Friday of the First Week

Reflection

The Scriptures today speak to the human condition and grace of God. We as humans are not perfect beings, and therefore are not immune to making mistakes and falling into sin. As Psalm 130 points out, “If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?” God understands that, at times, we may fall on our path to righteousness. When we fall, God is there with outstretched arms to help us back up. He cannot grab our hand and pull us up alone though; we, the fallen, must reach forward and grasp His hand. We must grab the Lord’s hand by renouncing our sinful ways and returning to a life of virtue. Once righted, the cloak of sin is cast off, and we are once again bathed in God’s glory. There is no denying God’s good works. He does not delight in punishing His people, and therefore provides this opportunity for renewal. How great a God we have, one who looks at our transgressions and still welcomes us back after we have fallen. We must strive everyday to fulfill God’s mission. When we stray from our path though, we must do all we can to once again right ourselves. For it is only when we live a virtuous and wholesome life that are we able to truly come to know God.

 

 

Prayer
Good and gracious God, help me to see the errors of my past and guide me on the path to righteousness.

 

Meg Murray, ’18

 

 

Scripture
First Reading: Ezekiel 18:21-28
Psalm 130:1-8
Gospel: Matthew 5:20-26

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday of the First Week

Reflection

“Seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”  As I read these words, my experience as a mother comes to mind and all the many, many times during the day when I hear “Mom?”  Whether it be daytime or the middle of the night and no matter where I am in the house, they come to seek and find me with both trivial and more serious requests.  They seek me out to share an exciting moment, to be reassured, to ask a question, or to be comforted when hurting.  And more often than not, when they are desperate to find me, there is no knock at the door, but a rushing in to wherever I am!

As I think about the way my children seek to find me, I wonder if we do the same with God.  Do we turn to God throughout the day as frequently as young children seek out their parents, or do we often try to do things on our own?  God is always there for us when we too need to share excitement or gratitude, for reassurance and comfort.  As in the first reading, Esther, while “seized with mortal anguish”  prayed to God “from morning until evening” when she felt alone and abandoned, seeking out God’s help when she called rather than trying to do it on her own to “turn our mourning into gladness and our sorrows into wholeness.”

I used to think that “ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find” meant that if I wanted some “thing,” all I had to do was ask God and He would deliver.  I have learned that God does answer my knock, but oftentimes not in ways that I expected or wanted, but rather in ways I needed but didn’t see the beauty in His “answer” until much later.  I’ve also come to understand that Jesus is talking about something greater and deeper than just seeking “things”—He is asking us to seek God Himself.  Jesus is telling us to go out and actively seek Him in all things and circumstances.  When we open our eyes and look for Him, He gives us the strength and peace we need in all circumstances, good or bad.  Seeking Him allows us to see the divine within others who might be mean or hurtful to us.  Seeking Him allows us to find the compassion and kindness that are needed in difficult situations.  Seeking Him allows us to find the strength we need to overcome challenges in our lives.  When we truly seek God throughout the day, we will find Him in all things.

 Prayer

Loving God, may we turn to You like children seeking out a parent and find You in all things.

Anna Lester, ’98, M’12, Assistant Director of Edmundite Campus Ministry

 

Scripture

First Reading: Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25
Psalm 138:1-3, 7c-8
Gospel: Matthew 7:7-12

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

 

 

Wednesday of the First Week

Reflection

Statistically speaking, it's safe to say none of us will be spewed up by a fish in whose belly we've just spent the last three days.

 

Jonah didn’t run because he didn’t believe in God; he ran because he did.  We can often choose to ignore God's voice. Until we can't. Until we realize there’s nothing left that will work except to pray.

 

But this is the next chapter. The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. Now Jonah is ready to listen. When he preaches to the people of Ninevah, this “enormously large city,” the emphasis is on how quickly the people of Ninevah repent. He’s barely begun his journey and everyone, “all of them, great and small,” reach for their new outfit: sackcloth. Oh, he must have thought. That was easy.

 

I can be a baby and complain that things are, or would be, too hard. I can run and hide and try to escape. How many times have I waited to do or say the thing I know I should? And how many times have I caused myself, or those I love, great suffering because of it? We can run and hide, true. Jonah did. But we find storms and a not so cozy place of darkness where we are swallowed up. Make it easy on yourself. Do the right thing the first time. Avoid the huge fish option.

 

Jesus reminds His audience of those who listened. You can’t plan that the word will come a second time. Look, He says, you’ve had the signs. You’ve heard God’s voice. Now grab your sackcloth.

 

Prayer

Jesus, humble our hearts. Take away our selfishness and pride.  Give us the wisdom and grace to hear Your voice and respond.

 

TJ Bird Matarazzo, ’98, Member of the Worshipping Community

 

 

Scripture
First Reading: Jonah 3:1-10
Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13, 18-19

Gospel: Luke 11:29-32

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

 

 

 

Tuesday of the First Week

Reflection

The image from the book of Isaiah of rain and snow falling on the fields suits this Lenten season in Vermont perfectly. As we look out on the landscape, brown and grey or blanketed in white, it does not appear that anything at all is happening to prepare for the green season of growth ahead. But we know that these things take time. Water and nutrients are soaking into the soil and will transform the world, come spring.  So it seems to us too, sometimes, that nothing is happening in our souls; that our hearts are frozen and cannot move forward. But we should learn to be patient; to let the Word soak into us and slowly, steadily renew us.

