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Reflections on Fasting, Prayer & Almsgiving
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Readings for Daily Masses in the Season of Lent
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The word “Lent” comes from an old German word for springtime. While the hallmarks of the season are fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, we take up these disciplines with the goal of growing in our relationship with God. Unlike the other liturgical seasons of the year, the lectionary mostly skips around the Bible in Lent, rather than working its way through a particular set of books. All selections are related to the themes of Lent, including fasting, prayer, almsgiving, the idea of a sacred time set apart, and acknowledgment of our continual need of repentance.
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Ash Wednesday Through the Third Week of Lent
Gospel passages are chosen from various parts of Matthew and Luke. Of note: the only time we hear from the Book of Esther in the entire lectionary is Thursday of the first full week of Lent.
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Fourth & Fifth Weeks of Lent
Because the Gospel passages of Ordinary Time are selected from Mark, Matthew, and Luke, the Gospel of John is selected for most days in the last three weeks of Lent and the seven weeks of Easter. The Fourth and Fifth Weeks of Lent feature various passages from the first half of the Gospel of John when Jesus is confronted by the scribes and the Pharisees.
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Holy Week (Sixth Week of Lent) Through Thursday Afternoon:
As on Palm Sunday and Good Friday, our first readings are taken from the “Songs of the Suffering Servant” in Second Isaiah. Our gospel passages, from John and Matthew, detail the events in the days leading up to the Last Supper.
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