Seasonal Reflections

Readings: Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion | USCCB 

The theme of these readings is abandonment. In less than a week, the crowds that cheered Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem are calling for his crucifixion. Judas, one of the twelve apostles, betrays his teacher for 30 pieces of silver. Simon Peter pledges unshakeable faith, but the same night denies Jesus three times. At Gethsemane, Jesus asks his disciples, “Remain here and keep watch with me.” Yet when Jesus returns from his agonizing prayers, he finds his disciples asleep—not once, not twice, but three times. When Jesus is arrested later that evening, Matthew tells us, “all the disciples left him and fled.” Christ’s lament from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” is haunted by these betrayals. 

God sent his only son, and we abandoned him, turned on him, and murdered him. 

In the face of this awful reality, I am moved by the image at the end of the Passion narrative. Joseph of Arimathea has gone to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus. He wrapped it in clean linen and placed it in a new tomb. “Then he rolled a huge stone across the entrance of the tomb and departed. But Mary Magdalene and the other Mary remain sitting there, facing the tomb.” Humanly speaking, all is lost. It is too late to fix anything, too late to save, too late to console. And yet these two women, facing the tomb where Jesus’s body lies, refuse to abandon the one they love. 

Erika Kidd 

Department of Catholic Studies 

Readings: Fifth Sunday of Lent | USCCB 

In this fifth week of the Lenten season, the readings focus on resurrection, from the story of the resurrection of Lazarus to how the indwelling spirit lives within us, and how the Lord transforms us in his infinite Mercy.  

For many of us in life we experience moments that feel like the tomb of Lazarus, places of sadness, fear, shame, failure, or apathy. These feelings can become a trap, and we can define ourselves on who we are by these negative emotions. In the Gospel the story of Lazarus provides a clear example of how Jesus saves us from these moments. Jesus declares “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25), meaning that our faith in Jesus frees us from the grave and shackles of spiritual death and sin. Even before the death of Lazarus, when he was struck with illness, Jesus says that “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (John 11:4). These trials and tribulations, the tests in our life, are not without meaning. In the suffering and struggles and the triumph from them that Jesus brings we are sanctified, to trust God in his work and to transform our dark moments, to turn our tombs into the light of the Lord and the resurrection of what will come.  

As we near Easter, and the resurrection of the Lord from his Tomb, we must remember the triumph over death that awaits us all in the glory of heaven. Peace be with you, Amen.

Seth Borne 

International Business Major, Theology Minor 

Readings: Fourth Sunday of Lent | USCCB 

It’s so easy to assume that what makes sense to us logically must also be exactly how God intends things to unfold. But that’s not what happens in these passages today. In fact, what we see in today’s readings is a youngest son, still in his youth, inherit a nation, and a beggar both teach and demonstrate the power of Jesus — two people who likely never imagined themselves receiving such positions. 

But as we hear in the first reading, “Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance, but the LORD looks into the heart.” God did not see these men because they were in the right worldly position. He saw them because their hearts were in the right place. Their hearts were open, humble, and honest, which increased their capacity to receive Him — not perform for Him. 

And even greater than this, their receptivity allowed them to be empowered in a way far beyond what they could have planned for on this earth: a shepherd becoming a king and a beggar becoming a prophet. 

Let this, then, be a reminder to us of the most important focus of this Lent — to do whatever we can to open our hearts to receive more of Him. Not just to do all the Lenten things in order to “move up” in either the spiritual world or even the material world. But instead, with humility, to look deep into our hearts and accept where God has us for now and what He is calling us to in this moment. 

In doing this, we allow God to restore us to Himself in the way He intends. And if these stories show us anything, it is that His way will be greater than anything we could have imagined. 

Krista Masek 

Counselor, Saint Paul Seminary 

Readings: Third Sunday of Lent | USCCB 

If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts.  

What if we don’t hear God’s voice because we’re not listening?  

When I hear the Gospels, I find myself wanting to identify with Jesus: to be wise, inspired, and teaching truth to others. But if I am honest with myself, I need to identify with the woman at the well who struggles to hear what Jesus is saying.  

I wish we knew her name – this woman of Samaria – to identify her by more than just her town and a barrier of difference. When she arrives at the well and Jesus asks her for a drink, she hears him only enough to defensively raise that barrier: “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” Jesus responds by turning the conversation from well water to living water, but the woman still does not hear. She is focused on the deep cistern and Jesus with no bucket in sight. She claims the well in Jacob’s name and for her own community, again raising barriers rather than carefully listening.   

