Beads of Joy Blog II (2025 - 2026)

🌿 Tuesday, March 24, 2026 When You Lift Up the Son of Man He Will Draw All People to Himself Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot. Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent • Memorial of St. Oscar Romero • Lent 2026 • Year A • Beads of Joy Blog II ✝️ Today's Mass Readings First Reading: Numbers 21:4-9 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 102:2-3, 16-18, 19-21 Gospel: John 8:21-30 📖 The Gospel - John 8:21-30 Jesus tells the Pharisees; I am going away, and where I am going you cannot come. He says, " When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM. And that He does nothing on His own, He speaks only what the Father has taught Him. And as He spoke these words, many came to believe in Him. 🙏 Gospel Reflection Today we remember St. Oscar Romero, the Archbishop of San Salvador, who was shot dead while celebrating Mass on March 24, 1980. He was killed because he refused to stop speaking the truth to power, refused to stop defending the poor, refused to be silent...

🌿 Monday, March 23, 2026 “Neither Do I Condemn You Go and Sin No More” Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot. Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent • Lent 2026 • Year A • Beads of Joy Blog II ✝️ Today's Mass Readings First Reading: Daniel 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6 Gospel: John 8:1-11 📖 The Gospel - John 8:1-11 The scribes and Pharisees drag a woman before Jesus, caught in adultery, they say, the law demands she be stoned. They are setting a trap. And Jesus bends down and writes in the dirt. Then He stands and says, let the one among you who is without sin cast the first stone. And one by one they walk away. And Jesus looks at her and says, neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. 🙏 Gospel Reflection There is so much happening in this story that we could spend an entire Lent here. But what strikes me most today is what Jesus does not do. He does not minimize what she did. He does not pretend the sin didn...

🌿 Sunday, March 22, 2026 Jesus Cried Out In A Loud Voice “Lazarus, Come Out!” Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot. Fifth Sunday of Lent • Year A • Lent 2026 • Year A • Beads of Joy Blog II ✝️ Today's Mass Readings First Reading: Ezekiel 37:12-14 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-7, 7-8 Second Reading: Romans 8:8-11 Gospel: John 11:1-45 📖 The Gospel - John 11:1-45 Lazarus is dead. Four days in the tomb. His sisters are devastated. Jesus arrives late. Martha runs to meet Him and says, Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Jesus says, " Your brother will rise." I AM the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this? Then He goes to the tomb and cries out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. 🙏 Gospel Reflection I AM the resurrection and the life. The statement is staggering in its directness. Jesus is not pointing to something outside Himself. He is the answer. He is what Martha is...

🌿 Saturday, March 21, 2026 Never Has Anyone Spoken Like This Man Photo created by James Dacey, Jr using Co-Pilot. Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent • Lent 2026 • Year A • Beads of Joy Blog II ✝️ Today's Mass Readings First Reading: Jeremiah 11:18-20 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 7:2-3, 9-10, 11-12 Gospel: John 7:40-53 📖 The Gospel - John 7:40-53 The crowd is divided over Jesus. Some say He is the Prophet. Some say He is the Messiah. Some want to arrest Him. The guards who were sent to arrest Him came back empty-handed. The chief priests demand, why did you not bring Him? And the guards say simply, never has anyone spoken like this man. 🙏 Gospel Reflection Never has anyone spoken like this man. That is one of the most extraordinary testimonies in all of the Gospels, and it comes not from a disciple, not from a believer, but from the guards who were sent to arrest Him. When they heard Him speak, they just couldn't do it. They came back empty-handed and reported that the...

🌿 Friday, March 20, 2026 They Plotted Against Jesus But His Hour Had Not Yet Come Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot. Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent • Day of Abstinence • Lent 2026 • Year A • Beads of Joy Blog II ✝️ Today's Mass Readings First Reading: Wisdom 2:1a, 12-22 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 34:17-18, 19-20, 21, 23 Gospel: John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30 📖 The Gospel - John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30 Jesus travels through Judea as the authorities are seeking to kill Him. He goes up to Jerusalem for the feast and begins to teach. The crowd wonders, is this the one they want to kill? And yet here He is, speaking openly. And Jesus says, " You know me, and you know where I come from. But the one who sent me is true. And no one arrested Him because His hour had not yet come. 🙏 Gospel Reflection His hour had not yet come. That phrase appears again and again in John's Gospel like a slow drumbeat getting closer, His hour, His hour, not yet His hour. And when it final...

🌿 Thursday, March 19, 2026 Solemnity of Saint Joseph Photo created by James Dacey, Jr. using Co-Pilot. Solemnity of St. Joseph • Year A • Lent 2026 • Year A • Beads of Joy Blog II ✝️ Today's Mass Readings First Reading: 2 Samuel 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29 Second Reading: Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22 Gospel: Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24a 📖 The Gospel - Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24a Joseph discovers that Mary is with child. He is a just man and does not want to expose her. He plans to divorce her quietly. And then an angel of the Lord appears to him in a dream, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And Joseph woke up and did what the angel commanded him. 🙏 Gospel Reflection He woke up and did what the angel commanded him. That is the entire biography of St. Joseph in one sentence. And it is enough. It is more than enough. It is one of the most powerful statements of fai...