Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Today's Readings

Prayer for a Pandemic

May we who are merely inconvenienced 

remember those whose lives are at stake. 

May we who have no risk factors 

remember those most vulnerable. 

May we who have the luxury of working from home 

remember those who must choose between preserving their health or making their rent. 

May we who have the flexibility to care for our children when their schools close 

remember those who have no options. 

May we who have to cancel our trips 

remember those that have no place to go. 

May we who are losing our margin money in the tumult of the economic market 

remember those who have no margin at all. 

May we who settle in for a quarantine at home 

remember those who have no home. 

During this time when we cannot physically wrap our arms around each other, 

let us yet find ways to be the loving embrace of God to our neighbors. 

We ask this through Christ the Healer. Amen.

Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Today's Readings

“God stirred up the holy spirit of a young boy named Daniel, and he cried out loud, ‘I will have no part in the death of this woman.'" - Daniel 13:46

“Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? ‘No, Sir’. Then Jesus said, ‘Neither do I….’" - John 8:10-11

In both of these scriptural passages, we experience God’s definition of Justice, Mercy and Love.

In both stories men, some of whom were respected leaders in their communities, accuse women of adultery and want them put to death according to the law of their religion. Interestingly in that religious system, women were most often the targets of retributive justice for suspected or actual sexual activity, not men. How come?

The readings seem to also invite us to reflect on God’s incredible capacity for forgiveness. We see how women have been oppressed and disempowered by religious structures established by men. Interestingly, the two ‘saviors’ are both men: the young man, Daniel in the story of Susanna, and Jesus in the woman caught in adultery.

We are invited to look hard at the societal and religious institutions that frequently perpetuate injustice and oppression of those considered less equal. As a man, I draw strength and hope for the models of treating women with dignity from two other men: Daniel and Jesus. Both courageously went against the power structure of their Religion and Society and challenged the systems that oppressed and objectified women. These ancient stories have particular relevance today, where women around the world, including the United States, are still endangered and suffer racial, economic, political and gender/sexual orientation exploitation.

As we approach Holy Week with Jesus, in this particularly perilous time, let us ask for the grace to confront systems of oppression and privilege that have perpetuated a ‘less than’ view of women. God has only one family: and that’s all of us.

Ed Poliandro

The Inter-parish Collaborative for Pastoral Care to LGBTQ Catholics and Their Families

Fifth Sunday of Lent

Today's Readings

Many of us try to put some effort into Lent, albeit with varying degrees of success. Maybe we subdue our senses, mortify our bodies and generally try to concentrate more on the spiritual dimensions of our lives. This is how we undertake Lenten practice: we pray, we fast, we give alms and these are all physical activities.

But while in Lent we intentionally reign in our bodies and the pleasures that engage our senses, we also pay attention to how our bodies and physical senses are places of encounter with God. Two Sundays ago we heard in the Gospel about an encounter Jesus has with a woman seeking to quench physical thirst, yet who learns something important about spiritual thirst. Last Sunday there was the story about Jesus healing a man born without the sense of sight and how that man was held at arm's length, an outcast, presumed to have been a sinner. After he's healed he learns about the connections (and distinctions) between physical and spiritual sight. Today we read of Jesus performing the most amazing kind of miracle, how he restores someone's entire body, the whole complexus of their senses, into a temporarily new body -- and then promises a whole other kind of body to come "in the resurrection from the dead."

These stories reveal to us that the human body, even Jesus' body, is at once something to be held in check (since it needs to resist the temptations in the desert) but also to be touched, reverenced, acknowledged as an instrument of God's action in the world. God's glory is shown this week, in particular, because Lazarus' fleshly body has died and Christ, with his intervention of crying, weeping and sighing, has a voice to command that body to rise and to have its shroud thrown away. This flesh, Jesus shows then, is important for our salvation.

How difficult it is for many of us to receive this message when our human community globally and locally is engaged in actions to help heal and protect bodies suffering and dying because of a new virus. We're called into unfamiliar actions and unwanted restraints that at the very least are inconvenient and at the most are truly heroic as some put health and life at risk to care for others. This struggle is all worked out in our bodies and serves, likely for many of us, as an unwanted lesson in the fragility of our flesh. Did anyone, even the most piously penitent, want to observe a Lent like this?

But here we are, encountering the same difficult mysteries that were known by the Samarian woman, by the man born blind and by Lazarus, Mary and Martha. We witness and experience thirst, the need for sight and the yearning for healthy physical life. And we also hope that in witnessing the actions of those directly affected by COVID-19 and those on the front lines caring for the sick some of the same dialogue that Jesus had with his own people is shared with and by us.

