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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 – Scrutiny II (Cycle A Readings)
Today’s readings Today’s Liturgy is all about vision and sight and light and darkness. All of these, dear friends, are things that many of us certainly take for granted. Think about it: we don’t appreciate the gift of light until that dark and stormy night when the electricity goes out and we’re fumbling around in…
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The Fourth Sunday of Lent (Cycle C Readings)
Today’s readings At the heart of it, Lent is about two things. First, it’s about baptism. That’s what the participants in our RCIA program are reflecting on these days, and eleven of them are preparing to be baptized at our Easter Vigil Mass this year. And baptism leads us to the second purpose of Lent, which is conversion:…
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Thursday of the Third Week of Lent
Today’s readings This week, the Scriptures have been warning us not to avoid the truth. Today is no exception. Today we see that the way we tend to avoid truth is often through obfuscation, trying to confuse the facts. It’s a case of “the best defense is a good offense,” where we attack the truth…
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Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent
Today’s readings The book of Daniel the Prophet is one of my favorite books of Scripture. If you haven’t read that book, that would be a great one to take in during Lent. It won’t take terribly long, but be sure you read it from a Catholic edition of the Bible because other editions won’t…
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The Third Sunday of Lent – Scrutiny I: Give Us Living Water
Today’s readings Note: This homily was for the Mass at which the RCIA Elect were present for the First Scrutiny, so particular readings are used for that. What is it going to take to quench the thirst that you have right now? We’re lucky; we live in a part of the world where we can…
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Saturday of the Second Week of Lent: He Welcomes Sinners and Eats with Them
Today’s readings That Jesus would welcome sinners and eat with them is obviously a huge deal. There was thought that associating with sinners made one complicit in the sin; so the audacity of such an action was sinful in and of itself, at least as far as the religious leadership was concerned. But as an act of…
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Thursday of the Second Week of Lent
Today’s readings I’m going to say something that is probably going to make you think I’m wrong. And that is that the great sin of the rich man was not 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…
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Monday of the Second Week of Lent
Today’s readings These readings for the weekdays of Lent are especially challenging, aren’t they? They’re supposed to be. They speak of what it means to be a disciple and take up the cross, and they speak of it with urgency. We have to be willing to have our whole world turned upside-down; to do something…
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Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent / Saint Patrick
Today’s readings I used to be upset that Saint Patrick’s Day always happened during Lent. I’d have to postpone the celebration of my favorite saint until Sunday, especially if it fell on a Friday, because we just didn’t have corned beef on Friday, you know. But as I’ve grown older, I appreciate that Saint Patrick’s…
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