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Opening Salesian Lenten Reflection – Love Letters on the Heart

By Brother Dan Wisniewski, OSFS

What will we do, dear souls, what will we become, I ask you, when through the Sacred Wound of His side we perceive that most adorable and most lovable Heart of our Master, aflame with love for us that Heart where we will see each of our names written in letters of love!

– Saint Francis de Sales

(Sermon for the Second Sunday of Lent, February 20, 1622)

Reading this portion of our patron’s Lenten sermon, several aspects of it are striking as we enter the Lenten season. At first, he draws us a picture upon which we gaze and imagine seeing the Sacred Heart of Jesus. But, we do not view His Heart apart from His wounded crucified body. The juxtaposition of pain and love catch our attention. Francis de Sales recalls that during this moment of pain and suffering on the cross, Jesus’ Heart is on fire with love for each one of us. Love is the center point of the divinehuman relationship. Our saint reminds us that this love is expressed for each of us individually: each of our names – yours and mine – are written on His most Sacred Heart! This is very personal and very intentional on the part of our Savior.

How very vivid this image is! If we consider Mount Calvary as coming at the conclusion of our Lenten journey, then let us keep the mental picture of this end in mind now at the beginning. How can we remain mindful of the Love of God during the forty days of Lent? Consider this: if our name is written on Jesus’ Sacred Heart, then what is written on our heart in return? Francis de Sales answers this question in his Introduction to the Devout Life. He writes that his desire for us is that we keep “Live Jesus!” on our individual hearts, engraved so to speak, as a reminder that “as our beloved Jesus lives in your heart, so too he will live in all your conduct and he will be revealed by your eyes, mouth, hands, yes even the hair on your head” (Part III, chapter 23). By who we are and what we do, Jesus is experienced by others through us and likewise, we recognize Jesus in the lives of others.

As we journey through Lent this year, let us call to mind the intimate love letters written on our hearts and on that of God’s Son who loves us so tenderly. May we be attentive to how Jesus is at work and alive in the actions of our family, friends, colleagues, neighbors and strangers. This may be difficult to see in our world these days, but that’s even more reason we need to be reminded of God’s Love. In turn, let us continue to “Live Jesus” to bring love, joy and peace into the lives of others. Perhaps we need no other additional Lenten practice: call to mind what is written on the heart.

May God be blessed!

Ash Wednesday

First Reading

Joel 2: 12-18

Yet even now oracle of the LORD return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, weeping and mourning. Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God, For he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting in punishment. Perhaps he will again relent and leave behind a blessing, Grain offering and libation for the LORD, your God. Blow the horn in Zion!

Proclaim a fast, call an assembly!

Gather the people, sanctify the congregation; Assemble the elderly; gather the children, even infants nursing at the breast; Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her bridal tent. Between the porch and the altar let the priests weep, let the ministers of the LORD weep and say: “Spare your people, LORD! do not let your heritage become a disgrace, a byword among the nations! Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”

The Lord Relents.

Then the LORD grew jealous for his land and took pity on his people.

Reflection

By Stephen Crooker

Our spiritual journey of Lent begins this year with the powerful words of the Prophet Joel calling us all to repentance. We are summoned to gather once again and be prepared to draw into a prodigious time of reflection. We must begin to reorient ourselves and see how we look at both self and others. In the times of ancient Israel, the children of Abraham forsake Yahweh for false gods. The nation wobbled into the abyss of sin, despair and moral confusion. The Prophet Joel proclaims to us all the very real need to prepare our lives for a unpretentious and authentic metanoia. The Responsorial Psalm echoes the cry of the sinner to repent and begin anew. As the psalmist states, we often know our sins but shamefully retain them and do not cast away our failings. This is a journey of struggle and the cross. With this Lent, we must link our sufferings with Our Lord, knowing His strength is given to us to help us overcome sin and seek holiness with all our hearts. This is our true cross.

Psalm 51 was written by King David, the mighty and powerful leader of Israel. The shepherd boy turned monarch, David was an absolute ruler and victorious in battle, politics and nation-building. When Psalm 51 was written, King David was in trouble. Mired in sin, David repented before the Lord. The King of Israel had to come to grips with being a mortal man, frail and sinful, just like everyone else. In short, King David found a cross to carry, a cross of his own making no less.

Brother Richard Wilson, TOR, taught me this prayer for Lent some years ago, before his passing to eternal life in 2021. It echoes with the Prophet Joel in my mind and heart. May it do so for you as well: “Lord, help me to know my true cross and not the designer cross I have fashioned for myself. Grant to me Lord the grace to see my cross and accept it as your Son did. Let me not pray for a designer cross but a true cross. Amen.”

Ash Wednesday

Second Reading

2 Corinthians 5: 20-6: 2

So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Working together, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says: In an acceptable time I heard you and on the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Reflection

By Rosie Driscoll

One of my favorite Salesian practices woven into the fabric of our days at Bishop Ireton is the singing of St. Francis De Sales’ motto – “Live Jesus!” – after every school Mass. In those moments after we have received the Body of Christ in the Eucharist, the voices of our Mystical Body of Christ, singing in unison “Live Jesus, Jesus I love, live Jesus whom I love…,” inspire me to heed St. Francis’ gentle but adamant exhortation to embody Jesus’ merciful, sacrificial love as I go about my day.

It is harder than I want to admit, however, to unite words and action after leaving Mass, as I get mired again in the school day and struggle to be present to the chorus of voices calling me to “Live Jesus.” I need constant reminding, which is why I am grateful for the season of Lent and for St. Paul’s urgent reminder on this first day that we are “ambassadors for Christ” – servant messengers called to spread the Good News by “living Jesus.”

But before I can be an ambassador sent out on mission, St. Paul reminds me that I must first be reconciled to God. Now is the acceptable time to prayerfully examine what attachments tempt me to turn away from Him and how I might reorient my gaze to Jesus’ sacrificial love on the cross to better imitate him. Our loving and merciful God hears us and helps us in this Lenten season, working together as one Body of Christ, to behold our salvation in Him.

In prayer for personal and communal reconciliation, I offer one of my favorite poems to reflect on during Lent:

Love III by George Herbert

Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back, Guilty of dust and sin.

But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack

From my first entrance in, Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning If I lacked anything.

"A guest," I answered, "worthy to be here":

Love said, "You shall be he."

"I, the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear, I cannot look on thee."

Love took my hand and smiling did reply, "Who made the eyes but I?"

"Truth, Lord; but I have marred them; let my shame

Go where it doth deserve."

"And know you not," says Love, "who bore the blame?"

"My dear, then I will serve."

"You must sit down," says Love, "and taste my meat."

So I did sit and eat.

Ash Wednesday

Gospel Reading Matthew 6: 1-6, 16-18

“[But] take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to others to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.

Reflection

By Nicole DiLorenzo

When I read this passage, I struggled at first to understand the difference between being private about our faith and being called to evangelize. We have been instructed to share our faith; however, Matthew makes it clear that “how” we do it matters.

When faith is genuine and comes from the heart, sharing it is more meaningful. However, when faith is put on display to gain attention, it loses its true purpose. We are warned against practicing faith in ways that seek attention. When religious practice becomes a performance, which we often see on television or social media, it loses its authenticity and its connection to God.

We are not meant to prove how holy we are, but instead, we are called to demonstrate our faith by the way we live, following Jesus’ example of living with humility and kindness.

We need to be reminded that true faith does not seek an audience, but a deeper relationship with God. When we exhibit humility and thoughtfulness in our beliefs, it draws in others, demonstrating that we are leading by example without calling attention to ourselves.

In my personal life, I try to demonstrate my faith in many of my everyday actions. I am not always perfect and certainly make mistakes, but when I do certain things, especially in front of students, I am hopeful they are watching or listening. If we were all kind to one another, this world would be a better place.

Reflective Prayer

God, give me the strength to live out my faith each day and the courage to share my beliefs with humility, so that others may be drawn closer to You.

The First Sunday of Lent First Reading

2: 7-9, 3: 1-7

Then the LORD God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. The LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God made grow every tree that was delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Now the snake was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the LORD God had made. He asked the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat from any of the trees in the garden’?” The woman answered the snake: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, or else you will die.’” But the snake said to the woman: “You certainly will not die! God knows well that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, who know good and evil.” The woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and the tree was desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

Reflection

By Katie Rice

How apropos that the First Reading of the First Sunday of Lent begins with temptation in the Garden of Eden and is followed by King David’s penitential psalm about cleansing and forgiveness.

Temptations are not created equal; some are easily preventable with a few, simple strategies. These are the mild, surface level desires for which avoidance is more of an inconvenience than a sacrifice. Other temptations, however, are so deep seated, so powerful, that abstaining demands much more deliberate, repetitive attention. These are the urges that, upon further reflection, are often rooted in fear, sadness, shame, feelings of inadequacy or any other mental distress.

Lent provides the opportunity to discover what provokes us to sin and indulge in behaviors that chip away at our wellbeing. Careful observation of our actions helps us recognize what our mind and body truly need versus what we’ve been habitually seeking. Nourishment, service to others and selfacceptance offer so much more than mindless, toxic consumption and self-centered, self-defeating thinking. We can then move towards the self-control that God asks of us, freeing us up to give of our time and resources to those in need.

