Lent – Page 5 – lectiodiv.com

“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.

“Return to me with your whole heart.” | Ash Wednesday

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (6:1-6, 16-18, today’s readings)

“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.”

Jesus teaches the disciples how to give alms, pray, and fast. First he tells the them how not to do it, as the hypocrites do, and then he tells them in what way to do it and why. He defines hypocrites as those who “perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them.” Whether giving alms, praying, or fasting, those who do it for public recognition, Jesus says, have already received their reward. When done without drawing attention to them, the Lenten observances of prayer, almsgiving, and fasting become a private conversation between the original giver of the gift and we who give back to God what is his. “And your Father who sees in secret,” Jesus says, “will repay you.” Lent is a time of remembering Whose we are and making our way back wholeheartedly to be reconciled to him, the font of mercy.

God, strengthen me today and throughout Lent as I consider the Gospel acclamation: “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” Jesus calls attention to you six times as he teaches the disciples the way to fast, pray, and give alms. In teaching these observances, Jesus leads us into a genuine, private relationship with you, Our Father. Give me the grace of sincerity and humility this Lent as I seek to deepen my connection with you, Lord, rather than seeking recognition from others. Help me keep pure my attitudes and intentions behind anything I do out of authentic piety. You are the giver of every good gift, Lord; show me how to make a wholehearted return to 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.

“My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.”| Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

From the responsorial psalm: “The LORD is faithful in all his words and holy in all his works. The LORD lifts up all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The Lord is gracious and merciful.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 5:17-30)

Jesus answered the Jews: “My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.” For this reason they tried all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God.

Today’s Gospel continues where yesterday’s left off. Because Jesus told the man he cured to pick up his mat and walk, some of the Jews who learned of this began to persecute Jesus for encouraging the man to work on the sabbath by carrying his mat. When Jesus is questioned, his persecutors accuse him not only of breaking the sabbath but making himself an equal to the Father. But as the Father does, the Son also does. Jesus does the will of his Father, and like the Father, he “raises the dead and gives life,” and as the Son of Man he will call all who are in tombs to come out, either to the resurrection of life or to the resurrection of condemnation. The Son does the work of the Father; as a just judge, he works to accomplish his Father’s will.

God, help me imitate Jesus, who says, “My Father is at work until now, so I am at work.” I have many questions about how I am to work today, how the day and how the week will play out. From the untold number of decisions I will make today and act on, give me the grace to remember that my work is to do your will, and the grace to understand and accomplish it. What possible hesitation or fear do I have of working throughout the day if I am committed to knowing your will and doing it? Father, you gave me life and sent me for a purpose no one else can fulfill. For the sake of your glory, Lord, help me do your work 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.

“Do you want to be well?” | Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

From the responsorial psalm: “God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress. Therefore we fear not, though the earth be shaken and mountains plunge into the depths of the sea. The Lord of hosts is with us; our stronghold is the God of Jacob.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 5:1-16)

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.” The man went and told the Jews that Jesus was the one who had made him well. Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus because he did this on a sabbath.

In Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate, Jesus sees a man who is blind, lame, and crippled, and has been ill for thirty-eight years. Nobody assists him to reach the healing pool of Bethesda, which means “house of mercy” or “house of grace.” When Jesus first encounters him, he asks if he wishes to be well and then tells him to pick up his mat and walk. “Immediately,” John says, “the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.” Jesus then slips away through the crowd as Jews witness the man carrying his mat on the sabbath. When they are able to identify Jesus as the one who told the man to pick up his mat, they begin to persecute Jesus for profaning the sabbath. There are things worse, Jesus suggests to the man he cured, than being ill for decades. Worse than that is sin and its burdens; worse than that, those who reject and persecute Jesus, the very one who has the power over sin, illness, and death.

God, just as Ezekiel witnesses the life-giving water flowing from the sanctuary and its healing effects, the man by the pool experiences divine restoration and healing through the command of your Son: “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” More than divine marching orders, Jesus’ command is a response to the question he poses: “Do you want to be well?” In your initiative, Lord, you quietly invite me with the same question to receive your healing. Give me the grace today to answer honestly, Do I want to be well? I would do well to accept all you offer from your house of 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.

