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Readings: Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion | USCCB  The theme of these readings is abandonment. In less than a week, the crowds that cheered Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem are calling for his crucifixion. Judas, one of the twelve apostles, betrays his teacher for 30 pieces of silver. Simon Peter pledges unshakeable faith, but the same night denies Jesus three times. At Gethsemane, Jesus asks his disciples, “Remain here and keep watch with me.” Yet when Jesus returns from his agonizing prayers, he finds his disciples asleep—not once, not twice, but three times. When Jesus is arrested later that evening, Matthew tells us, “all the disciples left him and fled.” Christ’s lament from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” is haunted by these betrayals.  God sent his only son, and we abandoned him, turned on him, and murdered him.  In the face of this awful reality, I am moved by the image at the end of the Passion narrative. Joseph of Arimathea has gone to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus. He wrapped it in clean linen and placed it in a new tomb. “Then he rolled a huge stone across the entrance of the tomb and departed. But […]

Readings: Fifth Sunday of Lent | USCCB  In this fifth week of the Lenten season, the readings focus on resurrection, from the story of the resurrection of Lazarus to how the indwelling spirit lives within us, and how the Lord transforms us in his infinite Mercy.   For many of us in life we experience moments that feel like the tomb of Lazarus, places of sadness, fear, shame, failure, or apathy. These feelings can become a trap, and we can define ourselves on who we are by these negative emotions. In the Gospel the story of Lazarus provides a clear example of how Jesus saves us from these moments. Jesus declares “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25), meaning that our faith in Jesus frees us from the grave and shackles of spiritual death and sin. Even before the death of Lazarus, when he was struck with illness, Jesus says that “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (John 11:4). These trials and tribulations, the tests in our life, are […]

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: […]