Dear Father, in today’s Gospel reading (John 11:47–54), we encountered the stubbornness and blindness of the scribes. This was alarming and even led to the decision to kill Jesus. They deceived themselves, and thus the truth could no longer find its way into their hearts.
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Day 38: “Conspiracy against Jesus”
Holy Week is just around the corner, and today’s Lenten reading presents us with the Gospel passage in which Jesus’ enemies decide to kill Him (Jn 11:47–54). It reads as follows:
“So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council, and said, ‘What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on thus, every one will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.’” (vv. 47–48).
Here we see the false pretexts they put forward, for Jesus—through His preaching and His works—posed absolutely no threat to the Romans. In reality, it was the religious leaders who felt threatened and feared losing their influence over the people.
The raising of Lazarus, an unmistakable sign of Jesus’ divine authority, proved intolerable to them. Since they had no way to refute Him or accuse Him of any sin—and thus of having transgressed the Law—they simply decided to kill Him.
Day 37: “Now we follow you with all our hearts”
Following the joy of the election of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which we celebrated yesterday, our Lenten journey presents us today with the moving prayer of Azariah (Dan 3, 3–22), one of the three young men who, thanks to divine intervention, emerged unharmed from the fiery furnace.
Azariah, who lives in exile in Babylon alongside his people, first expresses his deep lament at having lost everything that once constituted the center of his life, while at the same time acknowledging the people’s guilt: “For we, O Lord, have become fewer than any nation, and are brought low this day in all the world because of our sins. And at this time there is no prince, or prophet, or leader, no burnt offering, or sacrifice, or oblation, or incense, no place to make an offering before thee or to find mercy.” (vv. 14–15a).
How important it is to acknowledge reality with such depth! Israel feels the consequences of having turned away from God and realizes that it has brought this upon itself. In this prayer, no one and nothing is blamed for the suffering and misfortune that have befallen the people; rather, one’s own guilt is acknowledged in a simple and sincere manner.
“MAY OUR HEARTS BE A PLACE OF PEACE”
“Now with all our heart we follow thee.” (Dan 3:18)
These words, dear Father, were spoken by Azarias as he entered the fiery furnace with two other faithful young men, after he confessed that the suffering of the Jews in Babylon was the result of their having abandoned Your commandments and instructions.
Day 36: “Mary’s Attitude”
In the midst of our Lenten journey, the great solemnity of the Annunciation shines forth—the day when our redemption began as Mary said “yes.” Although we are undoubtedly familiar with the corresponding biblical passage, we never tire of hearing the first proclamation of the Good News, when God revealed His plan and invited Mary into His saving work.
Lk 1:26-38
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, you who enjoy God’s favour! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Look! You are to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I have no knowledge of man?’ The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. And I tell you this too: your cousin Elizabeth also, in her old age, has conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ Mary said, ‘You see before you the Lord’s servant, let it happen to me as you have said.’ And the angel left her.
YOU TURN EVERYTHING TO YOUR WILL
Very moving, dear Father, is the story of Daniel, whom the idolaters threw into the lions’ den because he had exposed their idols and uncovered the scheme with which they deceived King Cyrus. And the lions? They did Daniel no harm, as so often happened with saints—for example, with Saint Martina of Rome. Read More
Day 35: “Daniel and the Lions – Prayer Request”
How does one survive for several days in a lions’ den after being thrown in to be devoured by seven hungry lions? In today’s reading (Dan 14:27–42), Daniel gives us an answer.
Why did the Babylonians want to get rid of Daniel? The reading recounts that they went to King Cyrus of Persia and said: “Hand Daniel over to us, or else we will kill you and your household.” Faced with this great violence, the king was forced to hand him over (vv. 29–30). Read More
Day 34: “True Prophets in the Service of Jesus”
Today’s reading (Jonah 3:1–10) is a source of great joy on our Lenten journey. An entire city, along with its king, takes the prophet Jonah’s warning seriously. So there are indeed situations in which people turn from their evil ways. The people of Nineveh did penance when the king issued the proclamation:
“And he made proclamation and published through Nin′eveh, ‘By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them cry mightily to God; yea, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence which is in his hands. Who knows, God may yet repent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we perish not?’ When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them; and he did not do it.” (vv. 7–10)
How would people take this today? Can we imagine a prophet arising to warn of an impending catastrophe and actually succeeding in bringing about the complete conversion of a nation, a city, a town, or at least a Catholic parish? How would such a prophet be treated today? He would certainly be ridiculed—and that is to mention only the mildest form of rejection. He would likely be treated like someone who warns of an impending fire but is then blamed for it.
“PRAYER FOR THE LORD’S INTERVENTION”
Beloved Father, the example of Nineveh shows us this: it is not impossible for people to heed Your warning through the prophets, to repent of their sins, and thus be spared from impending disaster.
When I look at this world, dear Father, I certainly see greater evils than there were in Nineveh back then, and I also see the dangers hanging over the whole world. You Yourself have often drawn attention to this through those who made Your voice heard.
But where can we find a response like the one in Nineveh? Do people even understand that all these terrible things are happening because Your commandments are being violated, and thus death is spreading instead of life?
Is it not rather like in the days of Noah, that people do not see the danger in which they live? And yet it is made physically visible and audible through the media.
Just as I write these lines (March 20, 2026), the siren sounds again in Jerusalem, followed by a very heavy explosion. Usually, these are rockets from Iran or Lebanon, representing a response to the bombing of Iran by Israel and the U.S.
There is a way to take spiritual action against this killing. We must unite in prayer.
Here is my simple prayer, with the request that many join in:
Beloved Heavenly Father, we turn to you full of confidence, believing firmly that you will come to the aid of the peoples. Look upon the suffering caused by so many forms of unjust violence, and intervene with your power to weaken the Evil One. We especially ask you to intervene in the war in the Middle East, and to resist all those who practise, support or encourage unjust violence, whether physical or spiritual, whether humans or fallen angels. Bring true peace! We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
“TO RECOGNIZE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT”
Dear Father, it goes too far to suspect Your Son of being in league with the devil when He heals, and to accuse Him of being possessed by a demon when He speaks the word of wisdom, as happened to Him in Israel.
When such terrible things are said, one almost irrevocably closes the door to true knowledge. The more one argues against the obviousness of Your action, the greater the danger of committing the sin against the Holy Spirit. It is the very sin the devil committed: the willful sin against better knowledge. It is unforgivable, as Scripture testifies. May the Lord protect people from ever committing blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.