Wednesday in the 2nd Week of Lent: Daily Lenten Meditations

REJECTED 

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” It is the voice of the Gentle Master, and oh, how long the world has kept Him standing there! Ages ago He came knocking at the doors of Bethlehem, and though the night was dark and the wind was chill and He had not where to lay His head, all doors were closed and bolted fast against the Gentle Master’s pleading.

But that was long ago. Ah, yes, but the story has not changed down through the years, and Jesus still stands knocking at the door of the world, His world, seeking admittance.

Strange, is it not? The world that is His own by divine right, the world that came from His creative hand, that very world bolts tight its door against Him as against a base intruder. And all along the years we catch the echo of that plaintive, pleading cry: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.”

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” I pity the Gentle Master when I think of the pain He must suffer at the hands of His creatures, and righteous indignation rises up within my soul against such cruelty. Yes, but what of myself? Am I utterly without reproach in the matter? What of the Gentle Master’s unheeded knocking at the door of my heart these many long years? How often He comes only to be repulsed as a troublesome nuisance! How often He stands at the door of my heart and the din within, the uproar of earthly distractions, utterly smothers the sound of His gentle knocking! How often He comes to seek admission only to find me too deeply engrossed with more welcome guests, worldly comforts and pleasures and honors, to have a care to admit Him! Worthy of pondering, surely!

Jesus, Gentle Master, have mercy on us.

EPISTLE AND GOSPEL: Taken from the Angelus Press 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

EPISTLE: Esther 13: 8-11, 15-17

Prayer of Mardochai in favor of the Jewish people, whom the impious Aman had determined to destroy. He implored the Lord God of Israel to turn their sadness into joy. The Christian people in the same way are mourning by Lenten penance and are looking forward to the holy joys of Easter.

In those days Mardochai prayed to the Lord, saying: O Lord, Lord, almighty King, for all things are in Thy power, and there is none that can resist Thy will, if Thou determine to save Israel. Thou hast made heaven and earth, and all things that are under the cope of heaven. Thou art Lord of all, and there is none that can resist Thy Majesty. And now, O Lord, O King, O God of Abraham, have mercy on Thy people, because our enemies resolve to destroy us and extinguish Thine inheritance. Despise not Thy portion which Thou hast redeemed for Thyself out of Egypt. Hear my supplication, and be merciful to Thy lot and inheritance, and turn our mourning into joy, that we may live and praise Thy name, O Lord, and shut not the mouths of them that sing to Thee, O Lord our God.

GOSPEL: Mt. 20: 17-28

Jesus foretells His Passion and Resurrection. He will make us participants in His Resurrection if we die to our sins.

At that time, as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples apart, and said to them: Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and cru-cified, and the third day He shall rise again. Then came to Him the mother of the sons of Zebedee with her sons, adoring and asking something of Him. Who said to her: What wilt thou? She saith to Him: Say that these my two sons may sit, the one on Thy right hand and the other on Thy left, in Thy kingdom. And Jesus answering, said: You know not what you ask. Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink? They say to Him: We can. He saith to them: My chalice indeed you shall drink: but to sit on My right or My left hand is not Mine to give to you, but to them for whom it is prepared by My Father. And the ten, hearing it, were moved with indignation against the two brethren. But Jesus called them to Him, and said: You know that the princes of the Gentiles lord it over them: and they that are the greater, exercise power upon them. It shall not be so among you: but whosoever shall be the greater among you, let him be your minister: and he that will be first among you shall be your servant. Even as the Son of man is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a redemption for many.