When she does ask for the water Jesus offers, He responds with the truth about her several husbands: not so much in reprimand, but as a way of getting her attention. She is hearing him now as a prophet and not as a thirsty stranger. Yet she responds by raising yet another difference between them: where to worship, on this mountain or in Jerusalem? And once again, Jesus shifts the conversation by affirming neither place, instead teaching that the time has come to worship in spirit and in truth. Listening carefully, she asserts: “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ; when he comes, he will tell us everything.” And now that she hears and her heart is open, Jesus reveals Himself to her: “I am he, the one speaking with you.”  

Today’s scriptures remind us to hear each other in the midst of difference, of politics, of polarization. May we listen carefully to hear God’s voice – in each other and across our differences – and harden not our hearts that the truth may be revealed.

Dr. Michael Klein 

Professor, Justice and Peace Studies 

Readings: Second Sunday of Lent | USCCB

This Second Sunday of Lent we hear two powerful invitations: “Go forth” and “Listen to him.” 

In the Book of Genesis, Abram is called to leave behind security, familiarity, and control. God does not give him a map, only a promise. “Go…to a land that I will show you.” Abram’s holiness begins with trust. He does not yet see the fulfillment of the promise; he simply goes. Lent often asks the same of us. We are invited to step away from old habits, comforts, and certainties, trusting that God is leading us somewhere deeper, even if we cannot yet see where. 

In the Gospel of Matthew, the disciples are taken up a mountain and shown Christ in glory. The Transfiguration reveals who Jesus truly is, but it also prepares them for what is coming. Peter wants to stay in that moment, yet the voice of God does not say, “Stay here.” He says, “Listen to him.” 

Listening is hard and requires surrender. It means following Christ not only in moments of light but also down the mountain and toward the cross. Abram goes. The disciples listen. Both movements require trust. Lent calls me to ask: Where is God asking me to go? What voice am I truly listening to? 

What speaks most to me is the Father’s voice: “Listen to him.” I often fill my life with noise – my own worries, other people’s opinions, and endless distractions. Truly listening to Christ requires silence and humility. Lent invites us into both. We are called to go forth from whatever keeps us spiritually comfortable and to listen more closely to the voice of Christ. That may mean letting go of distractions, choosing prayer over noise, or trusting God in an area of life where the path feels uncertain. Lent reminds me that faith is movement. It is going when called. It is listening even when I am unsure. It is trusting that the same Jesus who reveals His glory on the mountain also walks beside me in the valley. 

Linda Agustin 

Social Work major, Psychology and Catholic Studies minor 

Readings: First Sunday of Lent | USCCB

“Lead us not into temptation,” a line from the Our Father, has always disturbed me.  Why would God want to lead us into temptation?  The reality is that God cannot be led into temptation, nor lead us into temptation (CCC #2846). Some scholars hold that the prayer asked God that we not fall into temptation.

In Genesis 3:5-6, the snake tempted Eve, and the scriptures were vague if Adam was present or not but do say the fruit on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was tempting.  Literally, from the beginning of creation to the present, humans have been tempted to sin, to disobey God.  This first temptation wasn’t just about food, but control, as Satan said, “You will be like gods.”

This is the point of today’s readings for the First Sunday of Lent, which are always taken from either Matthew, Mark, or Luke.  Today Matthew lists the three temptations symbolic of our human struggles.  From stones to bread represents our struggle with reliance on God versus self-sufficiency.  Jesus being tempted to throw himself off the parapet of the Temple represents the struggle of satisfying our physical desires with doing right in the eyes of God.  Worshipping Satan is the temptation of lust for power (seekerofchrist.com).

In taking human flesh, Jesus showed us that it is humanly possible to resist temptation and not sin.  Scriptures say that Jesus was tempted by all things and did not sin; he knew our struggles.  The Letter to the Hebrews says, “Tempted in every way, yet without sin” (4:15).  It’s not easy to resist temptation, but a lot easier than the cross.  It comes down to faith in God and loving as Jesus did.  Lent is about growing in our ability to resist temptation and lead holier lives.

Fr. Thomas Saucier, O.P.

Associate Chaplain, Campus Ministry