Monday of the Third Week of Lent: 2 Kings 5:1-15ab, Luke 4:24-30. You’ve likely heard the adage that God works in mysterious ways. Today’s readings put a finer point on this: God ways are mysterious because they paradoxically appear to be common. Another way to say this is that God …
Third Sunday of Lent: Exodus 20:1-17, 1 Corinthians 1:22-25, John 2:13-25. Today we receive the Word of God in its most accepted and unchallenged form (the Ten Commandments) and then it its most radical and challenging — St. Paul bragging of the humiliation of the Cross and Jesus Himself blowing …
Saturday in the Second Week of Lent: Micah 7:14-15, 18-20, Luke 15:1-3, 11-32. Today we read one of Jesus’s most famous parables, the Parable of the Prodigal Son. There is so much to say about it. The broad strokes: it displays the unflagging love of the father (that is, God …
Friday in the Second Week of Lent: Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17B-28a, Matthew: 21:33-43, 45-46. Today’s readings are truly riches in storytelling and spiritual teaching. The parallels between Jacob’s son Joseph and Jesus Christ abound in their details: both are the favored son, both are sent to help in the tending …
Thursday in the Second Week of Lent: Jeremiah 17:5-10, Luke 16:19-31. Today, we hear the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus from the gospel of St. Luke. On its surface, this parable seems to warn us of too much enjoyment in this world because we will pay for it …
Wednesday of the Second Week in Lent: Jeremiah 18:18-20, Matthew 20:17-28. Today’s readings show the ugliness of jealousy, which St. Cyprian of Carthage calls “the root of all evil.” After examining the readings, I’d like to reflect on St. Cyprian’s Treatise on Jealousy and Envy, which offers some sharp insights. …
Tuesday of the Second Week in Lent: Isaiah 1:10, 16-20, Matthew 23:1-12. The prophet Isaiah utters a simple phrase in today’s reading that might serve as a saying for all of Lent: “Come now, let us set things right, says the LORD.” I love God’s gentleness here, like someone seeking …
Monday of the Second Week in Lent: Daniel 9:4b-10, Luke 6:36-38. Today’s readings present us with two sides of the Christian coin: sin and forgiveness. One side is ugly and tarnished; when we look at it in the full light of day, we are humiliated by what it reveals about …
Second Sunday in Lent: Genesis 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18; Romans 8:31b-34, Mark 9:2-10. Today’s readings demand that we stretch ourselves beyond our comfort zone. Parts of our faith are easy to accept — the Beatitudes, for example — they mirror moral truths we find in other religions and civic systems. …
Saturday in the First Week of Lent: Deuteronomy 26:16-19, Matthew 5:43-48. Today’s readings spell out our compact with God in a nutshell. He will make us sacred and all He asks in return is that we love unconditionally. We will ponder today how difficult it is to love those who …
