Tag: Lent

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

Jesus said: “Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf. But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form, and you do not have his word remaining in you, because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf. But you do not want to come to me to have life.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus continues speaking to some of the Jewish people who question his divinity because he calls God his Father. Although Jesus recognizes the light of testimony that John brought, Jesus tells the Jewish people he addresses that he does not accept human testimony. Jesus says to them: “But I have testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me.” As the Incarnate word, Jesus’ works testify on behalf of his Father. Jesus also tells the people that he does not accept human praise and questions that basis of belief as a hindrance to their acceptance of him. “For if you had believed Moses,” Jesus says, “you would have believed me, because he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

God, just as your Son performed works that testified on your behalf, as one baptized I am also called to give witness to you through my prayers, works, sufferings, and joys—through my life—so that in dying and rising with you in baptism I give you glory and praise. The Gospel acclamation sums up Jesus’ earthly mission and is a core belief in giving witness to the Father: “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.”

Strengthen my faith, Lord, that I may always believe your words. From the responsorial psalm: Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.

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.

Readings

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

Jesus said, “I cannot do anything on my own; I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me.”

Today’s Gospel takes place immediately after yesterday’s, where Jesus cures the man who had been ill for thirty-eight years. The Jews persecuted Jesus because he cured the man on the sabbath. As the Gospel passage continues, Jesus gives witness to them that he is doing the work of his Father, making himself equal to God, which gives the Jews all the more reason to kill him. Jesus reveals himself to them as the giver of life and the just judge who holds life and death in his hands. “Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” As the one whom the Father has given all judgment, Jesus tells them that those who have done good deeds will go to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of condemnation. In his own words, Jesus makes clear his divinity and the hope of eternal life to all who would hear him.

God, you have given all judgment to your Son. During the remaining days of Lent, help me identify and root out any wrong I have done that keeps me from hearing your voice and doing your will. Often I move throughout the day unaware of your presence, and I try but sometimes fail to make the best use of your gift of time. “My Father is at work until now,” Jesus says, “so I am at work.” Father, help me join in your work by seeking your will.

Lord, let me take consolation today in knowing you are with me even when I forget you. From the first reading from Isaiah, let me remember your tenderness: “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget 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.

Readings

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

“Live as children of light,” Saint Paul says, “for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him, “Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus sees in Jerusalem a man lying in a portico near the pool of Bethesda. The man had been ill a long time—thirty-eight years, John tells us. Knowing this, Jesus asks him, “Do you want to be well?” The man tells Jesus that he has no one to put him into the pool, so others get there before him as he is on his way. Jesus says to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” The man becomes well immediately and takes up his mat and walks. Because this took place on the sabbath, the Jews told the man it was not lawful for him to carry the mat. When they found out that Jesus was the one who made the man well, they began to persecute Jesus. “Look, you are well,” Jesus said to the man, “Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.” It might seem odd to ask, but what does Jesus mean? What things worse are there for one who has been ill for thirty-eight years?

God, help me comprehend the everlasting harm to the soul brought on by despair and unrepented sin. Let me see the goodness in this Gospel and take to heart Jesus’ command: “do not sin any more.” To experience Jesus’ healing in confession is to hear him say, “Look, you are well.” In the first reading from Ezekiel, the water that flowed from the temple made trees grow whose leaves would never fade and whose fruit would never fail. “The fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.” Jesus, you in your being are the medicine that makes us well.

Through the sacraments, I have both healing in this life and the medicine of immortality. God, be my ever-present help in distress today and always. Thank you, Lord, for your presence!

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.

Readings

Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary

“Live as children of light,” Saint Paul says, “for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

In today’s Gospel, Joseph hears the angel of the Lord and does as he commands. Joseph is the first to take Mary into his home; since then, innumerable Christians throughout history have taken Mary into their homes. Mary’s yes ushered in God’s new creation through Christ; Joseph’s yes brought Mary into the heart of his home and into the center of salvation and redemption for all people. To hear and believe what the angel of the Lord said, Joseph had to put aside fear and, like Mary, begin to ponder the name above all names: Jesus. How can I not respond in kind as Joseph did?