 

And the Word—both the Scriptural word and Jesus, the Word—will provide “bread to the one who eats” to see us through the barren seasons. And in time, will give “seed to the one who sows”—stirring in us the ability to do fruitful work, to inspire others, and to sow peace and joy in the world.

 

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus urges the disciples not to babble and multiply words when they pray, but to use the simple, direct language of the Our Father. Because the words are so familiar, we tend to rattle through them. But we should take our cue from the rain and the snow and take time to let the words soak into our souls as we ask each day for our daily bread for the journey.  

Prayer

In this season of waiting and preparation, Lord, teach us to pray. Give us patience to listen to Your Word so that it may nourish our souls and bear fruit in our lives.

 

Zsuzanna Kadas, Professor of Mathematics

 

Scripture

First Reading: Isaiah 55:10-11

Psalm 34:4-7, 16-19

Gospel: Matthew 6:7-15

 

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

 

 

Monday of the First Week

Reflection

Whether we like it or not, Lent is a season of discipline—a season of tangible growth and change in preparation of the glory of Easter.  And while the thought of Lenten discipline may turn our minds immediately to fasting, abstention from meat, and omission of “Alleluia” from our vocabulary, the readings and Gospel for today provide us with so much more.  The Lord is explicit in His instructions today, my friends.  In the first reading, He begins, with no small task, by saying to Moses, “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.”  In many ways, I believe that this invitation—this divine call to action — is the succinct and beautiful epitome of the Lenten season.  Be holy, for the Lord our God is holy. The instructions that follow are equally important, “You shall not steal.  You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart.  You shall love your neighbor as yourself”…and many more.

 

The readings today remind us of the purest and love-motivated discipline that we should strive to exemplify throughout our Lenten journey this year.  Our fasting, our abstentions, our “giving up”—these disciplines are significant—and they help us grow.  However, I pray that our determination to be holy, as our Lord is, will guide our spiritual growth and transform our hearts that we may enter the Church on Easter Sunday as a truly changed Easter people. 

 

 Prayer
Lord, open our ears to hear Your call to holiness today.  Help us to discipline ourselves throughout this season of Lent to appreciate our earthly and bodily sacrifices but also to consciously change our mind and our actions to become more holy like You.  Amen. 

 

Eliza McDonald, ’17

 

 

Scripture
First Reading: Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18
Psalm 19:8-10, 15
Gospel: Matthew 25:31-46

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

 

First Sunday of Lent

Reflection

To be honest, there was a time when I inwardly rebelled at the length of Lent, six weeks or 40 days. It seemed to me that Advent, my favorite liturgical season, was only four weeks, a time of joyful expectation of Christmas. So, why make Lent, with its heavy emphasis on self-denial and contrition, a longer period? Is it a sort of masochism for the Church to dwell on that which hurts?

             

I think (and hope!) that I have now come to a more mature appreciation of Lent and its connection to Jesus’ own 40 days of fasting and prayer in the desert, which we hear about in this Sunday’s Gospel reading. If Jesus, who was without sin, felt a need for disciplining His human nature, how much greater is that need for us?

 

It is significant, I believe, that the temptations that the devil or power of evil held out to Jesus are similar to temptations that we ourselves encounter, perhaps on a more or less regular basis: over-indulgence of our appetites, undue desire or lust for possessions and power, etc. We surely need to be strengthened, as was Jesus, through prayer, discipline and the help of God’s Holy Spirit, in order to resist and overcome such temptations.  So, Lent can be a spiritually salutary time for all of us. 

 

Prayer

Come, Holy Spirit, come and lead us and guide us on our Lenten journey, so that like Jesus, we may overcome any power of evil that comes our way. 

 

Fr. Ray Doherty, S.S.E. ’51,  Campus Minister

 

 

Scripture

First Reading: Deuteronomy 26:4-10
Psalm 91:1-2, 10-15
Second Reading:  Romans 10:8-13
Gospel: Luke 4:1-13

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday after Ash Wednesday

Reflection

Today’s readings present us with a choice.  We can be content to dwell on our own self-interests, blind to oppression and the injustices inflicted on others, or enlightened by the Lord, we can turn our hearts, minds, and actions towards those in need.  The journey of Lent is the journey from darkness into light and God is our guide.  Just as the daylight gently pushes away winter’s gloom a little more each day, so the grace of God will renew those who help the afflicted. But this is a task we cannot undertake merely through our own good intention. We are asked to observe the Sabbath, giving over our time and personal interests to honor and delight in the Lord in the celebration of the Sabbath.  Only then, strengthened by Christ’s love and nourished by grace, will we truly be prepared to do the Lord’s work.

 

How often do we set out on the Lenten journey with determination and a plan of self-sacrifice, only to fall flat?  We are human, afflicted by sin; imperfection is imbedded in our DNA.  We may fail in our Lenten purpose; we will certainly fail, and fail often, in our attempts to fulfill the divine purpose. When we succumb to selfishness or malice, there is always an opportunity to choose again, to start over on the journey, be it for forty days or forty years.  In today’s Gospel, Jesus is scolded by the Pharisees and scribes for feasting with the tax collectors.  He replies, “I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”  We are the sinners and we are called to repentance, not just for one day or forty days, but always.  God is waiting for us to come into the light.

 

 

Prayer

O Lord, teach us to trust in Your patience and forgiveness as we find our way, through fits and starts, into the light of Your everlasting love.   

 

Chris Clary, Director of Career Development

 

Scripture

First Reading: Isaiah 58:9b-14

Psalm 86:1-6

Gospel: Luke 5:27-32

 

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website