March 23^rd

3rd Sunday of Lent
St. Turibius

1st Reading: Ex 3:1-8a, 13-15:
Moses pastured the sheep of Jethro, his father-in-law, priest of Midian. One day he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the Mountain of God. The angel of Yahweh appeared to him by means of a flame of fire in the middle of a bush. Moses saw that although the bush was on fire it did not burn up. Moses thought, “I will go and see this amazing sight, why is the bush not burning up?”

Yahweh saw that Moses was drawing near to look, and God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” He replied, “Here I am.” Yahweh said to him, “Do not come near; take off your sandals because the place where you are standing is holy ground.” And God continued, “I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”

Moses hid his face lest his eyes look on God. Yahweh said, “I have seen the humiliation of my people in Egypt and I hear their cry when they are cruelly treated by their taskmasters. I know their suffering. I have come down to free them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a beautiful spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the territory of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites.

Moses answered God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them: ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ they will ask me: ‘What is his name?’ What shall I answer them?”

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you will say to the sons of Israel: ‘I AM sent me to you.” God then said to Moses, “You will say to the Israelites: ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me.’ That will be my name forever, and by this name they shall call upon me for all generations to come.

2nd Reading: 1 Cor 10: 1-6, 10-12:
Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, about our ancestors. All of them were under the cloud and all crossed the sea. All underwent the baptism of the land and of the sea to join Moses; and all of them ate from the same spiritual manna; and all of them drank from the same spiritual drink. For you know, that they drank from a spiritual rock following them, and the rock was Christ. However, most of them did not please God, and the desert was strewn with their bodies.

All of this happened as an example for us, so that we might not become people of evil desires, as they did. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were cut down by the destroying angel. These things happened to them, as an example, and they were written as a warning, for us, as the last times come upon us. Therefore, if you think you stand, beware, lest you fall.

Gospel: Lk 13:1-9:
One day, some people told Jesus what had occurred in the temple: Pilate had had Galileans killed, and their blood mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.

Jesus asked them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered this? No, I tell you. But unless you change your ways, you will all perish, as they did. And those eighteen persons in Siloah, who were crushed when the tower fell, do you think they were more guilty than all the others in Jerusalem? I tell you: no. But unless you change your ways, you will all perish, as they did.”

And Jesus continued, “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it, but found none. Then he said to the gardener, ‘Look here, for three years now I have been looking for figs on this tree, and I have found none. Cut it down, why should it continue to deplete the soil?’

The gardener replied, ‘Leave it one more year, so that I may dig around it and add some fertilizer; perhaps it will bear fruit from now on. But if it doesn’t, you can cut it down.’”

Reflection:
When a disaster strikes—a typhoon, an earthquake—there is a temptation to ask, “What did they do to deserve this?” Was it their immorality? Their lack of faith? When disaster strikes close to home, we ask, “How could God allow this?” Someone— God or the victims must somehow be to “blame.” But God—whose name is “I AM”—hears the cries of the victims. And God is present in those who respond with compassion and deliverance. Lord, let me listen with your ears to the cries of the oppressed.

Monday
March 24^th

St. Oscar Romero

1st Reading: 2 Kgs 5:1-15ab:
Naaman, the army commander of the king of Aram, was highly esteemed and respected by his master, for through him the Lord had brought victory to Aram. But valiant as he was, the man was a leper.

Now the Arameans had captured in a raid on the land of Israel a little girl, who became the servant of Naaman’s wife. “If only my master would present himself to the prophet in Samaria,” she said to her mistress, “he would cure him of his leprosy.” Naaman went and told his lord just what the slave girl from the land of Israel had said.

“Go,” said the king of Aram. “I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman set out, taking along ten silver talents, six thousand gold pieces, and ten festal garments.

To the king of Israel he brought the letter, which read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

When he read the letter, the king of Israel tore his garments and exclaimed: “Am I a god with power over life and death, that this man should send someone to me to be cured of leprosy? Take note! You can see he is only looking for a quarrel with me!”

When Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his garments, he sent word to the king: “Why have you torn your garments? Let him come to me and find out that there is a prophet in Israel.”

Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. The prophet sent him the message: “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will heal, and you will be clean.”

But Naaman went away angry, saying, “I thought that he would surely come out and stand there to invoke the Lord his God, and would move his hand over the spot, and thus cure the leprosy. Are not the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be cleansed?” With this, he turned about in anger and left.

But his servants came up and reasoned with him. “My father,” they said, “if the prophet had told you to do something extraordinary, would you not have done it? All the more now, since he said to you, ‘Wash and be clean,’ should you do as he said.”

So Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times at the word of the man of God. His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. He returned with his whole retinue to the man of God. On his arrival he stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel.”

Gospel: Lk 4:24-30:
Jesus added, “No prophet is honored in his own country. Truly, I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens withheld rain for three years and six months and a great famine came over the whole land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow of Zarephath, in the country of Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha, the prophet, and no one was healed except Naaman, the Syrian.”

On hearing these words, the whole assembly became indignant. They rose up and brought him out of the town, to the edge of the hill on which Nazareth is built, intending to throw him down the cliff. But he passed through their midst and went his way.

Reflection:
We see in the gospel that Jesus was treated with bias and antagonism instead of hospitality and generosity by his townspeople when he returned to Nazareth, leading him to exclaim, “No prophet is honored in his own country.” In their narrow-minded pride, they felt slighted that Jesus, who came from their town had not worked there the wonders he had worked elsewhere. They lacked one thing—faith in Jesus and in the God who sent him.

They were blinded by their sense of familiarity and entitlement. We can easily identify with this story in our experiences of rejection especially when we fail to meet others’ expectations or when others think they know us too well that they cannot accept any change in us. The phrase, “familiarity breeds contempt” expresses our human tendency to be blinded to the value of what we have, taking for granted the goodness in us and in others.

Jesus’ message seems clear. We need to have faith in a God of surprises and to be properly disposed for God to work wonders in and through us. Do we remain in God and have faith in God in good and bad times as the gospel challenges us?

Tuesday
March 25^th

Annunciation of the Lord

1st Reading: Is 7:10-14; 8:10:
The LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying:
Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God; let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!

But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!”

Then Isaiah said: “Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary people, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us!'”

2nd Reading: Heb 10: 4-10:
Brothers and sisters:
It is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats take away sins. For this reason, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; in holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight. Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll, behold, I come to do your will, O God.'”

First he says, “Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings, you neither desired nor delighted in.” These are offered according to the law. Then he says, “Behold, I come to do your will.” He takes away the first to establish the second. By this “will,” we have been consecrated through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Gospel: Lk 1:26-38:
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God, to a town of Galilee called Nazareth. He was sent to a virgin, who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. The angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you!”

Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean. But the angel said, “Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and bear a son; and you shall call him Jesus. He will be great, and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the kingdom of David, his ancestor; he will rule over the people of Jacob forever; and his reign shall have no end.”

Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”

And the angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the holy child to be born of you shall be called Son of God. Even your relative, Elizabeth, is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child; and she is now in her sixth month. With God nothing is impossible.”

Then Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” And the angel left her.

Reflection:
In this gospel text Mary passes through a range of feelings: She was “troubled” by the angel’s strange greeting; she was afraid; she was incredulous (“How can this be…?”); and finally she responded with faithful submission: “Let it be done to me according to your word.”

None of us faces exactly the same leap of faith that was required of Mary. But all of us as Christians are called to accept God’s promises on the basis of faith—without proof or guarantee. Faith, in contrast, is not “natural.” It was in the space created by Mary’s faith—and not simply in her womb—that the Word became flesh. For this reason she has been called not only the Mother of Jesus but Mother of Church.

 In subsequent centuries, Mary’s status and her distinctive nature would be the subject of dogmatic pronouncements and learned tomes. But in the end her preeminence is due to her having exemplified the spirit of true discipleship: attention, reverence, and obedience to the word and will of God. She was in effect the first and paradigmatic disciple. She is thus the first to be honored among the saints.

