Thursday of the Third Week

Reflection

We are fortunate to live in enlightened times.  We no longer believe that invisible demons surround us or inhabit us, causing suffering.  Little red devils, with horns and tails, have been banished to the realms of superstition, along with much else.  We no longer shrink in fear the way people in Jesus’ time did, for we know that there are no demons.

Granted, our modern world has car bombs and sexual predators, starvation and suicides.  There is callous indifference, monumental egos, and silent heartbreak.  There are lies.  We live in a world where even young children are subject to random violence. 

But it’s not just “out there”… there is that thing you did awhile back, that you want desperately to keep secret.  There’s that other thing you wish you could go back and undo.  There are people who hurt you, and people you’ve hurt.  There is gnawing uncertainty about what your future will bring.

But at least there aren’t demons anymore.

Prayer

Dear Lord, You cast out the demons of every age.  Your light shines into the dark corners of every soul.  Free me from my demons… then do so again tomorrow. 

Patrick Walsh, Professor of Economics

Scripture 

First Reading: Jeremiah 7:23-28

Psalm 95:1-2, 6-9

Gospel: Luke 11:14-23

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

Wednesday of the Third Week

Reflection

Today’s readings are about the Law of God.

Deuteronomy reminds us that we should be grateful for God’s Law, for the Supreme Being sharing His decrees, really, His guidance with us.  How blessed to have direction as we try to live in God’s ways and walk with Jesus in His passion. We are reminded to be grateful that we may, by observing His laws, awaken others to also see God’s goodness and love. 

The Psalm emphasizes the gratitude we should feel to our loving and ever-guiding Father in heaven.  Praise God, glorify the Lord for He is speaking to us, showing us His Path, showing us His Wisdom and Righteousness.

Matthew’s Gospel gives us Jesus’ words about the Law of God.  “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.  I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”  Jesus enjoins us to live according to all that God has given us to guide us.  The commandments of the Old Testament fall within the embrace of Jesus, the Law of Love, and Jesus calls us to obey and teach the commandments. 

Prayer

Thank you, Lord, for Your loving guidance, Your eternal wisdom and love.  Blessed be God forever!

Stephanie Noakes, ‘80, Office of Admission

Scripture

First Reading: Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9

Psalm 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20

Gospel: Matthew 5:17-19

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

Tuesday of the Third Week

Reflection

For me, the most important message of the readings for today is forgiveness.  The first reading serves as a reminder that we owe God our utmost love and respect for everything He has blessed us with.  We are sinners, yet God accepts us for who we are and continues to love us unconditionally.  It is, therefore, our responsibility to “follow [Him] unreservedly, for those who trust [Him] cannot be put to shame.”  We must also be compassionate and embrace forgiveness, just as the master does for his servant.

Sometimes it is very easy to merely say the words “I forgive you” or “It’s okay” without really meaning them.  However, in order to truly be free, God asks us to “forgive your brother [or sister] from your heart.”  God knows this can be very difficult, especially when we are inclined to hold onto our grudges.  But when we ask God for help and remember how much He has done for us (and how much He has forgiven), we are compelled to emulate Him.  Some say that we as humans are put on this earth to learn forgiveness, which I agree with wholeheartedly.  With forgiveness comes peace, and if we have peace in our hearts and God at our side, there is nothing we cannot achieve.

Prayer

Loving God, let us be ever more mindful of all that You have blessed us with.  Let us strive to embrace forgiveness from the bottom of our hearts.  Help us continue to be good stewards of Your love.  Amen.

Merrill Poor, ‘15 

Scripture

First Reading: Daniel 3:25, 34-43

Psalm 25:4-5ab, 6-7bc, 8-9

Gospel: Matthew 18:21-35

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

Monday of the Third Week

Reflection

In the first reading,  Naaman is the general of the Syrian or Aramean army, second in command only to the King.  He had everything going for him but “he was a leper.”  In the Bible, a leper was considered unclean.

An innocent little slave shows compassion for Naaman and pleads to have him present himself to the prophet in Samaria to be cured.  Expecting that the prophet would invoke God to cure him instead of asking him to wash seven times in the Jordan,  Naaman becomes angry,  but urged by his servants  he follows Elisha’s order and becomes clean.  He says to the prophet:  “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel.”

In Scripture, leprosy is associated with sin.  We may be successful, respected and loved, but we are all sinners.  God is calling all of us as he did the little girl slave to be instruments of His love.  His love cannot be bought.  We must come to Him in good faith.  As Christians, we should be thankful to God for having received His spiritual healing through His Son, our Brother, Jesus Christ.

In the Gospel reading, Jesus challenges and angers His people in the synagogue at Nazareth as He has done more than once.  After saying:  “Amen I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place,” He declares the prophets’ inability to solve problems in their own land.  His words are still relevant today.  Who has not used them referring to some of our leaders who sometimes are more respected abroad than in our own country?

