The Catholic Calendar for Tuesday, March 9, 2004
Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent
St. Frances of Rome, religious

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Isaiah 1:10,16-20
Psalm 50:8-9,16bc-17,21,23
Matthew 23:1-12

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

God knows us so well, even to the point of knowing us before we were conceived in our mother's womb. He knows our strengths and human weaknesses, not just those of humankind in general, but our own individual tendencies. Why then, has the Church chosen these particular readings for today, in which we are reminded that we hate discipline, recite statutes and pray only with our mouths, not our hearts?

Many of us start off the Lenten season full of zeal and enthusiasm that WE will have a spiritually fruitful Lent and thereby feel full of consolations when it is time to sing the alleluias at Easter. God must be a bit amused, as He realizes that we use so little of the gift of faith that we have been given, and very soon we will be mouthing our prayers and acting as usual. The gospel reminds us that we must be humble, and if there is anything to be humble about it is to acknowledge that we cannot begin to have a spiritually fruitful lenten season without realizing our total helplessness to do so before God. Once we ask God to be in the driver's seat of our spiritual life, and if we cooperate with God's graces, maybe then we can more honestly join in the alleluias of Easter.

- Joan of Jesus, ocds
(jmurphy at utica dot edu)

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posted by joachim at 4:29 AM