Saturday, March 8, 2025
Happy Saturday, friend! We are so excited to share with you what's coming up this week as we all prepare our hearts by praying with readings for Sunday, the day of rest with our Lord.
Live Liturgically // This Week’s Feast Days
Saturday, March 8 (today) // Optional Memorial of Saint John of God, Religious
Sunday, March 9 // First Sunday of Lent
Letter from the Editor //
Dear Sister,
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13), Saint Paul writes to us on this First Sunday of Lent. In these Readings we see the merciful Heart of the Lord, hearing us, pursuing us, dying for us to be close to Him. He wants to lead us from the desert of our sin into the Promised Land. Jesus in the Gospel goes out to the desert for forty days, and we join Him there during Lent. While He goes to pray, He also encounters temptations—ones that appeal to His human needs and desires. And because His human will was always completely aligned to His divine will, He rebukes the tempter. But we, dear sister, are only human.
When we are tempted in the desert of our lives, we must rely on God’s help. In the First Reading, Moses tells the Israelites what to say when offering the first fruits of the Promised Land to the priest: “[The LORD] heard our cry and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. He brought us out of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 26:7-8). We can relate to these words, as we remember all the times the Lord has forgiven our sins, delivered us in moments of temptation, and brought us deeper into His Heart, which is for us a “land flowing with milk and honey” (Deuteronomy 26:9) and blood and water flowing from His wounded side. Let us cling to Him, and He will deliver us (see Psalm 91:14).
In Christ’s Love,
Susanna
Read the readings for the First Sunday of Lent:
First Reading // Deuteronomy 26:4-10
Psalm // Psalm 91:1-2, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15
Second Reading // Romans 10:8-13
Gospel // Luke 4:1-13
Prayer Practice // What temptations are you already facing this Lent? Tell Jesus about your struggles and ask Him to lead you through.
Susanna Spencer holds a master's in Theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville and is the Content and Theological Editor for Blessed is She. She is a freelance writer, editor, and speaker living with her philosopher husband and four kids in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She loves reading theology, attending beautiful liturgies, cooking delicious food, and casually following baseball. She is the author of the Gospel Studies including Seek His Kingdom: A Meditation on Matthew; narrator for Found: Advent With the Good Shepherd and Rescued: Lent With the Lamb of God; a contributing author to our children’s devotional prayer book, Rise Up; and Theological Editor of the Blessed Conversations Studies. Find out more about her here.
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