Tuesday of Holy Week

Reflection

As we move further into Holy Week with the Lenten season nearing an end, we encounter through sacred scripture the tremendous drama and redemption found in the passion, death, and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

In the Old Testament reading from Isaiah 49, we learn about the Servant of the Lord who has been called from the womb like a polished arrow in his quiver to bring light to the nations and salvation to the world. This Servant will restore and renew Israel and ultimately reaches fulfillment in Jesus. Our responsorial psalm amplifies this message, and each of us has received our own unique calling to share the Good News in our daily journeys, relation-ships, and responsibilities.

In the Gospel passage from John, we ponder the betrayals and disappointments of some of those closest to Jesus, including Judas Iscariot and Simon Peter. In true humility, Jesus provides the ultimate model of perseverance and trust in facing extraordinary obstacles and challenges while remaining focused on the will of God. And Peter later offers the wonderful example of humbly seeking reconciliation after the inevitable falls that we all confront.

Despite the darkness felt in many places across the globe today, each of us has the chance to bring God’s light and grace into our own personal situations. Although we too may stumble sometimes in our steps, through our Lenten practices, may we be heartened to discern the will of God and persevere in our own vocations..

Prayer

Dear Lord, through your sacrifice and obedience to God’s will, you lived your vocation to the fullest. May we learn from your example and be transformed by your atonement in our Holy Week journey with you. Saint Peter, pray for us!

George Ashline
Professor of Mathematics

Scripture

First Reading: Isaiah 49:1-6
Psalm 71:1-6ab, 15, 17
Gospel: John 13:21-33, 36-38

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

Monday of Holy Week

Reflection

In our Gospel reading, Jesus is once again in the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus in Bethany. Mary, who had “chosen the better part” when she sat at the feet of Jesus (Luke 10: 38-42), now kneels at his feet and anoints them with oil; and then Mary proceeds to dry Jesus’ feet with her hair. The oil is made from nard extracted from the root of a plant that grows high in the Himalayas, a long way from Judea, and is very expensive. Judas objects to such valuable oil being used on Jesus’ feet. To Judas, and maybe to others present, it seems extravagant.

Extravagant. That’s what caught my attention when I meditated on this passage. God sent his Son to be one of us, teach us, open our eyes, be our light, and lead us out of darkness; to challenge leaders who led people astray; and, ultimately, to be ridiculed, suffer horribly and be killed—all for us. It is the extravagance of what the Father and the Son did for us—and continue to do for us—that make me realize how much I am loved by God—no matter what, and more than I can imagine. I must accept this
extravagant love, love God back, love myself and others and help them to realize how much God loves them, too.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, in a few days we will commemorate and celebrate your passion, death, and resurrection. Help us to understand the depth of your unconditional love and draw us closer to you. You, Lord, are truly our light and our salvation. Amen.

Brother Frank Hagerty, S.S.E.
Spiritual Director & Prison Minister

Scripture

First Reading: Isaiah 42:1-7
Psalm 27:1-3, 13-14
Gospel: John 12:1-11

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

Passion Sunday

Reflection

Palm Sunday places us at the uneasy intersection of praise and betrayal, courage and collapse. We begin with palms raised high and end at the foot of the cross, confronted by how swiftly human allegiance can waver. The readings will not let us remain spectators; they press a deeper question: Where do we stand when faith becomes costly?

Isaiah speaks of the servant who listens before speaking, whose well-trained tongue offers a word that sustains the weary. That posture of attentive obedience finds its fullest expression in Christ, who, as Paul reminds us, did not cling to status or power but emptied himself completely. His authority is revealed not in domination but in surrender — obedience shaped by love, even unto death.

The Passion narrative lays bare how fragile discipleship can be. Judas betrays, Peter denies, the crowd demands Barabbas, and even silence becomes a form of complicity. Yet Psalm 22 reminds us that abandonment is not the final word. The cry of desolation —“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” — is itself an act of faith, a refusal to let go of God even in the darkness.

For a college community devoted to learning, formation, and service, Palm Sunday stands as a sobering invitation. It asks whether our convictions endure when discipleship requires humility, patience, and sacrifice. The cross before us is not a sign of despair but the place where divine love proves stronger than fear, failure, and death.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, teach us to listen with patience, to speak with integrity, and to follow with courage—even when the path leads to the cross. Shape our hearts in humble obedience, that our lives may proclaim your love and reveal you as Lord.