Wednesday
March 26^th

1st Reading: Dt 4:1, 5-9:
Moses spoke to the people and said:
“Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 

“Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees as the Lord, my God, has commanded me, that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy. Observe them carefully, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations, who will hear of all these statutes and say, ‘This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.

“For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the Lord, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him? Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?

“However, take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.”

Gospel: Mt 5:17-19
Do not think that I have come to annul the law and the prophets. I have not come to annul them, but to fulfill them. I tell you this: as long as heaven and earth last, not the smallest letter or dot in the law will change, until all is fulfilled. So then, whoever breaks the least important of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be the least in the kingdom of heaven.

On the other hand, whoever obeys them, and teaches others to do the same, will be great in the kingdom of heaven.

Reflection:
One can quote scripture to support many positions. In one passage Jesus is attacked for violating the Sabbath or consorting with unclean people or seeming to set his own authority above the Law. And here he is seeming to abhor any violation of even “the least important” of the commandments. He has not come to “annul” the commandments but to “fulfill them.” Not even “the smallest letter or dot in the law will change,” until all is fulfilled.

And yet Jesus constantly seems to set the spirit of the law—exemplified in love of God and love of one’s neighbor—against the letter. Certainly St. Paul and the early church came to believe that faith set one free from any captivity to the law.

It is important to note that Jesus speaks of “the law and the prophets.” When the law is interpreted from the perspective of the prophets, it becomes clear that the highest form of righteousness is the practice of mercy, justice, service to the poor and the stranger, a contrite heart, and humility before the Lord. With the law interpreted in this context, it becomes clear what Jesus means when he says, “I have not come to annul them but to fulfill them.”

Thursday
March 27^th

1st Reading: Jer 7:23-28:
Thus says the Lord: 
This is what I commanded my people: Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Walk in all the ways that I command you, so that you may prosper.

But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed. They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts and turned their backs, not their faces, to me. From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day, I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets. Yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed; they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers.

When you speak all these words to them, they will not listen to you either; when you call to them, they will not answer you. Say to them: This is the nation that does not listen to the voice of the Lord, its God, or take correction. Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech.

Gospel: Lk 11:14-23:
One day, Jesus was driving out a demon, which was mute. When the demon had been driven out, the mute person could speak, and the people were amazed. Yet some of them said, “He drives out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the chief of the demons.”

Others wanted to put him to the test, by asking him for a heavenly sign. But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them, “Every nation divided by civil war is on the road to ruin, and will fall. If Satan also is divided, his empire is coming to an end. How can you say that I drive out demons by calling upon Beelzebub? If I drive them out by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons drive out demons? They will be your judges, then.

“But if I drive out demons by the finger of God; would not this mean that the kingdom of God has come upon you? As long as a man, strong and well-armed, guards his house, his goods are safe. But when a stronger man attacks and overcomes him, the challenger takes away all the weapons he relied on, and disposes of his spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me, scatters.”

Reflection:
Jesus, presumably, had the power to perform any number of wonders: to make the sky turn dark, or make the earth tremble. And yet by and large he used his power to heal sick and afflicted people—not even important people, but just any miserable and outcast person he met along the way.

This raised the question: “By what power does he do these things?” Jesus knew what they were thinking: that he must be relying on demonic powers! How could he rely on the power of demons to drive out demons? A tree may be judged by its fruits. What produces life, wholeness, and holiness, comes from God. What produces division, discord, and hatred, comes from demons. What confuses us is that demonic forces often operate under the banner of God.

People can wage war, amass unjust fortunes, dismiss the poor, or discriminate against their neighbors while loudly proclaiming God’s name. That is why it is so important to pay attention to the fruits. Do their deeds protect life, honor human dignity, and promote peace and reconciliation? On that basis it is easy to discern the difference between God and demons.

Friday
March 28^th

1st Reading: Hos 14:2-10:
Thus says the Lord:
Return, O Israel, to the Lord, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt. Take with you words, and return to the Lord; say to him, “Forgive all iniquity, and receive what is good, that we may render as offerings the bullocks from our stalls. Assyria will not save us, nor shall we have horses to mount; we shall say no more, ‘Our god,’ to the work of our hands; for in you the orphan finds compassion.”