My Lenten preparations include pausing and gently putting things in perspective. I vow to replace negativity-namely fear of failure and overwhelming ineptness-with gratitude and appreciation for my abundance of blessings. I seek a clean heart, light and refreshing, unburdened from a preoccupation with temptations that only serve to mask what my mind and body truly need. I also seek the fortitude to give back generously, for I have been given so much.

Lord, throughout this Lenten season, allow gratitude to fuel me in my quest to cleanse and reinvigorate my heart every day.

The First Sunday of Lent

Second Reading

Romans 5: 12-19

Therefore, just as through one person sin entered the world and through sin, death and thus death came to all, inasmuch as all sinned for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world, though sin is not accounted when there is no law. But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin after the pattern of the trespass of Adam, who is the type of the one who was to come. But the gift is not like the transgression. For if by that one person’s transgression the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one person Jesus Christ overflow for the many. And the gift is not like the result of the one person’s sinning. For after one sin there was the judgment that brought condemnation; but the gift, after many transgressions, brought acquittal. For if, by the transgression of one person, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of justification come to reign in life through the one person Jesus Christ. In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all. For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous.

Reflection

By Tania Slaton

The Church has always held that sin is not only personal, it is inherited. Adam, representing humanity, chose himself over God and that choice fractured the relationship that gave us life. That choice brought Death into the world, not only as a punishment, but as a consequence of separating ourselves from God.

Paul is careful to show that this condition touched everyone, even before the law was given. People suffered death even when they had no clear rule to break. This is because the problem runs deeper than individual acts, it is a wound in human nature. We are born into a world already marked by this rupture. Paul does not linger on Adam. He turns our eyes to Christ because Adam’s role is meant to be understood in light of Christ. Adam points ahead to what is coming. Adam disobeyed God and brought judgement. Christ obeyed the Father and brought life. The balance is not even. Grace does more than repair the damage. It overflows.

This is the heart of our Catholic understanding of salvation. We are not saved by perfect knowledge of the law; we are saved by a gift. Christ entered the human story and took on the weight of its sin. His freely offered obedience opened a new path for humanity.

Baptism joins us to this reality. We are no longer bound only to Adam. We are joined to Christ. Sin still exists and death still touches us, but they no longer reign in the same way. Grace now has the final word.

Paul invites us to choose where we stand. We can live as if sin defines us, or we can receive what has already been given. In Christ, life is not merely restored. It is transformed.

The First Sunday of Lent Gospel Reading

Matthew 4: 1-11

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” He said in reply, “It is written: ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you’ and ‘with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’” Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence, and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan! It is written: ‘The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.’” Then the devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him.

Reflection

By Lonnell Battle

Right after Jesus is baptized by John in the Jordan River and God proclaims him to be his Beloved Son, the Holy Spirit leads him to the nearby desert where he will encounter and be tempted by Satan. This raises an important question: Why does the Holy Spirit lead Jesus into this situation?

I do not think I have ever pondered that question in all the years I have heard this reading. I have always focused on Jesus’s victorious outcome in defeating Satan’s attempts to tempt him to sin. But on further inspection I find myself asking why was it necessary for Jesus, who is not capable of sin, to be tempted by the devil? What is the purpose?

First, according to what I read about this, Jesus as a human was truly tempted, as we all are at times, but Jesus could not sin because he has no sinful desires in his heart due to what theologians call his “impeccability.” As a result, Jesus resists all three temptations inflicted upon him by the devil and then the defeated devil leaves for now. Whereas Adam and Eve failed to resist temptation, and brought sin into the world, Jesus is victorious and will go on to save mankind from his sinfulness and lead us to eternal life with God.

These temptations also teach and warn us of the tactics Satan uses to tempt us to act against God’s will. He will tempt us through our physical desires such as hunger, our desires for possessions, power and control. However, God will always give us a way to resist the devil’s temptations. For example, as a human, Jesus was hungry after 40 days of fasting, and because he is God, he could have turned the stones into bread. The devil set him up to fail. But Jesus accepted His Father’s will, told the Devil man does not live by bread alone, and resisted the temptation. Jesus faced these temptations and had them recorded in the Gospels so that we can learn from his experience.

So now I see that Jesus was led into the desert by the Holy Spirit and tempted there by the Devil in part to show us how to resist the temptations put before us each day and to resist as best we can by following God’s will and Jesus’ example.

“Almighty and most Merciful God, graciously hearken unto our prayers; and free our hearts from the temptations of evil thoughts; that we may worthily become a fit habitation for Thy Holy Spirit.”

The Second Sunday of Lent First Reading Genesis 12: 1-4a

The LORD said to Abram: Go forth from your land, your relatives, and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will find blessing in you. Abram went as the LORD directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

Reflection

By Chris O’Hara

For so many of my early years, I longed for the opportunity to get out of Ohio and explore another part –any other part – of the world. The college search became the most obvious vehicle for making that a reality and I was excited to hop in the car earlier than most. I visited over 30 different schools as far west as Los Angeles, as far north as Syracuse, as far east as Boston, and as far south as Charleston. Even still, when it came time to actually leave, I got stuck. The more places I saw, the more challenging it became to choose just one. Ultimately, the deciding factor was one that made my parents, friends and even future college counseling-self cringe: a girl.

No, I unfortunately cannot say within this Lenten Reflection at the Catholic school where I work as a counselor that – like Abram – I had the ear or the faith to follow the direction of the Lord (or, at the very least, the guidance of my college counselor). Instead, I followed another divine being with a four-letter name starting with “L”: Leah. She wasn’t the sole factor that brought me to Loyola College of Maryland, but she was by far the biggest tiebreaker. I truly prayed that our collective move over the cornfields and through the woods to a future shared house, we would go. However, in the least surprising twist of a fairytale such as this, Leah and I had a falling out early on freshman year. Six years of close friendship and young-relationship that I felt were taking me – taking us – to our “Canaan” ended with her leaving my dorm in a Baltimore cab.

What I came to know in time, however, is that my future wife and the mother of my child(ren – because a new one is on the way!) was within that same dorm that I would’ve never found myself hurt in had I not made the objectively poor decision to choose my college for a different girl. The truth I learned early on – and that we all learn in one time and way or another – was that the destination didn’t look the way I thought it would without Leah, but it looked the way the much more important “L” knew it would. We are called to try and communicate similarly with the students we work with in the hope that they listen and make exciting discoveries – spiritual, personal, social, and academic – along the way. Establishing a personal relationship with students gives this the greatest chance of taking place as they may be more inclined to listen, but we can find solace in knowing that the Lord will remain in control and – to our human perspective – “correct” any unintended and/or undesirable outcomes we encounter.

Suscipe

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, All I have and call my own.

The Second Sunday of Lent Second Reading

2 Timothy 1: 8b-10

Beloved:

Bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God. He saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began, but now made manifest through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus, who destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

Reflection

By Cathlene Shearon

In this Second Letter to Timothy, we read the words of Saint Paul and how we are all called to a holy life and that God’s holy Law is for everyone, not just the good but mainly for the unruly. We are not ashamed of our testimony and example to Our Lord. This reminds me of an old saying that was to be a joke but it was true for most, “Do as I say, not as I do.” We cannot teach good behavior and preach to others about good behavior unless we also do it and believe in it ourselves. People will not follow rules unless the person saying it truly believes in it themselves.

Having laws and rules helps everyone to attain a holy life. For example, we have rules of the road. If I follow the rules of the road, it helps me to stay safe on them, but it is more important for those that are not following them. You cannot stay safe on the road if others are not doing the same. Getting pulled over for speeding or running a red light can save that driver’s life and others innocent people from a future accident. These road rules help all of us to stay safe. If I tell my child that is just learning to drive to make a complete stop at a stop sign, then I should do the same when I am driving with her in the car. Actions speak louder than words and will stay with the observer longer. So maybe the saying should be, “Do as I say, do as I do.”

I read once that obeying the law is ultimately about honoring God with intelligence, humility, and obedience. I found many good sayings in the Bible about following rules and obeying them.

“For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.” – Romans 2:13

“Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” – James 1:22 “He replied, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.'” – Luke 11:28

May we all not only hear the laws and rules of God but obey the Gospel so we all can live peacefully and enjoy the life God has left us.

The Second Sunday of Lent Gospel Reading

Matthew 17: 1-9

After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, “Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.

Reflection

By Stephen Crooker

Our spiritual journey of Lent continues as we hear the words of Saint Matthew describe the Transfiguration of Our Lord. Decades ago, I heard an amazing homily from Msgr. Stanley J. Krempa about this exact reading in Lent. His message in the sermon was how humanity wants to live in the highest moments of our lives; the great pinnacles of achievement, almost freezing the moment so it would never end. Peter, James and John felt this way. Our Lord was seen in all His glory, humanity and divinity combined. Adding to the moment, Moses and Elijah appear. Imagine what the disciples must have been thinking! The greatest of the Hebrew prophets and the law giver of Judaism before them alongside Jesus! Who would not want that moment to remain for a while, or even forever?!

