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Tuesday of Holy Week
Today’s readings Today’s Gospel reading contains four of the most chilling words in all of holy Scripture: “And it was night.” Those narrative words come just after Judas takes the morsel and leaves the gathering. But the evangelist didn’t include those words to tell us the time of day. In John’s Gospel, there is an…
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Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord
Today’s readings This is it. Today’s liturgy brings us to the place we’ve been journeying toward all during Lent. These past forty days have seen Jesus tangle with the established religion, all the while healing the sick and preaching repentance. We have participated in that by receiving absolution in Confession, participating in our parish mission,…
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Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Today’s readings The story is quickly coming to its climax. Jesus’ claims of divinity are really starting to rile the Jews. They have placed their hope in Abraham and the prophets – great men to be sure – but seem to have forgotten about the promise of a Messiah, and so they totally miss the…
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Saint Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Foster Father of Our Lord
Today’s readings On today’s feast, we celebrate the faithfulness of Saint Joseph. When he became betrothed to Mary, he got more than he could ever have bargained for. It certainly would have been easy to divorce her quietly when the news of her pregnancy became known, and it certainly would have been difficult to continue…
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The Fifth Sunday of Lent
Today’s readings The joy of last week’s Laetare Sunday begins to fade a bit as we get into this fifth week of Lent. Now the Passion of our Lord is clearly in view. Maybe in your church, statues of the saints, Mary, and even Jesus on the Cross are covered by violet or red cloths.…
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Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Today’s readings Sometimes it’s hard for things to get through to us, isn’t it? Well, it’s always been that way, apparently. One of my friends in seminary used to say that the Israelites had a pillar of cloud leading them by day, and a pillar of fire by night. So how come they couldn’t believe…
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Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Today’s readings There’s a lot of talk about water in these readings today, and when that happens, we know that it means the talk is really about baptism. We ourselves are the sick and lame man who needed Jesus’ help to get into the waters of Bethesda. The name “Bethesda” means “house of mercy” in…
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The Fourth Sunday of Lent
Today’s readings Traditionally, today is Laetare Sunday – laetare being Latin for “rejoice.” Sometimes this Sunday is celebrated by the wearing of rose-colored vestments, rather than the Lenten violet. Laetare Sunday reminds us that even in the “heaviness” of Lent, there is reason for rejoicing. And today’s readings do deal with some heavy topics, but clearly and always through the…
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Thursday of the Third Week of Lent
Today’s readings Today’s Scriptures address another one of the ways that we fallen human beings tend to avoid the truth. Sometimes, when we are confronted with the truth, we attack its source. If we cast doubt on the one bringing us the truth, then we don’t have to follow his or her words, right? The…
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The Second Sunday of Lent
Today’s readings What would you give up for love? Today’s first reading puts poor Abraham in an awful position. Remember, he and Sarah were childless well into their old age. And it is only upon entering into relationship with God that that changes. God gives them a son, along with a promise, that he would…
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