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TUESDAY, THIRD WEEK OF LENT A Hard Teaching “How often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but I tell you, seventy-seven times.” —Matthew 18:21-22 I know a 73-year-old woman who decided to give up her grudges for Lent. She said she had nursed a couple of them for decades but realized that she finally wanted to be free of them. She figured Lent was as good a time as any to practice forgiveness. She made that the focus of her Lenten prayer and repeatedly asked God to relieve her from ...

MONDAY, THIRD WEEK OF LENT Who Is Our Leader? O send out your light and your truth; let them lead me. —Psalm 43:3 In a country where government leaders and those in positions of authority cannot always be trusted to tell the truth or guide the nation in the ways of justice and peace, we need this prayer more than ever now. As Christians, our responsibility is to first look to God’s light and truth and to how and where God is leading. The challenge is that some leaders fool us by equating their ways with God’s ...

SUNDAY, THIRD WEEK OF LENT What Angers Jesus? Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple. —John 2:15 Whoever said that anger is a sin? It certainly is not in this passage when Jesus shows his infuriation at the businessmen, the bankers, the religious leaders, and the traders who turned religious devotion into a money-making proposition. In Jesus’ day, Jewish laws required Jews to offer animal sacrifices as atonement for their sins—the bigger the sin, the bigger the offering, from pigeons and turtledoves to sheep, goats, and cattle. Jews also had to ...

SATURDAY, SECOND WEEK OF LENT A Change in Prayer Habits Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. —Psalm 103:1 I can easily fall into the habit of asking God for more than I thank God for, or of sharing my litany of woes with God (read: complaining to God) rather than focusing on all that is good in my life. Basically, I am asking God to bless me, rather than blessing the Lord myself. Psalms like this one remind me to practice different kinds of prayer, like blessing and praising God for who God ...

FRIDAY, SECOND WEEK OF LENT A Cornerstone The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes. —Matthew 21:42 Scripture is filled with stories of God using someone or something seemingly ordinary or insignificant to do great things: little David defeating Goliath, Moses’ mother weaving a bushel basket to save his life, a boy with five loaves and two fish that fed a crowd, an ardent Jew and persecutor of Christians named Paul who ended up spreading the Gospel across the Mediterranean. FOR REFLECTION: What seemingly ...

THURSDAY, SECOND WEEK OF LENT Deeply Rooted Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. —Jeremiah 17:7-8 If ever there has been a time for us to focus on trusting and being deeply rooted in the Lord, it has been this past year. A tree needs to be deeply rooted to tap into a source of life-sustaining water if it is to survive storms, drought, fire, and pest infestations. Of course, being deeply rooted doesn’t mean the ...

WEDNESDAY, SECOND WEEK OF LENT Surrendering Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. —Psalm 31:5 South Africans in the year 2021 like to be in control; we are not people who naturally surrender our lives to God. It has not been easy to give up control over so many aspects of our lives this past year: when our children can go back to school, when we can visit family members across the country, when we can open our business again, or even when we can get together with friends in person ...

TUESDAY, SECOND WEEK OF LENT Changing for the Good Cease to do evil, learn to do good. —Isaiah 1:16-17 As much as the coronavirus has caused tremendous disruptions to our lives, it has also given us the chance to take stock of how we live, as individuals and as a society. Last spring, coal plants shuttered, airlines grounded their planes, and millions of cars stayed parked. Almost immediately air and water pollution levels dropped dramatically across the globe. Health experts believe that the reduction of smog in China alone saved more lives than the virus caused deaths there. It ...

MONDAY, SECOND WEEK OF LENT Good Advice Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. -Luke 6:37-38 In this season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, today’s Gospel gives us ideas of what we might fast from besides the traditional chocolate, coffee, or alcohol. We can fast from judging others (“That mom doesn’t have her act together—her son’s shirts are always stained” or “How ignorant is he that he voted for X ...

SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT Listening to the Beloved Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” —Mark 9:7 In the Transfiguration story, God speaks to Jesus’ apostles with words that are still directed to us today. God did not threaten them with punishment or try to enforce obedience as to a military commander. God invited them to listen to one called the “Beloved.” If you think of someone “beloved” in your life, aren’t you more willing to listen to them, watch how they act ...