Prayer

Dear God, please guide the leaders of our Church and our country and make them worthy of our acceptance and admiration.  Open our minds to their wisdom whether they are near or far away.

Fran Thompson, M‘10, Member of the Worshipping Community

Scripture

First Reading: 2 Kings 5:1-15ab

Psalm 42:2-3; 43:3-4

Gospel: Luke 4:24-30

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

Third Sunday of Lent

Reflection

In the middle of today’s reading from Exodus, God says: “So I know well what they are suffering.”   My astonishment with this phrase may be due to the fact that I do not normally associate such compassion with God.  Self-reflection, however, forces me to question, Why do I not connect God’s love with the suffering of humanity?  How is it that I can have such lofty ideas of God and not get even to first base regarding Who truly God is?

Sometimes I feel privileged to have gained an “education.”  However, college degrees sometimes make you (me?) proud, which sadly, also distances you from other, “less fortunate,” folk.  Happily, our faith is nourished by a “system” of spiritual care, that “brings us home again” to the real God, not the God of my own brainy fabrication.  The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sees the awful suffering of the Israelite people in Egypt.  He is a God whose “compassion” never burns out, and makes our “space” into “holy ground.”  God says to Moses: “I have witnessed the affliction of my people… and have heard their cry…”  No wonder God can tell Moses “I AM” for he makes our own existence His own.

Today, Jesus offers us a chance to be good trees again.  Earlier, the twice-repeated plea to repent hearkens back to Ash Wednesday (“Repent… believe in the Gospel”).  We have a “year” (Lent?) to cultivate the ground so as to become the “holy ground” of God's presence in us.

Prayer

Gracious God, grant us the grace to be true to the spirit of repentance… and the grace to be filled with Your compassion, “to know well [our neighbor’s] suffering.”  We make our prayer in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Fr. Marcel Rainville, S.S.E. ‘67, Director of Formation for the Society of St. Edmund

Scripture

First Reading: Exodus 3:1-8a, 13-15

Psalm 103:1-4, 6-8, 11

Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12

Gospel: Luke 13:1-9

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

Saturday of the Second Week

Reflection

Today’s Gospel reading is one of the most well-known Scripture readings of all time, The Prodigal Son. This is a story that can be appreciated from a host of perspectives. Put yourself in the scene of this Scripture as the son who returns after demanding and then squandering his share of the family inheritance, looking for acceptance and forgiveness…or the son who watches his brother leave and remains loyal and committed to the family and land, but doesn’t understand how his brother can return and now be treated like royalty…or the father, who unconditionally welcomes back without question the one son who was away, while assuring the son who remained that they were both loved.  Can you relate to one of the three? Would you like to be more like one of them? Perhaps at times we have seen ourselves in the faces and likeness of each of them.

God is ever loving and forgiving, and as today’s psalm states, God crowns us with kindness and compassion.  How fortunate we are. Today, we are again reminded of how constant God’s love is despite our human selves.

Prayer

God of mercy, grant us the grace to be open to Your presence in our lives and open our hearts and minds to Your goodness.  Help us to know the crown of kindness and compassion you embrace us with, always.

Patrick Gallivan, ‘89, Vice-President of Institutional Advancement

Scripture

First Reading: Micah 7:14-15, 18-20

Psalm 103:1-4, 9-12

Gospel: Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

Friday of the Second Week

Reflection

Today’s first reading should sound very familiar – it is the story of the “Joseph” made popular by the musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.” It also has many elements in common with the passion of our Lord.  These similarities begin with both being loved sons who dreamed monumental things – Joseph of his future role as a leader and Jesus as our master dreamer envisioning a world striving toward charity and justice to all. Both had murder plotted against them – Joseph by his brothers and Jesus by the hierarchy of the Synagogue. Both had someone unsuccessfully trying to go against the tide to prevent his death – Ruben who had the intention of rescuing Joseph from the cistern and Pontius Pilate torturing and humiliating Jesus in an attempt to get the crowd’s sympathy and choose Jesus over Barabbas for release.  Both were stripped of their tunics and both sold over for pieces of silver – Joseph for 20 and Jesus for 30.

Today’s Gospel then goes on to relate the story of workers in the vineyard killing the landlord’s son. The Gospel continues on with the famous passage, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”

All together some very powerful readings that propel us toward the Passion story of Holy Week. Each theme is meaningful and both together symbolize the message of Christ’s death on Calvary. Both passages deserve a re-read and our thought.

Prayer

O Lord, when we see evil being plotted, help us to stand up for what is good and help one another with courage and love.

Joseph Gaida, Member of the Worshipping Community

Scripture

First Reading: Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a

Psalm 105:16-21

Gospel: Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website