God, give me the grace to comprehend what it means to ask Mary into my home. In doing that, I know there is no guarantee of consolation or receiving whatever I pray for. Instead, the more I ask Mary to intercede for me, the more things will be shaken up as she redirects me to her son. At the Wedding at Cana, Mary said of Jesus to the servers: “Do whatever he says.” And so Jesus began his public ministry, which led to his Passion, death, and resurrection. Hear me, God, and help me recall: when the day’s challenges are in full force and multiple imperatives become entangled with one another, let me be unafraid and do as Joseph did by inviting Mary into the heart of the conflict.

Stay with me, Lord; let me be obedient to you, as Joseph was in his faithful care of Mary and Jesus.

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

Fourth Sunday of Lent

“Live as children of light,” Saint Paul says, “for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

“If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.

In this Sunday’s Gospel, worth reading and rereading because of its richness and majesty, Jesus heals a man who was born blind. John’s account of the story begins with Jesus and his disciples encountering the blind man, and the disciples asking whether the man’s blindness was caused by his own sin or that of his parents. Jesus responds that neither the man nor his parents sinned, but rather the man was born blind so that “the works of God might be made visible through him.” Jesus heals the man by spitting on the ground, making mud with the saliva, and spreading the mud over the man’s eyes. Jesus then instructs the man to wash his eyes in the pool of Siloam. The healing causes controversy among the Pharisees, who question the man and his parents about the healing. They are skeptical of the healing and accuse Jesus of being a sinner because he healed on the Sabbath, and they throw the man out of the synagogue. When Jesus hears about this, he approaches the man and Jesus asks if he believes that he is the Son of Man. The man says to Jesus, “I do believe, Lord,” and he worships him. Jesus tells him: “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” In this Gospel passage, the man’s physical blindness is lifted, allowing him to see the world around him. Greater yet, he gains spiritual insight into the truth of Jesus’ power and divinity and worships him. Compare this to the Pharisees who reject Jesus and his healing power remain in spiritual darkness, unable to see the truth of who Jesus is.

God, help me distinguish between blindness and sight. Keep me in your light, visible to you, and bring me to life through you. As Saint Paul says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” When the man’s physical blindness is lifted, he comes to believe in you. Bring into the light the things that lie in darkness and lead to death so that I can reject them. From the Gospel acclamation: “I am the light of the world, says the Lord; whoever follows me will have the light of life.”

Lord, I want to live in the light of your truth. “Live as children of light,” Saint Paul says, “for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.” Keep me in your light, Lord!

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

Saturday of the Third Week of Lent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke

“But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’”

Jesus tells the parable about those convinced of their own righteousness. He compares the prayers in the temple of two people: a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee took a position in the temple and spoke a prayer to himself: “O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.” Meanwhile, the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not raise his eyes to heaven. He beat his breast and prayed: “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” Jesus says of the tax collector and the sinner: “I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” How often have I been like the Pharisee who looks at others and says, “Thank God I am not like them”?

God, help me see the ways I have convinced myself of my own righteousness and release me from its bondage. Although I come to you at times humbled and in need of your compassion, at other times I am thankful for the position I have taken up in life and despise others for the choices they have made and the lives they lead. Be merciful, Lord; give me the grace to be merciful to others. Contrary to what the Pharisee believes, I am like the rest of humanity and in as much need of God’s mercy as those that through pride I fall into believing I am superior to. “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” Make me a means of mercy to others.

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.”

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.

Readings

Friday of the Third Week of Lent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus replied, “The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”

In today’s Gospel, a scribe asks Jesus which is the first or greatest of the commandments. First among them, part of Mosaic law embodied in the Shema, or the Jewish profession of faith, is to love God above all else. The Shema was a daily prayer for ancient Israelites, still recited today by Jewish people. And then Jesus says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no separating these two great commandments to love. As in the Lord’s Prayer, to forgive is to know God’s forgiveness; to love others is to experience the love of God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Those others God puts before us daily—whether strangers, friends, or family—are a humbling reminder of how demanding it is to put God first and love others.