For the religiously observant of any tradition it is painful not be able to gather physically with other believers, and particularly difficult at this time of year when the Abrahamic traditions are entering into the celebrations of Passover, Holy Week and Ramadan. Maybe this enforced fast from bodily fellowship will make us especially appreciative when it returns. From the Christian perspective, though, there is an understanding that as confusing as all of this is, it is through this that God enters our world: historically, politically, emotionally. This happens because he is of our flesh. In Jesus, God enters into the vast scope of humanity as well as the intimate complexity of each individual person. The renewal that Christ offers the world (the resurrection to new life he offers Lazarus, for example) is offered to each of us.

I would never have chosen this Lent for myself, and certainly not for anyone who is suffering right now. But it's the one that I, and we, have been given. All the more important to receive it in solidarity with Jesus who came to serve, suffer, die -- and rise again.

Dr. Joel Warden
Catholic Scholar-in-Residence

Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Today's Readings

Today’s Gospel offers us a glimpse into another moment of questioning, tension and derision centering around Jesus and his preaching. John shares some genuine confusion and perplexity as to the identity of Jesus. The scene is framed around Jesus, yet he is not an active participant in the story. Instead, the focus is on the perspectives of Jesus by those who have gathered to discuss who he is and what he has said, particularly the guards who have been ordered to arrest him. Jesus has clearly had an effect on the gathered crowd and all respond differently.

Not everyone is in agreement with what they see and what they hear about this man from Galilee (and as we read…nothing good ever comes out of Galilee!). Some (the guards) have chosen to stop and listen to him rather than follow orders to arrest him. Others (some of the Pharisees) remain firm in their belief that he is a charlatan, a false prophet, a dangerous seditionist. Some, like Nicodemus, a Pharisee himself, steps forward and demands that Jesus be given a just hearing before he is condemned without fairness or due process. It’s a confusing situation riddled with hostility and uneasiness. Do those gathered listen, learn and decide for themselves…against the pressure of those who hold the power? Or do they spread seeds of doubt and fan the flames of hysteria?

Do we spend time listening to Jesus’ message? Are we confident in our knowledge of Christ, his history and his role in our lives? Does that knowledge stem from our own prayer and consideration or does it originate with what we have been told to believe? Do we deepen our relationship with Jesus through moments of quiet or do we seek out Scripture passages that support our preconceived perspectives so as to prove what we believe to be true? Do we meet Jesus on our terms or embrace a relationship that will guide us to listen and grow? Perhaps we can look to the words and deeds of the guards in today’s reading, and think about the words of St. Clare as we take some time to “gaze, contemplate, consider and imitate Christ” as we continue our journey this Lent.

John F. Tully, SFC ‘67

St. Francis College Board of Trustees

Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Today's Readings

Wisdom 2:1A, 12-22

In today's readings, we hear: "The wicked said among themselves, thinking not aright: 'let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings...To us he is the censure of our thoughts...'"

We are invited through this reading to examine ourselves.

Has our thinking ever been "not aright", especially in a group setting?

Do we ever let a group influence our understanding of God's plans for us?

Do we, when among others, question or fight with ourselves to "do the right things", or to "think the right things", or to "say the right things"?

Do we find, when in the company of others, God's goodness to be 'obnoxious'? How could we or anyone ever be that good?

Do we let ourselves get involved in group situations that create the same scenario as described in the reading, where "the wicked said (things) among themselves" by gossiping with friends about friends?

When we find ourselves in these very normal, very human situations, we can take comfort and direction in the end of this reading: "These were their thoughts, but they erred; for their wickedness blinded them, and they knew not the hidden counsels of God."

We are more fortunate for we KNOW the "counsels of God"!

Let us live and work and pray in that knowledge as we commit ourselves to the rest of our Lenten journey.

 Kathleen Conlon
Adjunct Lecturer of Education
Parent '21

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Today's Readings

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life. - John 3:16

This verse before the Gospel has always moved me. At first I would find myself asking, "Why would anyone sacrifice something so big and so dear?" But as I have gotten older I have realized that God gave his only Son so that He could show us that He is always suffering with us. I still read this passage and struggle with it, because it is hard to understand a sacrifice of this magnitude, but as a sister, as a daughter, and as a person, I realize that we are called to suffer with the people we love.

