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Thursday of the Second Week in Lent
Today’s readings You know, I don’t think the great sin of the rich man was the sin of neglecting poor Lazarus. Sure, that was certainly bad, but his greatest sin, I think, was that he trusted in himself instead of in God. That’s the deadly sin of pride, and the Fathers of the Church often…
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The Second Sunday in Lent
Today’s readings Perhaps you recall last week’s Gospel reading, in which Jesus, having been baptized by Saint John the Baptist, was prompted and led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days and forty nights. He fasted and prayed and near the end of it, he was tempted by Satan. It’s a vivid image.…
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Saturday of the First Week in Lent
Today’s readings So, there’s our mission statement for Lent: “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Our righteousness needs to exceed that of everyone else, or we will be missing out on the kingdom of God. So how far do we go with that? Love our enemies? Pray for those who persecute us? I…
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Friday of the First Week in Lent
Today’s readings Today’s readings remind us that Lent is no time for “business as usual.” It’s not enough for us to merely claim to be righteous, because righteousness, literally a right relationship, means that righteous actions must back our lofty words. And so today we are called to a righteousness that surpasses the scribes and…
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Thursday of the First Week in Lent
Today’s readings During this first week of Lent, our Liturgies of the Word are teaching us about the Lenten disciplines: fasting, almsgiving and prayer. On Tuesday, we heard the Lord’s prayer, and today we hear the prayer of Esther and Jesus’ injunction to persistence in prayer. I love the story of Esther, and as I…
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The First Sunday in Lent
Today’s readings During the Easter Vigil Mass, less than forty days from now, we will be asked three very important questions: Do you reject Satan? And all his works? And all his empty show? The response to each of these questions, of course, is “I do,” and we are called to answer them so that…
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Friday after Ash Wednesday
Today’s readings Sometimes people say they aren’t giving up something for Lent, they’re just going to try to do “something positive.” I think that’s a little permissively vague, to be honest. I usually tell people it doesn’t just have to be one or the other. In fact, the Church teaches that it shouldn’t just be…
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Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s readings “He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” This is good news for us, even if we can hear perfectly and speak without impediment. It is good news because we might just have to admit that we hear selectively and speak impetuously on occasion, right? We have to read this Gospel reading…
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Saturday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s readings In our Gospel reading today, Jesus offers the Apostles an opportunity. They had been so busy, they had no opportunity to eat, let alone rest. They had just come from the mission he sent them out on back in Thursday’s Gospel reading. So he invites them on retreat: “Come away by yourselves to…
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Saints Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs
We have been hearing from the martyrs a lot recently. On Tuesday, we remembered Saint Blaise, a bishop and martyr who is the patron saint of those with illnesses, specifically of the throat. Yesterday, we remembered Saint Agatha, a virgin and martyr who was put to death in the third century. Today we remember Saint…
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