Lent (Page 20)

February 25 Readings – Est C:12, 14-16, 23-25; Mt 7:7-12 The story of Esther that we read today is a deep and nuanced narrative.   Esther is a Jew who has been exiled to live in the Persian Empire.  She eventually becomes queen, yet all the while having this hidden identity.  When we meet her today, she is at one of the lowest points of her life and cries out to God for help. In the gospel, Jesus tells his followers…

February 24 Readings – JON 3:1-10; LK 11:29-32 The first reading today situates us in the middle of the story of Jonah.  Most of us know the simplified version of the story (he was the guy in the belly of the whale for 3 days), but the actual story is quite rich and nuanced.  Jonah doesn’t want to do what God asks of him.  He is swallowed by a large fish (sorry, no whale is mentioned) and lives in its…

February 23 Readings – IS 55:10-11; MT 6:7-15 We could probably reverse the popular saying for today’s readings, “It’s not about what you do, it’s about what you say!” Today’s readings remind us that words matter. Isaiah says that God’s words go out into the world and don’t return until they’ve done their work. In the Jewish understanding of the world, that’s what words did.  They went into the world and had an impact, changed reality.  It’s what YHWH did…

February 22 1 Pt 5:1-4; Mt 16:13-19 In the first reading, Peter exhorts the pastoral leaders not to “lord” power over people in their care.  This hearkens back to when Jesus told his disciples that they should not wield power in the same way as the world (from Matthew 20:25) by “lording” it over one another. Then in the gospel, Peter is told that what is considered bound on earth is bound in heaven and what is loosed on earth…

February 21 Readings – GN 9:8-15; 1 PT 3:18-22; MK 1:12-15 In today’s readings, the stories of Noah and Jesus are linked. We encounter Noah after the 40 day flood emerging to start a new life with a promise and the presence of God.  Then in the gospel, we encounter Jesus who was tested in the desert for 40 days who himself will emerge with a promise and presence. This promise and presence are ours as well as we embark…

February 20 Readings – IS 58:9B-14; LK 5:27-32 If I had to recommend one reading to focus on in Lent, it might just be Isaiah 58.  This chapter is such a powerful manifesto which articulates the heart of our faith as spoken through the prophets.  And this is the faith that Jesus read and studied and embodied in his ministry. A broken, hurting world is not God’s desire.  People made choices that made it this way, and many people continue…

February 18 Readings – DT 30:15-20; LK 9:22-25 Sometimes when I read the scriptures, it feels like they could have been written just yesterday. Moses saying to the people, “I have set before you life and death,” feels like a contemporary choice.  Every day we are confronting choices and situations that have very real impacts of life and death in this world.  The COVID-19 pandemic, the racial uprisings we witnessed all across this country and the January insurrection in Washington…

Ash Wednesday JL 2:12-18; 2 COR 5:20—6:2; MT 6:1-6, 16-18 Welcome to the Lenten Journey.  For the next 40 days, we will be retracing Jesus’ journey in the wilderness as we enter the wilderness of our own lives. Growing up Catholic, I always heard a lot about the requirement and obligation of Lent.  And while these certainly have their place, I think more now about the opportunity of Lent. Lent is a time to pull back from our day-to-day lives…