Wednesday of Holy Week

Daily Readings for Lent
Today's readings: March 31, 2010
First Reading: Is 50:4-9a;
Responsorial Psalm: 69:8-10, 21-22, 31 and 33-34 ;
Gospel: Mt 26:14-25 ;

And here's an audio file and a video of a priest offering reflections.

First Reading:  Is 50:4-9a ;
The Lord GOD has given me
a well-trained tongue,
That I might know how to speak to the weary
a word that will rouse them.
Morning after morning
he opens my ear that I may hear;
And I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
My face I did not shield
from buffets and spitting. The Lord GOD is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
He is near who upholds my right;
if anyone wishes to oppose me,
let us appear together.
Who disputes my right?
Let him confront me.
See, the Lord GOD is my help;
who will prove me wrong?

Responsorial Psalm  69:8-10, 21-22, 31 and 33-34 ;
R.        Lord, in your great love, answer me.
For your sake I bear insult,
and shame covers my face.
I have become an outcast to my brothers,
a stranger to my mother’s sons,
because zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me.
R.        Lord, in your great love, answer me.
Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak,
I looked for sympathy, but there was none;
for consolers, not one could I find.
Rather they put gall in my food,
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
R.        Lord, in your great love, answer me.
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving:
“See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.”
R.        Lord, in your great love, answer me.


Gospel   Mt 26:14-25
One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot,
went to the chief priests and said,
“What are you willing to give me
if I hand him over to you?”
They paid him thirty pieces of silver,
and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
the disciples approached Jesus and said,
“Where do you want us to prepare
for you to eat the Passover?”
He said,
“Go into the city to a certain man and tell him,
' The teacher says, My appointed time draws near;
in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.' ”
The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered,
and prepared the Passover.
When it was evening,
he reclined at table with the Twelve.
And while they were eating, he said,
“Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
Deeply distressed at this,
they began to say to him one after another,
“Surely it is not I, Lord?”
He said in reply,
“He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me
is the one who will betray me.
The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him,
but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed.
It would be better for that man if he had never been born.”
Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply,
“Surely it is not I, Rabbi?”
He answered, “You have said so.”

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Commentary: Holy Week provides many words that are hard to hear. Today's first reading in Isaiah continue the passages known as the suffering servant. And this is followed by a difficult psalm, where the writer is experiencing life's traumas and calls out to God for help. It reminds me of Psalm 55. And in the Gospel, the betrayal of Jesus begins in earnest, as Judas goes to the chief priests and asks how much they are willing to offer him if he hands Jesus over to them. As is often the case, the betrayal will be consummated in the darkness of night.

Jesus was very clear that no man or woman is exempt from suffering in the course of their lives. And now, He provides a perfect example of how each of us will be asked to carry our own cross. While few of us manage to do so quite as elegantly as Jesus does - who carries His cross, without complaint - like a lamb led to slaughter, as Isaiah says. We can and should take courage. Because God is with us each step of the way. We are blessed with a much deeper understanding of how deeply God loves us all through the suffering of His beloved Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. And, we also know how the story ends in a just a little time.

Surrender to God, and He will take care of everything. And I hope that all of us strive to help each other with our crosses, and assist each other by offering encouraging words of hope, weeping with those who weep, and also trusting in God to deliver us from our daily trials. Easter is right around the corner.

Friday, Third Week of Lent

Daily Readings for Lent
Today's readings: March 12, 2010
First Reading: Hos 14:2-10;
Responsorial Psalm: 81:6c-8a, 8bc-9, 10-11ab, 14 and 17 ;
Gospel: Mk 12:28-34 ;

And here's an audio file and a video of a priest offering reflections.

First Reading:  Hos 14:2-10
Thus says the LORD:
Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God;
you have collapsed through your guilt.
Take with you words,
and return to the LORD;
Say to him, “Forgive all iniquity,
and receive what is good, that we may render
as offerings the bullocks from our stalls.
Assyria will not save us,
nor shall we have horses to mount;
We shall say no more, ‘Our god,’
to the work of our hands;
for in you the orphan finds compassion.”
I will heal their defection, says the LORD,
I will love them freely;
for my wrath is turned away from them.
I will be like the dew for Israel:
he shall blossom like the lily;
He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar,
and put forth his shoots.
His splendor shall be like the olive tree
and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar.
Again they shall dwell in his shade
and raise grain;
They shall blossom like the vine,
and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
Ephraim! What more has he to do with idols?
I have humbled him, but I will prosper him.
“I am like a verdant cypress tree”–
Because of me you bear fruit!
Let him who is wise understand these things;
let him who is prudent know them.
Straight are the paths of the LORD,
in them the just walk,
but sinners stumble in them.

