Tag: Lent

Friday after Ash Wednesday

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?” 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.”

Jesus responds to the disciples of John and to the Pharisees by comparing himself to the bridegroom. When the bridegroom is taken away, then the fasting will follow. Because Christ is the bridegroom, the Church is is bride. And when the Church fasts, she fasts in mourning because Christ has been taken away. The kind of fasting Christ calls us to the LORD makes known in the first reading from Isaiah: “This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own.”

God, help me understand the goodness that comes from a contrite, humbled heart. As the psalmist says, “My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.” In avoiding evil and doing good, I live so that you many be with me. Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness.

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.

https://youtu.be/2W-KSOPWWBY

Readings

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke

Jesus said to his disciples: “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus presents his disciples with a paradox—a seemingly contradictory teaching that describes a spiritual truth: to lose your life in following Christ is to save it. Another paradox: to deny yourself in taking up your cross is to find in Christ your true identity. Doing this daily can feel like driving on the wrong side of the street to reach a destination; it’s counterintuitive. What can I do today to drop a seemingly vital action for the sake of taking up my cross? And in taking up my cross daily, I have the hope of gaining new life in Christ. Do I hold that truth in my heart?

God, in recognizing that I easily become discouraged when clinging to my own ways, I want to understand how self-denial leads me on a path toward following you. What am I clutching in fear that would seem to spell disaster when letting go of it? If there is not one big thing I can think of, please give me the grace to identify something I can forgo that instinct seems to say is vital. God, let me desire not to gain a greater share of the world today but to lose that share for the sake of saving my life through Christ. Let me come to know the hope that springs from letting go and allowing you to lead me. Saint Polycarp, martyr of the faith, pray for us!

Thank you, Lord, for the gifts of intellect and will that lead me to know and choose you. Make yourself known to me today!

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.

https://youtu.be/2W-KSOPWWBY

Readings

Ash Wednesday

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

Jesus said to his disciples: “But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.”

In today’s Gospel reading for Ash Wednesday, Jesus tells his disciples three key things that are vital for Lent: give alms, pray, and fast. In giving alms, he says, give secretly so that God will repay you in secret. Do the same in prayer, Jesus says, not drawing attention to yourself. And in fasting, Jesus says, “anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.” What is Jesus saying about a relationship with the Father that is brought about by prayer, fasting, and almsgiving?

God, help me hear the words that Jesus spoke to the disciples, recognizing that they are likewise spoken to me in the present day. In the first reading from Joel, the words “return to me with your whole heart” invite anyone who hears them into relationship with God, who is gracious and merciful and “slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment.” God, through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, you give us a means to return wholeheartedly to your mercy, as Saint Paul says, to be reconciled to you.

During the distribution of the ashes, the priest or minister says, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” They might say instead: “Repent and believe in the gospel.” Lord, help me think of this moment throughout the day as I prepare to receive the ashes and afterward. It is another opportunity to spend time with you in the inner room of the heart, your means of sustaining in me a willing spirit. From the Gospel acclamation: “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”

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.

https://youtu.be/2W-KSOPWWBY

Readings