First Sunday of Lent: Genesis 9:8-15, 1 Peter 3:18-22, Mark 1:12-15. While on our personal Lenten journeys with Christ, we sometimes forget that it is also the season for the elect to formally pledge themselves to the Church, finish their preparation, and present themselves for Baptism, Confirmation, and First Holy …
Saturday after Ash Wednesday: Isaiah 58:9b-14, Luke 5:27-32. God shows us in todays’ readings His great desire to redeem us. Consider how different our God is from the gods in classical Greek culture or the nature-oriented gods of other pagan cultures. These deities have either complex personal, selfish desires that …
Friday after Ash Wednesday: Isaiah 58:1-9a, Matthew 9:14-15. Today’s readings cast some doubt on fasting, and it’s worth digging into them to understand the teaching God delivers to us. The verses from Isaiah are some of the longest in the Old Testament dealing with fasting. This chapter in Isaiah tackles …
Thursday after Ash Wednesday: Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Luke 9:22-25. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus tells us plainly that to follow him has a personal cost, that a person must “deny himself and take up his cross daily.” This saying is familiar to most Christians, although most believers I know are more …
Ash Wednesday: Joel 2:12-18, 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2, Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18. Like a thief in the night, Lent is here. So soon, I am tempted to think, must I again pare down my pleasures? On the heels of a pandemic year where we all felt penned in and constrained, Lent can …
Holy Thursday – Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper: Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, John 13:1-15. We know the readings of the Easter Triduum well, as we should; it is our highest of feasts, the culmination of Christ’s mission and ministry. On this Holy Thursday, the Lord is ready; …
Wednesday of Holy Week: Isaiah 50:4-9a, Matthew 26:14-25. Today’s gospel focuses on Judas’s betrayal, much like yesterday’s reading. Coupled with the first reading from Isaiah, we get a clear look at what it means to live in the light compared to living in darkness. Today’s first reading is from a …
Tuesday of Holy Week: Isaiah 49:1-6, John 13:21-33, 36-38. Today, we hear part of John’s account of the Last Supper when Jesus offers Himself to and through Judas, always giving Himself even in His own betrayal. As we contemplate the Word of God recorded by St. John, let us be …
Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord: (Procession with Palms: Mt 21:1-11), Isaiah 50: 4-7, Philippians 2:6-11, Matthew 26:14 – 17:66. In the space of a blog post, how can we take in, much less reflect upon the events we celebrate on Palm Sunday? As disciples, we go from …
Saturday in the Fifth Week of Lent: Ezekiel 37:21-28, John 11:45-56. Today we read of the chief priests and scribes convening in the Sanhedrin about Jesus. I immediately think of the plotting that was foreshadowed in the stories of Joseph (son of Jacob) whose brothers plotted against him and the …
