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The Word today, Lent2A

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Mar 6
  • 3 min read

March 02 - February 07, 2026



Daniel 9:4-10 Daniel prays a great prayer which we could make our own today. The Psalm takes up the same theme of forgiveness.


Luke 6:36-38 Pardon is free from God — but it is truly “ours” only when we pardon in return.



Isaiah 1:10, 16-20 Following an opening command to wash and make ourselves clean, no fewer than seven imperatives help us to think practically of changes in our lives.


Matthew 23:1-12 Matthew is aware that religious leaders can “lose the run of themselves,”. This is true in our Gospel of the Pharisees, but the Gospel goes on to issue a warning also to Christian leaders: they are not to be called rabbi or father or teacher. Why is that the case?


St Casimir, patron saint of Poland


Jeremiah 18:18-20 Jeremiah, an unwilling prophet, had a tough time fulfilling his ministry, with many threats and even landing in jail. His story anticipates the passion of Jesus.


Matthew 20:17-28 The sons of Zebedee have overstepped the mark, but it’s a bit rich of the others to be indignant because they are really no different. Christian leadership simply must be service and nothing else.


St Kieran, bishop


Jeremiah 17:5-10 As often in the Bible, a choice is placed before us. As the last paragraph is aware, the human heart can be (very!) perverse.


Luke 16:19-31 The story of the rich man (Dives in Latin) and the poor man, Lazarus, is unique to this Gospel. The point is pretty clear and it would be hard to miss the message. The exploration of the parable in the last paragraph, however, is larded with irony…are we among those who would not be convinced even if someone (who?) should rise from the dead?



Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13, 17-28 The story of the rejection of Joseph by his brothers is interesting and significant of itself. Joseph, the rejected one became the saviour when there was a famine in the land of Canaan. The rejected Jesus became a saviour to the human race.


Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46 In the Old Testament, there are passages which talk about Israel as God’s vineyard, a metaphor which undergirds today’s parable. The parable on the lips of Jesus may have been simpler. The version we have in the Gospel reflects the context of Matthew’s community and the later application of Psalms to Jesus’ own death and resurrection.


Sts Perpetua and Felicity, martyrs


Micah 7:14-15,18-20 Today we hear a great prayer for forgiveness, a confident prayer because the Lord is our shepherd. It would make a terrific reflection on God’s mercy and compassion. It does prepare us to hear with fresh ears the parable of the prodigal son.


Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 As often, it can be hard to hear what is so familiar so that we are addressed again, so a special effort is needed. It might be good to focus on the stay-athome brother and his resentments. Do I find such flinty resistance in myself ? In my community? In our society? Even as we find this in ourselves, it is good to recall that the parable ends without resolution, open-ended, so that forgiveness and compassion are always possible.


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2026s, March 1). Second Sunday of lent. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030126.cfm

-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings


 
 
 

The Word today, Lent1A

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Feb 21
  • 2 min read

February 23 - February 28, 2026


St Polycarp, bishop and martyr


Leviticus 19:1-2,11-18 The Old Testament has a very high moral vision—expressed quite concretely and practically in this reading. Even though the text is very old, the teaching still speaks today. The examples given illustrate how we may be compassionate and just or, in a word, holy.


Matthew 25:31-46 Our Gospel is really more a tableau than a parable. Very simply, our choices have consequences.



Isaiah 55:10-11 The readings of Lent do indeed challenge, but they also encourage. Today we hear of God’s effective word, carrying out what it says. One way to listen might be to ask: has this been true for me in my life? Have I found the word of God an effective in my hearing and living?


Matthew 6:7-15 We often tend to separate worship and life. The prophets of old often pointed this out and Jesus does so again in the context of the Lord’s Prayer. Simps put, prayer from the heart, leads to forgiveness from the heart. The can be no separation.



Jonah 3:1-10 The ironic book of Jonah is serious about conversion as we see from the reaction not only of the humans, but even the beasts, herds and flocks!


Luke 11:29-32 There is more to the Gospel than a reference back to Jonah. Are we such a generation, unmoved and complacent?



