From the Gospel according to Luke 11:29-32

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them,
“This generation is an evil generation;
it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it,
except the sign of Jonah.
Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites,
so will the Son of Man be to this generation.
At the judgment
the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation
and she will condemn them,
because she came from the ends of the earth
to hear the wisdom of Solomon,
and there is something greater than Solomon here.
At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation
and condemn it,
because at the preaching of Jonah they repented,
and there is something greater than Jonah here.”

The Sign Has Been Given!

For the Jews of that time, the expression “wicked generation” was no empty reproach. It immediately called to mind the ancient people of Israel — the people who had been freed from Egypt, who saw the sea parted before them, who were fed with manna and received the Law on Sinai: a people surrounded by signs and yet still doubtful, still demanding further proof.

Jesus recognises in his listeners that very same attitude: they ask for a sign, not out of a sincere desire for truth, but from insistence, mistrust and suspicion. And so He grants them no further sign. When the heart is closed, no sign is ever enough. Instead, He reminds them of two well-known examples: the Queen of the South, who travelled great distances moved by her longing to encounter the wisdom of God; and the people of Nineveh, who repented because they listened and trusted the preaching of Jonah.

Because of their hardened hearts, those Jews failed to recognise God standing before them. And we, today, run the same risk.

Spouses, the sign has been given: through our Sacrament, Jesus is present in our marriage; He is present in my spouse. Do I recognise Him?

When the heart trusts and is ready to receive, it learns to discover the provident hand of God in the small things of daily life: in a correction from my spouse, in a smile, in the children who draw us out of our comfort, in the word of a friend… Then we begin to see God in everything and in everyone.

Brought into Married Life

Catherine: How blessed we are to see so many conversions around us! Though I think we need to guard our hearts carefully, so that we do not start seeking ourselves.

Peter: What do you mean?

Catherine: Sometimes I have the feeling that I’m chasing extraordinary experiences — living for what is spectacular — reducing our faith to emotional moments. I think that can become a distraction, and even mislead us…

Peter: That’s true. Do you think there is anything more extraordinary than God Himself remaining hidden, out of love, in a small piece of bread?

Catherine: Exactly. So what are we waiting for to gather close around Jesus?

Mother,

From your heart we share the same longing: how we would love to see the tabernacles overflowing with people adoring the Lord!

My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love You. I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope, and do not love You.

Blessed and praised be He for ever.

From the Gospel according to Matthew 6:7-15

Jesus said to his disciples:
“In praying, do not babble like the pagans,
who think that they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

“This is how you are to pray:

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

“If you forgive men their transgressions,
your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men,
neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”

Do Not Recite It — Live It

Our Father:

Teach me to look upon my spouse as a beloved child of the Father.

Who art in heaven:

You are God; I am Your creature. You are great; I am small. I do not understand everything, but I trust in You.

Hallowed be Thy Name:

May I reflect Your love through my love for my spouse, and together may we give You glory.

Thy Kingdom come:

Dethrone me. May I always do what You desire.

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven:

I do not wish to convince You of my plan; I want to live Yours — and to entrust my spouse to You, even in what I do not understand.

Give us this day our daily bread:

Without You we perish. From You I await everything — the food of the body and the food of the soul.

Forgive us our trespasses:

Forgive every lack of love that breaks communion with my spouse and with You.

As we forgive those who trespass against us:

I know I shall receive Your forgiveness only if I never refuse mine to my spouse.

And lead us not into temptation:

Deliver me from pride, from self-pity, and from hardness of heart towards my spouse.

But deliver us from evil:

Show me my sin, Lord. Purify my heart so that I may love You where You most desire to be loved: in my marriage.

Brought into Married Life

(After a heated argument. The house is silent.)

Elizabeth: Every time we talk about this, we end up in the same place… I feel so alone.

James: And I feel attacked. It seems that nothing I do is ever enough.

Elizabeth: But do you know something? After our argument, I prayed the Our Father… and suddenly I understood. I understood so much. I can see how busy we are trying to be right, James — defending ourselves… anything but loving when our pride is hurt.

James: I can see it too. I fight against you just to prove I’m right, always trying to defend myself instead of simply understanding you — or loving you.

Elizabeth: When I said, Thy Kingdom come, I realised how often I actually resist His Kingdom, because I always want to be right and to have things done my way.

James: Oh, Elizabeth… how beautiful you are. We are so small. We cannot love without His grace, and yet we insist on trying to do it alone instead of asking for it.

Elizabeth: So… what do we do now?

James: What if we pray the Our Father together — looking into each other’s eyes, very slowly, letting each word pass through our hearts, truly begging Him?

Elizabeth: I love that idea.

James: Then let’s begin.

Mother,

Teach me to pray the Our Father as you did — with a heart burning with love and absolute trust. May you always be our perfect model. Praised be the Lord.

