Mary M. McGlone

“Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock!” This is a favorite theme of prophets, parishioners who are not happy with their pastors, and folks who want to bash the hierarchy or critique politicians who foment divisiveness. But pay attention! 

Scripture for Life: Christ's followers must look at our world and ask what deep and truly human hopes and hungers are being unconsciously expressed in the blind competition of sports fans, the addictions that plague every strata of society, supremacy movements and all the isms that divide our people. 

Our liturgy of the word begins with the Prophet Amos. As the priest in charge is evicting him from the kingdom for being a prophet of doom, Amos protests that he never had any intention of becoming a prophet. 

Scripture for Life: Ask yourself, "How different would my life be if I didn't know about or believe in Christ?" Ask too, "When have I gotten caught in the net of Christ and the vision he offers?"

In 2 Corinthians, Paul addressed a community he knew all too well. He loved them in spite of their petty competitiveness and pretensions to wisdom and holiness. When Paul wrote this passage, he had just finished a surprisingly brief description of his extraordinary experience of visions — what we would think of as mystical experiences.

Scripture for Life: Today's Scriptures together remind us that God's ways are not what we would expect, and that God offers us more than we are generally ready to accept. 

In January 2018, David Brooks of The New York Times wrote a column entitled “Now Is the Time to Talk About the Power of Touch.” In a wonderfully expressive phrase he spoke of the power of “disenchanting emotional touch,” a touch not grounded in love or commitment which, when abusive, has the power to cripple if not destroy the immeasurably positive potential of loving touch. 

Scripture for Life: The woman had started something when she touched Jesus, but she had only just begun. She had used her initiative and obtained the result she sought without being aware of how small her expectations in the light of what Jesus had to offer.

Scripture for Life: While we know the Christ he could only hope for, we too live an in-between time. Many aspects of the modern world to which we have been accustomed are changing or ending. The most we know about the future is that we cannot imagine it.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is going to challenge us with two puzzling parables.  He created these early in his ministry to summarize his teachings about the coming of the kingdom of God. The first is not good news for autonomous activists, loner cowboys or determined do-it-yourselfers.

Scripture for Life: Trusting God's plan and timetable may ask more of us than all the things we might think we should or could do to make God's kingdom come.

Teachers of deaf children explain that when a child with a severe hearing impairment closes her eyes, she effectively cuts off all communication from the outside. With a distinct advantage over hearing children who must just pretend they don’t see or hear, she can prevent any new information from penetrating her world. 

Scripture for Life: As Pope Francis said in July 2016, we are called to give up "all motives of personal pride, of careerism or hunger for power … becoming humble instruments of salvation worked by Jesus' own sacrifice." Only then will we be able to hear the Lord call us brother, sister, mother, friend.

Today’s Liturgy of the Word guides us through the religious developments that led to our Eucharist. We begin as Moses leads his people in a spectacular liturgy of sacrifice. In what was almost participatory theater, the people renewed their covenant with the God who had led them out of Egypt and gave them commandments to assure a good life.

Scripture for Life: In the Communion procession, Christ calls us beyond our hymns to where we can truly grasp what he offers. Christ says to us, "Receive what you are and become what you receive; be flesh and blood given for the life of the world."

Although today’s feast, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, sounds as if it might call us into the heady heights of dogmatic discourse, the readings invite us into a decidedly practical, down-to-earth reflection, not only on God, but on who we are as disciples.

Scripture for Life: As people chosen and loved by God, we are called to fulfill our vocation as disciples and missionaries, followers of Christ who spread his message and love. Like the early disciples, we must be willing to rethink our mission and revitalize our Gospel message.

Luke’s story-telling ability sparkles in the Pentecost story. He narrates it in what we might call the “energetic superlative.” Luke portrays all of Jesus’ disciples gathered when suddenly the sound of a wind (like the Creator Spirit of Genesis) fills the air and balls of fire hover like tongues over each of them. 

Scripture for Life: Pentecost challenges us to ask ourselves if we are courageous enough to harbor the open-ended expectations demanded of anyone who prays, "Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth."

The feast of the Ascension of the Lord is ultimately a reminder of the mission Jesus handed over to his followers, and each of the readings gives us a perspective on that reality. The opening of the Acts of the Apostles presents the scene in which Jesus told the disciples that they were to wait until they received their share of his power to evangelize.