Wednesday, Second Week of Lent

Daily Readings for Lent
Today's readings: March 3, 2010
First Reading: Jer 18:18-20;
Responsorial Psalm: 31:5-6, 14, 15-16 ;
Gospel: Mt 20:17-28 ;

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

 First Reading:  Jer 18:18-20
The people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem said,
“Come, let us contrive a plot against Jeremiah.
It will not mean the loss of instruction from the priests,
nor of counsel from the wise, nor of messages from the prophets.
And so, let us destroy him by his own tongue;
let us carefully note his every word.”
Heed me, O LORD,
and listen to what my adversaries say.
Must good be repaid with evil
that they should dig a pit to take my life?
Remember that I stood before you
to speak in their behalf,
to turn away your wrath from them.

Responsorial Psalm  31:5-6, 14, 15-16
R.          Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.
You will free me from the snare they set for me,
for you are my refuge.
Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.
R.        Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.
I hear the whispers of the crowd, that frighten me from every side,
as they consult together against me, plotting to take my life.
R.        Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.
But my trust is in you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”
In your hands is my destiny; rescue me
from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors.
R.        Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.

Gospel   Mt 20:17-28
As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem,
he took the Twelve disciples aside by themselves,
and said to them on the way,
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem,
and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests
and the scribes,
and they will condemn him to death,
and hand him over to the Gentiles
to be mocked and scourged and crucified,
and he will be raised on the third day.”
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons
and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something.
He said to her, “What do you wish?”
She answered him,
“Command that these two sons of mine sit,
one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom.”
Jesus said in reply,
“You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?”
They said to him, “We can.”
He replied,
“My chalice you will indeed drink,
but to sit at my right and at my left,
this is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
When the ten heard this,
they became indignant at the two brothers.
But Jesus summoned them and said,
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
and the great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
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.”

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Commentary: In today's first reading, we first hear the thoughts of the people of Jerusalem, who decide to listen closely to Jeremiah - not to hear what he has to say, but to use his words, and parse them in a way to put Jeremiah to death. And yes, he was eventually killed just like many other prophets of the old testament. That passage is followed by Jeremiah's plea to God - not to seek God's protection from their evil intentions, but it is a lowly plea - merely asking God to remember, that he prayed for these people, asking God to take away his wrath. I wonder how those people might have felt - if they knew what Jeremiah had in his heart?

Does this kind of thing happen today? Of course it does. All the time - each and every day, thousands of times a day. Perhaps it might not end in killing - but friendships end, cruel words are spoken, people can be mean by "getting even", and love is withdrawn in the heat of anger - all too often because we fail to know the heart of the person saying words that might be hard to hear. Or we can cut off all conversation and not want to learn at all. Just go away.

For good people, this kind of situation happens all the time. And harder still, the sweeter and more gentle the person is - the deeper these wounds will go. That is just the way it is. It takes great discipline to suffer through all that is asked in these situations. To not retort and slap back. To be patient and try to make amends. All too often, people today just give up on people and move on in lieu of trying to help. Or worse... give up on trying to even understand. How sad - when in many cases, the problem is not what the person may have said - it is how we heard it. Try this for Lent - be patient and listen. Open the door instead of slamming it shut. So many years in my younger days as a man - I was in that spot - it was natural and easy to get angry, I grew impatient at the slightest offense and very often...  just blew people off. As I grew older, and mellowed - I learned most people are just plain wonderful. If they have an issue or seem disturbed - it is usually because they are going through a great deal of suffering. Thankfully, I also have learned it is much more fruitful to listen and try and help instead of running away. Oh don't get me wrong - I have an infinite road ahead of me to get where I need to... but I am thankful to God - because He has taken me a long way from where I used to be. And - He will be with me on the long road to go as well. But learning that in so many cases -when people are short, difficult and acting weird - it is usually because they have something going on in their lives I know nothing about. If I just took the time to be a patient friend, I could have won a precious friend. Live and learn.

I very much enjoyed the video homily by the priest today. If you missed it, here's a link to go watch it. (March 3 on the calendar)