However, Lent is a journey. Peaks in the mountains of our lives are reached. But they are fleeting, much like clouds on a beautiful spring day. Our Lord is with us in the peaks and the valleys; Msgr. Krempa reminded us of this point in his sermon. The same is very true today as well.

After the Resurrection and Ascension of Our Lord, these three Apostles shared their experience of the Transfiguration, fortifying others in the faith. This story is still shared today to strengthen us as we bear our own crosses. Recall, Our Lord was with them at this moment, just as He is for us all in Lent and always!

My Transfigured Lord, You promise suffering and death to all who follow You, but You also promise the hope that awaits those who endure. Grant me the grace to endure every cross in life, uniting my sufferings with Yours, so that I may one day partake in the glory of eternal life in Heaven. Jesus, I trust in You. Amen.

The Third Sunday of Lent First Reading

Exodus 17: 3-7

Here, then, in their thirst for water, the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “Why then did you bring us up out of Egypt? To have us die of thirst with our children and our livestock?” So Moses cried out to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? A little more and they will stone me!” The LORD answered Moses: Go on ahead of the people, and take along with you some of the elders of Israel, holding in your hand, as you go, the staff with which you struck the Nile. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb. Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink. Moses did this, in the sight of the elders of Israel. The place was named Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled there and tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD in our midst or not?

Reflection

By Megan Brown

The beginning of the Book of Exodus has God revealing Himself as the One who has heard the cries of His people that are suffering greatly at the hands of the Egyptians. At the burning bush, Moses encounters God and He is attentive and deeply cares about human suffering. God calls Moses by name, asks him to remove his sandals, and entrusts him with the mission of liberating the Israelites. Although they are in misery, God offers them hope in the form of Moses.

By Exodus chapter 17, however, the tone has shifted. The people who were once delivered now whine and complain. They wonder if God hears them or not as they face thirst in the wilderness. The God who revealed Himself in the burning bush is now doubted because of discomfort and fear. Instead of trusting God, the people test God. And God responds but with mercy bringing water from the rock.

The Book of Exodus mirrors our own lives especially during Lent. Often God feels close, faith feels strong, and our purpose feels clear. Every now and again, we all experience what the Israelites did in Exodus chapter 17. Our prayers go unanswered and God feels distant; faith is reduced to survival. Lent often brings us into that wilderness, exposing our impatience and our tendency to forget what God has already done.

Still, the same God is present in both moments. Lent reminds us that faith is not proven only in moments of revelation, but in moments of thirst. The question becomes not “Is God with us?” but “Will we trust God even when the answer does not come immediately?” As we journey through Lent, let us move from complaint to trust, from testing God to listening for God, and from fear back to faith remembering that even in the wilderness, God provides what we need to keep going.

The Third Sunday of Lent

Second Reading

Romans 5: 1-2, 5-8

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access [by faith] to this grace in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God. And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us. For Christ, while we were still helpless, yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly. Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

Reflection

By Gabby Baniqued

I have developed a habit of measuring everything lately.

If I spend money, I might calculate in my head how many hours I “worked” for it. If I burn a certain number of calories, I will calculate how many snacks I “earned”. If I invest a certain amount of time in a lesson plan or activity, I decide my students must meet a certain expectation for it to “pay off” or be “worth it”.

St. Paul’s letter to the Romans reminds me that Christ did not measure as I do. Jesus did not analyze my life, predict my potential, or calculate my worth to decide if I was worth dying for. Actually, what probably happened is that He already knew everything about me: every shortcoming, bad habit and sin. And even so, He loved us and gave His life for me. For all of us.

Lately, I have found my posture has not been quite aligned with Christ’s. I sometimes pause and wonder if my students are “worth” the extra time it takes to make a more interesting lesson, or if my advisees “deserve” me taking an extra trip to the grocery store, or if my roommates have “paid off” their debt to me when I did their dishes last week…

And while no one is (currently) asking me to literally die for anyone, these little sacrifices are the best opportunity I have to give my life for others, like Christ did for us. And I can either say no, and not be like Christ, or I can say yes, and I can follow Him in my little ways.

St. Augustine said, “The measure of love is to love without measure.” While the habit of measuring will be a tough one to unlearn, I am also reminded by St. Paul that I can “boast of [my] afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope. And hope does not disappoint.”

Prayer:

Jesus, please grant me the grace to love without counting the cost.

The Third Sunday of Lent Gospel Reading

John 4: 5-42

He had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” [The woman] said to him, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the well is deep; where then can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and come back.” The woman answered and said to him, “I do not have a husband.” Jesus answered her, “You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a husband.’ For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Anointed; when he comes, he will tell us everything.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking with you.” At that moment his disciples returned, and were amazed that he was talking with a woman, but still no one said, “What are you looking for?” or “Why are you talking with her?” The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people, “Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Messiah?” They went out of the town and came to him. Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” So the disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, ‘In four months the harvest will be here’? I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest. The reaper is already receiving his payment and gathering crops for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work.” Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me everything I have done.” When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. Many more began to believe in him because of his word, and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”

Reflection

By Paige Johnson

The story of the woman at the well in John, Chapter 4, is one that I have heard repeatedly since my Presbyterian childhood, when we were all given children’s Bibles in Sunday School. Every Sunday morning before the big service in the sanctuary, we went to some musty classrooms in the basement and sat by grade level on carpet squares while a well-meaning older lady (who was probably only forty) read to us and had us follow along in our brightly colored picture Bibles. I was either taught or I intuited that the woman at the well was an important story because Jesus spoke to a Samaritan, who was considered strange and different. The takeaway was that we should all be nice to everyone, even weirdos, and that’s pretty much how I’ve thought of it ever since.

But now, when I look at it through the eyes of a grown-up English teacher, there is so much to unpack that I can’t do it in three hundred words. I didn’t realize before that Jesus was revealing himself for one of the first times, to a person others might have deemed inappropriate, and in a way that transcended Jewish-ness in more ways than one. I didn’t realize that there is obvious contrast between the physical water and the spiritual water, and how clear Jesus is about the latter being the kind that never, ever leaves you thirsty. I didn’t realize how the woman is kind of awesome; she’s had an indecent number of husbands and is living in sin, but she gives Jesus a big “Yes,” like Mary did, becomes a Christian, and converts a bunch of people. I could even get all metaphoric about the well itself: dry at first but bearing fruit (water) deep down, made of bricks that are cured in fire, etc. But I won’t. (Partly because I may be picturing the well in Walnut Grove on Little House on the Prairie– maybe wells in first century Jerusalem looked a bit different.) When I look at it now, there are so many layers to this story; it is simplistic enough for anyone to understand, but deep and rich and complicated, and joyful, too. Like Catholicism itself.

The Fourth Sunday of Lent First Reading

1 Samuel: 16: 1b, 6-7, 10-13a

The LORD said to Samuel: How long will you grieve for Saul, whom I have rejected as king of Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and be on your way. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for from among his sons I have decided on a king. As they came, he looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the anointed is here before the LORD.” But the LORD said to Samuel: Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. God does not see as a mortal, who sees the appearance. The LORD looks into the heart. In the same way Jesse presented seven sons before Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen any one of these.” Then Samuel asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” Jesse replied, “There is still the youngest, but he is tending the sheep.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Send for him; we will not sit down to eat until he arrives here.” Jesse had the young man brought to them. He was ruddy, a youth with beautiful eyes, and good looking. The LORD said: There anoint him, for this is the one! Then Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand, anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and from that day on, the spirit of the LORD rushed upon David. Then Samuel set out for Ramah.

Reflection

By Paige Johnson

This story of God selecting David as the future King of Israel has such huge implications, but I think the best part is when God tells Samuel that, “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” This is a good thing for me to tell myself when I’m having a bad hair day forgetting to wear any makeup. But in a more important and real way, it is a good reminder that God’s choices are not always our choices, and that He uses unlikely heroes. When Samuel is upset about Saul’s failure, God basically encourages him to move on and trust Him. Years later, David defeated Goliath and became famous, served in the king’s court as a musician and then lived as a fugitive in the wilderness, and then became king himself. He captured Jerusalem and made it important, then brought the Arc of the Covenant to Jerusalem and led the people of Israel through a bunch of problems, and eventually he wrote the Psalm that is the Psalm for today, comparing God to the first thing he ever did and understood: a shepherd. We know that he wasn’t a perfect king and was far from a perfect man, but he was one of THE most pivotal and important figures in salvation history. God chose a flawed teenager to be a critical part of His plan. (I need to try to remember when I’m teaching flawed teenagers.) Through all of it, God shepherded David, never once giving up and picking someone “better.” It’s a reminder to have faith in ourselves and everyone in our lives, and trust that God sees what we can’t.

