Lent (Page 20)

Thursday, April 2 Readings: Gn 17:3-9; Jn 8:51-59 Quite a few years ago, I heard the spiritual, “If He Changed My Name” sung by my friend and Detroit jazz/gospel singer Ange Smith.  It’s a powerful song with lyrics that haunted and stirred me.  The song says, “I told Jesus it would be all right if he changed my name…” Check out Nina Simone’s version of the song here. Names mean something.  They have power.  They have history.  They position us…

Wednesday, April 1 Readings: Dn 3:14-20, 91-92, 95; Jn 8:31-42 The first reading from Daniel brings us back to the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. As you likely remember, they refused to worship the gods of Babylon and were thrown into the furnace.  Miraculously, a “fourth person” shows up in the furnace with them (described as an angel) who protects them from harm. And then in the gospel, Jesus is engaging in intense conversation with the Jews about who…

Tuesday, March 31 Readings – NM 21:4-9; JN 8:21-30 In the first reading, Moses and the Israelites are in the desert, and things are getting rough again. They’re tired and sick of the food and so they complain (again).  God takes this personally and sends serpents to bite them.  And a lot of Israelites die.  The people realize their mistake and turn their lives around.  Moses is instructed to make a serpent out of bronze and put it on a…

Monday, March 30 Readings – DN 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62 OR 13:41C-62; JN 8:1-11 We have two readings today of women being accused of something. In the first reading some men who are elders in their community accuse Susanna of an illicit sexual encounter to cover their own inappropriate sexual behavior.  They’re even willing to have her stoned, and were it not for Daniel having the courage to speak up and offer counter-testimony, she would have been. Then in the…

Saturday, March 28 Readings – JER 11:18-20; JN 7:40-53 I’ll admit hat today’s readings are a bit complicated for me.  If you sometimes have trouble understanding the scriptures, please know that you’re in good company! The first reading from Jeremiah speaks of the innocent one who is headed into violence and then is looking forward to watching God’s vengeance on the people who hurt them. And in the gospel, there’s a somewhat confusing sequence naming the division in the crowd…

Friday March 27 Readings – WIS 2:1A, 12-22; JN 7:1-2, 10, 25-30 In today’s readings there’s a sobering tone.  You can feel the anger, jealousy and violence brewing against the person who is challenging the systems of power, social conventions and taken for granted practices. Even Jesus, who at times seems immune to the anger of the crowd, is on guard and being more careful. Maybe you have had the experience before where you said something difficult to someone else…

Thursday, March 25 Readings – EX 32:7-14; JN 5:31-47 In the first reading, Moses has to kind of “talk God down” because God is upset that the people have gone astray and become “depraved.”  God basically asks, “Don’t they remember that they were brought out of Egypt and now they act like this?”  I can imagine Moses, nodding his head, saying to God, “I know, I know…” In the gospel – and we’re reading from the book of John which…

Wednesday, March 24 Readings: Is 7:10-14; 8:10; Heb 10:4-10; Lk 1:26-38 Today celebrates the Annunciation when the angel Gabriel “announced” to Mary that she was being asked to be the mother of God in the form of Jesus. The reading from Isaiah is the “foretelling” passage that gets quoted by Christians that “the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us!” Then in Luke we hear the familiar…

Tuesday March 24 Readings: Ez 47:1-9, 12; Jn 5:1-16 In the first reading from Ezekiel, the angel brings him to the entrance of the temple of the Lord and shows him a vision about life-giving water. In the gospel, there is a man who had been ill for almost 40 years who longs to be lowered into the healing waters of Bethesda but there is no one to put him in there (Jesus ends up healing him anyway!). Stories about…

Monday March 23 Readings: Is 65:17-21; Jn 4:43-54 After reading the text from Isaiah, I thought to myself, “This sounds like good news to people who have been through some very hard things…” I know for many people who have experienced trauma, the past holds such a grip on life.  It can be intrusive.  It can negatively change how we view ourselves.  It can cause depression or anxiety.  It can affect our relationships, our sense of belonging or our connectedness…

Sunday March 22 Readings: 1 Sm 16:1B, 6-7, 10-13A; Eph 5:8-14; Jn 9:1-41 Today’s readings are all about our quality and clarity of vision.  In the reading from Samuel we see the choice of David as the anointed one.  David is the youngest and least experienced and was not the one everyone expected would be chosen.  This happens over and over in the scriptures.  Who we expect God wants or needs is rarely who is chosen.  We’re told that God…

Saturday March 21 Readings: HOS 6:1-6; LK 18:9-14 We continue reading from the prophet Hosea today. Hosea is a very interesting book.  When you read the opening chapters, it’s has pretty hard-hitting and graphic language (go ahead, give it a read…and I recommend going to biblegateway.com and reading Hosea translated by Eugene Peterson in The Message).  God’s really upset with humanity and has some choice words for us!  God says, “That’s it.  I’m out of here.  I can’t take it…