'Wheat' pin: Bestow your bread on the hungry (1st reading)
'Scales of justice' pin: To fast, do justice (1st reading)
'Silverware' tie bar: Levi gave a great banquet... (gospel)
'Medical' tie: Only the sick need a doctor (gospel)
'Phone' tie bar: To you I call all the day (psalm); I came to call sinners (gospel)
Blue shirt: If you remove oppression, give the hungry your bread, and satisfy the afflicted,... you'll be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails. (1st reading)
Pray with the Church on earth and in heaven; united voices are powerful! Participate in the 24 Hours for the Lord initiative.
Practice charity, reaching out through the Church’s charitable organizations. Show concern for others by small, concrete signs of belonging to the human family.
Be converted; others' needs remind me of the uncertainty of my life and my dependence on God and others. If we implore God’s grace and accept our limitations, we'll trust that God's love gives us infinite possibilities and resist the temptation to think we can save the world on our own.
To overcome indifference and our pretensions to self-sufficiency, engage in a 'formation of the heart.' To be merciful, have a strong heart, closed to the tempter but open to God, ready for the Spirit to pierce it to bring love to others, and poor, giving itself for others. Ask the Lord: Make our hearts like yours. Receive a firm, merciful, attentive, generous, open heart, not indifferent. May this Lent prove spiritually fruitful for each believer and every community.
Is 58:9b-14If you remove oppression... and satisfy the afflicted, the Lord will guide and renew you. If you honor the sabbath, you'll delight in the Lord, and I'll nourish you.
Ps 86:1-6"Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth." Have mercy on me. I lift my soul to you; gladden it. Attend to my pleading.
Lk 5:27-32Jesus to Levi: “Follow me”; he left everything and followed. He gave a banquet for him with tax collectors and others; Pharisees complained: “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus: “The healthy don't need a doctor; just the sick. I came to call sinners.”
Reflect
Creighton: The Pharisees were so preoccupied with the law that they overlooked helping people in need. How am I 'Pharisaical,' rigid, closed, intolerant?
DailyScripture.net: When your neighbor stumbles, do you point the finger or lend a hand? Isaiah tells us that when we bless others, God blesses us. / When the Pharisees challenged Jesus' eating with sinners, Jesus' defense was simple. he sought out those in the greatest need. The Pharisees were so preoccupied, they neglected those most in need; they wanted nothing to do with people unlike themselves. Ironically, the Pharisees were as needy as those they despised....
Homily: Jesus wants fasting that breaks evil chains, frees the oppressed, clothes the naked, and does justice—not just outward appearance but from the heart. The laws of love of God and love of neighbor go together: if you follow one, you must follow the other. To show genuine penance, show it before God and neighbor.
It's good you go to Sunday Mass, but do you pay your employees under the table, maybe less than the going rate, maybe without contributing to social security? It's good you contribute to the church, but are you generous with your children, grandparents, and employees? Don't make offerings to the Church on the shoulders of injustice; don't use God to cloak injustice.
Reach out to the less fortunate, whether children, elderly who have to wait hours for a doctor, or prisoners. If you’re not in prison, it’s because God helped you not to sin. Do you have room in your heart for prisoners? Do you pray for them so the Lord can help them change? May the Lord accompany us so our external observance becomes profound renewal of the Spirit.
Lenten message: Make your hearts firm:“Where is your brother?” – Parishes and Communities(part 3 of 4): What we said about the Church also applies to parishes and communities: do they enable us to experience being part of one body, one that receives and shares what God wants to give, one that cares for its weakest, poorest, most insignificant members, or do we fail to see the Lazarus sitting among us? To receive what God gives us and to make it bear fruit, we need to press beyond the boundaries of the visible Church in two ways:
Unite in prayer with the Church in heaven: Our prayers establish a communion of service and goodness that reaches up to God. With the saints, we're part of the communion that conquers indifference with love. The Church in heaven is not triumphant because she turned her back on suffering and rejoiced in isolation; the saints triumphed over indifference, hardness of heart, and hatred through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Until this victory of love penetrates the whole world, the saints continue to accompany us on our pilgrim way. The joy in heaven remains incomplete as long as someone cries out in pain: “I won't remain idle in heaven; I want to keep working for the Church and for souls” (St. Therese). We share in the saints' merits and joy, even as they share our struggles and longing for peace; their joy gives us strength as we strive to overcome our indifference and hardness of heart.