Community in a time like now is essential. This passage reminds me that we should be looking for our friends, our family, our community and asking how they are, what they need, and how we can be there! Sharing this walk together on this journey. God did not have to send his only Son, and yet he did. Yes, it is our freedom to do as we wish.  But I think now more than ever I will think again about going home to watch Netflix and instead maybe sharing my life with a friend, helping us to walk together on this journey. I know that to know that you are not alone is always a light that helps me keep moving down the path of life, and now, during this Lenten season, my desire is to share that with my community.

Elizabeth Peralta '15

Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

Today's Readings

For some reason, when reading today’s readings for the Annunciation of the Lord, I was drawn to the person of Ahaz.

I’m not sure why this year was different than years past. We read his name every year on this solemnity, but for some reason, this year he caught my imagination. Maybe it’s because I have more “free time” on my hands during these corona days. I think we are all tending to things that we have put off for a long time.

Ahaz was the King of Judah from 732–716 BC after the Kingdom of David and Solomon was split and became two, Judah and Israel. Within Judah’s borders was Jerusalem, the center of the Jewish faith.

Today’s passage from the prophet Isaiah gives us some insight into Ahaz as a leader and, through the aid of the prophet Isaiah, of God’s persistence.

This reading is set in a tumultuous time. Ahaz was being wooed by the Kingdom of Israel and the King in Damascus [Syria] to join forces and oppose the Assyrians who had their sights on spreading their kingdom west. Ahaz sought guidance from the prophet but didn’t heed his advice.

He eventually aligned his kingdom with the Assyrians to defeat Israel and Damascus only to find himself and Judah beholden to an occupying force. The Assyrians wreaked havoc and mayhem over those in the Kingdom of Israel, Damascus, and, in part, Judah. Ahaz did not go down well in the history books.

Rather than listening to Isaiah’s counsel to trust God, Ahaz relied on his own designs and the help of an untrustworthy foreign peoples and failed. Although Isaiah even promised a sign to confirm he was speaking God’s truths, Ahaz refused.

Isaiah, as we know, prophesied the sign anyway, “The virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us!”

Of course, it is very easy to cast Ahaz into the column of folks who just blew it. He turned from God and bad fell upon him. That very well may have been true, but hindsight is always 20/20. Too bad he didn’t listen to Isaiah. Everything would have been different. Perhaps.

Without the historical perspective afforded us when we hear this story, the real question lies in our own ability to listen to the prophets of our day, to be in a relationship with the Lord so to hear the Word of God in our midst, and to know, and believe, that God is with us … really.

Today, right now, we are in a truly bleak time in the history of humanity. Although the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and these March days are warmer than normal, we might begin to believe that spring has sprung, but, in our heart of hearts, we are not so sure. We are afraid. We are uncertain. We are scared. We are locked in our homes [or at least we should be!] not knowing what will happen tomorrow or the next day, next week, or next month.

We know that classrooms have moved to on-line, athletic tournaments, graduations, parties, and even Masses, have all been cancelled and we most likely won’t even be able to celebrate Easter together as a community of faith.

All true. But we have today’s celebration of the Annunciation of our Lord in the thick of this madness, in the midst of our Lenten journey, and it offers us hope.

Mary’s yes changed the world forever. She listened. She trusted. She embraced the words of life and lived. Mary believed in God’s goodness and gave birth to the light of the world.

During our Lenten days, during our corona days, the annunciation of God’s inbreaking, once again, into our human history, is ours to hear and embrace.

God is with us. Despite whatever darkness surrounds us.

God is with us.

Fr. Francis Di Spigno, OFM

Associate Pastor, St. Mary’s Parish, Pompton Lakes, NJ

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Today's Readings

The Historical God.

For centuries, the Pool of Bethesda, which is the centerpiece of today’s readings, was thought to have been a fictional construct in the Gospel of John. As with more than a few aspects in the Gospels, the historicity of this place was either disbelieved, disputed or downright rejected as “fake.” Even the “five porticoes” mentioned by John’s Gospel as characteristic of the pool, were concluded to be merely allegorical, representing the Five Books of Moses. 

But in the 19th century archaeologists discovered both the pool itself and the five porticoes, all as John described. Today you can visit the Pool of Bethesda, near the Sheep Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem (again, as John had described) climb down some metal stairs and dip your hand into the water that still flows into the cisterns. 

It’s a potent reminder that Jesus came into a real place and a real time and encountered real people with real histories. The paralyzed man in the Gospels, who has waited 38 years for healing, comes into contact with a God who enters human history in the most profound way. And this God wants most of all to encounter us, in whatever state we find ourselves: even when alone, wanting and desperate.

Notice too that Jesus instinctively knows that the man needs help. Apparently alone (he has no one to help him into the healing waters) the man seems to have given up on ever finding healing in life. But Jesus knows this and reaches out to him. Jesus, friend of the friendless, seeks him out.

