The Word today, Lent1B24
- Admin
- Feb 16, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 1, 2024
February 19 - February 24, 2024
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, just as God himself is holy.
Matthew 25:31-46 Our Gospel is really more a tableau than a parable. Christ may be encountered in the vulnerable. When we ourselves are vulnerable, others may encounter Christ is us. 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? The link with the Gospel is most likely through the imagery of bread.
Matthew 6:7-15 We often tend to separate worship and life, thinking that when we’ve done our prayer, we’re done. A fundamental error! 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.
St Peter Damian, bishop and doctor
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! For our Lent purposes, the preaching of Jonah is taken at face value, inviting us today to a conversion of heart
Luke 11:29-32 There is more to the Gospel than a reference back to Jonah. Are we such a generation, unmoved and complacent? However, the reference to Jonah is a kind of a fortiori argument: if people listen to Jonah, how much more should we listen to Jesus, Son of God!
The Chair of St Peter
1 Peter 5:1-4 Here we have simple and clear advice on Christian leadership which, for all its antiquity, is never out of date: watch over the flock of God, not simply as a duty but gladly, because God wants it. This applies not only to those in leadership, but to us all.
Matthew 16:13-19 This Gospel passage reflects the role of Peter in the church at Antioch — the exemplary faith of the apostle is our foundation stone and principle of unity. The heart of it all is Peter’s faith in Christ.
St Polycarp, bishop and martyr
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 come 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 offer is twosided and conditional. 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. The argument is a good one: if people of no special religion manage to be at least decent, how much more is expected to all who have put their trust in God?
References
-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2024r, February 18). First Sunday of lent. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021824.cfm
-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings/
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