Lent (Page 22)

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…

Friday March 20 Readings: Hos 14:2-10; Mk 12:28-34 In the reading from Hosea, we hear that the people will be healed from their defection, will have no more to do with idols and will be humbled.  We are told that those who walk in God’s ways will “strike root like the Lebanon cedar,” have splendor “like the olive tree” and “blossom like the vine.” I do not think it is mere metaphor that Hosea speaks this way. Many of the…

Thursday March 19 Readings: 2 SM 7:4-5A, 12-14A, 16; ROM 4:13, 16-18, 22; MT 1:16, 18-21, 24A In Catholic circles, today is the feast of St. Joseph.  He is celebrated as the “earthly father” of Jesus (that whole theology requires more time than we have in this blog!) and is also recognized as the patron saint of workers, fathers, travelers, and immigrants (among other things). Today’s readings focus on ancestry – helping us connect someone like Joseph to Abraham –…

Wednesday March 18 Readings: Dt 4:1, 5-9; Mt 5:17-19 The great Jewish teacher Abraham Joshua Heschel once said “Much of what the Bible demands can be comprised in one imperative: Remember!” This is clear today. In Deuteronomy we hear God saying through Moses, “Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live…take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor…

Tuesday March 17 Readings: Dn 3:25, 34-43; Mt 18:21-35 Today’s first reading from Daniel is one that is likely familiar to most of us.  The reading speaks of Shadrach, Meshak and Abednego in the fiery furnace who are protected by God and come out unscathed.  While in the furnace, they give great testimony to God’s mercy and love.  An amazing story, for sure, and maybe one that requires some further investigation. The Book of Daniel (chapter 1) begins by telling…

Monday March 16 2 KGS 5:1-15AB; LK 4:24-30 Note: Let me start by saying that while I will continue to post every day about the scriptures of the day, I am aware that we are all trying to address the impacts of the coronavirus on our lives.  There is an inherent tension between trying to just do ‘business as usual’ and focus on the everchanging state of things resulting from the pandemic. Many of us have been and will continue…

Sunday March 15 Readings: Ex 17:3-7; Rom 5:1-2, 5-8; Jn 4:5-42 The first reading locates us with Moses and the Israelites in the desert.  They are thirsty and in need of water.  In the gospel, Jesus engages a woman at a well.  And while it has traditionally been read from a theological viewpoint, at a very basic level this story is about water. We need water to survive. My friend Jim Perkinson, a theologian and activist from Detroit, notes that …