Often we doubt that God will enter into the history of our own lives. We feel alone, wanting and desperate ourselves, and wonder if it’s all real. Well, as the story of the Pool of Bethesda shows, it is. But more to the point the story of your life shows that: it is a graced history into which God has definitively come.

James Martin, SJ

James Martin, SJ, is a Jesuit priest, editor at large of America and author of many books, including Jesus: A Pilgrimage and Building a Bridge.

Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Today's Readings

There are a few different themes we can glean from today’s readings…hope, belief, trust and faith in God’s miraculous healing through opening our hearts. An essential message is the healing power of faith. Our faith in the Divine can be so very comforting during these very troubling, uncertain and dangerous days. Yet we may find ourselves despondent and overwhelmed. We may think that our prayers are falling on deaf ears as we watch the numbers of those afflicted with or who have lost their lives to the Coronavirus grow by the minute. God is still and always in our midst, sharing in our heartbreak. When perhaps traditional prayer may fail us from time to time (and that’s okay!), it may help to remember that prayer and faith in God can take different forms. One way is recalling that being in relationship with others during these difficult times; opening our hearts and our spirits to the different ways God invites us into God’s unconditional and abundant love. We are all acutely aware how essential it is to social distance from one another to protect ourselves and others, but community and sharing experiences together (albeit virtually) are VITAL to our spiritual, physical and emotional well-being.

As we search for ways to stay healthy, safe and in good spirits these days, dance has always been an activity that promotes wellness by strengthening our immune systems through muscular actions and physiological processes. Dance can help us moderate, eliminate or avoid stress, tension and fatigue. Dance heals and gives us a sense of control in our lives. It can be a form of prayer through movement and can nurture and mend our souls.

The Office of Mission, Ministry & Interfaith Dialogue at St. Francis College invites you to access the link below and watch this video of our human family dancing…with sheer joy. Make it full screen, turn up the volume and smile! No matter where we are, what language we speak, or the religion we practice, we come together as a community through our shared practices, rituals and gestures. It’s especially poignant to watch, knowing that right now so many of our sisters and brothers in cities and countries around the world are undergoing this pandemic with us. We hope you will watch, pray and dance along and find comfort and healing today and each day forward.

The Lord bless you and keep you.

May He show His face to you and have mercy.

May He turn His countenance to you and give you peace. 

The Lord bless you.

- Blessing of St. Francis to Brother Leo

Timothy Nagy, MTh

Joel Warden, PhD

Joseph Bach, OSF

Alexandria Egler, PhD

Fourth Sunday of Lent

Today's Readings

What do we do when we remember?  Do we not bring together again, often in memory some event or some occurrence that was witnessed from the past? We re-member.

This Lent I have had in my mind that the Christian scriptures were written a very long time, perhaps in some cases as long as 100 years, after the event. Fortunately the oral tradition of the people then was significantly strong. Events were heard as they had been spoken, yet sometimes there are several versions of the same story.

The gospel today is one of those re-membered events with several versions. Why did the Gospel of John re-member that specific event? Which leads to another question: Was this the only time that Jesus healed a blind person? We do learn something, I believe, something unique in this event. The learning is that at that time saliva was used, probably more rarely than wine and oil, as an agent of healing.

As I hear and read this gospel, something reminds me of the story of St. Paul "Still breathing murderous threats against the Lord's disciples" on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1). What happened to Saul (Paul), before he was converted? A bolt of light struck him and he was unable to see for several days. Slowly, scales fell off his eyes and he would see again. Slowly and gradually that light was that He whom Saul was persecuting was the Messiah, the Resurrected Lord.

What I am proposing is something similar to the road to Damascus experience. It took Paul several days to understand and convert. In today’s gospel it took time for this person to see clearly that the person who stood before him was the Lord.

In this case the story of the blind man serves two functions. Immediately, to recount the healing of a person with this disability, and re-membered, to help a believer to fully understand that He whom he sought was the resurrected Christ.

Bro. Tom Barton, OSF

Saturday of the Third Week of Lent

Today's Readings

Luke 18:9-14

Those of us who are of a “certain age” may remember the song by Mac Davis: “Hard to be Humble.” Here’s a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCyYuLQ7_Ws

As funny as this song is, I think the humor is that perhaps there is a wee bit of truth to it. Many of us wrestle with the desire to remain modest and humble, yet also wanting our accomplishments and good deeds honored or acknowledged. In fact, this song isn’t too far from the prayer that we find the Pharisee praying in today’s Gospel, the message of which is often shared as: “Don’t be like the Pharisee, emulate the tax collector!”