Richard Plumb PhD
Saint Michael’s College President

Scripture

Procession Gospel: Matthew 21:1-11
First Reading: Isaiah 50:4-7
Psalm 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24
Second Reading: Philippians 2:6-11
Gospel: Matthew 26:14—27:66

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

 

Saturday of the Fifth Week

Reflection

Fear is a powerful emotion. It can break things apart, create uncertainty, and can cause us to react from a place of suspicion and pain. On this last day before Holy Week, these readings speak to me of choices we face – unity vs. division, faith vs. fear, life vs. death. Fear often tears us apart from one another, but we hear so beautifully in the first reading of the Lord promising to gather people who have wandered apart back into one nation in a covenant of peace so that “they may be my people and I may be their God.” The Lord wants to reunite our human family and repair our brokenness. This vision feels like a distant reality in today’s world, and I feel myself yearning for a community of faith with God dwelling among us.

As we move on to the Gospel reading, we then see people being divided – some choosing faith in Jesus while other chose fear. We hear that many people saw and believed in Jesus, but there were also those who turned to the Pharisees, fearful that the Romans would come and take away what was theirs. They – like we often are – were afraid, frightened, and unsure of the future.

Those in the Gospel asked each other, “What are we going to do?” We too have to make a choice. To seek unity. To overcome fear. To embrace the selfless act of love that Jesus gives to us. None of this is easy. As our world feels more and more divided, fearful, and self-serving, we continue to try to strive towards unity and love in a world that often feels bleak. As we enter Holy Week, may we be reminded of how love conquers fear and find the hope we need by witnessing the unconditional love that Jesus has for all of us.

Prayer

Loving God, help us not be overcome by fear, but unite with one another as a community of faith who responds with love, compassion, and life in the face of a troubled world. Prepare our hearts as we enter Holy Week and the new life and hope that awaits us. Amen.

Anna Lester, ’98, M‘11

Scripture

First Reading: Ezekiel 37:21-28

Psalm: Jeremiah 31:10-13

Gospel: John 11:45-56

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

Friday of the Fifth Week

Reflection

In this fifth week of Lent, we begin to experience the inevitable heightening of the drama of the Lord as he moves toward the fulfillment of his passion. For those of us who take on the full mantle of Christ, he has not made it possible to experience the joys of his resurrection without the fullness of the cross.

One of the most terrible moments we can encounter in our walk with Jesus is expressed in the first reading:

“All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine. Perhaps he (she) will be trapped; then we can prevail and take our vengeance upon him.” Jeremiah claims unshakeable faith that the Lord will rescue him from his foes. He entrusts himself to God.

The psalm boldly describes the depth of God’s servant crying in the midst of impossible trials: “In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.” One must fully absorb that the psalmist does not look upon the death-defying trials but upon the Lord alone.

The gospel shows the escalating attacks upon Jesus. We know what is coming.

Prayer

Jesus, as we falter and faint in the experience of our deepest trials, let us behold the faith of those like Jeremiah and the psalmist, who received grace to believe you and obey you before you had even come to earth.

Caroline Rood
Member of the Worshipping Community 

Scripture

First Reading: Jeremiah 20:10-13
Psalm 18:2-7
Gospel: John 10:31-42

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCB website

Thursday of the Fifth Week

Reflection

As we approach the holiest week in the Church calendar, today’s readings tell us that the God we count on is a covenant-keeping God who is forever present. The gospel passage in John is part of a longer narrative describing the interactions between Jesus and doubting elders who are offended by His teachings in the Temple. The climax of the argument comes when Jesus says “before Abraham was made, I am”. We might wonder about the last two words: do they contain an error in tense that should be corrected by substituting ‘was’ for ‘am’? In fact, the stunning meaning of Jesus’ “I am” is illuminated in today’s first reading, in which God uses the same words when speaking with Abram. Thus, there could not be a more definitive expression by Jesus of His one-ness with the Father than His use of the two simple words “I am”. The covenant of God is neither time-dependent nor condition-dependent. We experience its manifestations in the presence of Jesus and the Holy Spirit in our everyday lives. In the beauty of the world, in the love we share with others, in the questions we may have about our place in this life, in the feelings we have as we experience the wonder of this coming Holy Week. In the here and now, as we write, as we read, is God’s unchanging presence and faithfulness. Let us focus on those in the days ahead.

