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Message of the Day
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Before I can have any joy in being alone with God I must have learned not to fear being alone with myself. Shrinking from any deep self-scrutiny is by no means an uncommon thing, and often goes far to explain the feverish restlessness with which a world-loving heart plunges into perpetual rounds of gaieties and
dissipations; they serve as an escape from troublesome questions about the soul, and help to get rid of the clamors of conscience.
... G. H. Knight (1835-1917), In the Secret of His Presence Of course, being alone with God can also help one to become more at ease with being alone with oneself. |
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Readings of the Day
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Isaiah 65:17-21
Psalm 30:2-6, 11-12a and 13b John 4:43-54 Jesus left Samaria
for Galilee. He himself had declared that there is no respect for a prophet in his own country, but on his arrival the Galileans received him well, having seen all that he had done at Jerusalem during the festival which they too had attended.
He went again to Cana in Galilee, where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a court official there whose son was ill at Capernaum and, hearing that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judaea, he went and asked him to come and cure his
son as he was at the point of death. Jesus said, ‘So you will not believe unless you see signs and portents!’ ‘Sir,’ answered the official ‘come down before my child dies.’ ‘Go home,’ said Jesus ‘your son will live.’ The man believed what Jesus had said and started on his way; and while he was still on the journey back his servants met him with the news that his boy was alive. He asked them when the boy had begun to recover. ‘The fever left him yesterday’ they said ‘at the seventh hour.’ The
father realised that this was exactly the time when Jesus had said, ‘Your son will live’; and he and all his household believed.
This was the second sign given by Jesus, on his return from Judaea to
Galilee. USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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“There shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create.” —Isaiah 65:18 We are about halfway through Lent and joyfully anticipating Easter. The Lord promises us a now-Easter, not only a past memory or future
hope but a present joy. Jesus promises: “Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind. Instead, there shall always be rejoicing and happiness in what I create” (Is 65:17-18). This Easter, we will taste more deeply of the risen life. We will rejoice in Jesus and He in us (Is 65:18-19). Some of you reading this may not relate to the mounting joy of Lent and the anticipation of Easter. You may be hurting,
broken, and struggling to survive. Jesus is calling you to trust in His words (see Jn 4:50), in His promises of risen joy. The moment you trust in Jesus’ words will be the moment you enter more deeply into His risen life (see Jn 4:53). You may not notice any change at first, but you will be able to look back weeks or years from now and see that this moment of faith was the beginning of new life in the risen Christ. If we walk through this Lent by faith, we can walk in joyful
anticipation, no matter what the circumstances (see 2 Cor 5:7). Therefore, believe, rejoice, and anticipate. Prayer: Father, may we “be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ” (from the prayer after the “Our Father” in the Mass). Promise: “He and his whole household thereupon became believers.” —Jn
4:53 Presentation Ministries
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Spiritual Reading
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Dilexi Te: On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ, by Pope Francis (completed by Pope Leo XIII), 2025.
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/20241024-enciclica-dilexit-nos.html
CHAPTER THREE
THIS IS THE HEART THAT HAS LOVED SO GREATLY
48. Devotion to the heart of Christ is not the veneration of a single organ apart from the Person of Jesus. What we contemplate and adore is the whole Jesus Christ, the Son
of God made man, represented by an image that accentuates his heart. That heart of flesh is seen as the privileged sign of the inmost being of the incarnate Son and his love, both divine and human. More than any other part of his body, the heart of Jesus is “the natural sign and symbol of his boundless love”. [28]
Worshiping Christ
50. Whatever the image employed, it is clear that the living heart of Christ – not its representation – is the
object of our worship, for it is part of his holy risen body, which is inseparable from the Son of God who assumed that body forever. We worship it because it is “the heart of the Person of the Word, to whom it is inseparably united”. [29] Nor do we worship it for its own sake, but because with this heart the incarnate Son is alive, loves us and receives our love in return. Any act of love or worship of his heart is thus “really and truly given to Christ himself”, [30] since it spontaneously
refers back to him and is “a symbol and a tender image of the infinite love of Jesus Christ”. [31]
51. For this reason, it should never be imagined that this devotion may distract or separate us from Jesus and his love. In a natural and direct way, it points us to him and to him alone, who calls us to a precious friendship marked by dialogue, affection, trust and adoration. The Christ we see depicted with a pierced and burning heart is the same Christ who, for
love of us, was born in Bethlehem, passed through Galilee healing the sick, embracing sinners and showing mercy. The same Christ who loved us to the very end, opening wide his arms on the cross, who then rose from the dead and now lives among us in glory. |
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