I think what often happens when we read parables like this is we find ourselves falling into the trap of dualities. You know what I’m talking about, the scenarios we create deciding that there are two types of people in the world, and we place ourselves (and others) in one or the other. For example: There are the people in the world who wake up and say, “Good morning, God!” And then there are the people who wake up and say, “Good God, it’s morning!” Or those who walk into a room and say, “There you are!” versus those who walk in and say “Here I am!” This particular parable presents us with the duality of having to choose between either the tax collector or the Pharisee.

I often slide down the slippery slope of sizing up the people I encounter and judging some to be like the Pharisee. These are the folks who trust that they themselves are righteous, who are glad that they are not like “other people,” who see themselves as fundamentally better than others. Then I meet people who are like the tax collector, who are so aware of their own failures that they can’t even lift their eyes to heaven, who understand that they need forgiveness, that they feel like garbage, these are the folks who know that they are sinners.

But who am I? Am I like the Pharisee? I sure hope not. Or am I like the tax collector? I wish! In the Franciscan way of looking at the world…am I perhaps BOTH AND? In truth, sometimes I can be like the Pharisee, smug and assured of the wonderful deeds that I do, secure in the confidence that I’m not as sinful, mean, thoughtless or cruel as that co-worker or person (at a socially appropriate distance) on the subway. Other times there are nuances of the tax collector in my behavior and my prayer life, recognizing that it is only with God that all things are possible and NOT me! I can be that individual who knows that every day when I get out of bed, even as I sit here in the solitude of my home working and teaching at a distance, I mess up, I make mistakes, I sin.

When I frame my life in duality it places me in the trap of failing to recognize that there are other options, that one of two choices does not accurately capture the entirety of who I am or who others are. I guess that’s why I hate those theological and philosophical true/false quizzes because the outcomes and issues aren’t always either black or white. There is an enormous area of grey that is just as important to consider.

The other, and perhaps more important issue is that when I look at who I am and who others are through a dualistic lens I fail to recognize the profound truth of what we all share in common: The recognition that ultimately as humans we are more similar than we are different. I read this Gospel as an invitation to look beyond the differences between the Pharisee and the tax collector and remind myself that a central teaching of Jesus (and let’s not forget Francis and Clare!) is unity and not duality. This is at the core of who we are as creatures made in the image and likeness of the Divine. We are far more complex than being just one person or another and we should accept and forgive ourselves for those times when we may behave more like the Pharisee. We should also celebrate the fact that we can be like the tax collector as well. But most days we are a little bit of both, trying our best to respond with humility, charity, mercy and love to the Pharisee and the tax collector in ourselves and everyone we encounter. Because that is what God does with us with every breath that we take and every decision that we make, without exception.

If we are able to keep a clear eye on our ability to sin, it’s not too “hard to be humble.” No one of us “is perfect in every way” and I for one am grateful for my relationship with God, who knows this truth far better than I do. So with all that, embracing the reality that we are unconditionally loved by God, we can just “do the best that we can” as Mac Davis reminds us. 😊

Alexandria M. Egler, PhD

Executive Director of Mission, Ministry & Interfaith Dialogue

Friday of the Third Week of Lent

Today's Readings

This reading teaches us about the Love and Forgiveness of God, our Lord.

How many times are parents disobeyed by their children? The answer is frequently. Love for our children and forgiveness for their actions is a lesson for them in the present and an awakening for the future.

Parents love their children as God, our Lord, loves us despite our mistakes and behavior.

Both Love and Forgiveness are two significant concepts within our Christian tradition. Love and Forgiveness build our humanistic and moral values, which help us become complete citizens.

As Christians, we should never forget to love even when circumstances or people fail us. Love is the path to modify wrongdoing, to understand that there are open doors and that is a step to finding justice and peace. God loves us unconditionally and He always forgives us, regardless of our sins as it is expressed in this reading:

"I will heal their defection, says the LORD,

I will love them freely..."

The Love of God is a way to grow and blossom as a human being. Thus, we should love like God does with an open heart, without question and we should be prepared to forgive.

Forgiveness brings people together in harmony and peace. Why? Because to Forgive is to reflect on another’s wrong behavior, all the while giving us an opportunity to accept, change, and free ourselves into the Love of God.

During this period of reflection and awakening, it is important to think about how we can demonstrate our love for each other, how we should love without expecting anything in return and how to be open to the lessons that love teaches us.