Prayer

Lord, your faithful presence is always with us. Help us to see it in all that we do.

Bill Geiger
Member of the Worshiping Community

Scripture

First Reading: Genesis 17:3-9
Psalm 105:4-9
Gospel: John 8:51-59

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

Wednesday of the Fifth Week

The Annunciation of the Lord
Reflection

The Lenten season itself takes a holiday on March 25, nine months before Christmas, to celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation. This day, falling in the midst of Lent, the season of penitence, calls us to reflect on the definitive moment in salvation history: with Gabriel’s greeting to Mary, the Church believes Jesus truly becomes incarnate. Conceived in her womb, Christ begins life as we all do: small, frail, dependent, needing parental care within his mother’s body and without. Much has been written about the shock and surprise Mary must have felt in this moment: “how can this be?” As one of the most illustrated moments in salvation history (and in the whole history of western art), our greatest artists have sought to capture her shock, her awe, her fear that turns to trust, moving her to proclaim “May it be done to me according to your word.”

Readers of sacred scripture may not be as surprised as Mary was: the Church has long believed that the Anointed One would be born of a virgin, one of the many prophecies of Isaiah that foretold the arrival of Christ. No one, however, usually expects that a prophecy will be fulfilled in themselves. Yet all of us, in our own ways, are called upon to be ready to hear the Lord’s call whenever and however it may come. From Isaiah, to Mary, to Christ himself as quoted in the Letter to the Hebrews, the same refrain echoes: “I come to do your will, O God.” May we all be ready to heed the call.

Prayer

O God, who willed that your Word should take on the reality of human flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, grant, we pray, that we, who confess our Redeemer to be God and man, may merit to become partakers even in his divine nature, through Christ our Lord.

Michael R. Carter, S.S.E. ’12
Director of Campus Ministry

Scripture

First Reading: Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10
Psalm 40:7-11
Second Reading: Hebrews 10:4-10
Gospel: Luke 1:26-38

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

Tuesday of the Fifth Week

Reflection

In today’s fast-paced world, we are so used to a fast-paced life that we often become very impatient and unwilling to trust the process or journey. In the first reading, the people of Israel are tired, hungry, and discouraged. They are becoming “worn out by the journey,” and this tiredness turns into frustration and complaints to God and Moses. Instead of remembering all that God has done for them, they are filled with complaints and blindness to the good that God has provided them in their lives. It is easy to recognize ourselves in them. When our prayers are not answered right away, or not on the timeline we desire, it is easy to turn to complaining. In the moments of this doubt, we are tempted to believe that God has led us astray. God does not erase all our struggles instantly, but He invites us to lift our eyes to Him and trust the path He has perfectly aligned for each of us. During this time of Lent, it is a time to turn away from the temptation to complain and instead turn to confidence in the Lord and the plan He has perfectly crafted for each one of us on our journeys.

Prayer

As we prepare for the coming of Easter, may we find peace and confidence in the plan the Lord has created for each and every one of us on our journeys, and turn our complaining into confidence in Him.

Kayley Bell, ’27

Scripture

First Reading: Numbers 21:4-9
Psalm 102:2-3, 16-21
Gospel: John 8:21-30

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

Monday of the Fifth Week

Reflection

My mother has a saying, “there but for the grace of God go I.” It was often invoked when she listened to one of her children critiquing someone else’s behavior. This phrase came to mind as I was reading John’s Gospel where the woman who has sinned is brought before Jesus. Her shortcomings are publicly proclaimed by the standard bearers of her time and she is to be condemned for them. Perhaps we have been the “scribes and Pharisees”- quick to point out other’s faults and mistakes while cloaking ourselves in righteousness; forgetting that tomorrow we might well find ourselves on the other side of the line in need of grace? Perhaps we, like the woman, know what it is to have our worst mistakes widely broadcast; standing exposed and braced for the judgement of others while struggling with our conscience?

 

Jesus’ response to the woman’s situation is powerful in two ways I think. First, when He refrains from condemning her and challenges her accusers instead to “let the one among you who is without sin throw the first stone at her,” He reminds us that we all will sin and be in need of grace during our journeys. Christians must act with compassion. To be shown mercy we must extend mercy. Second, Jesus reminds us that, like the woman, when we sin it does not have to define or trap us forever. We can choose to turn from sin and when we do the “grace of God” will bring us a fresh start. God will always show us compassion.

