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Readings: Fourth Sunday of Lent | USCCB  It’s so easy to assume that what makes sense to us logically must also be exactly how God intends things to unfold. But that’s not what happens in these passages today. In fact, what we see in today’s readings is a youngest son, still in his youth, inherit a nation, and a beggar both teach and demonstrate the power of Jesus — two people who likely never imagined themselves receiving such positions.  But as we hear in the first reading, “Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance, but the LORD looks into the heart.” God did not see these men because they were in the right worldly position. He saw them because their hearts were in the right place. Their hearts were open, humble, and honest, which increased their capacity to receive Him — not perform for Him.  And even greater than this, their receptivity allowed them to be empowered in a way far beyond what they could have planned for on this earth: a shepherd becoming a king and a beggar becoming a prophet.  Let this, then, be a reminder to us of the most important focus of this Lent — to do whatever we can to open our […]

Readings: Third Sunday of Lent | USCCB  If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts.   What if we don’t hear God’s voice because we’re not listening?   When I hear the Gospels, I find myself wanting to identify with Jesus: to be wise, inspired, and teaching truth to others. But if I am honest with myself, I need to identify with the woman at the well who struggles to hear what Jesus is saying.   I wish we knew her name – this woman of Samaria – to identify her by more than just her town and a barrier of difference. When she arrives at the well and Jesus asks her for a drink, she hears him only enough to defensively raise that barrier: “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” Jesus responds by turning the conversation from well water to living water, but the woman still does not hear. She is focused on the deep cistern and Jesus with no bucket in sight. She claims the well in Jacob’s name and for her own community, again raising barriers rather than carefully listening.    When she does ask for the water Jesus offers, He responds with the truth about her several husbands: […]

Readings: Second Sunday of Lent | USCCB This Second Sunday of Lent we hear two powerful invitations: “Go forth” and “Listen to him.”  In the Book of Genesis, Abram is called to leave behind security, familiarity, and control. God does not give him a map, only a promise. “Go…to a land that I will show you.” Abram’s holiness begins with trust. He does not yet see the fulfillment of the promise; he simply goes. Lent often asks the same of us. We are invited to step away from old habits, comforts, and certainties, trusting that God is leading us somewhere deeper, even if we cannot yet see where.  In the Gospel of Matthew, the disciples are taken up a mountain and shown Christ in glory. The Transfiguration reveals who Jesus truly is, but it also prepares them for what is coming. Peter wants to stay in that moment, yet the voice of God does not say, “Stay here.” He says, “Listen to him.”  Listening is hard and requires surrender. It means following Christ not only in moments of light but also down the mountain and toward the cross. Abram goes. The disciples listen. Both movements require trust. Lent calls me to ask: Where is God asking me to go? […]

Readings: First Sunday of Lent | USCCB “Lead us not into temptation,” a line from the Our Father, has always disturbed me.  Why would God want to lead us into temptation?  The reality is that God cannot be led into temptation, nor lead us into temptation (CCC #2846). Some scholars hold that the prayer asked God that we not fall into temptation. In Genesis 3:5-6, the snake tempted Eve, and the scriptures were vague if Adam was present or not but do say the fruit on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was tempting.  Literally, from the beginning of creation to the present, humans have been tempted to sin, to disobey God.  This first temptation wasn’t just about food, but control, as Satan said, “You will be like gods.” This is the point of today’s readings for the First Sunday of Lent, which are always taken from either Matthew, Mark, or Luke.  Today Matthew lists the three temptations symbolic of our human struggles.  From stones to bread represents our struggle with reliance on God versus self-sufficiency.  Jesus being tempted to throw himself off the parapet of the Temple represents the struggle of satisfying our physical desires with […]