Monday of the Third Week of Lent
As we begin this third week of Lent, we have a story from the Second Book of Kings. It is the story of Naaman, a man who is a well-respected army commander. But Naaman is also a leper. Such a disease in that time led someone to be an outcast from society. Naaman’s leprosy threatened his family, his career, indeed his entire future. Perhaps out of sheer desperation, Naaman took the advice of a little Hebrew servant girl and went to Israel seeking a cure. When the prophet Elisha tells Naaman to wash in the Jordan, however, he became indignant and almost left the country without his cure. Eventually Naaman did wash in the Jordan and was cured of his leprosy. More importantly, Naaman also came to faith in the God of Israel. There is a theme of acceptance here: Naaman himself had not been accepted, on account of his leprosy. After his healing, however, Naaman comes to accept the God of Israel.
Third Sunday of Lent
The bulk of today’s second reading from the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, and of today’s Gospel reading form St. Luke’s Gospel, serve as a warning to the people, and as a warning to us. When we read them in the light of today’s first reading from the Book of Exodus, however, we glimpse the hope that is there as well. I want to briefly discuss the warning, and then focus on the hope.
Saturday of the Second Week of Lent
Today’s gospel might initially wash over us as the story we’ve heard many, many times of the “Prodigal Son” who lavishly spends his inheritance on pleasures and is left tending the swine and desiring their food. He then returns to his father to beg for mercy.
Friday of the Second Week of Lent
At this point in Lent, my self-imposed abstinence and pentitential practices are starting to wear me down. It’s a long way to Easter and it can be difficult to maintain a sense of purpose and determination. Like most of the readings in Lent, today’s readings are meant to provide us some sustenance and support along the way, but in order to see that point in today’s readings, we have to directly compare the Genesis and Matthew texts.
Thursday of the Second Week of Lent
Most of us have our moments of envy for the very wealthy. We think it would be nice to have a new luxury car or to have a spacious house or to go on vacations around the world. It is hard for us to be satisfied with what we have, even though by the world’s standards, most of us in the U.S. are pretty wealthy. God’s message, however, has always subverted the human view of wealth. For in God’s eyes, the material possessions of human beings are worthless, and what matters is our relationship with God and our willingness to do his will.
Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent
In Lumen Gentium, the II Vatical Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, we learn that the faithful, by Baptism, are incorporated into Christ’s share in the priestly, prophetic and kingly office of Christ. Therefore, within the sacramental grace of Baptism we are called to participate in Christ’s prophetic ministry. Yet, this ministry is hardly one people find it easy to accept. Often our response is like Jeremiah, “Oh Lord, I am too young to do that.” Or it is like Jonah, “No Lord, you are crazy if you think I’ll do that,” and then we run the other way. Or it like the disciples today, “Sure we can drink the same cup Lord,” failing to realize that Jesus means to lay down our lives.
Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent
Today’s first reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah is a perfect reading for this Lenten season. This passage is addressed to the people of God, the southern tribe of Judah and to the city of Jerusalem, and yet, Isaiah calls the people of God here, Sodom and Gomorrah, two notoriously wicked cities from the time of Abraham in the book of Genesis. These insults against the people are intended to help the people realize how sinful they have become. Isaiah is giving the people of God a wakeup call: time to repent.
Monday of the Second Week in Lent
As we begin this second full week of Lent, we are reminded of our human sinfulness. In God, we have a wonderful, loving Father, and yet so often we choose to do other than God’s will for us. Our sinful actions hurt ourselves and others and they even rupture our relationship with God. Hence we are “shamefaced”! This is the sentiment of our first reading from the book of Daniel.
Second Sunday of Lent
Thursday of the First Week in Lent
In our modern culture, we have a tendency to believe that we are self-sufficient. We can take care of ourselves... and indeed, those who fail to take care of themselves are considered weak or, in the language of our tax forms, “dependents.” To be dependent upon others is considered by many a form of humiliation. To rely on another for food, money, clothing, shelter is something only appropriate for children, we believe.
Thursday after Ash Wednesday
Lent has begun, and we will be hearing selections from the Hebrew exodus in the Old Testament. In today’s passage from Deuteronomy, Moses presents the Israelite people with a choice: they can choose either life or death, blessing or curse, the one true God or many false gods and idols. This choice is a constant theme throughout the Old Testament, and the Hebrew people struggle, sometimes choosing false gods, and sometimes turning to God. It is a choice and a struggle that have great consequences. In choosing for God, the people can be assured of God’s protections. In abandoning God, however, the people may face their own destruction and damnation.
