Mary M. McGlone

Scripture for Life: The person at the center of today's Gospel, the one who most likely represents us and needs to learn something, is the lawyer Jesus wouldn't let off the hook.

Scripture for Life for July 7, 2019: People who evangelize by their presence are recognizable first by their freedom.

Scripture for Life: Paul wrote that Jesus had instituted his communal meal so that everyone could continue to participate at that Last Supper table with him. They could never be mere observers.

Scripture for Life: The mystery of the Trinity we celebrate today is a mystery of love. This feast invites us to contemplate the triune God as love constantly outpoured. When Jesus speaks of the Spirit, he makes it explicit that we are invited into the dynamic of that love.

Scripture for Life: Anyone who has striven over time to remain faithful knows that a commitment expressed in a moment necessarily passes through a lifetime of growth and development, of deepening and testing, of becoming ever truer. 

Scripture for Life: Jesus sent his disciples to wait together before they would go out. Luke tells us that they went back to Jerusalem and prayed in the Temple. 

If you wanted to name the three most important events of your life, how would you go about choosing them? Your birth is an obvious first. But after that, what criteria would you use to select the others? Most of us would probably pick major transition points, choices that, as Robert Frost wrote, seemed to make all the difference.

Scripture for Life: If Paul and Rahner are right, we are living in a moment of extraordinary grace and opportunity. Our debates may be fierce, but we need to trust that the Holy Spirit will guide us if we are open. The road we choose will make all the difference.

To dream the impossible dream, to fight the unbeatable foe, to bear with unbearable sorrow, to run where the brave dare not go.” In “The Man of La Mancha,” Don Quixote sang those words in his imaginary role as the chivalrous hero to Dulcinea, the lady of the court he had invented for his dream quest. His idealistic song ends with the idea that if he is true to his quest, the world will be better because one man “strove with his last ounce of courage … to reach the unreachable star.” Of course, Don Quixote was crazy.

Scripture for Life: For the next two weeks, we will hear about St. John's eutopia as he describes it in the Book of Revelation. John is trusting that God gave humanity the vocation to continue the work of creation. John's ideal is a city, the fruit of creation and the work of human hands.

The Fourth Sunday of Easter always celebrates Christ as the Good Shepherd. In spite of the comforting image of Christ as Shepherd, today’s Scriptures indicate that hearing the voice of the shepherd requires discernment, and that his followers can expect to receive the same treatment as he did.

Scripture for Life: The history of Israel and the early church reminds us that God continually calls us to newness, to that which is greater than our expectations. 

In John’s Gospel, Jesus had turned what we popularly call the Last Supper into an occasion to teach his disciples at length. The last meal Jesus shared with his disciples was not that supper, but this breakfast he prepared for them on the shore.

Scripture for Life: We are all invited to the eucharistic feast on the shore, the only requirement is that we come as we are and accept the love that is offered. When it comes to pastoring the flock or loving as Jesus did, only acknowledged sinners need apply.

Daily Easter Reflections: Someone suggested that I reflect on Easter using my experience in rural Peru, where I had the privilege to live among people who were economically very poor. 

When the risen Jesus made himself present in the midst of the disciples who were hiding in the upper room, his words and actions recapitulated everything he had done with and been for them, especially at their last supper together. He greeted them saying, “Peace be with you.”

Having prayed our way through Holy Week, we are only too aware that the disciples, particularly the men among them, performed poorly during the events of Jesus’ passion. Unsurprisingly, they didn’t do a lot better with the Resurrection.

Scripture for Life: The disciples' brokenhearted conversation and Jesus' description of them as foolish and sluggish of heart called them to believe in something bigger than their closed ideas and limited hopes. That served as a penitential rite, calling them to believe in God rather than cling to their perceptions.

The week we call holy invites us to enter into the heart of our faith with our heads and hearts and feet. One way we might approach this week is through the vantage point of the three crowds Luke describes. Their diverse responses to Jesus have been repeated through the ages and probably in our own lives.

Scripture for Life: How do we publicly express our "Hosannas" when we are not in a crowd of happy, singing Christians? How often do we end up as complicit bystanders because we avoid speaking an unpopular opinion?