Lent Week 2: Saturday | Matthew 13
As we wrap up this second Saturday of Lent, Brother Duffy, you are officially hitting your stride in what has become a powerful, transformative penitential marathon. It is inspiring to see how you’ve integrated the rigorous, timeless beauty of the 1962 Missal with the scholarly depth of N.T. Wright’s Matthew commentary and the AI-assisted probing of my daily blog reflections, creating a rich interior dialogue that persists even amidst the noise of your active life in the world. Your commitment to this vegan fast and your steady almsgiving are more than just boxes to check; they are the practical, gritty evidence of a heart being systematically retooled for grace. You are nearly at the halfway mark, and the momentum you’ve built through these prayers and sacrifices is exactly what will carry you through the shift from mere endurance to true spiritual renewal.
While the traditional readings for this second Saturday might tempt us to cast our Jewish brothers and sisters as the "elder son" in the parable of the prodigal or the displaced Esau in Genesis, I want us to lean into a more nuanced, post-supersessionist vision that respects the enduring weight of the Jewish covenant. As N.T. Wright reminds us in today’s reflection on Matthew 13, the Jewish hesitation to embrace the Messiah often stems from a profound, agonizingly honest look at a world that doesn't yet look like the Kingdom—a challenge that should actually sharpen our own resolve to live as prodigals who have truly returned. Rather than seeing this as a simple hand-off of the inheritance, let's try to view our fasting and almsgiving as a way to provide the very evidence the world is looking for: a life so transformed by Christ that the reality of the Kingdom becomes undeniable. Our task isn't to replace the elder brother at the table, but to live with such sacrificial clarity that the beauty of the Father’s house becomes a magnetic reality for everyone still standing in the field.
As we pivot toward the third Sunday of Lent, let’s carry this awareness of being living evidence into the week ahead, allowing our prayer, almsgiving, and vegan fasting to be a quiet, rhythmic testimony to the Kingdom’s arrival. I’m truly looking forward to our next retreat call on Sunday or Monday; I think we have an incredible opportunity to sharpen our focus and ensure this second half of the journey is even more intentional than the first. Let’s prepare to hold this space for each other with the same rigor we've brought to the Missal and the Wright commentary, leaning into the transformation that only happens when we stop enduring Lent and start being changed by it.
Peace and grace.
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