Responsorial Psalm  81:6c-8a, 8bc-9, 10-11ab, 14 and 17
R.         I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
An unfamiliar speech I hear:
“I relieved his shoulder of the burden;
his hands were freed from the basket.
In distress you called, and I rescued you.”
R.        I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
“Unseen, I answered you in thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
Hear, my people, and I will admonish you;
O Israel, will you not hear me?”
R.       I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
“There shall be no strange god among you
            nor shall you worship any alien god.
I, the LORD, am your God
who led you forth from the land of Egypt.”
R.        I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.
“If only my people would hear me,
and Israel walk in my ways,
I would feed them with the best of wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would fill them.”
R.       I am the Lord your God: hear my voice.

Gospel   Mk 12:28-34
One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
“Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus replied, “The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.”
The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
He is One and there is no other than he.
And to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding,
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
“You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

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Commentary: During this period of Lent, the Word is very powerful, especially if you understand the context of the story, because all we get in these readings are short passages of much a bigger story. If you have taken the time to investigate the stories, the Word of God becomes very rich and fruitful. That said, the Word is also so powerful, that it still cuts straight to the heart, and writes on it in ways beyond our comprehension.

I have always loved the Book of Hosea, which tells the story of a good man named Hosea, who married a women named Gomer who ran off to go chase after her own selfish desires. This marriage is used as a way of understanding our own relationship with God. The whole story has these two levels, Hosea, the cuckolded husband, and Gomer who runs away but later comes home to love Hosea. And on another level, it describes the people of Israel and their relationship with God. Hosea can get very angry, but he is also a man of profound tenderness. Hosea's words offered in Chapter 11 are so tender and gentle. If we saw God as yearning for us as our loving parent and healer, who loves us with this kind of tenderness, wouldn't we all long to be held in those loving arms? Here is a part of the poetry offered in chapter 11.

When Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son.
The more I called them, the farther they went from me,
Sacrificing to the Baals and burning incense to idols.
Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, who took them in my arms;
I drew them with human cords, with bands of love;
I fostered them like one who raises an infant to his cheeks;
Yet, though I stooped to feed my child, they did not know that I was their healer.

And in the Gospel reading today - Jesus gives us the explicit directions on how to get home to such a wonderful, gentle and loving God. You have just two rules, that will take a lifetime to fully enjoy and manifest in ways beyond our understanding and imagination. 1) Love God with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength. and 2) Love your neighbor as yourself. And though this task is impossible to do perfectly on our own, God is with us the whole journey - to love us, encourage us, help us, and heal us when we fall. And it is also our job - to do these same things for each other.

Finally - another song for the day - Hosea.

Wednesday, Third Week of Lent

Daily Readings for Lent
Today's readings: March 10, 2010
First Reading: Dt 4:1, 5-9;
Responsorial Psalm: 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20 ;
Gospel: Mt 20:17-28 ;

And here's an audio file and a video of a priest offering reflections.

First Reading:  Dt 4:1, 5-9
Moses spoke to the people and said:
“Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees
which I am teaching you to observe,
that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land
which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees
as the LORD, my God, has commanded me,
that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy.
Observe them carefully,
for thus will you give evidence
of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations,
who will hear of all these statutes and say,
‘This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.’
For what great nation is there
that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us
whenever we call upon him?
Or what great nation has statutes and decrees
that are as just as this whole law
which I am setting before you today?
“However, take care and be earnestly on your guard
not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen,
nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live,
but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.”

Responsorial Psalm  147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20
R.          Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R.        Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
He spreads snow like wool;
frost he strews like ashes.
R.        Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them.
R.        Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

Gospel   Mt 5:17-19
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”

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Commentary: eh, yeh yeh.  When we get into these types of readings, it often seems like all I can do is upset people. The funny thing about rules and culture, from a historical standpoint - is that since people have been writing about their world, society goes from doing a better job of following rules, to re-writing the rules, paying the price, and then returning to doing a better job of having more defined rules.

There's a comment I remember that said it very well. I could not find the quote, or who said it... but it basically went lke this. We do not like rules, because they hurt. We make rules, because breaking these rules hurts a lot more.

Jesus gave us just two rules. 1) Love God with all your heart, mind and soul. 2) Love each other as I loved you. That's it. But when you get older and a bit wiser, and learn the consequences of writing your own rule script - you realize that all those old rules in the 10 commandments, did not go away. Jesus just simplified it. And, once you understand that God and man did not make rules to inhibit you, but to help you live more full and fruitful lives, it is easier to accept them. The rules were created not to limit you, but for the love of you. Now - just so you do not think I am being self righteous about all this, do as Jesus says, not as I do, or have done. Thank God for His mercy.