Go out and be engaged in life, especially with the poor and those far away: The Church is missionary, not self-enclosed; her mission is to witness to the One who wants to draw everyone to the Father, to bring them a love that can't remain silent. We follow Jesus Christ along the paths to the ends of the earth. Each neighbor is a brother or sister for whom Christ died and rose. What we've received, we've received for them too, and all they have is a gift for the Church and all humanity.
May all places where the Church is present, especially parishes and communities, become islands of mercy in the midst of the sea of indifference!
Is 58:1-9aOn your fast day you quarrel and carry out your own pursuits, but the fast I want is releasing those bound unjustly, freeing the oppressed, sharing your bread, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, and caring for your own. Then you'll have light, healing, and vindication, and God will answer you.
Ps 51:3-6ab, 18-19"A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn." Have mercy on me.
Mt 9:14-15John's disciples / Jesus: “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but not your disciples?” / “Wedding guests can't mourn while the groom is among them, but when he's taken away, they'll fast.”
Reflect
Creighton: As Lent proceeds, we're tempted to lose commitment to our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving plans, and protest self-denial. Our sacrifice should include doing justice and charity.
One Bread One Body: "Pulling a fast one": Fasting is not a matter of quantity but obedience. Lenten fasting is intentional imitation of Christ who fasted in the desert; we seek union with him and growth in our relationship. Our Lenten Friday abstinence from meat expresses our unity and encourages us to persevere and to focus on unity with Jesus and Catholics. "Fast so as to make your voice heard on high!"
Passionist: To fast, we might cut down on food, drink, entertainment, and curb our temper, quick judgment, sharp criticism, and other unGodly behaviors. But that's just a start: penitential acts are to open us to others' needs. Lord, transform our hearts, make us attentive and responsive to people and ready to receive your overwhelming love.
DailyScripture.net: Hunger for God and fasting go hand in hand. God takes delight in us as a groom in his bride. For disciples there's a time for rejoicing and a time to seek God with humility and fasting. If we hunger for God, he'll satisfy. Fasting can help free us from bad habits or addictions, share in others' suffering, and grow in our hunger for God. St. Basil: "True fasting is to refrain from vice. Shred all your unjust contracts. Pardon your neighbors." Do I hunger to know God more and live the life of grace he offers?
Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling/ Thompson, chosen for our parish Ash Wed. service though never done before. Everyone sang it! Maybe it was written to comfort the dying and Lenten use is off-label, but IMHO the lyrics work.
Pope Francis
Today's homily:“Today I set before you life and prosperity, death and doom. Obey the Lord's commandments, loving him and walking in his ways.” We're faced with that hard choice daily. It's easier to let inertia, situations, habits, carry you. The choice is between God and other gods who can only give little things that pass. "Stop and choose!" Think every day, What's my lifestyle like? What path am I on? Dig deep and ponder your relationship with God, Jesus, parents, siblings, spouse, and children.The search for success without thought of God or family is wrong. Ask, How's my relationship with God and my family? What pace do I live my life? Do I reflect? Ask for courage to choose him. "Blessed are they who hope in the Lord" When we think and choose, God is with us and wants to help us, but we need to trust him.
Lenten message: Make your hearts firm:“If one member suffers, all suffer together” – The Church(part 2 of 4): God's love breaks through indifference, that fatal withdrawal into ourselves. The Church's witness and teaching offer us God's love, but we can only witness to what we've experienced. Let God clothe you with goodness and mercy, with Christ, to become servants of God and others. Peter came to realize Jesus doesn't want just to be an example of how we should wash one another’s feet. Only those who first allow Jesus to wash their feet can wash others' feet. This Lent we can hear God's word and receive the sacraments, letting Christ serve us so we may become more like him. In the Eucharist we become what we receive: the Body of Christ, in which there's no room for indifference. We belong to one body and so can't be indifferent to one another. The Church is a communion in holy things: God's love revealed in Christ and his gifts including the response of those touched by his love. We share with others and can help those we could never reach on our own.
Ash Wed. homily: In Lent we try to unite ourselves more closely to Christ, to share the mystery of his passion and resurrection. Joel insists on inner conversion: “Return to me with all your heart”; that means a conversion neither superficial nor transient, but a spiritual journey reaching deep, extending to the community too: “Gather the people. Sanctify the congregation....” Ask for the gift of tears to make our conversion more authentic. In Jesus' time, almsgiving, prayer and fasting became external or even a sign of superiority; he warns against hypocrisy. The Lord wants to forgive us again, inviting us to return with a new heart and take part in his joy. We accept by "being reconciled to God,” possible only through his mercy. Don't let the “acceptable time” pass. We're limited creatures, sinners needing repentance and conversion. Return to the arms of God, tender and merciful Father; trust him and entrust yourself to him.
