognized the face of God in Jesus Christ – we recognize in Christ the repository of the Spirit of God and, St. Paul says, we have been gifted with God’s Spirit.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus bursts into the life of the man possessed — turns his life around. The witnesses to this event are thunderstruck and ask ‘What is there about his Word?” Jesus spoke with authority – with certainty – not like the prophets who were considered messengers saying, ‘thus says the Lord;’ and not like the religious leaders who would appeal to other authorities saying. ‘Rabbi so and so says this and Rabbi so and so says that.’  Jesus spoke as one who knew – one who knew the spirit of God.  As Christians, that same spirit of God has been poured out on us in the Sacraments of Initiation which we have received.

At Christmas, you will often see cards with the verse ‘One Solitary Life’ written by James Francis, a Christian minister.  Pastor Francis says, this ‘one solitary life’ – Jesus’ simple life – has changed the world more than all the armies, navies, kings and parliaments.  I believe that is because the mind and spirit of God was the focus of Jesus’ life.

May the mind and spirit of God always be the focus of our Church and of each Christian.

It’s an awesome claim that Paul makes – ‘We have the mind of Christ.’ Yet that is the gift that makes us different – that makes us Christians.

- Brother Gus Parlavechio, C.P.

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Ears Open, Heart Ready

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Click here for today’s Scripture readings.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5
Luke 4:16-30

As we read the Gospels we see that one of the challenges that Jesus faced was to tell people who he was.   The Jewish people of his day were expecting a Messiah, but they had their own idea of who the Messiah would be.   They wanted a leader who would be strong and free them from the domination of the Romans.   They wanted someone who would unite them and make them a prestigious nation as they had been in the past.  They wanted a Messiah with all the qualities that Jesus did not exhibit.

Jesus came on the public scene with simplicity and humility.  He came preaching about the Kingdom of God as a Kingdom of love.  He associated with the poor and disenfranchised of his society.  He gathered around him simple fishermen and others not of outstanding strength or vision.  Jesus came as the Messiah prophesized in the Hebrew Testament but whom the Jews of his day had forgotten about.

In today’s Gospel Jesus enters the synagogue and reads that passage from Isaiah that describes the role of the Messiah.  He sits down and says that this Scripture passage is being fulfilled at this time. Many would marvel at the healings of Jesus.  Many oppressed by life would be gladdened by his words.  Many would become followers of Jesus as they saw his miracles and heard his preaching.  That is, until he announced that the Son of Man would suffer and die on the Cross.  Even his disciples were ready to turn away from Jesus when he announced this as his Father’s will.

When the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked if he were the Messiah.  Jesus simply said, “What do you see me doing?   I give sight to the blind, I make the lame walk, I open the ears of the deaf, and I preach freedom to those who need a new vision in their lives.”   These traits helped people realize that Jesus was the long awaited Savior and Messiah.

The work of Jesus as our Messiah continues in our lives even to this day as we more and more welcome God’s Son into our hearts and lives.  Jesus heals our blindness to the real meaning of life. He fees us from the oppression and captivity of sin that pulls us away from the Father’s love and his Kingdom.  Jesus announces the Good News that we are loved by his all knowing and caring Father who invites us to become his children.

What was fulfilled in the hearing of the Jews in the synagogue that day, continues to be fulfilled in our day if only our ears are open and our hearts ready for the Good News—Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior.

Fr. Richard Nalepa, CP is the Vicar of Immaculate Conception Monastery in Jamaica, N.Y.

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Do Good to Those Who Cannot Repay You

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Click here for today’s Scripture readings.

Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29
Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a
Luke 14:1, 7-14

A fellow Passionist recently received a new assignment to an exotic European city. I live in Baltimore, so an exotic elsewhere is very exciting. As he ties up loose ends and works to prepare for his new ministry, he was looking for a place to stay in this transition time. Could he stay with our community? It is a bit crowded here, but, “you can do anything for a year.” A little tight living should be bearable to help a fellow religious. Since my needs for space are not the same as the other members in the house, when I presented the request, I added, “Remember, if we are hospitable here, our friend may be hospitable there.” One never knows the need to visit an exotic European city, right?

If you have read today’s gospel you will realize that my speaking to the community took place before I read it! The gospel concludes, “do not do good things for others expecting to collect some repayment. Do good things for those who will never be able to repay you.”

Some days we get out of bed knowing a tough day is ahead. We anticipate a confrontation, an exam, the doctors! Today’s gospel is that way. Hostile Pharisees gather with Jesus for a meal on the Sabbath. Pharisees, meal, Sabbath – each a setting or the participants in recent struggles with Jesus. All of these ingredients are now together in one event, one sentence. Put on your helmet; a major storm.

Jesus says: the Kingdom of God has higher demands than our social etiquette. And, since we are in a parable of Jesus, the surprise: “You will be happy when they CANNOT repay you because your reward will be paid back in the resurrection of the righteous.”

Our parable will continue and conclude in next week’s gospel reading. It is a struggle we wake up each day as a follower of Jesus. Why? Because this is what it means to follow Jesus: not to be glued to possessions, worldly opinions, our apparent success, and so to be free to respond to the invitation and call of Jesus. If your etiquette is that of mere social custom and not what is expected at the banquet table of the Kingdom, then you will not be proclaiming the joy of the Kingdom, you will have very bad manners, and you will be like salt that has no flavor.

Do good to those who cannot repay you. Your reward will be in the exotic place that the gospel today calls, the resurrection of the righteous, where the followers of Jesus gather.

Father Bill Murphy, C.P. is the pastor of St. Joseph Monastery  Passionist Parish in Baltimore, Maryland.

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