The Fourth Sunday of Lent Second Reading Ephesians 5: 8-14

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light, for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth. Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness; rather expose them, for it is shameful even to mention the things done by them in secret; but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it says: “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

Reflection

By Mary McAlevy

For as long as I can remember, I have been drawn to the water’s edge. From the babbling spring on my grandpa’s Ohio farm to the expansive view of the Potomac River, I’ve been spellbound by watching the shifting movement of water. My love for the ocean began in my adult years. I feel fortunate to have seen both coasts and witness sunrises and sunsets over each respective body of water. Standing on the beach on Hatteras Island, NC, I awaited the moment the sun’s rays would cross the horizon and fill the sky. Arriving about 30 minutes before sunrise, I was captivated by the play of colors already occurring on the clouds. How aware of God’s presence I became! In those moments, I felt insignificant – but not in a negative way. I felt humbled by the sheer immensity of God. Here I was, just one human, standing atop a seemingly infinite number of grains of sand. What an amazing connection I was experiencing between God, nature, and humanity.

Ephesians 5:8-14 brings me back to that feeling of connectivity. How are we called to “live as children of light”? As I looked out over the water that morning, I wasn’t distracted by the unexpected difficulties life brings every day. I gave no thought to yesterday or tomorrow – I was purely in the moment. In the light of dawn, I was witnessing “every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth.” What a beautiful reminder God gave me of His strength and calm. I felt part of something bigger and challenged myself to live in His light.

Lord, help me to see your light which shines continuously. When I feel you are hidden by the darkness of life’s circumstances, show me the way. May your light be a constant beacon of love and hope.

The Fourth Sunday of Lent Gospel Reading

John 9: 1-41

As he passed by he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him. We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, and said to him, “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed, and came back able to see. His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the one who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is,” but others said, “No, he just looks like him.” He said, “I am.” So they said to him, “[So] how were your eyes opened?” He replied, “The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went there and washed and was able to see.” And they said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I don’t know.” They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees. Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath. So then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.” So some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he does not keep the sabbath.” [But] others said, “How can a sinful man do such signs?” And there was a division among them. So they said to the blind man again, “What do you have to say about him, since he opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” Now the Jews did not believe that he had been blind and gained his sight until they summoned the parents of the one who had gained his sight. They asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How does he now see?” His parents answered and said, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. We do not know how he sees now, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is of age; he can speak for him self.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone acknowledged him as the Messiah, he would be expelled from the synagogue. For this reason his parents said, “He is of age; question him.” So a second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give God the praise! We know that this man is a sinner.” He replied, “If he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see.” So they said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?” They ridiculed him and said, “You are that man’s disciple; we are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this one is from.” The man answered and said to them, “This is what is so amazing, that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him. It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything.” They answered and said to him, “You were born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us?” Then they threw him out. When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered and said, “Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him and the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped him. Then Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not also blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.

Reflection

By Rebecca Vaccaro

Today’s Gospel presents us with a number of uncomfortable attitudes that, while it would be comforting to believe that they existed only in Jesus’s time, seem alive and well today. Take, for instance, the Jewish community’s belief that the man was blind due to sin, either his own or his parents’ (Jn 9: 2). Or, once he is healed, their move to embrace conspiratorial thinking (Jn 9: 18). Or the behavior of the blind man’s parents, who are (perhaps understandably) so afraid of being cast out of the community that they attempt to absolve themselves of responsibility for what has happened by deflecting the questioning back on their son (Jn 9: 22-23). Or the discomfort of the Jews with the idea of a miracle, a discomfort so profound that it first prompts his neighbors and people who had just seen the blind man healed to question if it is the same person (Jn 9: 8-9) and later to ridicule and discount his belief in Jesus as a prophet and cast him from the community (Jn 9: 28-29, 34).

How many of us engage in similar patterns of thinking about the events in our own lives? We’re wracked with guilt when something bad happens, searching for the ways in which we “earned” our suffering. We sit in judgement of others because they clearly must “deserve” whatever is happening to them. We require proof before we can believe, but we only accept certain kinds of proof. Even when faced directly with evidence of God’s Hand working in the world, we choose skepticism, perhaps because, if it turns out not to be true after all, we won’t be so disappointed, and we can keep some scrap of our pride. We profoundly fear rejection and its accompanying loneliness and so are willing to sacrifice belief for acceptance.

This Gospel reading for Laetare Sunday presents us with a challenge: Are we, like the blind man, willing to believe in a God whose healing presence works in our lives daily, but whom we have never seen before? If whole-hearted worship of God is a struggle for us right now, can we at least be like the portion of Pharisees following Jesus who seek some revelation amidst their blindness and sin (Jn 9: 4041)? Or will we choose to be like the larger Jewish community, so cynical and afraid that the best we can do when faced with the miracle of belief is rejection and distancing?

Let us pray: Lord, help us to be like the blind man, imperfect, yes, but always striving the recognize You when we encounter You, even if it means that others misunderstand or outright reject us. And, if that happens, help us to continue to believe. Amen.

The Fifth Sunday of Lent

First Reading

Ezekiel 37: 12-14

Therefore, prophesy and say to them: Thus says the Lord GOD: Look! I am going to open your graves; I will make you come up out of your graves, my people, and bring you back to the land of Israel. You shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and make you come up out of them, my people! I will put my spirit in you that you may come to life, and I will settle you in your land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD. I have spoken; I will do it oracle of the LORD.

Reflection

By Jeanne Bliss

In this week’s reading from Ezekiel, God promises to “...open your graves and make you come up out of them…I will put my spirit in you that you may come to life, and I will settle you in your land”.

This passage reminds us that with God’s spirit in us we will “come to life”. Indeed, we are not fully alive without Him. Yes, we can still be of service, we can still show up for life, but we are not fully who God wants us to be unless we set aside our own desires and egos that we might welcome God’s spirit into us. Hence the precious Sacrament of the Eucharist - that taking in of God, that union with Him who brings us hope, who calms our fears, who envelops us in His love when our hearts are broken, aching, or heavy with sadness.

With God - with His spirit in us - we are in our land.

The Responsorial Psalm reminds us to look for the Lord “...more than sentinels for daybreak,” that we might receive His Grace, His love, His mercy.

Prayer: Lord, may we always look for you, may we receive you and welcome your spirit in us that we can be fully who you have created us to be. Amen.

The Fifth Sunday of Lent Second Reading

Romans 8: 8-11

And those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness. If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you.

Reflection

By Kathleen McNutt

St. Paul reminds us that “the Spirit of God dwells in you.” In a Catholic school, this truth is seen every day. The Spirit is present in our classrooms, our hallways, our practices, our holy imagery, our prayers, and even in the ordinary moments that make up the school day. In the Salesian spirit of St. Francis de Sales, holiness is not found only in big achievements and awards but in the quiet faithfulness of daily responsibilities carried out with patience, gentleness, and love.

For students (and really, for each one of us!), understanding how to live the Holy Spirit within can seem confusing, and yet, living in the Spirit can mean choosing integrity when no one is watching, encouraging a family member, classmate or colleague who feels unseen, or offering your best effort even when things feel difficult. It can mean taking a moment to pray about something we’re struggling with or thanking God when something positive happens during the day. For faculty and staff, it means teaching and leading with hope, seeing each young person as a soul entrusted to our care. For families, it can be felt through prayer for one another and through our partnership in faith trusting that education is not only about success, but about forming hearts centered on Christ.

Paul tells us that the Spirit who raised Jesus gives life to us now. That life is visible throughout our community and through our care for our neighbor at all stages and in all places. Salesian spirituality reminds us that God’s grace is life giving and grows gently, often through small acts done consistently. Every respectful word, every moment of prayer, every act of service becomes a place where the Spirit brings new life. The Spirit of God lives within us guiding our learning, shaping our character and encouraging us to feel Christ’s love. What a gift!

The Fifth Sunday of Lent Gospel Reading

John 11: 1-45

Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill. So the sisters sent word to him, saying, “Master, the one you love is ill.” When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was. Then after this he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in a day? If one walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” He said this, and then told them, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him.” So the disciples said to him, “Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved.” But Jesus was talking about his death, while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep. So then Jesus said to them clearly, “Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him.” So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go to die with him.” When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away. And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. [But] even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” l She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, “The teacher is here and is asking for you.” As soon as she heard this, she rose quickly and went to him. For Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still where Martha had met him. So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Sir, come and see.” And Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him.” But some of them said, “Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?” So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him, “Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.” And when he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.” Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.

Reflection

By Molly McGraw

I went to dinner with a friend from high school over the summer, and as we chatted, she began to rehash a story from our time growing up. As she shared the details, I said, “Wow, I do not remember this at all… Where was I?” and she responded that I was standing right next to her the whole time. I have these moments a lot; in fact, I tell my students that there are whole stretches of high school that I don’t remember.

Because of this, when students come into my room stressed out, worried that so-and-so didn’t sit with them today at lunch or they failed the math quiz they just took or their coach isn’t going to start them in the next game, I often say, “You won’t even remember this in a year… all will be well.”

But beyond the trivialities of high school, our students face great challenges in their personal lives–parents deployed for the third time, multiple moves across the country, hidden battles against unseen illnesses–these experiences, unlike the more surface- level dramas of a high school student, are harder to brush off. Many of us know from our life experience, that even these challenges are for our students in some way, but it feels inappropriate, even inhuman, to respond to their trials with a simple, “Seek what is for you in this place.”