SATURDAY, FIRST WEEK OF LENT Don’t Wait to Feel Loving You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. —Matthew 5:43-44 In a period of such political, economic, and racial divisiveness, there are plenty of opportunities to practice Jesus’ teaching. Some people might easily be able to name individuals or groups they feel hatred toward, in which case, Jesus’ words are clear. Jesus calls them to love and pray for those they hate, even if it ...

FRIDAY, FIRST WEEK OF LENT Priorities Leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. —Matthew 5:24 Perhaps more than any time in recent history, our society is being reminded that none of us is guaranteed a tomorrow. As we’ve watched the coronavirus death toll rise into the hundreds of thousands, it has gotten harder and harder to ignore this truth. We will regret lost time, if we don’t make use of our remaining time to reconcile with a family member we ...

THURSDAY, FIRST WEEK OF LENT Good Things Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you… how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him? —Matthew 7:7 Jesus teaches that it’s okay to ask for what we want and need! Not only is it okay, he encourages us to ask because, like any loving parent, God wants to give us good things. Notice that it is “good” things that God wants to provide for us. Maybe a brand-spanking-new sports ...

WEDNESDAY, FIRST WEEK OF LENT Always a Good Prayer Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and steadfast spirit within me. —Psalm 51:10 We could recite this verse from the psalms every day of the year, not just during Lent, and it alone would serve us well. We may or may not have a grievous offense on our hearts that we need washed away, but there will always be other shadows in our hearts that God can cleanse us of: discouragement, irritation, impatience, or cynicism, to name a few. Likewise, we know that some ...

TUESDAY, FIRST WEEK OF LENT Enough for Each Day Give us this day our daily bread. —Matthew 6:11 Jesus knew the story of his ancestors, the Israelites, who wandered in the desert for 40 years. He knew God fed them with manna each day. He also knew that if they tried to gather extra and save it up (except for the Sabbath), it attracted worms and became inedible. The Israelites learned to trust that God would feed them each day, but not ahead of time. Jesus’ disciples would have had that story in mind when Jesus taught them to ...

MONDAY, FIRST WEEK OF LENT Who Here Needs Your Help? Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me. —Matthew 25:40 In a time where I needed my family most, my parents and family stood with and supported me, even though they grew tired themselves. Straight after I had my son Dylan, I was drained and tired, he suffered with colic, and felt as though I never slept for 2 months and I had no job. My parents could have thrown ...

FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT Angels Tending He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts, and the angels waited on him. —Mark 1:13 A year into the worldwide pandemic now, it may seem like we live in a wilderness with the beasts of fear, discouragement, grief, depression, and weariness all around us. It is easy to notice these “beasts” that have become such a present reality for so many of us, but have we also noticed the angels tending to us at the same time? Who are the people who have ...

SATURDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY All Prayers Allowed Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my cry of supplication. —Psalm 86:6 There is so much we may be asking from God: huge things like healing for those sick with the coronavirus, safety for those exposed to it, unity for a country divided, a chance for kids to go back to school, a return to “normal” life. Then there are the many smaller things we may be praying for: patience with family members in a crowded house, a break in the weather so we can get outside for a ...

FRIDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY Fasting in Perspective Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? —Isaiah 58:6 We have had to fast from so many things this past year that we had always taken for granted before: physical touch, travel, and large group gatherings, to name a few.How many of the things we have fasted from are actually luxuries, not necessities?Fasting from eating out in a restaurant, getting our hair cut whenever we ...

THURSDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY Unexpected Graces What does it profit them if they gain the whole world but lose or forfeit themselves? —Luke 9:25 Even though this past year has been difficult, it has also offered many graces. One grace I’ve noticed is how the pandemic has reminded us what is most important in life. I know of one couple who, before the pandemic, worked more than full-time jobs making big money. Each of them had a two+ hour round trip commute to the office. Typically, they only saw their children for about 30 minutes of waking time ...