Prayer

O Lord, may there always be compassion, grace and mercy for others in my heart, in my words and in my actions. Help me to extend my empathy for others and refrain from being judgmental. Amen.

Amy Rock-Wardwell, ’96
Member of the Worshipping Community

Scripture

First Reading: Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62 or 13:41c-62

Psalm 23:1-6

Gospel: John 8:1-11

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

Fifth Sunday of Lent

Reflection

This Sunday we are invited to ponder and pray with the theme of resurrection and the divinity of Christ. In the Ezekiel reading we are told that God said, “you shall know I am the Lord when I open your graves and have you rise from them.” So, as we read in John’s Gospel that Jesus asks that Lazarus’ grave be opened and invites him to come out, Jesus is letting all present know that yes, he is the Lord, the Christ.

Clearly Jesus has a plan as he hears that Lazarus has died. He doesn’t go quickly but waits a number of days and says to his disciples “I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe.” Clearly after 4 days in the tomb Lazarus is dead, so what happens once Jesus gets there has to be believed that it comes from God. Martha brings forth the Resurrection mes-sage when she and Jesus meet and have their discussion about Lazarus rising and Jesus is assured that she believes in the resurrection on the last day. Her response “Yes Lord, I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God...”

However, through this dialogue and when Mary arrives, we also read that as Jesus allows his friends and others to express that they believe he is the Christ, he also shows his very human side and “gets perturbed and weeps” at times. Much to ponder in these readings as we prepare for the Resurrection.

Prayer

May I find quiet moments this week to have my own dialogue with Jesus and pray for the Spirit of God to be more and more present in my daily life. Amen. 

Lindora Cabral, RSM

Scripture

First Reading: Ezekiel 37:12-14
Psalm 130:1-8
Second Reading: Romans 8:8-11
Gospel: John 11:1-45

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

Saturday of the Fourth Week

Reflection

The confusion, speculation, and division among the people in today’s Gospel comes just after Jesus said “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink…as scripture says: ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him.’”

The people were divided. Was Jesus a prophet to be heard? The Messiah to be followed? A blasphemer to be seized? Guards who heard Jesus’ words directly declined to arrest him, despite the authorities and Pharisees not believing in Jesus.

Within the Gospel, Nicodemus offers a question relevant to our time and our faith – “Does our law condemn a person before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?” Indeed, do we or our legal system judge or seize others simply based on their origin or their relation to authority figures? Or, as Nicodemus intimates, do we look deeper to hear their words and see their actions and then make informed decisions? The latter is a practical extension of Jesus’ directive to love our neighbors as ourselves.

In times of confusion, speculation, and division, let us turn to the source, hear and see for ourselves, and make just decisions. We must see to it that our legal system does the same, as Nicodemus’ question begs. In our own journeys of faith, let us go to the source for firsthand connection. Let us hear Jesus’ words and consider his actions. We believe they give us what we need in order to know and believe that Jesus is the Living Water.

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, especially as we reflect on our actions and responses during this time of Lent, let us turn to your words of Love and Living Water to discern the right path forward.

Jonathan ’87 & Marilyn Billings ’87, P’10

Scripture

First Reading: Jeremiah 11:18-20

Psalm 7:2-3; 9b-12

Gospel: John 7:40-53

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

Friday of the Fourth Week

Reflection

I was there when they tried to arrest him, and I was secretly happy that he slipped away. Could this Jesus really be the Christ?

I want to ask those around me what they think. I want to ask if they also wonder whether he may be the one. But I’m afraid. Powerful people revile him and are eager to condemn him. I’m not terribly surprised, since Jesus is clearly not afraid to speak truth to power. I silently cheer him on! We all know they’re corrupt, but rare is the person who will stand up to them.

During the Feast of Tabernacles, it is our tradition to extend hospitality, to celebrate the fruits of the harvest, to give thanks for all we have been given and to give back to God in return. If only I’d had the courage to speak up and to invite him to join me and my,family for a meal. Perhaps we would now know for sure.

