The Word today, Lent2C
- Admin
- Mar 14
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 15
March 17 - March 22, 2025
See special notes for St Patrick’s Day)
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,” as we say. This is true in our Gospel of the Pharisees, but the 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 Joseph, husband of the BVM
2Samuel 7:4-5, 12-14, 16 God’s delity through time is expressed in his commitment to the family of David, of which Jesus will be born.
Romans 4:13,16-18,22 Abraham trusted against all the odds — as did his later descendant Joseph.
Matthew 1:16,18-21,24 Joseph of the Gospels reminds us of Joseph of Genesis, who dreamed and who saved his family.
Jeremiah 17:5-10 Two ways of life are contrasted today and, as always, the choice is ours. The contrast is sharply drawn. We do know that things are not so black and white in reality; however, the offer of two different ways of life still stands. The psalm going with this reading is perfect.
Luke 16:19-31 The story of the rich man (Dives in Latin) and the poor man, Lazarus, is unique to this Gospel. The story 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 in someone should rise from the dead?
Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13, 17-28 The ordinary mass goer might well ask why this reading and what is it about? The story of the rejection of Joseph by his brothers is interesting and signicant of itself. Today, however, it is told to anticipate a similar rejection in the Gospel, the rejection of Jesus and his mission. In the case of Joseph, the rejected one became the saviour when there was a famine in the land of Canaan. Likewise, the rejected Jesus became a saviour but not merely to one family but to the whole 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 reects the context of Matthew’s community and the later application of Psalms to Jesus’ own death and resurrection.
Micah 7:14-15,18-20 Today we hear a great prayer for forgiveness, a condent prayer because the Lord is our shepherd. It would make a terric reection 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 nd such inty resistance in myself ? In my community? In our society? Even as we nd 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. (2025w, March 16). Second Sunday of lent. USCCB. https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031625.cfm
-Sunday readings. (n.d.-s). Hearers of the Word. https://www.tarsus.ie/SundayReadings
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