Christ entered into reality to 1. Bring the Father to us and 2. Help us to become more ourselves, to show us how to be more human. Today’s Gospel is most instructive for me when facing life’s circumstances with my family, friends, and students. When Martha came out to meet Christ, he responded clearly that her “brother [would] rise”, and he spoke with authority. However, many verses later, upon seeing Martha “weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping”, he became “perturbed and deeply troubled” and “wept.” What a moment of education for us in our own humanity. Christ is confident that Lazarus will rise (so is Martha), but instead of brushing aside their grief, he is moved. He chooses to enter into their sadness. He chooses to be with them in their tears.

What I glean from this is that I’m called to do the same with the people in my life. I desire to walk with great confidence in the fact that Christ reaches you, me, and our students through the particularities of our lives, and I want to enter into these particularities as Christ does in this scene with his friends, with both trust in the Father as well as brotherly love.

Palm Sunday First Reading

Isaiah 50: 4-7

The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue, That I might know how to answer the weary a word that will waken them. Morning after morning he wakens my ear to hear as disciples do; The Lord GOD opened my ear; I did not refuse, did not turn away. I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who tore out my beard; My face I did not hide from insults and spitting. The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; Therefore I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.

Reflection

By Ryan Fannon

There are so many powerful messages in this reading on Palm Sunday that reminds us of Jesus’s suffering and death and resurrection to come throughout Holy Week. It begins with a well-trained tongue that God has given us yet that does not happen overnight. It is developed through our life to be able to use our tongue to do good and provide for the weary as Jesus did during his life. When life’s challenges and burdens and loss of hope can take over from time to time, this is when we must look to Christ and see his strength and resiliency and use our tongue to build up the weary around us and give hope to others just like Jesus did. And when we feel hopelessness ourselves, we need to rely on our family, friends, and the BI community to build us back up. This perspective and knowledge can only come when we put our full faith in God and ask for that divine perspective.

“The Lord God opened my ear: I did not refuse, did not turn away”, is profound in the strength that the servant must have to follow the calling God gives us. When times are really hard and it’s so easy to not stay the course of Christ when facing true adversity, we must trust in God that he will give us everything we need to stay obedient.

The ultimate human challenge of the line in the reading “I gave my back to those who beat me”; is to go through suffering and mockery yet still submit to Jesus in a way that glorifies him under the toughest human conditions.

The final part of the reading is about trust and determination in the line “The Lord GOD is my help; therefore I am not disgraced; therefore, I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.” The servant having his face like flint says clearly that complete resolve has taken over and the servant will not be put to shame no matter what obstacles arrive.

For all the lessons learned in this reading we pray and thank you God for guiding our hearts that although we will never understand true sacrifice and suffering like Jesus went through in his earthly life, but we can overcome more hardship and obstacles in our life than we can ever imagine possible if we draw strength from the one that created us. Please God gives us the strength to overcome our earthly obstacles and serve others so the day we meet you in Heaven we can stand before you with an honest heart and ultimate love of you and be reunited with you and our loved ones in Heaven for all eternity. Amen.

Palm Sunday Second Reading Philippians 2: 6-11

Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Reflection

By Chris Gilliland

This Scripture passage from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Philippians presents a model for how Christians are called to live. Jesus does not cling to status or privilege. Instead of holding on to power, he chooses to enter fully into human life, accepting its limits and vulnerabilities.

The idea of Christ “emptying himself” speaks to a choice to serve rather than dominate. By becoming a servant, Jesus shows that greatness is found not in being above others, but in standing with them. His humility is not passive; it is active and intentional, expressed through obedience and faithfulness, even when that path leads to suffering.

The obedience described is grounded in God’s purpose and trust that love, lived consistently, has meaning even when it carries a cost. Jesus’ willingness to accept death underscores the depth of that commitment.

Because of this, God exalts him. Not as a reward for suffering, but as confirmation that this way of living is true and life-giving. The recognition of Jesus as Lord becomes a shared acknowledgment that humility, service, and self-giving love reflect the heart of God.

For us, this passage invites reflection on how we approach power, recognition, and control in our own lives. It challenges us to let go of the need to grasp or prove ourselves and instead choose faithfulness in the ordinary, often unseen moments of service.

Lord Jesus, help us to let go of pride and the need for control. Teach us to live with humility, to serve with sincerity, and to trust that faithfulness in small things matters. May our lives reflect your love in simple, honest ways. Amen.

14 – 27: 66

Then one of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The teacher says, “My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.”’” The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover. When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, “Surely it is not I, Lord?” He said in reply, “He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.” Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” He answered, “You have said so.” While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, from now on I shall not drink this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father.” Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, “This night all of you will have your faith in me shaken, for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be dispersed’; but after I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee.” Peter said to him in reply, “Though all may have their faith in you shaken, mine will never be.” Jesus said to him, “Amen, I say to you, this very night before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” Peter said to him, “Even though I should have to die with you, I will not deny you.” And all the disciples spoke likewise.

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to feel sorrow and distress. Then he said to them, “My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch with me.” He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will.” When he returned to his disciples he found t hem asleep. He said to Peter, “So you could not keep watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Withdrawing a second time, he prayed again, “My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!” Then he returned once more and found them asleep, for they could not keep their eyes open. He left them and withdrew again and prayed a third time, saying the same thing again. Then he returned to his disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand when the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners. Get up, let us go. Look, my betrayer is at hand.”

While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived, accompanied by a large crowd, with swords and clubs, who had come from the chief priests and the elders of the people. His betrayer had arranged a sign with them, saying, “The man I shall kiss is the one; arrest him.” Immediately he went over to Jesus and said, “Hail, Rabbi!” and he kissed him. Jesus answered him, “Friend, do what you have come for.” Then stepping forward they laid hands on Jesus and arrested him. And behold, one of those who accompanied Jesus put his hand to his sword, drew it, and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its sheath, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot call upon my Father and he will not provide me at this moment with more than twelve legions of angels? But then how would the scriptures be fulfilled which say that it must come to pass in this way?” At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to seize me? Day after day I sat

teaching in the temple area, yet you did not arrest me. But all this has come to pass that the writings of the prophets may be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled.

Those who had arrested Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. Peter was following him at a distance as far as the high priest’s courtyard, and going inside he sat down with the servants to see the outcome. The chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus in order to put him to death, a but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally two came forward who stated, “This man said, ‘I can destroy the temple of God and within three days rebuild it.’” The high priest rose and addressed him, “Have you no answer? What are these men testifying against you?” But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest said to him, “I order you to tell us under oath before the living God whether you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “You have said so. But I tell you: From now on you will see ‘the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power’ and ‘coming on the clouds of heaven.’” Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! What further need have we of witnesses? You have now heard the blasphemy; what is your opinion?” They said in reply, “He deserves to die!” Then they spat in his face and struck him, while some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy for us, Messiah: who is it that struck you?”

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. One of the maids came over to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.” But he denied it in front of everyone, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about!” As he went out to the gate, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazorean.” Again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man!” A little later the bystanders came over and said to Peter, “Surely you too are one of them; even your speech gives you away.” At that he began to curse and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately a cock crowed. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken: “Before the cock crows you will deny me three times.” He went out and began to weep bitterly.

When it was morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate, the governor. Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that Jesus had been condemned, deeply regretted what he had done. He returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned in betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? Look to it yourself.” Flinging the money into the temple, he departed and went off and hanged himself. The chief priests gathered up the money, but said, “It is not lawful to deposit this in the temple treasury, for it is the price of blood.” After consultation, they used it to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. That is why that field even today is called the Field of Blood. Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of a man with a price on his head, a price set by some of the Israelites, and they paid it out for the potter’s field just as the Lord had commanded me.”

Now Jesus stood before the governor, and he questioned him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You say so.” And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he made no answer. Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they are testifying against you?” But he did not answer him one word, so that the governor was greatly amazed.

Now on the occasion of the feast the governor was accustomed to release to the crowd one prisoner whom they wished. And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called [Jesus] Barabbas. So when they had assembled, Pilate said to them, “Which one do you want me to release to you, [Jesus] Barabbas, or Jesus called Messiah?” For he knew that it was out of envy that they had handed him over. While he was still seated on the bench, his wife sent him a message, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man. I suffered much in a dream today because of him.” The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas but to destroy Jesus. The governor said to them in reply, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” They answered, “Barabbas!” Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus called Messiah?” They all

said, “Let him be crucified!” But he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” They only shouted the louder, “Let him be crucified!” When Pilate saw that he was not succeeding at all, but that a riot was breaking out instead, he took water and washed his hands in the sight of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. Look to it yourselves.” And the whole people said in reply, “His blood be upon us and upon our children.” Then he released Barabbas to them, but after he had Jesus scourged, he handed him over to be crucified.

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus inside the praetorium and gathered the whole cohort around him. They stripped off his clothes and threw a scarlet military cloak about him. Weaving a crown out of thorns, they placed it on his head, and a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat upon him and took the reed and kept striking him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him off to crucify him. As they were going out, they met a Cyrenian named Simon; this man they pressed into service to carry his cross.