Dt 30:15-20Moses: “I've set before you life and death, blessing and curse. If you love God and walk in his ways, you'll live and grow, and the Lord will bless you, but if you turn away, you'll perish. Choose life and live.”
Ps 1:1-4, 6"Blessed are they who hope in the Lord."
Lk 9:22-25The Son of Man must suffer and be rejected, be killed, and be raised. “To come after me, deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me. If you lose your life for my sake, you'll save it. What profit is there to gain the world but forfeit yourself?”
Creighton: "Choosing life" is doing 'ordinary' things every day: obeying, loving, walking, and keeping; they lead to life, growth, blessing, and security. Good choices can become a part of our lives. Following Jesus involves daily self-denial. Thank God we're not abandoned when we make a wrong turn. God sends companions to encourage us; the psalmist speaks of companionship's power and perils, suggesting the company we keep can enhance our vitality or kill us. May we choose well....
One Bread One Body: "A life-giving Lent?" Lent is a matter of life or death. The Lord is working through us so that all people may be saved. If we choose life, the Lord will use us to lead many into God's kingdom; otherwise we may defeat God's plan for ourselves and others. Have the Lent of a lifetime.
Passionist: Who'd want to choose death and doom? But people do, with hatred from the heart, even though killing degrades humanity and history teaches us that choosing death won't bring new life, peace, or prosperity. Lent invites us to examine ourselves and explore what's in our heart. We can't live in both worlds....
DailyScripture.net: Jesus' obedience to his Father reversed the curse of Adam's disobedience; his death gave us freedom to live as God's children. We lose what we gain; we gain what we lose. When we try run our own life, we lose it to futility; when we surrender to God, he gives us life in his Spirit. When the body is weak, we try to nurse it back to health; we should attend even more to our spiritual health! A true disciple is ready to give everything up for life with God; the cross leads to freedom and victory. When my will crosses with God's, his must be done; my cross involves laying down my life daily for Jesus' sake. God gives us more than we can expect. Am I ready to lose all for Christ to gain all with him?
Forehead with ashes—thanks, guest dresserLourdes): "remember you're dust and will return to dust; turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel" (distribution of ashes at Ash Wednesday liturgy)
'Hearts' suspenders: "rend your hearts"; "return to me with your whole heart" (1st reading); "create for me a clean heart" (psalm)
'Angel with trumpet' pin: "blow the trumpet" (1st reading); "don't blow a trumpet" (gospel)
'Clock' tie bar: "in an acceptable time I heard you.... Now is the acceptable time..." (2nd reading)
'Hands' tie: "when you give, don't let your left hand know what the right is doing" (gospel)
'Kneeling person' tie bar: "go to your inner room and pray in secret" (gospel)
Lenten message: Make your hearts firm:(part 1 of 4) Lent is a time of grace, a time of renewal for the Church, communities, and every believer. God doesn't ask anything that he hasn't first given. “We love because he first has loved us.” He's not aloof; each of us has a place in his heart. He knows us by name, cares for us, and seeks us out when we turn from him. His love doesn't let him be indifferent to what happens to us. When we're comfortable, our heart can grow cold and we can forget those less well off and not be unconcerned about their problems, sufferings and injustices they endure. This indifference has taken on global proportions; we need to confront it. Here I'll address the globalization of indifference. Indifference to our neighbor and God is a real temptation. We need to hear once more the voice of the prophets who trouble our conscience.
God isn't indifferent to our world; he so loves it that he gave his Son for our salvation. In his Incarnation, life, death, and resurrection, the gate between heaven and earth opens. The Church is like the hand holding the gate open, proclaiming God’s word, celebrating the sacraments, and witnessing faith working through love. The world withdraws and shuts the door, so the hand, the Church, must never be surprised when rejected, crushed, and wounded. We need renewal lest we become indifferent and withdraw.
Audience: Brothers and sisters. Christianity loves the words 'brother' and 'sister,' and, thanks to family experience, everyone understands them. The fraternal bond has a special place in salvation history; the psalmist sings of its beauty: "How good, how pleasant it is, when brothers dwell together as one!" Jesus brought the experience of being brothers and sisters to fulfillment, assimilating it into Trinitarian love and strengthening it so it goes beyond kinship and can overcome every obstacle of estrangement. When the fraternal relationship is ruined, conflict, betrayal, and hatred can ensue. God keeps asking us about our brother, and we unfortunately repeat Cain's "Am I my brother's keeper?"
