Tag: evangelio del dia

Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.”

These words of the angel Gabriel follow Mary’s question at the annunciation: “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” Rather than challenging God’s power and ability to do the impossible, Mary’s question suggests the nature of her relationship with God. Your will, God, not mine. After Gabriel responds to her, she says, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her. In her question also is a sense of the awe she felt before God. That same sense of wonder overshadowed her as she learned that her barren cousin Elizabeth had conceived a son and was in her sixth month. The last words Gabriel speaks before departing are “for nothing will be impossible for God.” There is so much beauty in the Annunciation, any aspect of it is worth spending time pondering.

Lord, I can imagine Mary pondered these words long after Gabriel left her; carrying them with her as she carried Jesus; carrying them with her in his infancy and childhood; and carrying them with her to the foot of the cross. Mary’s simple question—”How can this be?”—was answered again and again throughout her motherhood. Mary said yes to the Incarnation, obedient to the Lord’s merciful will; her son said yes to suffering and death, destroying death and rising to new life to bring all of us redemption. “How can this be?” That’s a question I can ask of myself every day to understand your will. Help me, Lord, respond by saying, “May it be done according to your word.”

Lord, thank you for the gift of your presence! Overshadow me today; make your will known.

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.

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Readings

Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

So Jesus cried out in the temple area as he was teaching and said, “You know me and also know where I am from. Yet I did not come on my own, but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.”

In today’s Gospel according to John, Jesus can’t keep his divine identity secret. Although Jesus seeks to travel covertly to the Jewish feast of Tabernacles because there were some in Jerusalem who were trying to kill him, once there he hears what some of the people are saying about him. “Is he not the one they are trying to kill? And look, he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him.” They go on to say about Jesus: “Could the authorities have realized that he is the Christ? But we know where he is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.” Jesus then cries out in the temple area as he is teaching: “You know me and also know where I am from. Yet I did not come on my own, but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.” They try to arrest Jesus, but John tells us “no one laid a hand upon him, because his hour had not yet come.”

God, help me learn how you move and act through my life each day. As Saint Paul says, in you “we live and move and have our being.” The people of Jerusalem knew your Son yet did not know you or where he came from. Their expectation was that the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from. God, you work in ways that confound human understanding. What the people of Jerusalem assumed—that no one would know where the Messiah is from—blinded them to the coming of Christ. You walked and moved among your people, yet many did not see it. In my own preoccupation with the way things usually work, I completely miss the works you accomplish every day. In each day made up of a multitude of experiences, you alone in the mystery of your being are true.

“Be still and know that I am God.” Give me the grace, Lord, to know you through your works today and always.

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 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