From the Gospel according to Matthew 25:31-46

Jesus said to his disciples:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory,
and all the angels with him,
he will sit upon his glorious throne,
and all the nations will be assembled before him.
And he will separate them one from another,
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the king will say to those on his right,
‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father.
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
a stranger and you welcomed me,
naked and you clothed me,
ill and you cared for me,
in prison and you visited me.’
Then the righteous will answer him and say,
‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you,
or thirsty and give you drink?
When did we see you a stranger and welcome you,
or naked and clothe you?
When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’
And the king will say to them in reply,
‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did
for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’
Then he will say to those on his left,
‘Depart from me, you accursed,
into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me no food,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
a stranger and you gave me no welcome,
naked and you gave me no clothing,
ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’
Then they will answer and say,
‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison,
and not minister to your needs?’
He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you,
what you did not do for one of these least ones,
you did not do for me.’
And these will go off to eternal punishment,
but the righteous to eternal life.”

I See Jesus in You

Jesus teaches us the key to inheriting a Kingdom prepared for us since the foundation of the world: to see Jesus in others. The alternative is eternal loss. So this is no small matter. It challenges us to examine our attitude towards those in need, towards the little ones. What do I do? Do I see Jesus in them?

In married life, this Gospel prompts us to ask: what do I do when my spouse is in need? When he is tired, discouraged, feeling lonely, when he needs my support. It is Jesus whom I leave unattended if I fail to care. If, instead of patiently listening to my wife, I think she is being tiresome and going on again about her nonsense, I am abandoning Jesus. It is Jesus — again and again — waiting to be loved.

What a beautiful vocation marriage is! Through our Sacrament, we are able to minister to Jesus, through the needs of our spouse, every day of our lives.

Brought into Married Life

Caroline: Vincent, I have to tell you — lately I’ve noticed a real change in you.

Vincent: I hope it’s for the better!

Caroline: Of course it is! You’re so much more attentive when you come home, and you’re not arriving as late from the office anymore.

Vincent: I’ve had some help. Do you remember the little prayer corner I set up by the entrance from the garage? Well, every time I come home — even if I’m exhausted — I stop there for a moment. I pray, and I remind myself that it is Jesus I am about to meet, worn out after an afternoon with the girls. How could I not attend to Him?

Caroline: The girls have noticed it too. And I think I might start pausing there as well.

Vincent: I have to admit that sometimes what kept me at the office wasn’t all that important. I avoided coming home because I felt I didn’t deserve more “work” after work, and it made me irritable — and we both know how the day would end. Now it’s different. It’s no longer extra work; it’s an opportunity to serve — to serve Jesus. And that has changed everything.

Caroline: I want to learn to see you that way too!

Mother,

Help me to see Jesus in my spouse, in need of my tenderness, affection and support. Praised be the Lord.

From the Gospel according to Matthew 4:1-11

At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert
to be tempted by the devil.
He fasted for forty days and forty nights,
and afterwards he was hungry.
The tempter approached and said to him,
“If you are the Son of God,
command that these stones become loaves of bread.”
He said in reply,
“It is written:
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth
from the mouth of God.”

Then the devil took him to the holy city,
and made him stand on the parapet of the temple,
and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.
For it is written:
He will command his angels concerning you
and with their hands they will support you,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
Jesus answered him,
“Again it is written,
You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”
Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain,
and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence,
and he said to him, “”All these I shall give to you,
if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.”
At this, Jesus said to him,
“Get away, Satan!
It is written:
The Lord, your God, shall you worship
and him alone shall you serve.”

Then the devil left him and, behold,
angels came and ministered to him.

Turn Away Temptation

We have just begun Lent, and the Gospel presents to us how Jesus is tempted by the devil.

Christ, of course, does not fall into those temptations — but what about us? We so often fall into the enemy’s game. We quickly ask God to work miracles, to turn stones into bread, or to change my spouse — who, in my eyes, is not the one I deserve. Yet He tells us to live by His Word, which is alive and speaks to us each day, teaching us to love our spouse precisely when they seem least deserving of it.

How many times, in the face of suffering or trials, do we ask Him to take them away — knowing that He can? And yet He tells us that He knows better than we do what we need; that we must not put God to the test. We ask God to satisfy our desires and passions; we insist that we have a right to be happy — even at the expense of our spouse’s happiness, our children’s, or those around us. And He reminds us not to fix our gaze on the world and its passing treasures. We are called to holiness in the vocation He has entrusted to us — and that call is infinite.

Let us live this Lent by giving ourselves to God through our spouse, accompanying Christ in the desert and preparing our hearts to walk with Him in His Passion.

Brought into Married Life:

Samuel: Hello, Beatrice! Look — at work they’ve given me a stay at the Parador in the Pyrenees for the whole of Holy Week! It’s the finest Parador in Spain! And do you know what the boss said? That I’m getting it because I’m the best in the office.

Beatrice: But… we had planned to spend Holy Week together with the children, truly living it, accompanying the Lord…

Samuel: Yes, but it’s the best Parador in Spain. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have an amazing time in the mountains.

Beatrice: But there aren’t even any nearby villages — it’s completely surrounded by nature. And it’s Holy Week…

Samuel: Oh. I can see you’re not excited. What a disappointment.

(After their spousal prayer, having placed everything in the Lord’s presence.)

Samuel: You’re right. I was being blinded by the luxury, by feeling important. I couldn’t see that it was a temptation — a trap to draw us away from the Lord.

Beatrice: Thank You, Lord, for this husband who is always willing to follow You and to be guided by the Holy Spirit.

Mother,

Remain always at our side, that we may not fall into temptation. Praised be the Lord.