On this final Sunday of Ordinary Time before the grace-filled season of Lent, the scripture offers us a foundation on which to build and plan our seasonal spiritual practices: Choose your words wisely for positive effect, celebrate Christ's victory over sin and death, and look in the mirror before correcting others’ mistakes. 

​Our readings for this Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time remind us that if we want to be Christians, we must learn to do good to those who have done us harm and to pray for our enemies. They challenge  us to work for universal brotherhood despite the painful experiences that we must face.

​Our readings for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time call us to take up the challenge of the Beatitudes, be blessed and show our world what true happiness and the deepest of joy look like. 

​The Scriptures for this Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time urges us to examine our life of discipleship and how we are answering God’s daily call. We have three of the greatest servants of God — Isaiah, Paul and Peter — iconic figures in salvation history — expressing their unworthiness. Isaiah says he is a person of unclean lips. Paul confesses that it was God’s grace and not his own effort that made him worthy to be an apostle. Then Peter was so overwhelmed by a sudden sense of the divine power and goodness, that senses the reality of his own real sinfulness.