Prayer

Lord, we welcome you to our table and into our hearts, with gratitude for all we have been given. Grant that we may generously give back by loving our neighbors and give us the courage to speak your truth each day.

Rick Coté, ’89
Saint Michael’s College Board of Trustees

Scripture

First Reading: Wisdom 2:1a, 12-22
Psalm 34:17-21, 23
Gospel: John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

Thursday of the Fourth Week

Feast of Saint Joseph

Reflection

When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your heir after you…and I will make his kingdom firm. (2 Samuel 7: 12) In Europe there are royal families in several nations such as the UK, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Monaco, and more. These “kingdoms” are given the name of a “house,” such as the House of Windsor (UK), House of Bourbon (Spain), or House of Grimaldi (Monaco), as examples.

 

Today’s first reading recounts how God speaks to Nathan, who as King David’s advisor, needs to make David aware that God will be building a “house,” a kingdom, based on an heir of David. Lost in the discontinuous verses of today’s Samuel reading is a detail regarding God refusing David’s offer to build a temple in Jerusalem. Nathan has the undesirable task of telling the king this is not what God wants. The “house” and “kingdom” will not be of David’s making but of God’s doing through an heir, a human-divine descendant of David. I (God) will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. (2 Samuel 7:14)

 

The first line of our Gospel reading reads: Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Jacob is another name for Israel, which in the Bible often refers to the nation descended from him. Jacob is of David’s stock, and though one might be a skeptic of David because of past conduct, in Joseph, “righteous man” and, “the husband of Mary,” God raises up an heir after David; of him will arise a royal house/kingdom of a whole new order.

 

When I was asked to prepare the reflection for the Feast of St. Joseph, I thought back to Pope Francis’ decision to insert Joseph in the Eucharistic prayers of the Mass. A google search resulted in a statement that: “This move highlights Joseph as a model of quiet strength, humility, and protection, encouraging Catholics to seek his intercession in times of crisis.” I dare add that Joseph is one more example or place holder of our spiritual parentage in God’s Love…that divine grace is our heritage in Jesus Christ.

Prayer

Gracious God, send us your Holy Spirit of faithfulness, so that the offering of our heart, mind, and person may be “a bowing down in your presence” to your commandment to love you above all else and our neighbor as ourselves. We make this prayer in the name of Jesus, your Son, our risen Lord. Amen.

Marcel Rainville, S.S.E. ’67 
Edmundite Campus Ministry

Scripture

First Reading: 2 Samuel 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16
Psalm 89:2-5, 27, 29
Second Reading: Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22
Gospel: Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24a or Luke 2:41-51a

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

Wednesday of the Fourth Week

Reflection

In the garden, on a gorgeous day in July, when the plants are cranking out flowers and fruit and the insects are humming and the smell is divine, we could forget the garden emerges out of all of these individual elements coming together as one.

And while we can’t take full credit for it, we can take some–were it not for us, these garden beds wouldn’t have been prepared in April. Were it not for us, these individual seeds would not have been planted, and later, they would not have been cared for.

But if we become too attached to ourselves as the sole actor, the only ego worth caring for in our daily rounds, the garden will suffer. If we only tend to our desires for instant gratification, we couldn’t do the work on those cold days in May that will lead to flowers in June. We need to tend to the Wholeness if we want any success.

The 20th Century mystic Thomas Merton wrote of a “hidden wholeness”; that binds all creation. In the Gospel, Jesus says, “The Son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing.”

We could imagine extending the popular phrase to be “What Would Jesus Do… in the Garden?” I think we could expect him to experience himself not as controlling and dominating the garden for his own selfish desires, but instead participating in the garden as part of a divine dance between Himself and the elements. 

Prayer

May I recall that life is not about me–I am about life.
May I recall that I’m not who I think I am–I’m much more.
May I rejoice in the opportunity to serve others in the One Great Garden.

