Category: Lent

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Who’s Your Daddy?

First Sunday of Lent (C): Luke 4:1-13

Temptation.

We all experience temptation in one form or another. Each one of us knows that we are more vulnerable to certain temptations than others. Some temptations seem to be too much for us. We look for help and guidance as to how to cope with temptation and remain faithful to the Lord.

We are reminded in our Gospel reading for this Sunday that Jesus, too, experienced temptations. The Letter to the Hebrews picks up on this: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with out weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15). Continue reading “Who’s Your Daddy?”

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Preparing for Lent

Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time (C)

In a few days, Lent begins.

Even though Lent begins relatively late this year, it always seems to come quickly after the memories of Christmas and New Year’s have begun to fade. Lent, of course, brings with it its own memories: purple vestments and altar  cloths, giving up things we like, trying to take on a more penitential spirit. Continue reading “Preparing for Lent”

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The Least of My Sisters and Brothers

Monday of the First Week of Lent

Some time ago, I happened upon a story about the old comedian W. C. Fields. According to this story, a friend came into Fields’ dressing room before a show, and noticed that Fields was reading the Bible. The friend found this odd, as Fields had never spoken to him before about the Bible, or religion, so the friend assumed that Fields was not a religious man. When the friend asked Fields why he was reading the Bible, the response came: “I’m looking for loopholes!”  Continue reading “The Least of My Sisters and Brothers”

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Testing

First Sunday of Lent (B)

In the first reading, the Lord points to the rainbow as the symbol of the covenant He is making with Noah and, through Noah, all humanity. The rainbow is a good symbol for the liturgical year as well. Just as the one white beam of light, passing through a water droplet or a prism, is bent so that its varied colors become visible to us, so, too, the liturgical year “bends” the mystery of what God has done for us in Christ into varied colors that can be seen and contemplated in turn.  Continue reading “Testing”

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Spiritual Chemotherapy

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent: Numbers 21:4-9; John 8:21-30

So Jesus said to them,
“When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me.”  –  John 8:28

By the time we reach the age of fifty, most of us have either had some form of cancer or at least a couple of people we know well have had it. Even in an age of steadily-advancing medical knowledge and techniques, the word “cancer” can still elicit fear in the hearts of those who receive that diagnosis. It is usually seen as the most dangerous and frightening of all diseases.  Continue reading “Spiritual Chemotherapy”