And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of the Skull), they gave Jesus wine to drink mixed with gall. But when he had tasted it, he refused to drink. After they had crucified him, they divided his garments by casting lots; then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And they placed over his head the written charge against him: This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Two revolutionaries were crucified with him, one on his right and the other on his left. Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, if you are the Son of God, [and] come down from the cross!” Likewise the chief priests with the scribes and elders mocked him and said, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. So he is the king of Israel! Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now if he wants him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” The revolutionaries who were crucified with him also kept abusing him in the same way.

From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Some of the bystanders who heard it said, “This one is calling for Elijah.” Immediately one of them ran to get a sponge; he soaked it in wine, and putting it on a reed, gave it to him to drink. But the rest said, “Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to save him.” But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, and gave up his spirit. And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, rocks were split, tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many. The centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesus feared greatly when they saw the earthquake and all that was happening, and they said, “Truly, this was the Son of God!” There were many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him. Among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who was himself a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be handed over. Taking the body, Joseph wrapped it [in] clean linen and laid it in his new tomb that he had hewn in the rock. Then he rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the tomb and departed. But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remained sitting there, facing the tomb. The next day, the one following the day of prep aration, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember that this impostor while still alive said, ‘After three days I will be raised up.’ Give orders, then, that the grave be secured until the third day, lest his disciples come and steal him and say to the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead.’ This last imposture would be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “The guard is yours; go secure it as best you can.” So they went and secured the tomb by fixing a seal to the stone and setting the guard.

Reflection

By Father Joe Moschetto

There is a great poverty in our Lord’s Passion. A poverty that is the pathway to love and freedom. Our Lord undergoes not only a physical poverty, but an emotional and spiritual one as well. He is bound, physically stripped of his clothes, crowned with thorns, forced to bear the heavy burden of the cross, his hands and feet are pierced, his side thrust through with a lance, spat upon and jeered at. He is deprived of any physical comfort and consolation. But this does not compare to what he endures interiorly, psychologically. He is not granted any justice, his friends desert him, Judas betrays him, Peter even denies and betrays him after swearing he never would, he is mocked and his human reputation marred, his credibility in the eyes of many is destroyed, he is completely humiliated by any human standard. Even those who stood by him at the Cross must be let go of in death. What great poverty. And yet, what tremendous freedom He demonstrates. If love necessitated the loss of all worldly affections and consolations, Christ’s love was so perfect, that no earthly attachment held him bound and unable to make that act of love. This is the mystery of love and detachment, the mystery of the love of the Cross. To care for and love so deeply those that have been entrusted to you, that you are willing to endure the greatest poverty to attain for them what is their good. This is the love Christ has for the Father, and for us. It is the love we are invited into and to imitate. Our endeavor must be to order our affections such that our hearts will stop at nothing to work for the good pleasure of Our Lord. May we enter this Holy Week resolved to walk with Jesus in his passion, to learn from his example, and to drink deeply of the mystery of His love.

Spy Wednesday Reflection

By Stephen Crooker

The spiritual journey of Lent is rapidly some to an end. The most profound events of Holy Week await us with the Last Supper, the arrest of Our Lord followed by His trial and execution. Today, the Catholic Church marks two major moments. First, the holy Passover and its preparation to become what is known as the Last Supper. Second, another sinister plan is underway on this day. This evil is rooted within greed, sin, and ego. This is the day when Judas Iscariot sought out the moment and opportunity to turn from follower and disciple to a traitor. A generous cash reward was offered to Judas for the now legendary thirty pieces of silver. As did Adam, Judas will turn away from the divine plan. Judas, like Adam, embraced the false message of worldly desire. Jesus will be victorious over sin. For today, however, we note Judas’ moment as found and implemented for betrayal. Our Lord’s great statement to “Get away, Satan!” is our rally and call too this day as we begin to close our Lenten journey. Get away from sin! Get away from division! Get away from lying! Follow the Lord into the Tridium this year. Walk with Him and know that your journey is not one that is made alone.

God of goodness and mercy, hear my prayer as I begin this Lenten journey with you. Let me be honest with myself as I investigate my heart and soul, noticing the times I turn away from you. Guide me as I humbly seek to repent and return to your love.

Holy Thursday

First Reading

Exodus 12: 1-8, 12-14

The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: This month will stand at the head of your calendar; you will reckon it the first month of the year. Tell the whole community of Israel: On the tenth of this month every family must procure for itself a lamb, one apiece for each household. If a household is too small for a lamb, it along with its nearest neighbor will procure one, and apportion the lamb’s cost in proportion to the number of persons, according to what each household consumes. Your lamb must be a year-old male and without blemish. You may take it from either the sheep or the goats. You will keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, and then, with the whole community of Israel assembled, it will be slaughtered during the evening twilight. They will take some of its blood and apply it to the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They will consume its meat that same night, eating it roasted with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. For on this same night I will go through Egypt, striking down every firstborn in the land, human being and beast alike, and executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt I, the LORD! But for you the blood will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will pass over you; thereby, when I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive blow will come upon you. This day will be a day of remembrance for you, which your future generations will celebrate with pilgrimage to the LORD; you will celebrate it as a statute forever.

Reflection

By Joseph Jacobeen

Do you know what happened on February 25, 2019, August 1, 2024 and December 26 , 2024? For most people, these dates probably do not mean much. But for me, each date marked a major change in how I view my life. 14th of Nisan was that date for the Hebrews the day they went from being literal slaves to being set free from Egypt. It was such a big deal, that the Jews remember the event yearly in the Passover celebration. For the Hebrews, “to remember” was not merely a calling to mind, like looking nostalgically at an old photo. To remember the Passover meant, yes, a reminder of what God did, but also an asking for God’s covenantal love to be present again. In the liturgy of the Passover meal, someone asks, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” It is not “Why was that night different?” Passover is not merely a past event, but a present moment for the Hebrews. The same is true for our celebration of the Eucharist. It is no coincidence that Jesus celebrated the Passover meal the night before he died, where Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body.” In the Mass, we do not merely remember what Jesus did. In the Eucharist, Jesus’ Passion, Death, and Resurrection are made present again to us! So, is there a date or an event where you remember what God has done for you? Will Easter this year (April 5, 2026) be a moment of encounter with God that changes you? Let us ask for the grace to realize in every Mass that Jesus is present again for us, giving himself to us and for us.

Holy Thursday

Second Reading

1 Corinthians 11: 23-26

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

Reflection

By Courtney Foster

Our One Book, One School selection for this year, Robin Sloan’s Sourdough, begins with Lois Clary working at a robotics company, one of whose central maxims is “repetition belongs to robots.” Their machines are meant to take over monotonous tasks from humans, freeing them up to do more meaningful, creative things. But as Lois learns over the course of the novel, and as this reading from St. Paul reminds us, a lack of meaning has nothing to do with repetition. It has to do with a lack of love.

The motives behind our actions make the difference between a mechanical task and a meaningful deed. St. Therese of Lisieux once observed that you can “…pick up a pin from a motive of love, and you may thereby convert a soul.” Mundane jobs can seem Sisyphean in their need to be repeated daily, but when looked at from this perspective, they are means by which we can draw closer to God and to our fellow man.

On the other hand, without the proper disposition of love, we can cut ourselves off from the sacred. Writing to the Church in Corinth, St. Paul is speaking to a community of Christians for whom the Eucharist has become a matter of routine, so much so that it has been subsumed into something of a communal buffet among them. He is not telling them anything new here. Indeed, his correction is itself an ode to repetition. He reiterates the lessons he taught when he was with them. He quotes the words of Christ at the Last Supper, “Do this in remembrance of me.” And he concludes by reminding them what they are meant to remember: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.”

The Corinthians had understood what they were supposed to do: eat this bread, drink this cup. But they had forgotten why they were supposed to do it. The remembrance they (and we) are called to is not simply one of fond recollection, but of an active witness to Christ’s love for us, manifested in his life, death, and resurrection. May we always hold on to that love and never allow the mechanics of worship overshadow its meaning.

Holy Thursday

Gospel Reading

John 13: 1-15

Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end. The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over. So, during supper, fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Master, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.” Jesus said to him, “Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for he is clean all over; so you are clean, but not all.” For he knew who would betray him; for this reason, he said, “Not all of you are clean.” So when he had washed their feet [and] put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.

Reflection

By Betty Loia

When Peter says to Jesus, “You will never wash my feet”(John 13:8), don’t we all sympathize with him? A number of years ago, when we were still in New Jersey, I was asked if I would be on the altar to have my feet washed at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday. Our pastor, Monsignor Fallon, at age 84 had returned from retirement to act as the interim parochial vicar that spring. Fr. Fallon was my husband’s childhood pastor and he was on the altar for our wedding. He had served at St. Virgil’s for over 40 years. And yet there he was, washing my feet. I felt viscerally a little like Peter at that moment. It was beyond humbling and cut right to humiliating. I could certainly agree with Jesus’ explanation that “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later” (Jn13:7). It was not just that Jesus, the Master, was serving him, it was also that Peter was letting Jesus do something for him that he would prefer to do himself. Further, he is exposing something we might consider distasteful to view, his dirty feet. He may have preferred to keep them tucked away under his robe. Jesus’ final answer to Peter’s objections was, “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me” (v.8). He had to let Jesus serve him. In the washing of the feet we see not just an image of baptism, but a prefiguring of Jesus’ sacrificial death for us. He has to serve them this way, by humbling himself to first touch the disciples’ dirty feet and then to die for them. Wouldn’t we really just like to clean up our own feet? Don’t we really want to save ourselves in many ways? Peter himself, later that evening, tried to “save” Jesus by attacking the high priest’s servant. Of course, he only left a mess that Jesus had to fix. Jesus left his disciples this model saying, “If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet” (v.14). He left the Church to continue his mission to save us through service and the sacraments. We cannot save ourselves and we don’t need to try, but must humbly allow our Lord to do so, responding in obedience to Him. He left his apostles to carry on his mission. Thank you, Lord, for continuing to serve us through the ministry of your priests and to save us through your presence in the Eucharist.