“You may go; your son will live.”| Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent

From the responsorial psalm: “Sing praise to the LORD, you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger lasts but a moment; a lifetime, his good will. At nightfall, weeping enters in, but with the dawn, rejoicing. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 4:43-54)

Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death. Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” The royal official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.

The Galileans welcome Jesus as he enters Galilee because they had seen the miracles he performed while at the feast in Jerusalem. From among the people whose faith in him was strong, Jesus encounters a royal official whose child was sick to the point of death. In seven words, “You may go; your son will live,” Jesus cures the child of the illness, and the official learns of this from a messenger while he is on his way back home. As a result, John tells us “he and his whole household came to believe.” In this miracle, Jesus gives us a glimpse of the love of the LORD that Isaiah speaks of in the first reading: “Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; The things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind. Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create.”

God, just as the father reveals great faith in the power Jesus has with mere words, give me the grace of complete trust in you in this world and in the life of the world to come. Trust is essential. As the psalmist says, there is nightfall in this life; there is the pit, the netherworld; there is weeping. And while facing this, just as the father faced his son’s death, what is the song the psalmist hears in his mind and heart? “O LORD, you brought me up from the nether world; you preserved me from among those going down into the pit. I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.” Be with me, 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.

“Whoever lives the truth comes to the light.” | Fourth Sunday of Lent

From the responsorial psalm: “May my tongue cleave to my palate if I remember you not, If I place not Jerusalem ahead of my joy. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 3:14-21)

“And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.”

Jesus answers this question Nicodemus poses to him: “How can a person once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother’s womb and be born again, can he?” Jesus tells Nicodemus that to be born again one must be born of water and Spirit. And then he tells him, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” Being born of water and Spirit in the Son of Man who was lifted up on a cross is the way to eternal life. As John goes on to tell us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”

God, help me always choose to come to the light. By being lifted up on the cross, Jesus gives all of us the means to be saved from the consequences of sin and to receive eternal life. In the areas of unbelief, help me believe that your Son Jesus is the Savior and the means of salvation. Give me the grace, Lord, to come into the light and remain in your truth.

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.

“O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” | Saturday of the Third Week of Lent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 18:9-14)

“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.’ 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.”

Jesus compares the piety of the tax collector with the piety of the Pharisee. Luke tells us that Jesus addressed this parable “to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.” In prayer, the Pharisee thanks God by his own standard—that he, like the rest of humanity, is not “greedy, dishonest, adulterous.” Going further, Jesus describes external practices that set him apart from the tax collector. He fasts twice a week and pays generous tithes. But Jesus sees this as superficial piety, leaving great leeway to compartmentalize piety and forget the two great commandments: love of God and love of neighbor. As the LORD speaks through Hosea in the first reading: “Your piety is like a morning cloud, like the dew that early passes away. . . . For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice.”

“O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” Lord, let the words of the tax collector be on my lips and in my heart today. I have the words of Saint Paul to consider as well: “Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.” And if I think for a minute that this is a guilt complex, some kind of self-inflicted scrupulosity, give me the grace to call to mind every good gift you give me. I fail time after time, missing the mark, and needing the sacrament of reconciliation to restore me to you. Teach me, Lord, to humble myself in 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.

“The Lord our God is Lord alone!” | Friday of the Third Week of Lent

From the responsorial psalm: “‘If only my people would hear me, and Israel walk in my ways, I would feed them with the best of wheat, and with honey from the rock I would fill them.’ I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 12:28-34)

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 response to the scribe’s question, “Which is the first of all the commandments”? Jesus replies with the Shema Yisrael, a prayer read aloud in Jesus’ time and still recited by Jewish people today. The second, Jesus tells the scribe, is love of neighbor. When the scribe agreed with Jesus, saying, “Well said, teacher,” Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” Today’s Communion antiphon summarizes the Gospel passage, where the scribe’s words complement those of Jesus perfectly: “To love God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself is worth more than any sacrifice.”

God, help me stop for just a moment to anticipate all that I will encounter today in light of two commandments: to love you with all my heart, understanding, and strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. These two commandments encompass every decision I will make today. Give me the grace to remember these commandments and to hold myself accountable to them. As I move throughout the day, choosing the way that I should go, let me call to mind the words of Hosea: “Straight are the paths of the LORD, in them the just walk, but sinners stumble in them.”

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.