Trevien Stanger, ’05, M.S.
Ecological Restoration Program Manager,
The Patrick ’61 and Marcelle Leahy Institute

Scripture

First Reading: Isaiah 49:8-15
Psalm 145:8-9, 13cd-14, 17-18
Gospel: John 5:17-30

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

Tuesday of the Fourth Week

Reflection

Ezekiel, the Prophet of the Babylonian exile, speaks to the Israelites longing for their return to Jerusalem. The vision of water flowing from the Temple to the sea portrays a life-giving river that makes the Great Salt Sea fresh. Ezekiel urges the Israelites to seek God’s forgiveness and deepen their faith and understanding of God’s loving presence while dreaming of a return to their homeland.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus, embodying the life-giving waters of Ezekiel’s vision, heals the cripple who sits at the pool of Bethesda. Through a simple command, Jesus cures the cripple who then proceeds to announce his ‘good news’ throughout the city. Both of these readings invite us to imagine the flow of water as a channel that flows in us as our faith deepens and our dreams are realized. 

Today we celebrate the feast of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. At the age of 16, Patrick was kidnapped from Britain by Irish pirates, brought to Ireland, sold into slavery, and remained there for six years before escaping and returning to his family. Though not an active Christian, Patrick had a dream about the people of Ireland pleading with him to bring Christianity to them. After studies and ordination as a priest and then bishop, he set sail to Christianize the Emerald Isle. As in Ezekiel and John, water can also be identified as a metaphor for Patrick’s life-long spiritual growth in faith. May we contemplate these readings as we allow the Water of Life to grow in us each day.

Prayer

Loving God, I pray that this Lent may be a time for me to travel each day with an awareness of your presence in all that I experience as I seek to deep-en my own faith in you.

Liz Mahoney, ’97, M’01, P’92

Scripture

First Reading: Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12
Psalm 46:2-3, 5-6, 8-9
Gospel: John 5:1-16

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

Monday of the Fourth Week

Reflection

The Lord promises to create a “new heavens and a new earth; the things of the past shall not be remembered.” We, as God’s people, can be His handiwork, creating the world anew. When we hear “the sound of weeping” or “the sound of crying,” we are invited to bring “rejoicing and happiness” to our brothers and sisters. Because we know God’s eternal love, we are called to share our enduring joy with those around us.

There are times, however, when we are the weeping ones; even the most faithful become lost amid the sound of their own crying. When I reflect on the psalm, “I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me,” I think of the times I have surrendered to my short-comings, pains, and sorrows. Surrendered, not succumbed. When we welcome His saving grace, it is through our brokenness that the Lord is able to do His handiwork.

Reflecting on the phrase, “O Lord, be my helper,” I wonder about the gentleness of the word “helper.” In today’s Gospel Jesus re-marks, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” Jesus offers radical signs and miracles, but perhaps we are also invited to see Him as our daily “helper,” a constant, if not visibly apparent, presence in our lives. As we progress through this Lenten season, may we welcome Jesus our savior and Jesus our helper into our hearts.

Prayer

Jesus, as we walk beside you this Lenten season, may we unite ourselves with you. As our loving helper, hold us close to your divine light and make us new.

Kathleen Dean, ’26
Singer in Liturgical Ensemble

Scripture

First Reading: Isaiah 65:17-21
Psalm 30:2, 4-6, 11-12a, 13b
Gospel: John 4:43-54

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

Fourth Sunday of Lent

Reflection

As we begin this fourth week of Lent, we take a look at the beginning of a young shepherd’s journey to becoming King. Jesse presents seven of eight sons at the sacrifice and yet God knows David, who is out tending the sheep, is the one He will use to bring His son into the world. This same son, our Christ, brings light into our darkness and gives sight to the blind. He brings sinners back to union and provides all that is needed during this journey through the desert of Lent. 

On this fourth Sunday, we are given a small reminder of the light of Christ and, further, the conclusion of our Lenten struggles ushers in our redemption. The Gospel today depicts the story of the man born blind, calling to mind our own blindness. A man blind from birth gains his sight and the initial reaction is to deny he was ever blind, then to question if Jesus was able to heal him, and for some to remain in the darkness of doubt at the end. In curing the man’s blindness Jesus cures ours as well, but we — like the Pharisees — often are distracted by parts, failing to see the whole and choosing to not let Christ’s light radiate through us. 

As we near the end of this Lenten journey are we letting Christ’s light in with its many forms or are we discounting it for the means it comes to us? Let us choose light.

Prayer

Dear Lord, as we continue to walk with you in this desert of Lent, may we choose to let your light in, allowing it to radiate through us to those who have yet to see.

Nick Wracker, ’26

Scripture

First Reading: 1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a
Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-6
Second Reading: Ephesians 5:8-14
Gospel: John 9:1-41

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website