The Word today, Lent1C
- Admin
- Mar 7
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 15
March 10 - March 15, 2025
Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18 Sometimes, we tend to think that Israelite faith was somehow more external that Christian faith. This readings both put us right on that and lands us with a direct challenge for ourselves today.
Matthew 25:31-46 There are different ways to read this socalled parable. Firstly, it is not a parable but a kind of teaching on how we will be judged. The purpose is not so much a description of the last judgment as warning to change how we live our lives. Part of the meaning is that the church (as the least of my brothers and sisters) discloses Christ himself through our vulnerability.
Isaiah 55:10-11 This short reading (only one sentence) proclaim the effectiveness of God’s word. It is as effective, almost as automatic, as rain falling on the ground. But we are the ground, so it does depend too on letter the word into my heart.
Matthew 6:7-15 The opening words are a clear warning that prayer is not informing or cajoling the divinity. If not that, then what? According to St Augustine, it is the opening of the heart so that we may be capable of receiving God’s gifts.
Jonah 3:1-10 The book of Jonah—a comic shot across the bows of Ezra and Nehemiah—is taken at face value today. It is difcult to imagine the cows as converting! Nevertheless, the seriousness of response invite reection on the seriousness of our project of conversion through Lent.
Luke 11:29-32 Jesus refers to the people of Nineveh and in a way redoubles the challenge to us today. We know Jesus is greater than Jonah et al, and yet what does this knowledge prot is if we remain unmoved?
Esther 4:17 The topic in today’s readings is really prayer of intercession. In our rst reading, we see a women in earnest prayer, not just for herself but for her people. Esther reminds God to be true to himself!
Matthew 7:7-12 This kind of passage—so plain and direct—can be problematic for us today on several levels. Firstly, we all have experience of interceding and apparently not being heard. We do not always get what we want. Secondly, we don’t really think God must be informed or, worse, persuaded. Again, Augustine helps: we pray not to change God but to change ourselves, so that we choose what God wants for us.
Ezekiel 18:21-28 Conversion, turning to God with our whole selves, is the teaching here. Ezekiel puts before us two ways, life and death. It is not quite so simple—we do believe that one sin cannot really ruining all the good we have done in the past. Nevertheless, the point is not lost: God calls us to conversion, to renounce our sins, so that we may live and be truly alive.
Matthew 5:20-26 In keeping with the rst reading, the gospel is direct: If your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees… It is easy to confuse religion with practice and morality with actions. Jesus, however, takes us to the heart of ethical living—it is all from within. In this, Jesus is very much in line with prophets of the Hebrew Bible.
Deuteronomy 26:16-19 True faithfulness is a matter of the heart, as we hear from the book of Deuteronomy. The Law is to be kept rst of all with our hearts and our souls. It may help to recall that the word Torah means instruction or path of life. It is, therefore, much more than a set of regulations or commandments. The psalm is a big help here: Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all day long. (Ps 119:97) Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble. (Ps 119:165).
Matthew 5:43-48 Jesus continues his teaching on the roots of ethical behaviour in attitudes of the heart. The comparison are sharp, especially in a culture where being Christian is reduced to be being decent or wellbehaved. As Jesus points out even nonbelievers manage that, so it is no great credit. Something deeper is being asked us, something more costly.
References
-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2025t, March 9). First Sunday of lent. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030925.cfm
-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings
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