Lent

The Grammar of Lent Possibilities  Starting with Life…    The word possibility rouses both hopes and fears in us. If something is possible, it means that the situation facing us has not reached a definitive conclusion. But it is also true that if something is possible, then we must make the commitment to concretizing those… Read more »

Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalm 22; Philippians 2:6-11; Matthew 26:14–27:66 Participating in the Love of God   We are entering Holy Week, the source and summit of our faith, because–as St. Paul says in 1 Co. 15:3-5–we believe first and foremost that the Lord Jesus died and rose to save us from sin and death. We are… Read more »

Ezekiel 37:12-14; Psalm 130; Romans 8:8-11; John 11:1-45 “A Heart that Sees”   Who among us hasn’t experienced at least once the dismay of the Apostles during the storm at sea, when the Lord was asleep and it seemed as if their boat would sink? Who would not have cried out as they did in… Read more »

1 Samuel 16:1, 4, 6-7, 10-13; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5:8-14; John 9:1-41 “A Heart that Sees”   The Lord looks at the heart, while human beings look at appearances–at least those of us who have not yet moved from darkness to light in Christ. Those who remain in the dark not only fail to see… Read more »

Exodus 17:3-7; Psalm 95; Romans 5:1-2, 5-8; Jn. 4:5-42 A “Revitalizing” Weariness   The Lord Jesus arrived in Samaria “tired from his journey” and stopped at Jacob’s Well. It seems odd that the Master, who never ceased to proclaim by word and deed the coming of the Kingdom of God, who was tireless in healing the… Read more »

Genesis 12:1-4; Psalm 33; 2 Timothy 1:8-10; Matthew 17:1-9 A Transfiguring Climb   Climb! Keep climbing! Never stop climbing! Let’s make it clear that it is not easy to take one’s first steps in the Lenten desert, just as it was not easy for Abram–who was called to leave his homeland and become a wayfarer–to… Read more »

Genesis 2:7-9, 3:1-7; Psalm 51; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11 The “Fullness” of the Desert How many deserts we must cross to reach the “promised land” of freedom–a journey which invites us to bring to completion the person we are called to be, not the one who does whatever he/she pleases. The desert of daily problems;… Read more »