Author: Jim T.

“Your Father knows what you need.” | Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

From the responsorial psalm: “Look to him that you may be radiant with joy, and your faces may not blush with shame. When the poor one called out, the LORD heard, and from all his distress he saved him. From all their distress God rescues the just.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (6:7-15, today’s readings)

Jesus said to his disciples: “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

Jesus teaches the disciples how to pray what we commonly call the Lord’s Prayer. Today’s Gospel follows Jesus’ teaching about almsgiving, in which, he says, “And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.” In teaching the disciples the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus invites us to take God the Father as our own in the certainty that he knows what we need before we ask him. After he prays with the disciples, he commands them to forgive others’ transgressions just as our heavenly Father forgives them. Forgiving others does not mean being a doormat or accepting continual mistreatment; instead, it is direct participation in the Father who forgives our sins and in Jesus Christ his Son, who said while hanging on the cross: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”

God, help me be at peace today in knowing you take care of my needs even as I ask for what I do not need. Help me understand that you know me better than I know myself and that I can trust you without limitations. In praying, give me the grace to recognize when I ask for something out of fear or discomfort, assured that you hear my cry. Guide me in faith to be a bearer of your limitless love. During the Mass, after the Lord’s Prayer, the priest prays for what you desire for us, that we are “free from sin and safe from all distress.” From all their distress God rescues the just. Jesus, I trust in you!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“I was hungry and you gave me food.” | Monday of the First Week of Lent

From the responsorial psalm: “Let the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart find favor before you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (25:31-46, today’s readings)

“‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.'”

Jesus describes when he will come again in glory, accompanied by angels, in the final judgment. Separating people as a shepherd separates sheep from goats, Jesus will place the righteous on his right but the unrighteous on his left. Actions in this life matter now and in the second coming of Christ. More specifically, in performing corporal works of mercy in this life, what is held in the balance are life and death. Jesus says of the unrighteous “these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” To feed the hungry goes beyond simply providing physical sustenance. Jesus calls us to true mercy, which addresses the whole person. By contrast, to withhold food from “one of these least ones,” is to do the same to Jesus, to gravely wound the Body of Christ. As he speaks to the disciples, Jesus speaks to all of us, inviting us into the Spirit and life of compassion and service to others.

God, help me hear and respond to you. “The law of the LORD is perfect,” the psalmist writes. And you say through Moses, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” Give me the grace to recognize the corporal works of mercy as gifts first given by you to give away to others in need. Today I won’t likely clothe the naked or visit prisoners, but I am free to take your gift of mercy and bestow it on someone who feels vulnerable or ashamed. I can freely choose to receive your mercy and give it to others who are bound by circumstances they do not choose and can’t control. Let me remember, Lord, the final judgment. Let me be able to answer that whatever I did for one of these least brothers of mine, I did for you. Help me recognize my own dignity and worth in your eyes so that I can extend that same recognition to others.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“Him alone shall you serve.” | First Sunday of Lent

From the responsorial psalm: “Because he clings to me, I will deliver him; I will set him on high because he acknowledges my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in distress; I will deliver him and glorify him. Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (4:1-13, today’s readings)

Then he led him to Jerusalem, made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written: He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you, and: With their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” Jesus said to him in reply, “It also says, You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.” When the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returns from his baptism by John in the Jordan River. Fasting and being tempted by the devil in the wilderness, Jesus responds to each temptation with the truth of scripture. “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” Jesus answers “It is written, One does not live on bread alone.” The devil goes on to offer Jesus power over all the kingdoms of the world and then urges him to throw himself down from the pinnacle of the temple so that angels catch and protect him. Luke tells us that the devil departs from Jesus for a time, only to return until the moment of his death. Jesus’ power over the devil in the face of temptation is made powerless through the word of God and through the Holy Spirit. The devil’s futile tests only serve to identify Jesus as the Son of God, allowing him to fulfill his mission.

God, let me consider how Jesus repelled the devil’s temptations and then do as Jesus did when tempted. The temptation to satisfy cravings and physical pleasure, to pursue wealth and power and worldly achievements, and to demand proof all have at root the desire to obtain security. To each of these, Jesus quotes scripture to reaffirm where true security lies, by whose will “we live and move and have our being.” Help me see, Lord, the example Jesus sets out of love to go into battle fully armed with the power of the Holy Spirit to face the deceits of the devil. When temptation comes again, give me the grace to go straight to your divine Word for strength, authority, and wisdom. Jesus, I trust in you!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

A physician for the sick. | Saturday after Ash Wednesday

From the responsorial psalm: “Incline your ear, O LORD; answer me, for I am afflicted and poor. Keep my life, for I am devoted to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (5:27-32, today’s readings)

The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus said to them in reply, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”

While Matthew is at work at the customs post, Jesus sees him and calls him. He simply says, “Follow me.” Leaving everything behind, Matthew gets up and follows him. The suddenness of his following is contrasted with the reaction of the Pharisees, who attend a banquet Matthew gives for Jesus in his house. Their hesitancy in following Jesus takes the form of accusation: “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Rather than follow immediately as Matthew does, the Pharisees hold back as they rely on preconceived ideas of justice and mercy. Out of love, Jesus says to them that because we are sinners, we need to hear the call of the divine physician, who calls us each by name. Bearing the oppression of sin and the ruin it leaves in our path, we follow Jesus when we bring a contrite heart to him, who is “good and forgiving, abounding in kindness” to all who call upon him. To you, O Lord, we lift up our souls.

God, keep me in your truth today as you take me under your wing and guard my soul. Help me say yes to you and make clear to me the love of Jesus Christ your Son in his call to repentance. To say yes to you is to walk in your truth and participate in the mystery of your presence. Teach me to see how your love and mercy are alive in the Eucharist, the scriptures, the community of believers, the sacraments, prayer, and in the marginalized. Give me the grace to hear and respond to the call of Jesus to come to him, trusting only in him. As Saint John of God said, “We must not trust in ourselves, because we shall fall into sin a thousand times a day, but trust only in Jesus Christ.” Saint John of God, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

” . . . and then they will fast.” | Friday after Ash Wednesday

From the responsorial psalm: “Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me. A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (9:14-15, today’s readings)

Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

The disciples of John see something among the disciples of Jesus that they have been seeking. They ask Jesus, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?” He answers their question with love, as a bridegroom might at a wedding feast: Why is there reason to mourn here with me at the feast? John’s disciples do not yet recognize Jesus as the Messiah and miss seeing that God made man stands before them. By inviting them to feast with the bridegroom, Jesus gives them the way to make a sacrifice acceptable to the Lord, the one who frees them: a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God.

God, help me understand today’s Gospel in relation to Lent, a time for the disciples to experience the joy of being with Jesus but also a time to prepare for his passion and death. Lord, you are present with me always through baptism and through the sacraments. With praise and thanksgiving, teach me how to make suffering redemptive, a cause for joy even amid trials. As Saint Paul says, we are “always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.” Help me know and be a means, Lord, of your justice and mercy. Saints Perpetua and Felicity, pray for us!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.