Dr. Sintia Molina
Professor of Foreign Languages

Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today's Reading

It is interesting that today’s scripture calls Joseph, the husband of Mary, a righteous person. In those troublesome times, the world needed a reflective person - one who was called by God, did God’s will, and saw the world from God’s perspective for the sake of others. Joseph becomes an interesting point for God’s love for others. Listening to an angel and clearly demonstrating a powerful act of faith, Joseph takes his wife into his home to take care of her and assist in raising the child, Jesus. His strong faith allowed God’s plan to live out the role of Jesus in our salvation.

In today’s world, we live in an age of anxiety and turbulence. On this feast of the Solemnity of St. Joseph, let us be people who give ourselves over to God’s call and exist in solidarity with all in the Franciscan tradition.

Bro. Leonard Conway, O.S.F. '71

Member, SFC Board of Trustees

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

Today's Reading 

Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9

As we are halfway through the third week of Lent, we see that the first reading for today speaks about obedience and keeping God’s Laws.

In verse 2, we see Moses relaying the commands from God, “You must add nothing to what I command you, and take nothing from it - but keep the commandments of Yahweh your God just as I lay them down for you.” At times we feel as if we control the narrative of our lives and we seek out other methods of living our lives because people tend to feel as if God is a rigid and unjust God, but God’s laws signifies being whole and completeness, and sometimes it’s not about what we want, it’s about living the most Christ-like life we can live and living in a way that’s according to God’s laws so we can all be reunited with him in the afterlife.

In verses 5 and 6 we read about if we keep God’s commandments, “other peoples will admire your wisdom and prudence.” I think during this Lenten season we can try to practice humility. We often feel if we praise and worship the loudest or pray the loudest and publicize the good deeds that God will love us more. It’s often said that if you have to brag about something, you’re either not good at it or it’s not true. People should be drawn to you and know that you’re a Christian by your demeanor, by the way, you carry yourself.

 If we say that we’re living a Christ-like life, we should BE like Christ. Be as humble as he was, be as obedient as he was. Think about this, if Jesus was not obedient to his Father’s orders, would we be alive today? What would our world be like if Christ did not die for our sins?

As we go about the rest of this week and the rest of this Lenten season, Lord we humbly come before you and ask for your forgiveness for all of the times we went against you and we were not as humble as we ought to have been. You said if my people would humble themselves and turn from their wicked ways you will heal their land, Lord we humble ourselves as we ask for a fresh anointing on our lives, our friends and families’ lives and in our country. Amen.

Chelsea Flemming '24

Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent

Today's Readings

Lockdown

Yes there is fear.

Yes there is isolation.

Yes there is panic buying.

Yes there is sickness.

Yes there is even death.

But,

they say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise

You can hear the birds again.

They say that after just a few weeks of quiet

The sky is no longer thick with fumes

But blue and grey and clear.

They say that in the streets of Assisi

People are singing to each other

across the empty squares,

keeping their windows open

so that those who are alone

may hear the sounds of family around them.

They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland

Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.

Today a young woman I know

is busy spreading fliers with her number

through the neighbourhood

So that the elders may have someone to call on.

Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples

are preparing to welcome

and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary

All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting

All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way

All over the world people are waking up to a new reality

To how big we really are.

To how little control we really have.

To what really matters.

To Love.

So we pray and we remember that

Yes there is fear.

But there does not have to be hate.

Yes there is isolation.

But there does not have to be loneliness.

Yes there is panic buying.

But there does not have to be meanness.

Yes there is sickness.

But there does not have to be disease of the soul

Yes there is even death.

But there can always be a rebirth of love.

Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.

Today, breathe.

Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic

The birds are singing again

The sky is clearing,

Spring is coming,

And we are always encompassed by Love.

Open the windows of your soul

And though you may not be able

to touch across the empty square,

Sing.

