Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent
March 15, 2021
Daily Reading from the USCCB: Isaiah 65:17-21
We now enter into the second half of Lent. The first weeks were mostly concerned with repentance. These last three weeks lead us into our annual participation in the passion and death of Jesus. But first the Lectionary teaches us about life–the basic reality that we deal with both in the context of change of heart and in the context of Jesus’ suffering and death.
In today’s reading from Isaiah, God promises his people a new beginning. There will be a new Jerusalem. There will be long and vigorous life for everybody. That’s what lies ahead for us. After our cleansing, after the self-gift of Jesus, comes new life. You can’t celebrate Lent appropriately without awareness of the new life that comes at Easter.