The bond of brotherhood formed in an family climate open to others, is the great school of freedom and peace. The blessing God in Christ poured out on this bond expands it, enabling it to overcome all differences. History has shown that freedom and equality without brotherhood become full of individualism and personal interest.
Brotherhood is particularly illuminating when we see the care, patience, affection with which the weaker, sick, or disabled is surrounded, and when one helps parents take care of the kids. Having a brother or sister who loves you is powerful, priceless, and irreplaceable. Christian brotherhood is similar: the weak and poor must provoke our tenderness; they have the "right." They're our brothers and sisters to love; when they're part of our family, our Christian brotherhood comes back to life. Only when brotherhood is at the heart of society will there be true freedom and equality.
Jl 2:12-18 Return to me with fasting and weeping; rend your hearts. The Lord is gracious, merciful, kind, and relenting. Proclaim a fast; gather the people; say, “Lord, spare your people, and don't make your heritage a reproach.” Then the Lord took pity.
Ps 51:3-6ab, 12-14, 17 "Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned." I acknowledge my offense. Create a clean heart for me. Don't cast me out from your presence. Give me back the joy of your salvation. Open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
2 Cor 5:20-6:2 We're ambassadors for Christ. Be reconciled to God who made Jesus who didn't know sin to be sin, so we might become God's righteousness. Now is a very acceptable time; now is the day of salvation.
Mt 6:1-6, 16-18 “Don't do righteous deeds so that people see them. When you give alms, pray, or fast, don't call attention to it like hypocrites do. Do it in secret; your Father will see and repay you.”
Creighton: Ash Wednesday reminds us of life's fragility and that we're not at our permanent dwelling place. It's a time to reflect on our relationship with God who loves us so much he sent his son to save us. Our reflection can teach us how to interact with others. Pope Francis warns us about “global indifference,” the enemy of the engaged service we're called to. How can I be more aligned with God’s goodness and imitate Christ better? I'm called to serve others; there's no “indifference” in looking out for the needy.
One Bread One Body: "Home alone": As essential as communal life is, there's the danger of going with the crowd; we must go with the Lord from our personal commitment....
Passionist: "Come back to me with all your heart." God is full of mercy and forgiveness and wants us to have a life of authenticity, integrity, and belonging. It's easy to perform for the crowd, our satisfaction, and shallow praise, selling out our deep needs only our relationship with God can satisfy. We can be distracted till we rest in God. Jesus gives us an inner compass, the Spirit's promptings. May we give alms not to win praise but to imitate Jesus and his option for the poor. May we pray not to be seen as holy but to be in communion with God. May we fast not to attract attention but to overcome basic, self-centered desires. May our Lenten practice be an outward sign of our inner desire to grow into the person God sees.
DailyScripture.net: God wants to set us ablaze so we'll radiate gospel joy. St. Augustine: there are two kinds of people and love: "One is holy, the other selfish; one subject to God, the other trying to equal him." We are what we love. God wants to free our hearts from captivity to selfishness and sin. "Rend your hearts, not garments." The Spirit is ready to transform us and lead us in God's way. Jews considered prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as key works. Jesus: do them to glorify God, not draw attention to yourself. St. Augustine: When I'm united to you, there will be no more sorrows or trials; full of you, my life will be complete.
40 in Scripture: Moses' days of prayer and fasting, Israel's years in the wilderness, Elijah's days of fasting. Journey with the Lord in this season of prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and penitence to prepare to celebrate Easter.....
In Genesis we see how God’s wrath at our wickedness led to the flood. People seem more powerful than God, because we can destroy the good things God made. In the first part of the Bible we find many examples of people's wickedness, evil lurking in our depths. We can destroy fraternity, as Cain and Abel did; wars begin with jealousy, envy, greed for power. Our weak heart is wounded. We want autonomy; "I'll do what I want!" We're capable of destruction: wars, arms trafficking.... Everyone has this seed within, but we also have the Spirit who saves us! We must choose, in little things.
Jesus told the disciples to watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees (hypocrites) and Herod (a murderer) and reminded them of what God has done for us. They didn't understand; their hearts were hardened by passion, by the need to argue about who forgot the bread. Take the Lord’s message seriously. We can do much good, but we can also destroy; even our family, our children, not allowing them to grow in freedom, cancelling them out. So we need to meditate, pray, discuss things with each other, so as not to fall into destructive evil. We have the strength, Jesus reminds us: "Remember me! I shed my blood for you; I saved you, I have the strength to accompany you on the path of goodness, of doing good to others, of building a family, a city, a culture, a home, and more." Lord, help us choose the right path and not be misled by temptations.