-from Richard Hendrick (Brother Richard) in Ireland

March 13th, 2020

Monday of the Third Week of Lent

Today's Readings

2 Kings 5:1-15AB

During this third week of Lent, as I reflect on the first reading, I am reminded of how gullible, yet vulnerable we are as human beings, especially when we are confronted and tested with difficult situations. We find ourselves to be the most desperate, and we want to believe in just about anything or anyone, so as to get what we want. Naaman, the army commander of the king of Aram, went to Israel in pursuit of healing powers by the King of Israel. He was desperate and wanted to believe that this great and powerful man had the power to cure his leprosy. He thought he could buy his way by presenting amazing gifts to the King, such as silver, gold and festive garments. Naturally, when we are at our most vulnerable, we tend to become desperate, and we think we can “buy” through monetary gifts, in exchange for what we are seeking. Yet this reading once again teaches us that this isn’t the case, that not everything can be bought, and that we cannot let our beliefs be tainted or smeared by false images. And so Elisha, the man of God, hears that the King of Israel has become furious because he thinks he is being made fun of, by Naaman, and asks the King to send Naaman to him instead. The prophet Elisha does not come out to greet Naaman, and he does not try to impress Naaman with his “healing powers” or even seek monetary gifts. Instead he sends him the message to go and wash seven times in the river Jordan and his flesh will be healed of his leprosy. Of course Naaman becomes angry, and begins to question the prophet Elisha, because he had imagined the prophet would come out and astonish him with his healing powers, as he moved his hand over the spot, where the leprosy was. Why should he listen to such a simple man; shouldn’t this man have come out and shown his greatness? Instead the instructions were simple, nothing extraordinary. Naaman went to the river Jordan, washed seven times, and he was cured of his illness. When he returned, he understood that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel.

What I take away from this passage is that each and every one of us will go through our journey in life, and it is understood that there will be times of great pain and suffering along with times of happiness. But it is in these times of pain that I trust and look to my faith, and I pray that false images will not fill my heart. This passage also reminds me that loving God is easier when I think of all the blessings I have received.

Yadira Moran-Ulrich '02

Associate Director of Human Resources

Third Sunday of Lent

Today's Readings

“Oh, freedom, Oh, freedom
Oh freedom over me
And before I'd be a slave
I'd be buried in my grave
And go home to my Lord and be free.”

So goes the post-Civil War African American freedom song. Over the course of human history, so many people have been enslaved both from outside forces and at times from their own decisions.

The people of Israel had yearned for freedom from their slavery in Egypt. They desired to be freed of the yoke of forced labor, degradation and brutality under which they survived. As God acted on their behalf, they followed Moses, God’s mouth-piece into the desert. But the freedom from the Egyptians came at a cost.  Fear set in and they “grumbled against Moses”, indeed against God too. 

For all of us, freedom comes as a gift, an invitation to enter into the possibilities of life, sometimes with ease, other times with a premium that demands acts of courage and risk, even when we think it should go more easily for us. Eric Fromm, a German psychologist, discussed in his book, Escape from Freedom, two types of freedom: freedom from and freedom for. For each of us and for our communities and societies, considering these two freedoms is essential. The believer is called to live, work and pray to be free from evil, oppression, self-interest and all that demeans our common humanity. At the same time we should consider what we are free for: what do we do with our freedom that lifts human dignity, promotes goodness, brings joy to the world?

In our Lenten journey through the wilderness, we are reminded by the scriptures that there is no easy road to freedom, but that God is always with us calling us to embrace the fullness of freedom in the grace of faith in Jesus Christ. 

Rev. Michael Callaghan, c.o.

Pastor

The Oratory Parish of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Saturday of the Second Week of Lent

Today's Readings

All of today's readings are rich with wisdom and perspective. Today's Gospel reading is the well-known story of the Prodigal Son, but I want to focus mainly on one verse in today's Psalm:

"For as the heavens are high above the earth, so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him." (Psalm 103:11)

The Prophet Isaiah writes something similar: "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts higher than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:9). 

The general idea presented in these verses is straightforward enough - God is extremely kind and extremely wise - but what should we do about it? Most people would easily agree that these are fundamental aspects of God's character, but how should these qualities transform our own character and perspective?

One answer is presented in the first verse: we should fear God. We should honor God with our lives with the understanding that it is a scary thought to be apart from God. We should stand in astonishment and awe of God with the understanding that God holds us in the palm of God's hand and orchestrates each new day. We should love, respect, and obey God like children with the understanding that God is our Father. When we adopt this posture toward God, God's kindness abounds. We understand that all good things come from God, and we extend our roots into the river of God's kindness - where else would we extend them?

Another answer is this: we should not lean on our own understanding. In any given situation, particularly a difficult situation, my mind can only think of so many options, and many of those options can be quite pessimistic. When I lean on my own understanding as I attempt to make sense of my circumstances, there is always a very real possibility of despair. It is possible to think God is not in control. Yet, when we trust that God's ways and thoughts are incomprehensibly higher than our own thoughts, there is no room for despair. God has always saved God's people, even in the face of unthinkable circumstances. We read about Joseph, Moses, Ruth, David, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Mary, Paul, Francis, Clare, and so many more. They had faith in a God who knew much more than them, and they deeply trusted in that God. They knew that they could not predict the future in detail, but they trusted that God had their back, especially when they seemingly had no way out. Their perspective enabled them to live bold lives for God that we are still reflecting on today.