Esther 4:12, 14-16, 23-25 In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches and encourages prayer of petition. Accordingly, in the first reading, Queen Esther makes a very moving and heart-felt prayer of petition.


Matthew 7:7-12 Jesus’ teaching on prayer can still take us by surprise — it all seems to simple. There is, however, really only one petition: may your kingdom come.


St Gregory of Narek abbot, doctor of the Church


Ezekiel 18:21-28 We can all change and repentance is a possibility always on the table. This is God’s desire for us — and our slightly threatening reading is finally positive.


Matthew 5:20-26 Following the best Jewish tradition, Jesus teaches that sin comes from the heart, from within. It is our attitudes which count, in every sense. The risk of any formal worship is to think that when we’ve done that, we’re done. No way, as Jesus illustrates in the appended parable.



Deuteronomy 26:16-19 Against the background of the covenant, Moses outlines our side of the bargain. Notice that we are to keep his commands with our heart. The Gospel takes that a step deeper.


Matthew 5:43-48 Jesus demands of us a deeper and more costly love, taking us well beyond the conventional and even the natural.


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2026p, February 22). First Sunday of lent. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022226.cfm

-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings


 
 
 

The Word today, 06A

  • Writer: Admin
    Admin
  • Feb 14
  • 3 min read

February 16 - February 21, 2026



James 1:1-11 Our first reading from James (over two weeks) delights in paradoxes and directness. Are you experiencing trials? Do you need wisdom? Listen carefully!


Mark 8:11-13 Though not explicitly observed, we see in this reading the frustration, not to say the anger of Jesus. The Pharisees are looking for some kind of guaranteed evidence—this could be true of us today.


The Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order St Fintan, abbot


James 1:12-18 The gestation of sin is narrated—graphically and frighteningly. There is hope, however, in the next verse.


Mark 8:14-21 On its own, this passage is hard to read. The Gospel writer wants us to think again about the meanings (plural) of the two multiplications. Jesus is bread of life for both Jews and Gentiles — all are welcome!



Joel 2:12-18 The passage which opens the journey of Lent is an invitation, an invitation to come back to the Lord with all our heart. The whole community—all of us without distinction—is called to change of heart and life.


2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2 Paul’s message insists on today, now, as the moment of conversion. The past is over and the future is not yet. All we have is the present moment: let us take hold of it with all our energy.


Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 There was a traditional triad in Judaism: almsgiving, prayer and fasting—all really good and necessary. That inherent good can be compromised by the desire for notice and approval. It is enough and more than enough that the Father who sees in secret sees our good deed done in secret.



Deuteronomy 30:15-20 Life is full of choices, minor and major. Today, we hear a major choice: life and prosperity or death and disaster. Such sharp alternatives are found also in the wisdom writings of the people, such as today’s Psalm 1. We know, of course, that things are often not quite so stark and clear. But even in the minor choices, we are implying greater choices and even a fundamental direction of life.


Luke 9:22-25 As usual, a prediction of the passion is joined to a teaching on discipleship. In this Gospel, the death of Jesus casts a long shadow, starting with the words of Simeon to Mary. The immediate context is the question to Peter: who do you say I am? Once we say who Jesus is, we find ourselves also saying who we are.



Isaiah 58:1-9 What is true fasting? What does God require of us? Isaiah does not mince his words. Sure fasting means to live your ordinary life with integrity and justice.


Matthew 9:14-15 It looks as if Jesus did not practice fasting (apart from the forty, symbolic days). Naturally, people wondered why not. In the later tradition, disciples did take up fasting and in our Gospel Jesus gives “permission” for that to happen.


St Peter Damian, bishop and doctor


Isaiah 58:9-14 Continuing from yesterday, we are reminded that righteousness—right living from the inside out—is what God hopes for from us. If you listen carefully, this prophecy is strongly against violence of any kind.


Luke 5:27-32 Eating was always regarded as a kind of sacred fellowship, a kind of holy communion. Hence the shock of onlookers who saw Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinner, in effect, establishing communion with them.


References

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2026n, February 15). Sixth Sunday in ordinary time. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021526.cfm

-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings


 
 
 
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