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