Good Friday

First Reading

Isaiah 52: 13 – 53: 12

See, my servant shall prosper, he shall be raised high and greatly exalted. Even as many were amazed at him so marred were his features, beyond that of mortals his appearance, beyond that of human beings So shall he startle many nations, kings shall stand speechless; For those who have not been told shall see, those who have not heard shall ponder it. Who would believe what we have heard? To whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up like a sapling before him, like a shoot from the parched earth; He had no majestic bearing to catch our eye, no beauty to draw us to him. He was spurned and avoided by men, a man of suffering, knowing pain, Like one from whom you turn your face, spurned, and we held him in no esteem. Yet it was our pain that he bore, our sufferings he endured. We thought of him as stricken, struck down by God and afflicted, But he was pierced for our sins, crushed for our iniquity. He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by his wounds we were healed. We had all gone astray like sheep, all following our own way; But the LORD laid upon him the guilt of us all. Though harshly treated, he submitted and did not open his mouth; Like a lamb led to slaughter or a sheep silent before shearers, he did not open his mouth. Seized and condemned, he was taken away. Who would have thought any more of his destiny? For he was cut off from the land of the living, struck for the sins of his people. He was given a grave among the wicked, a burial place with evildoers, Though he had done no wrong, nor was deceit found in his mouth. But it was the LORD’s will to crush him with pain. By making his life as a reparation offering, he shall see his offspring, shall lengthen his days, and the LORD’s will shall be accomplished through him. Because of his anguish he shall see the light; because of his knowledge he shall be content; My servant, the just one, shall justify the many, their iniquity he shall bear. Therefore I will give him his portion among the many, and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty, Because he surrendered himself to death, was counted among the transgressors, Bore the sins of many, and interceded for the transgressors.

Reflection

By Gina Garcia

Good Friday is the culmination of Christ’s passion, suffering, crucifixion and the day on which we commemorate His death on the cross. It is easy and convenient to see the events of Good Friday as historical, as something that the Romans and the Jews did to Jesus. But what our faith reveals to us is the inconvenient and sad truth that we are the ones who through our sin have participated in this gruesome event. “We had gone astray like sheep, each following his own way;...” At once we should feel deep sorrow and regret for our sins, we must also feel great gratitude, “… but the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all.” It is because of Christ’s death that we are redeemed.

Saint Pio often said that “if a soul knew the meaning of suffering, he would ask for it.” While it is difficult to imagine that one would ask God for suffering, we all know that suffering is a part of life and that sooner or later we will all be given a chance to bear a cross. How will we bear our cross? This determines how deeply we allow the redemptive value of suffering to be applied to our lives. If we can bear our cross patiently, and if we can accept our cross-asking God to help us to carry it, we have begun to understand suffering’s redemptive value. If we can embrace the cross with forgiveness, with resignation, we are allowing Christ’s passion and death not to have been in vain. If we cannot find joy in the cross, we must bear, may we at least find hope in God’s allowing us to carry it and gratitude for the opportunity to unite our suffering with Christ.

If the first reading is focused on Jesus’ passion and death, His innocence and willingness to do God’s will to die for our sins, this psalm is an invitation for us to accept and embrace God’s will in all things. Father, into your hands I commend my Spirit.” These are the last words of Jesus to the Father, words that signify the total surrender and trust in God. The words throughout the psalm reiterate this abandonment of one’s own will to the trust in God’s will where we find total peace. “In you, O Lord, I take refuge.” At the very moment of Jesus’ death on the cross, He is alone with nobody to help him. His mother stood sorrowful at the foot of that cross, and of all of Jesus’ apostles, only one, John stood there in support as the others had all fled. How often in difficult times we can feel alone and that everyone whom we thought were our friends seem to disappear? And what of those situations where no human can help us, no one can sustain us or help us except God. As difficult as these moments in life may feel, there is a comfort in knowing that our God will never leave us; we will never be completely abandoned so long as we cling to Him. And once we have surrendered our will to him and placed all of our faith and trust in Him, there is an overwhelming sense of peace even in the midst of grief. May we always seek to do the will of God and to surrender our own wills to His.

Good Friday

Second Reading

Hebrews 4: 14-16; 5: 7-9

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help. In the days when he was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

Reflection

By Tom Cogliano

DEUS CARITAS EST! God is love! That three-word sentence is one of the simplest and yet most powerful verbiages ever written in Catholicism. As the author writes in this reading, Jesus is the “high priest”. Through his compassion and sacrifice, he conquered death and prepared the Way for mankind to inherit eternal bliss.

So much is made nowadays in the world to become “Christ-like”. In the simplest language, what is the best way to become “Christ-like”? The answer is love. The title of this reflection is convenient because it is the same title as Pope Benedict XVI’s first papal encyclical, which he wrote in 2005. In that document, the Pope wrote, “Seeing with the eyes of Christ, I can give to others much more than their outward necessities; I can give them the look of love which they crave.” Love indeed conquers all (angst, hate, stress, fear and resentment).

I recall a lyric from the country singer Allan Jackson in his “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning”, a song written in the sorrowful aftermath of the 9/11 Terrorist attack that killed thousands of Americans. This lyric could have come from this Biblical passage or from Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical. In a part of the song where Jackson invokes God, he sings “Faith, Hope, and Love are some good things He gave us, but the greatest is love.”

To bring this back full circle, the author reminds all readers that the compassion and sacrifice of Jesus marked the paradigm shift in humanity’s interaction with God. This shift came not from swords, weapons, armies, or wars…but from the simple act of love. Embracing this virtue will, to paraphrase St. Paul in a later quote of his, succeed in allowing you to fight the good fight, to finish the race, and to keep the faith.

Friday Gospel Reading John 18: 1 – 19: 42

When he had said this, Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to where there was a garden, into which he and his disciples entered. Judas his betrayer also knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So Judas got a band of soldiers and guards from the chief priests and the Pharisees and went there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him, went out and said to them, “Whom are you looking for?” They answered him, “Jesus the Nazorean.” He said to them, “I AM.” Judas his betrayer was also with them. When he said to them, “I AM,” they turned away and fell to the ground. So he again asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” They said, “Jesus the Nazorean.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I AM. So if you are looking for me, let these men go.” This was to fulfill what he had said, “I have not lost any of those you gave me.” Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus. Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its scabbard. Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?” So the band of soldiers, the tribune, and the Jewish guards seized Jesus, bound him, and brought him to Annas first. He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had counseled the Jews that it was better that one man should die rather than the people.

Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Now the other disciple was known to the high priest, and he entered the courtyard of the high priest with Jesus. But Peter stood at the gate outside. So the other disciple, the acquaintance of the high priest, went out and spoke to the gatekeeper and brought Peter in. Then the maid who was the gatekeeper said to Peter, “You are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” Now the slaves and the guards were standing around a charcoal fire that they had made, because it was cold, and were warming themselves. Peter was also standing there keeping warm.

The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his doctrine. Jesus answered him, “I have spoken publicly to the world. I have always taught in a synagogue or in the temple area where all the Jews gather, and in secret I have said nothing. Why ask me? Ask those who heard me what I said to them. They know what I said.” When he had said this, one of the temple guards standing there struck Jesus and said, “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong; but if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?” Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

Now Simon Peter was standing there keeping warm. And they said to him, “You are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?” Again Peter denied it. And immediately the cock crowed.

Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium. It was morning. And they themselves did not enter the praetorium, in order not to be defiled so that they could eat the Passover. So Pilate came out to them and said, “What charge do you bring [against] this man?” They answered and said to him, “If he were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” At this, Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law.” The Jews answered him, “We do not have the right to execute anyone,” in order that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled that he said indicating the kind of

death he would die. So Pilate went back into the praetorium and summoned Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?” Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants [would] be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.” So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” When he had said this, he again went out to the Jews and said to them, “I find no guilt in him. But you have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at Passover. Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” They cried out again, “Not this one but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged. And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head, and clothed him in a purple cloak, and they came to him and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck him repeatedly. Once more Pilate went out and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you, so that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak. And he said to them, “Behold, the man!” When the chief priests and the guards saw him they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him. I find no guilt in him.” The Jews answered, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.” Now when Pilate heard this statement, he became even more afraid, and went back into the praetorium and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?”