God, help me understand that in forgiving others, I commend them to you and learn to love them. Without your grace, Lord, it is a weak and faltering love, tending toward collapse. With the first reading from Hosea, I see you present your mercy as a model: “I will heal their defection, says the LORD, I will love them freely; for my wrath is turned away from them.” How do I dare to say that I will love you with everything I have? Give me the grace, Lord, to obey your two great commandments.

From the Prayer after Communion: “May your strength be at work in us, O Lord, pervading our minds and bodies, that what we have received by participating in this Sacrament may bring us the fullness of redemption. Through Christ our Lord.”

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.

Readings

Thursday of the Third Week of Lent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke

Jesus said to the crowds: “But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

In today’s Gospel, as Jesus drives out a demon from a mute man, some of the people in the crowds say of him: “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.” Others in the crowd ask Jesus for a sign. He knows their thoughts and says to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?” Similarly, in the first reading the LORD speaks to the Israelites through the prophet Jeremiah: “From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day, I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets. Yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed.” The strong man Jesus refers to is Satan in all his forms—sin that takes possession of the person. Jesus is the stronger one, who attacks and overcomes Satan. His invitation to gather with him is a call to let go of what possesses us and follow him in obedience.

God, help me understand what takes place in my soul when you overthrow sin and I am able to return to you. From the Gospel acclamation: “Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, for I am gracious and merciful.” When I confess my sins in the sacrament of reconciliation and receive absolution, you take away the armor on which I relied and restore my wholehearted devotion to you; you remove the old armor and put on me the armor of light; you take away my stony heart and give me a natural heart; you distribute the spoils—every good gift you have given me—that I can be a light to others. Just as you sent prophets to the Israelites, you send me your Son so that I can hear your voice and receive your mercy.

Lord, remain with me today. Let me call to mind throughout the day what you announced through Jeremiah: “Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Walk in all the ways that I command you, so that you may prosper.”

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.

Readings

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”

These words of Jesus refer to the law that the LORD commanded Moses to teach to the people of Israel. In the first reading, Moses said to the people: “Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.” Jesus came not to take the law away that the LORD had given Israel but to fulfill it. Just as the LORD told Moses to obey so that the Israelites may live, Jesus also came to give life—abundant life—so that we may enter the Kingdom of heaven. From the Gospel acclamation, we pray: “Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life.” In the natural order, life diminishes; each day is one less day on earth. But so that we may have life, as Jesus says in the Gospel according to John: “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

Thank you, God, for the gift of your only Son. In his fulfillment, there is nothing in the law or the prophets to be forgotten or discarded. As Moses said to the Israelites, I can say of the fullness of my faith: “However, take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.” Give me the grace, Lord, to be obedient to the teachings of Christ and his bride, the Church.

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.

Readings

Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”

In response to Peter’s question about forgiveness, Jesus tells the parable about a king and a great debt a servant owed him. Since he had no way of paying it back, the master of that servant ordered that his wife, children, and property be sold to pay for the debt. But the servant begged the master and said, “Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.” The master pitied him and forgave him all of his debt. When that servant encountered a fellow servant who owed him, he demanded that the other servant pay him what he owed. Falling to his knees, the fellow servant begged for mercy, saying, “Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.” But he denied him the request and had him put in jail. When word got back to the master, he summoned his servant and handed him over to torturers until he could pay back his debt. Jesus then says, “So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.” The shocking mention of torture is enveloped by the greater message of forgiveness and the consequence of failing to forgive. The same formula applies here as it does in the Our Father: “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

God, help me relate this back to the first part of today’s Gospel. Peter asked Jesus how many times he must forgive someone who sins against him, and Jesus replies, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants.” In your kingdom, Lord, there is mercy and forgiveness. What is alien to your kingdom is fallen human nature. That is why Jesus tells Peter to forgive constantly; in that kind of forgiveness is a reaching out for you, an attempt to be perfect just as you are perfect. The alternative is to suffer in self-torture through a failure to forgive. Help me forgive, Lord, any hurt I hold on to that keeps me from you.

Thank you, Lord, for your presence today. From the first reading, help me recall throughout the day: “And now we follow you with our whole heart, we fear you and we pray to you. Do not let us be put to shame, but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy.”

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.

Readings