Wednesday in the 1st Week of Advent: Isaiah 25:6-10a, Matthew 15:25-37. Below is a reflection I first wrote on these readings last year (2020). I’ve lightly edited it. In today’s readings, we encounter a stunning prophecy of the Christ Event from Isaiah and a passage from the gospel that aligns …
Wednesday of Holy Week: Isaiah 50:4-9a, Matthew 26:14-25. Today’s gospel is devoted to the problem of Judas Iscariot. He is a problem, isn’t he? As the betrayer of Christ, he’s a problem for the continued ministry of Jesus in the world; but on another level he’s a problem for us: …
Tuesday of the Third Week in Lent: Daniel 3:25, 34-43, Matthew18:21-35. Today’s readings slide from Azariah’s beautiful placement of his fate in God’s hands to the damning of the unmerciful servant in the gospel. If ever there was a day to consider the term fear of God, this is it. …
Saturday in the Second Week of Lent: Micah 7:14-15, 18-20, Luke 15:1-3, 11-32. Today we read one of Jesus’s most famous parables, the Parable of the Prodigal Son. There is so much to say about it. The broad strokes: it displays the unflagging love of the father (that is, God …
Friday in the Second Week of Lent: Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17B-28a, Matthew: 21:33-43, 45-46. Today’s readings are truly riches in storytelling and spiritual teaching. The parallels between Jacob’s son Joseph and Jesus Christ abound in their details: both are the favored son, both are sent to help in the tending …
Wednesday of the Second Week in Lent: Jeremiah 18:18-20, Matthew 20:17-28. Today’s readings show the ugliness of jealousy, which St. Cyprian of Carthage calls “the root of all evil.” After examining the readings, I’d like to reflect on St. Cyprian’s Treatise on Jealousy and Envy, which offers some sharp insights. …
Tuesday of the Second Week in Lent: Isaiah 1:10, 16-20, Matthew 23:1-12. The prophet Isaiah utters a simple phrase in today’s reading that might serve as a saying for all of Lent: “Come now, let us set things right, says the LORD.” I love God’s gentleness here, like someone seeking …
Saturday in the First Week of Lent: Deuteronomy 26:16-19, Matthew 5:43-48. Today’s readings spell out our compact with God in a nutshell. He will make us sacred and all He asks in return is that we love unconditionally. We will ponder today how difficult it is to love those who …
Friday in the First Week of Lent: Ezekiel 18:21-28, Matthew 5:20-26. Most of us understand when something is evil because that word conjures the sense of serious moral wrong. Murder, for instance, is clearly evil, and hopefully we feel the same about stealing, cheating, and adultery. When we get to …
Thursday in the First Week of Lent: Esther C: 12, 14-16, 23-25, Matthew 7:7-12. Today, we hear Jesus tell us “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Christians have reflected on these words since the …