Jesus did not answer him. So Pilate said to him, “Do you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you and I have power to crucify you?” Jesus answered [him], “You would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above. For this reason the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.” Consequently, Pilate tried to release him; but the Jews cried out, “If you release him, you are not a Friend of Caesar. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” When Pilate heard these words he brought Jesus out and seated him on the judge’s bench in the place called Stone Pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha. It was preparation day for Passover, and it was about noon. And he said to the Jews, “Behold, your king!” They cried out, “Take him away, take him away! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your king?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.

So they took Jesus, and carrying the cross himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.” Now many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that he said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares, a share for each soldier. They also took his tunic, but the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top down. So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it will be,” in order that the passage of scripture might be fulfilled [that says]: “They divided my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots.” This is what the soldiers did. Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I thirst.” There was a vessel filled with common wine. So

they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.

Now since it was preparation day, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath, for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken and they be taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out. An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true; he knows that he is speaking the truth, so that you also may [come to] believe. For this happened so that the scripture passage might be fulfilled: “Not a bone of it will be broken.” And again another passage says: “They will look upon him whom they have pierced.”

After this, Joseph of Arimathea, secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. And Pilate permitted it. So he came and took his body. Nicodemus, the one who had first come to him at night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about one hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom. Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garde n, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried. So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day; for the tomb was close by.

Reflection

By Mike Rauer

Good Friday is perhaps the only day of the Catholic Church calendar that points out in great detail all of the suffering that Our Blessed Lord endured at the conclusion of His earthly sojourn. On this day we see that the Lord sets a great example for us to follow, reminding us that we can endure suffering to achieve a greater glory.

In year’s past, my students would on occasion joke with me that at times in the academic year I had become a “cross” for them as they navigated the challenges of our rigorous course of study. I would always assure them that it was certainly not intentional, but that we all encounter “crosses” in this life. What is a “cross” to one individual may not be a “cross” to another.

Following the example of Our Blessed Lord, who was totally innocent of the accusations hurled against Him, He reminds us that in our lives we will encounter difficulties in a variety of situations. How we deal with these situations will distinguish us as His followers.

When being ridiculed in today’s world for being Catholic and following the teachings of our church may we remember Our Lord’s words to the “Good Thief” that we will someday be in paradise.

Our Blessed Lord reminds us by His Passion that all the trials that we endure in this life are only temporary and that they will help to make us stronger in our Faith. Our Lord, by His cross and acceptance of suffering, reminds us of accepting the things that come our way.

With the increasing speed in the advancement of the hands of time, it seems that there is an increase in the number of small crosses that seem to be coming our way. May we take solace in accepting the wisdom that these crosses bring to us, giving us the insights necessary to understand. Our Blessed Lord accepted His cross. As we read in His Good Friday passion, may we have the same patience and forbearance to follow Him with our crosses.

Easter Sunday

First Reading Acts 10: 34a, 37-43

Then Peter proceeded to speak and said, “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and (in) Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree. This man God raised (on) the third day and granted that he be visible, not to all the people, but to us, the witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Reflection

By Beth Royle

Peter’s words are remarkable in their simplicity: “God shows no partiality.” In saying this, Peter admits that his own understanding has grown. God’s love is bigger than everything: expectations, backgrounds, and comfort zones. It is offered freely to everyone who seeks what is good and right. During Lent, we are invited to slow down and notice where our own lives may have grown narrow. It can be easy to fall into routines that prioritize efficiency over presence, familiarity over openness. Peter reminds us that Christ’s mission was never limited. Jesus “went about doing good,” meeting people where they were and restoring dignity and hope. That same call meets us in the small, ordinary moments of our days: how we listen, how we respond, and how we care. Peter speaks as a witness, not because he has all the answers, but because he walked with Jesus and experienced his presence. Our witness often looks the same. As we move through this season of reflection and renewal, may we allow that promise to shape not only what we believe, but how we live: freely, generously, and without partiality. It shows up in patience, kindness, and quiet faithfulness. Are we open to seeing Christ in unexpected places and people? Do our words and actions proclaim peace, forgiveness, and hope? Peter’s speech does not end with judgment, but with promise: “everyone who believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.”

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his mercy endures forever.” On Easter, this line is not just thanksgiving, it is victory. It proclaims that God’s mercy is stronger than the grave, that love has endured everything, and that hope is now permanent. We give thanks not because life is easy, but because God is faithful. He raised Christ from the dead.

“The Lord’s right hand is raised; the Lord’s right hand works valiantly. I shall not die but live and declare the deeds of the Lord.” This is a declaration of trust. It reminds us that even when circumstances feel uncertain or overwhelming, God is not distant or passive. God is at work, often in ways we do not immediately see. This means renewal. God calls us into a life marked by hope and purpose: “to declare the deeds of the Lord.” We should choose faith over fear, strength over weakness, and love over all else.

“The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” These words remind us that God often works through what the world overlooks or dismisses. What seems unimportant, broken, or unfinished can become the very foundation of something new. “By the Lord has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes.” Resurrection is not something we engineer or control; it is God’s work. Easter invites us to see differently, to recognize that God can bring life from rejection, hope from disappointment, and meaning from moments that once felt like failure. As we reflect on these lines, we are invited to trust that God is still shaping something good, even when we cannot yet see the whole picture, and to marvel at the quiet, unexpected ways new life continues to rise.

Easter Sunday

Second Reading

Colossians 3: 1-4

If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.

Reflection

By Father Joe Moschetto

St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians underscores the reality that the Christian life entails a total re-ordering of one’s thoughts, affections, and motives. When we are baptized and literally plunged into the life of God, we no longer live a life that is driven by worldly delights alone: no longer can we seek as our end the fulfillment of every physical desire or passion for material gain or success. Having been grafted onto Christ, having had the Holy Spirit poured into our hearts, the focus and the orientation of our lives is now on something beyond the immediate and the sensible. Now the eternal love of Jesus Christ is the motivation and the end of all we do and seek. Our gaze shifts from the self to the transcendent and eternal Other. To love and serve him, not to be praised and honored ourselves, becomes our singular drive. All else on this earth is now re-directed to serving this purpose, and anything contrary to it, the Christian is called not to bother with. This is why our faith is not a mere afterthought. This is why we do not treat Jesus Christ as just another tool or item in our bag to “use” to get what we want.

When his love is the center and the end of all we are and do, it becomes what orders every other action; Jesus re-orients our entire being. Now that our time of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are complete, and we rejoice in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, we recall that this feasting is an expression of the joy we now have in the hope of eternal life. Wonder and amazement fill our hearts as we gaze upon the open gates of heaven at our risen Lord who beckons us to come to him.

Easter Sunday Gospel Reading

John 20: 1-9

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

Reflection

By Brother Dan Wisniewski, OSFS

I am not a runner. Maybe the last time I actually ran, instead of walked, was in an airport to make a connecting flight. Therefore, the thought of sprinting to the tomb makes the scene of this resurrection account from John’s Gospel that much more dramatic for me. In fact, if Mary Magdalene told me that the body of Jesus was missing, I would equally rush in my own way to the garden where the tomb was located. Amid this frenzy of hastening to the tomb in a state of urgency, Peter and the beloved disciple must have been experiencing a wide range of emotions: confusion, fear, doubt and maybe a twinge of excitement. With an adrenaline rush, their heads must have been spinning and maybe they were even shaking once they arrived and peered into the open tomb. What were they going to see and experience?

We have all had moments like this. Perhaps episodes of anxiety and worry, or maybe the pangs of anticipation and longing amid the unknown. It’s not a good feeling, is it? But, eventually the tidal wave of emotion subsides, whether quickly or in time. Recall a time when calm finally replaced this frenetic feeling. We may have thought, or said to ourselves, “All is right.” Maybe someone encouraged us at that point: “Everything is going to be okay.” Even if we did not have certainty that it will all work out, we still hope. Pope Francis said that “hope is an anchor” which grounds us and steadies us. I take comfort in this image amid the storms of life. Likewise, in the resurrection story, we see that, in the end, after entering the tomb and seeing the linen wrappings, the disciples were grounded in their belief. We are told that prior to seeing the empty tomb, they had not yet understood the meaning of the scriptures which foretold that Jesus would rise from the dead. I imagine that, in believing, their emotions were calmed. Perhaps it was a form of hope assuring them, anchoring them to the truth of the scriptures. May we let this Gospel passage become a reminder in times of uncertainty that we can hold on to hope. We know the end result will be peaceful joy, like that expressed on Easter morning when we sing “Alleluia!” May God be blessed!

Easter

Prayer

Jesus, Risen Lord,

as we celebrate the joy of your resurrection, may we be grounded in hope to live and love as you have shown us. We pray for those

who need the surety of your presence and love in a turbulent world which can appear to have lost its hope. Fill our hearts with the peace that comes with your eternal love. We ask this in your name, Amen.

The 2026 BI Lenten Reflection Booklet

The 2026 Bishop Ireton Lenten Reflection Booklet

and Staff

Opening Message

Opening Salesian Lenten Reflection – Love Letters on the Heart

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Reflective Prayer

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Second Reading

Romans 5: 12-19

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Matthew 4: 1-11

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Matthew 17: 1-9

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Spy Wednesday Reflection

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Easter