Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent
March 14, 2023
Daily Reading from the USCCB: Daniel 3:25, 34-43
Three men have been thrown into a furnace in Babylon because of their unwillingness to worship an idol. Our reading for today gives us the prayer that one of the three, Azariah, offered to God in their distress. It’s a prayer for mercy.
Mercy is undeserved benevolence offered to someone who is suffering. It’s compassion offered to the miserable. In his prayer, Azariah expresses the plight of God’s people. They’re brought low. They have no means to please God. Azariah asks for God’s kindness and compassion.
This prayer is appropriate for us to recall in our season of Lenten repentance. We are oppressed by our sins. We have no right to God’s care. We can only ask for God’s mercy. “Kyrie, eleison.”
