Author: admin

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Gospel: Matthew 5: 17-19

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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By the end of 40 days of fasting, no chocolate, no social media, and meatless Fridays, we’ll all have had our share of penance.

But if these Lenten penances are driven solely by a sense of obligation – because we should do them – then what good are they, really?

What matters to God is whether or not we’ve been inwardly changed this Lent. Have we grown in charity, patience, or kindness? Have we grown in love?

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The same is true with the Law of the Old Testament. 

God gave the Jews 10 commandments to follow. But by the time Jesus walked this earth, rabbis created over 600 more!

Thus a “faithful” Jew would’ve had his or her share of penance trying to keep all of these rigid and particular rules.

But if keeping the Law was only done out of a sense of obligation – if it didn’t lead to an inner transformation and an increase in love – then what good was it? 

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This is Jesus’ point in today’s Gospel.

“I have come not to abolish, but to fulfill the Law,” he says. But the Law and all of the prophets can be summarized in a single word: LOVE.

God came to show us how to love.

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That’s the standard by which we should judge our fruitfulness this Lent – how much we’ve grown in love for God and for one another.

So, how do you measure up?

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Image credits: (1) boruachelohim, Jewish Law (2) Jesus, Pantocrator, Wikipedia (3) Living Scripture, WordPress

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Gospel: Matthew 18: 21-35

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
“Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’
Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a much smaller amount.
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
‘Pay back what you owe.’
Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
But he refused.
Instead, he had him put in prison
until he paid back the debt.
Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,
they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master
and reported the whole affair.
His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant!
I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?’
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt.
So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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“The kingdom of God may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants.”

One owed a huge amount, Jesus says, while the other a small amount.

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Biblical scholars have tried to calculate just how much debt these two servants owed their king. One was estimated to be 10,000-talents, while the other was a mere 100 denarii.

If that first debt were paid in coins, it’d require an army of 8,600 people each carrying a 60-pound sack on their back.

A hundred denarii, on the other hand, could fit inside someone’s pocket.

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So what’s the point?

One man has been forgiven an immense debt, so large it’s almost impossible to imagine.

Yet he turns around and acts petty with his neighbor, demanding his neighbor repay him a few pennies.

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Pettiness.

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So much of the anger that fills our hearts is often over petty stuff. 

We don’t get our way; someone cuts us off on the Parkway; interrupts us mid-sentence; or plays passive-aggressive.

If Jesus forgives all the sins we’ve committed, then the least we can do is forgive our neighbor for making a mild mistake.

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In his eyes, it’s the difference between 8,600 sacks of coins versus a few pennies.

Given the fact that we’re all living with an increased level of stress these days, Jesus reminds us to let the small stuff go.

It’ll reduce our stress – and the stress of everyone around us.

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Image credits: (1) Pinterest (2) Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope (3) Pinterest

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Gospel: Luke 4: 24-30

Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth:
“Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel
in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built,
to hurl him down headlong.
But he passed through the midst of them and went away.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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I’m heading on a silent retreat this week. 

One image I’m taking with me is that of an old car radio. You may remember when radios were built with a dial. You had to turn the knob to the left or right in order to find the right station. One click too far created static, muffling the music.

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To me, that’s what Lent is all about – making adjustments, fine tuning, searching for the voice of the Lord.

Now that we’re several weeks into this holy season, perhaps it’s time to consider whether or not we need to make some adjustments.

Maybe we need to dial down time spent on social media in order to turn up time spent in prayer.

Maybe we need to decrease our portion size at meals in order to increase our awareness of the poor, especially those without food in Ukraine.

Or maybe the Lord is inviting us to grow in patience, generosity, or some other virtue.

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Are there any adjustments I might need to make?

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Just as we’d expect to hear a musician’s voice if we turned on the radio, so we should expect to hear the Lord speak this Lent.

It may just be a matter of making the right adjustments – of tuning out, and tuning in.

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Image credits: (1) St. Agnes Church, Springfield, IL (2) iStock (3) Empowering Christian Women