Wednesday, March 07, 2012 {Sts. Perpetua and Felicity, Martyrs (Commemoration)}

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
She [Mary] stands out among the poor and humble of the Lord, who confidently hope for and receive salvation from him. After a long period of waiting the times are fulfilled in her, the exalted Daughter of Sion, and the new plan of salvation is established.
-- Lumen Gentium
READINGS FOR TODAY
First Reading: Jeremiah 18:18-20(A Plot against Jeremiah)18 Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
19 Give heed to me, Yahweh, and listen to the voice of those who contend with me.
20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have dug a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn away your wrath from them.

Tuesday, March 06, 2012 (Lenten Weekday)

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
The person with fortitude is the one who perseveres in doing what his conscience tells him he ought to do. He does not measure the value of a task exclusively by the benefit he derives from it, but rather by the service he renders to others.
-- St. Josemaria Escriva
READINGS FOR TODAY
First Readings: Isaiah 1:10, 16-20
(Justice, Not Sacrifices/ An Invitation from the Lord)
10 You are no better than the leaders and people of Sodom and Gomorrah! So listen to the Lord God:
16 Wash yourselves clean! I am disgusted with your filthy deeds. Stop doing wrong and learn to live right.
See that justice is done. Defend widows and orphans and help those in need.”
18 I, the Lord, invite you to come and talk it over. Your sins are scarlet red, but they will be whiter than snow or wool.

Monday, March 05, 2012 (Lenten Weekday)

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
As iron is fashioned by fire and on the anvil, so in the fire of suffering and under the weight of trials, our souls receive that form which our Lord desires them to have.
-- St. Madeline Sophie Barat

READINGS FOR TODAY
First Reading: Daniel 9:4-10
4 I prayed to Yahweh my God, and made confession, and said, Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love him and keep his commandments,

5 we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from your precepts and from your ordinances;

6 neither have we listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

Sunday, March 04, 2012 (Second Sunday of Lent)

REFLECTION FOR TODAY

Irrational feeding darkens the soul and makes it unfit for spiritual experiences.

-- St. Thomas Aquinas

READINGS FOR TODAY

First Reading: Genesis 22:1-2, 9-13, 15-18

(God Commands Abraham to Offer Isaac)

1 It happened after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”

He said, “Here I am.”

2 He said, “Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.”

9 They came to the place which God had told him of. Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, on the wood.

Saturday, March 03, 2012 {St. Katharine Drexel, Virgin (Commemoration)}

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
Laetáre, Jerúsalem: et convéntum fácite, omnes qui dilígites eam: gaudéte cum laetítia, qui in tristítia fuístis: ut exsultétis, et satiémini ab ubéribus consolatiónis vestrae. Rejoice, O Jerusalem: and come together all you that love her: rejoice with joy, you that have been in sorrow: that you may exult, and be filled from the breasts of your consolation.
-- Introit, Laetáre Sunday, St. Andrew's Missal, 1945

READINGS FOR TODAY
First Reading: Deuteronomy 26:16-19
(The Lord's Own People)
16 This day Yahweh your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances: you shall therefore keep and do them with all your heart, and with all your soul.
17 You have declared Yahweh this day to be your God, and that you would walk in his ways, and keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his ordinances, and listen to his voice:
18 and Yahweh has declared you this day to be a people for his own possession, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his commandments;

Friday, March 02, 2012 (Lenten Weekday)

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
Inordinate love for the flesh is cruelty, because under the appearance of pleasing the body, we kill the soul.
-- St. Bernard of Clairvaux
READINGS FOR TODAY
First Reading: Ezekiel 18:21-2821 But if the wicked turn from all his sins that he has committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
22 None of his transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him: in his righteousness that he has done he shall live.
23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked? says the Lord Yahweh; and not rather that he should return from his way, and live?