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.