Thursday, February 26, 2026

 

Thursday of the First Week of Lent

(Esther C,12.14-16.23-25; Matthew 7:7-12)

One major quality of the Christian life is dependency.  Because this word is so associated with addiction, perhaps it is better to speak of reliance.  Although many find it hard to admit, Christians rely on one another and primarily on God for assistance.  They realize that they have been saved from death by the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Without him they are doomed to sin egregiously and to die forever.

Although Queen Esther In today’s first reading is not Christian and has lived apart from her Jewish community, she finds herself desperately needing God’s help.  She cannot depend on her extraordinary beauty or her rank as queen to deliver her and her people from death.  She does what Jesus recommends in the gospel.  She asks the God of her fathers for assistance.  Of course, she receives it.  God, loving her and her people, will not allow them to perish.

Why then do we often find prayers of petition difficult to make?  Perhaps we recognize personal sin that makes us think we are unworthy.  Or maybe the independent spirit of our society prompts us to keep searching for personal resources to meet challenges.  We might even doubt that God exists or that He cares about us.  These reasons and, no doubt, others may be summed up in pride.  In the end, it is our thinking too much of ourselves that gets in the way of asking God for help.  We need to humble ourselves and look to God and perhaps brothers and sisters in Christ for help.

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

 

Wednesday of the First Week of Lent

(Jonah 3:1-10; Luke 3:29-32)

We are all sinners – one out of every one of us.  We think too much of ourselves and too little of others.  Have you ever said something derogatory and only half-true about another person just to produce a laugh?  I have.  It is one source of my sinfulness.

During this season of Lent we make a collective effort to examine our lives, locate the sources of our sinfulness and decide to root them out.  With this effort we hope to become more like Jesus.  He is the best model for lives which please God and bless others.

Both readings today convey this message.  The Book of the Prophet Jonah is neither oracle nor history, but a story intended to catalyze repentance.  In the gospel Jesus uses that story to remind his generation and ours of the necessity of reform.

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

 Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

(Isaiah 55:10-11; Matthew 67-15)

Katabasis is a Greek word meaning going down or descent.  Christian theology has employed the term in reference to Jesus’ coming from heaven to save humanity.  This use reflects Isaiah’s prophecy in today’s first reading.  God’s word, which in its most prescient form is the Son, descends from heaven to earth to effect the divine will.

Today’s gospel suggests a mirror image of heavenly katabasis.  Human words in the form of prayer go up (anabasis in Greek) to God who provides what the person needs.  Jesus tells us that prayers should not be multiplied beyond the simple petitions of the Our Father.  The petitioner after recognizing God’s holiness makes four requests.  First, she asks for the peace of God’s Kingdom.  Then, she requests bread both for the earthly table and the heavenly journey.  Third, she looks for forgiveness of past sins.  Finally, she wants guidance to avoid pitfalls on the way to her eternal home.

We understand the season of Lent as our heavenly journey.  It is an ascent from worldly desires to the purity of mountaintops.  This ascent begins with recognizing how sin has distanced us from God’s love.  It proceeds with our being purified and strengthened through Lenten disciplines.  It ends at the celebration of the Lord’s resurrection from the dead and the pledge of our own. 

Monday, February 23, 2026

 

Monday of the First Week of Lent

(Leviticus 19:1-2.11-18; Matthew 25,31-46)

Today’s first reading is taken from the famous “Holiness Code” in the Book of Leviticus.  The code lists a series of precepts that are to be followed so that one may become holy like as God.  The precepts mirror the Decalogue, but today’s reading has a striking peculiarity.  It tells the reader not to show “partiality to the weak.”  Doesn’t this conflict with the blessing that Jesus bestows on those who serve the needy in the gospel reading?

It doesn’t if one considers the context of the prohibition of partiality.  The command applies to judicial proceedings.  A criminal suspect should be judged guilty or innocent according to the evidence, not according to socio-economic status.  Nevertheless, a poor or sick person should be assisted in meeting physical needs.  In the gospel Jesus extends the scope of beneficiaries.  They are not only members of one’s family or community but strangers as well. 

Despite our reluctance to think of ourselves as holy, achieving holiness is our vocation in life.  It is also the immediate objective of Lent.  We recognize that it is a long road that often seems endless.  But through the years and with continual effort, progress becomes evident.

Sunday, February 22, 2026

 

FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT, February 22, 2026
(Genesis 2:7–9; 3:1–7; Romans 5:12–19; Matthew 4:1–11)

We have begun the long journey of Lent. To help us make good use of these forty days, the Church offers us some of the most profound readings in the entire Bible. We know them well, yet they are always worth revisiting.

It is often said that the story of Adam and Eve describes the first sin. This is true, but it also describes every human sin. At the root of all human sin lies the pride of the first human beings. We sin whenever we consider our own will more important than the will of God. In this story, the serpent tempts the woman with the promise that if they eat from the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they will be like God. Rejecting God’s command not to eat from that tree, both eat the fruit. Every time we sin, we do the same thing: we reject God’s will to satisfy our own desires.

We say “we,” but we should not include Jesus Christ in that statement. Although Jesus shares our human nature, he never placed his own will above the will of God the Father. In today’s Gospel, we see him overcome pride in each of the three temptations presented to him by Satan.

In the first temptation, Jesus is in the desert suffering intense hunger. Satan urges him to satisfy his desire by turning stones into bread. Jesus, however, recognizes that doing so would disappoint his Father. He decides that satisfying his hunger is not worth displeasing God, and he rejects the temptation. We can place ourselves in Jesus’ sandals. If, after working all Sunday and missing morning Mass, would we choose to attend Mass in the evening instead of immediately satisfying our hunger?

Then Satan tries to test Jesus’ relationship with his Father. He suggests that Jesus perform a reckless act to see whether God will save him from death despite his foolishness. Jesus has no difficulty rejecting this challenge because he knows that God’s love for him—and for all—is infinite. But beyond the question of paternal love, Jesus knows that he must do things in God’s way, not his own. We might ask ourselves: when faced with a difficulty, are we ready to handle it in God’s way? Or do we insist on doing things our way while assuming that God will forgive us later?

Finally, Jesus is tempted with power over the world. It is easy to imagine how appealing this temptation is to pride. All Jesus would have to do is perform an act of adoration to Satan to gain control of everything. But Jesus recognizes the stench of deceit. Satan is the father of lies.  Furthermore, Jesus did not come to earth to serve himself—much less to worship the devil. He came solely to serve his Father.

In the second reading, Saint Paul speaks of “the overflowing grace that makes us righteous.” This is the grace that flows from Jesus Christ. He twice conquered the pride of the first human beings that brought death to all. First, he overcame the three temptations in the desert. Then, he definitively overcame human pride on Calvary. To benefit from this overflowing grace, we must live in relationship with him. Here, in the Eucharist, he offers us his Body and Blood as our strength. He does not abandon us when we go out to face life’s challenges.  Rather, he walks with us so that nothing may cause us to stumble. With him at our side, we trample pride underfoot and pass from death to eternal life with God.