As we continue our Lenten journey, let us take a minute to consider the reality of God's faithfulness, steadfast love, surpassing kindness, and deep, deep wisdom and omniscience. Did Daniel actually survive for a night in the lion's den? Did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego really just walk right out of the furnace unscathed? Did Jesus really conquer the grave? If they did, and I believe they did, than we can approach the lions, furnaces, and crosses of our days with complete trust in the God who saved them - and that is excellent news for us!

Timothy Nagy
Assistant Director of Mission, Ministry & Interfaith Dialogue

Friday of the Second Week of Lent

Today's Readings

Jesus Christ, you traveled through towns and villages “curing every disease and illness.” At your command, the sick were made well. Come to our aid now, in the midst of the global spread of the coronavirus, that we may experience your healing love.

Heal those who are sick with the virus.  May they regain their strength and health through quality medical care.

Heal us from our fear, which prevents nations from working together and neighbors from helping one another.

Heal us from our pride, which can make us claim invulnerability to a disease that knows no borders. Jesus Christ, healer of all, stay by our side in this time of uncertainty and sorrow.

Be with those who have died from the virus. May they be at rest with you in your eternal peace.

Be with the families of those who are sick or have died. As they worry and grieve, defend them from illness and despair. May they know your peace.

Be with the doctors, nurses, researchers and all medical professionals who seek to heal and help those affected and who put themselves at risk in the process. May they know your protection and peace.

Be with the leaders of all nations. Give them the foresight to act with charity and true concern for the well-being of the people they are meant to serve. Give them the wisdom to invest in long-term solutions that will help prepare for or prevent future outbreaks. May they know your peace, as they work together to achieve it on earth.

Whether we are home or abroad, surrounded by many people suffering from this illness or only a few,

Jesus Christ, stay with us as we endure and mourn, persist and prepare. In place of our anxiety, give us your peace. 

Jesus Christ, heal us.

Kerry Weber

Kerry Weber is an executive editor of America.

Thursday of the Second Week of Lent

Today's Readings

Luke 16:19-31

Every year during Lent I give up something that seems pretty trivial — chocolate, social media, Starbucks, etc. — and I get a chuckle over the McDonald’s filet-o-fish commercials (ever notice they pop up a lot during Lent?) as I abstain from meat on Fridays. While I am never perfect in my intentions, I do enjoy that Lent gives us a time to reflect, repent, and open our hearts and minds to God.

Today’s gospel reinforces that, in addition to making a sacrifice during Lent, we should also use this time to be more generous to others and the importance of instilling habits of generosity. In this reading, there is a very rich man who lives in luxury and an extremely poor man, Lazarus, lying at his door. When they die, their stations are drastically reversed. Lazarus goes to Abraham’s side and the rich man is stuck in a place of torment. Had the rich man listened to Moses and the prophets, repented and been generous to Lazarus, he would have avoided his fate.

It is important to treat others with kindness. Material items are not everything, but if we have the means, we should help those less fortunate. While kindness and generosity are values we should live every day, the Lenten season serves as a great reminder of these habits and gives us a time to practice these actions. So, next year for Lent, in addition to giving up some sweet treats, I think I’ll also go for 40 days of generous acts.

Emily Ward
Grants Manager

Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent

Today's Readings

Matthew 20:17-28

In today’s Gospel Reading, we are reminded of the sacrifice Jesus made for us as he describes the events that are to befall him once he and his disciples arrive in Jerusalem. The persecution, crucifixion and resurrection of Christ is the ultimate sacrifice made for us. It is easy to focus on the suffering and temptations Jesus faced during his time in the desert, as well as his sacrifice on the Cross, however, we need to focus on the reason why he endured all that suffering - the reason is Love.

Towards the end of the reading the sense of love is embodied through the words of Jesus:

“Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant;

whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.

Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve

and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The idea of service is central to the life and death of Christ. The Son of Man came down from heaven to live among us, to feel what we feel, to suffer as we suffer and to serve us, and to show us how we should serve each other. We often hear that Jesus died for our sins, but another important reason that he endured all this suffering and death is because he loves us so deeply.

I find it very hard to maintain my Lenten Sacrifice each year. Usually around this time I have given into temptation or laziness and have broken my sacrifice - this year it didn’t even last a week. However, today’s reading shows us that we don’t have to solely focus on the sacrifices Jesus made for us. By embracing the awesome power of Jesus’s love for us and living by the lessons of service that Jesus has taught us, we can focus on the love Christ has for us and understand why he endured so much suffering for the betterment of humanity.

Michael Conlon ‘21