Gn 6:5-8; 7:1-5, 10When God saw how evil people were, he regretted creating them: “I'll wipe them out, and the beasts, animals, and birds too.” But Noah found favor with God. To Noah: “Go into the ark; I've found you just. Take 7 pairs of every clean animal and bird, one pair of each unclean animal and bird. In a week I'll bring rain down for 40 days and wipe out all creatures I made.” Noah did as commanded, and the flood came.
Ps 29:1a, 2, 3ac-4, 3b, 9c-10"The Lord will bless his people with peace." Give the Lord glory and praise; adore him in holy attire. God's voice, mighty and majestic, is over the waters. The Lord is enthroned above the flood as king.
Mk 8:14-21The disciples had forgotten to bring bread. Jesus: “Watch out for the Pharisees' and Herod's leaven....” “Why do you conclude that it is because you have no bread? Are your hearts hardened? Don't you see or hear? Don't you remember how much was left over after I fed the 5,000 and the 4,000? Don't you understand yet?”
Reflect
Creighton: God sent the flood to save creation. Through Noah's trust, his family was saved. / Power and peacefulness don't usually coexist, but our loving God is an exception. The Pharisees and Herod had asked for, but Jesus' signs were of love. May we see God's loving acts and trust God even without a display of power.
One Bread One Body: "Blinding speed": Jesus was appalled at his disciples' blindness. Blindness led to Jesus' death, the Third Reich, the Holocaust, slavery, and other atrocities. May we receive sight...
Passionist: In today's reading, the human family is depicted as a failed project, but God gives us a second chance with Noah. We're part of the second chance. It's hard to live up to our calling to give glory to God; often our hearts are hardened and closed, not receptive and open, and we hold back and betray God's gifts. May our motto be AMDG.
DailyScripture.net: Jesus cautioned the disciples to beware of bread that corrupts. Our "daily bread" should nourish us physically, spiritually, intellectually, and morally. To the Jew leaven was a sign of evil, associated with rot. Jesus warned them to avoid evil influence.
The leper, once cured, became a messenger of God’s love. This is the ‘logic’ of Jesus and the way of the Church: not only to welcome and reinstate with courage all who knock, but to go out and to seek, fearlessly and without prejudice, those who are distant, sharing what we've freely received. God's mercy overcomes all barriers. Christ does not act from a safe distance or by proxy but is exposed directly to our evil. Look the afflicted in the eye, and show tenderness and compassion to the suffering.
Gn 4:1-15, 25 Eve bore Cain, then Abel; Abel became a keeper of flocks, Cain a tiller of soil. Lord to Cain: “Why are you so resentful? If you don't do well, sin is lurking, but you can be his master.” Cain killed his brother. Lord/Cain: “Where's your brother?” / “Am I my brother’s keeper?” / “His blood cries out to me! You'll be banned from the soil: it won't produce for you. You'll become a restless wanderer.” / “Then anyone may kill me.” / “No!” He put a mark on him, lest anyone kill him. Adam and Eve again had relations, and she bore Seth....
Ps 50:1, 8, 16bc-17, 20-21 "Offer to God a sacrifice of praise." “Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; you profess my covenant with your mouth but hate discipline, speak against your brother, and spread rumors. I'll correct you....”
Mk 8:11-13 The Pharisees argued with Jesus, seeking a sign to test him. Jesus, sighing: “Why do you seek a sign? None will be given to you.” He left by boat....
Reflect
Creighton: “Compare and despair.” Jealousy destroys our heart, our being, and relationships. It can take the form of bitterness, resentment, gossip, malicious actions, and we can feel helpless to it. God tells Cain sin is ready to attack, control, and consume, and we must rule over it. The Pharisees were jealous in today's gospel, and jealousy remains a top killer. Love can free us, showing us God wants us and we don't need to compete....
One Bread One Body: "The best or the rest?" Abel brought to the Lord his "best"; Cain merely brought "an offering." May we give our best to the Lord....
Passionist: Most of us want something: love, health, money, control, assurance, affirmation, God's smile, signs of God's love. People may be given signs then left to grope in spiritual darkness; saints cling to faith and remain true to God's work....
DailyScripture.net: People of Jesus' time expected signs would announce the Messiah's coming; leaders tested Jesus to see whether he had a true sign. False messiahs had made extraordinary claims to attract followers. Jesus knew the Pharisees were more interested in signs than God's word. Simeon prophesied Jesus was "to be a sign to be opposed so that thoughts of many will be revealed." Jesus himself was the sign. If we seek the Lord, we can be confident he'll give us what we need to understand and do his will....