I will heal their defection, says the Lord, I will love them freely; for my wrath is turned away from them.
I will be like the dew for Israel: he shall blossom like the lily; he shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar, and put forth his shoots. His splendor shall be like the olive tree and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar. Again they shall dwell in his shade and raise grain; they shall blossom like the vine, and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

Ephraim! What more has he to do with idols? I have humbled him, but I will prosper him. “I am like a verdant cypress tree”– because of me you bear fruit! Let him who is wise understand these things; let him who is prudent know them. Straight are the paths of the Lord, in them the just walk, but sinners stumble in them.

Gospel: Mk 12:28-34:
A teacher of the law had been listening to this discussion and admired how Jesus answered them. So he came up and asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?”

Jesus answered, “The first is: Hear, Israel! The Lord, our God, is One Lord; and you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. And after this comes a second commandment: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these two.”

The teacher of the law said to him, “Well spoken, Master; you are right when you say that he is one, and there is no other besides him. To love him with all our heart, with all our understanding and with all our strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves is more important than any burnt offering or sacrifice.”

Jesus approved this answer and said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Reflection:
The Gospels do not always feature teachers of the law in a positive light. But here is one who approaches Jesus with a sincere desire to learn his message. When he asks Jesus to say which commandment is first of all, he applauds Jesus’ answer: that the first commandment is to love God with one’s whole heart, soul, mind, and strength—and that this is joined by a second and equivalent commandment, that we love our neighbor as ourselves. This is a reminder that the message of Jesus was in fact the highest expression of Jewish teaching.

And yet, how often in Christian history have we strayed from the simple religious message of Jesus, instead battling with one another over matters of doctrine, creedal definitions, or the correct way of worshipping?

Jesus was asked: What is the most important commandment of all? And he offered a plain answer: It is that we truly love God and we truly love our neighbor. If we get that much right, regardless of our other failings, we are not far from the kingdom of God.

Saturday
March 29th

1st Reading: Hos 6:1-6:
Come, let us return to Yahweh. He who shattered us to pieces, will heal us as well; he has struck us down, but he will bind up our wounds. Two days later he will bring us back to life; on the third day, he will raise us up, and we shall live in his presence. Let us strive to know Yahweh. His coming is as certain as the dawn; his judgment will burst forth like the light; he will come to us as showers come, like spring rain that waters the earth.

O Ephraim, what shall I do with you? O Judah, how shall I deal with you? This love of yours is like morning mist, like morning dew that quickly disappears. This is why I smote you through the prophets, and have slain you by the words of my mouth. For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice; it is knowledge of God, not burnt offerings.

Gospel: Lk 18:9-14:
Jesus told another parable to some people, fully convinced of their own righteousness, who looked down on others:

“Two men went up to the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself, and said, ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people, grasping, crooked, adulterous, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and give a tenth of all my income to the temple.’ In the meantime the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.’

“I tell you, when this man went back to his house, he had been reconciled with God, but not the other. For whoever makes himself out to be great will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be raised up.”

Reflection:
In today’s gospel, Jesus uses a parable to teach us the proper attitude and stance in prayer. The parable presents to us two characters and their attitudes and ways of praying.

There is a temptation to interpret this parable in a simplistic way, like neatly dividing humanity between the righteous, law-abiding people and the sinners. In reality, it’s not a matter of black or white; it is all grey because if we are honest with ourselves, we find both characters in us. We need some degree of self-awareness to be able to identify which character predominates at certain times in our life.

The Pharisee’s prayer is full of himself, setting himself as the standard for virtues that must be emulated for having been diligent in following the Mosaic Law but not realizing that he was full of spiritual pride. This kind of attitude divides the community instead of unifying it; perpetuating prejudice and the separation between the “we” and the “they” which often happens in society and sometimes even in religious communities. We all should strive to pray like the Publican who was aware of being a sinner and nothing else before God, being totally dependent on God’s divine mercy.