08 March: Friday after Ash Wednesday

Whoever fasts for religious purposes must not oppress employees or subjects

07 March: Thursday after Ash Wednesday

By walking in his ways, you shall live. Fidelity assures the future of God’s people…

1st Reading: Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Called to fidelity. Choose life so that you may live!

06 March: Ash Wednesday

*We begin Lent by receiving the ashes of repentance on our foreheads, and plan to prepare well for Easter…

1st Reading: Joel 2:12-18

Return to me with all your heart. Spare your people, Lord

05 March: Tuesday of Week 8

*To touch a leper might render us ritually unclean, unfit to enter the temple. Yet in another way it links us to the Jesus who befriended lepers…

1st Reading: Sirach 35:1-12

The wise person is generous to the poor and avoids extortion

04 March: Monday of Week 8

*The Lord can call us beyond where we are, to grow in our relationship with him, to be more generous in our response to his presence.

1st Reading: Sirach 17:24-29

Repent from sin while you still can. The dead cannot praise God

02 March: Saturday of Week 7

*God has formed our tongue and eyes and ears and blessed us with an understanding heart...

1st Reading: Sirach 17:1-15

God has fashioned us in all our parts

*When our link with God is right, we can build relationships that are  faithful and generous… 1st Reading: Sirach 6:5-17 Let your friends be tried and trusted. A faithful friend is a tonic Pleasant speech multiplies friends, and a gracious tongue multiplies courtesies. Let those who are friendly with you be many, but let your…

Some lurid statements must be taken figuratively. Today’s Gospel reflects the primacy of the eternal over the temporal…

1st Reading: Sirach 5:1-8

Rely not on your wealth nor on your strength

As a word of wisdom, Jesus warns his disciples about envy and rivalry. Feeling threatened by some rival, they were indignant and..

1st Reading: Sirach 4:11-19

Seeking wisdom brings happiness and reveals life’s deepest secrets

One who feels small may also have great potential, waiting for the healing influence of genuine kindness …

1st Reading: Sirach 2:1-11

Sirach links the fear of the Lord with wisdom that warms the heart. It is something that God lavishes on those who love him…

1st Reading: Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 1:1-10

All wisdom comes from God and returns to him

After the Transfiguration, the three struggled to understand why Jesus foresaw a violent death for himself..

This recalls the day when Peter held his first service with the faithful in Rome, under the title “Cathedra Petri” (the Chair of Peter)…

Thursday of Week 6

Wednesday of Week 6

Tuesday of Week 6