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
As we bring this first section of Ordinary time to a close and rapidly approach the season of Lent, it is good to remember that we are a people of hope. The antiphon (Psalm 40:5) for our responsorial psalm for today, Psalm 1, the first psalm of the Psalter, explicitly reminds us that, “Blessed are they who hope in the Lord” (40:5). This antiphon sums up nicely the emphasis of today’s first reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah.
Saturday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Scripture
In Mark’s gospel, the story of Jesus is portrayed as a cosmic battle between Christ and the devil, beginning with Jesus’ temptation in the desert by Satan (Mk 1:12-13) and continuing with the exorcisms in which Jesus casts out demons (Mk 1:21-28, 34; Mk 5: 1-20). By the time that we reach Chapter 8 in Mark, the audience could have clearly understood Jesus’ mission only in terms of the Jewish expectation of one who would come to save the Jews. Of course, Jesus was a Jew and so were most of the people whom he healed and taught. This perspective could have been confirmed by the first feeding story (Mk 6:34-44) in which Jesus multiplies loaves and fishes in a predominantly Jewish area with an emphasis on Jewish symbolism.
Memorial of Saint Scholastica, virgin
Although little is known about St. Scholastic’s youth, we do know that she was a twin from a wealthy family. Her and her brother Benedict joined religious orders that were separated by five miles. Over their lifetimes they grew deeply rooted in the Lord and closer to one another. The readings today are well suited to celebrate a woman who seemed so wise in her faith.
Monday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Those of us who have been following along with the first readings over the past few weeks will remember that King David wanted to build a house (or temple) for the Lord. David did not want the Ark of the Covenant residing in a tent while David was comfortable in a palace. However, God told David instead that God would make a house for David; a dynasty that would be everlasting. David’s son Solomon fulfilled David’s wishes by overseeing the construction of a splendid temple that would house the Ark of the Covenant. And today we read of the great joy experienced by the people in bringing the Ark of the Covenant into such a wonderful resting place.
Saturday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Scripture
Many of the prophets we can immediately think of in the Old Testament are rather fiery and often dramatic. They challenge apathetic authority and call the people back to their covenant with God. As they delivered the message of God, prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Elijah and especially Ezekiel engaged in many public displays that must have been something like street theatre, all with the intention of drawing the Israelites back to God.
Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs
Today's Scripture
Today we continue our celebration of Christmas, so merry Christmas!!! We are now in the fourth day of the Octave of Christmas. But today in the midst of our rejoicing that God has come to us as a humble babe, we have a bit of sorrow. It should not surprise us that the greatest of joys also comes with pain and suffering, especially since we know that this small child Jesus will end his earthly life nailed to a cross. Yet even before Jesus’ own death, others suffered. Our feast today commemorates the “holy innocents,” the ones who were put to death at Herod’s command when he sought to eliminate competition to the throne by massacring all the boys of Bethlehem under the age of two. Even before Jesus’ own death 30 years later, these boys and their families suffered for the new life that God had brought to the world. In a sense, they are martyrs, that is, they are witnesses to God dwelling among us on earth and the conflict that often brings.
The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
Today's Scripture
Today, in the Octave of Christmas, we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family. The Holy Family is at one and the same time a model for all families, and also unique among all families. No other family on earth can boast God as their child. No matter how holy a mother in a family might be, no mother apart from Mary was conceived free of original sin, nor is it likely that any other mother remained completely sinless. These are just a few of the anomalies which confront us in the Holy Family. At the same time, we are called upon to strive for the holiness and love modeled for us in the Holy Family. This can be difficult, not only because of our own sinfulness, but also because we do not have much in Scripture concerning the Holy Family to serve as a model.
Feast of Saint Stephen, first martyr
Today's Scripture
It’s always struck me as very profound that on the second day of the octave of Christmas, the second most important feast in the entire year, the Church has deemed it appropriate to celebrate the feast of St. Stephen, the Church’s first martyr. Lest we get caught meditating too long on the pastoral beauty of the holy family in the stable, surrounded by barn animals, shepherds, and angels, we are immediately thrust into a graphic vision of the radical implications of the birth of Christ.
The Nativity of the Lord Christmas
Today's Scripture
I think it strikes just the right note that so many Christmas carols emphasize the poverty of the baby Jesus. “Away in a manger, no crib for a bed.” “Once in Royal David’s city, in a lowly cattle stall.” And many of them make the connection between the singer’s own situation and that of Jesus: “Baby Jesus, I am a poor boy too.” “What can I give him, poor as I am?”