Readings for March 16 and 23, 2025
All in one place — well, two, for this post:
March 16:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031625.cfm
March 23:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032325-YearC.cfm
In the context of each Bible book:
March 16:
March 23:
What stands out to me from the readings for the next two weeks:
March 16th:
The Scripture passages for March 16th remind me that each of is born in a particular place and time. This was true for Abraham and Jesus as much as it’s true for each of us. Both Abraham and Jesus understood God had given them the earth’s resources to use wisely while they lived here. They also knew they belonged to God — not to God’s creation. Nothing created would offer lasting satisfaction. Only trusting in God would.
We, Abraham, Paul, and Jesus were given gifts to appreciate and work to do in the times and places we inhabit. In the course of our appreciation and our work, will get glimpses what lies beyond any time and place. As much as we might want to stay in these glimpses, we can’t hold onto them here, while we’re subject to the biological needs and psychological and spiritual pressures that tempt us.
Nevertheless, God invites us not to let these pressures dominate our lives. The March 16th readings promise that if we don’t give up on persevering in spite of these pressures, when we’re finished with life on earth, the challenges of that life won’t be able to keep us down. As the passage from Philippians says:
“[O]ur citizenship is in heaven,
Philippians 3:20-21
and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He will change our lowly body
to conform with his glorified body
by the power that enables him also
to bring all things into subjection to himself
March 23rd
Our understandings of God are works in progress. So is our ability to reflect God’s image without distortion. No one can be sure how or how long God will work to refine each of our reflections. Therefore, this week’s readings urge us to open our hearts to God so that God can clean and repair the mirrors of our souls now. Bringing ourselves to God for this cleansing and repair is what will allow us to become, like God, eternal presence. Each of us needs to undergo God’s cleansing and repair again and again. No one else can undergo this process for us, and the process looks somewhat different for each person. Each of us can only encourage each other to place ourselves in the hands of the One who makes and remakes our mirrors, and we can consider how to avoid what scratches, cracks, and shatters them.
What I’m saying (about the readings and beyond) this week:
My journaling this week keeps bringing me back to the idea of trust. Going back to this idea suggests to me that a fruit of trust is being grounded in the present, not needing to escape it. Trust means recognizing what I have the power to change and having the courage to work on changing it. Trust means recognizing that making change happen is a process. It requires being intentional, falling short of the intention, and then being intentional again and again. Trust means not losing hope, not losing faith that change that God wills will happen. It also means recognizing what isn’t mine to change and handing all that over to God, trusting that in the end, justice and mercy triumph.
In writing all this, I don’t mean to suggest that I’ve taken all of it to heart and have found an unshakable peace. I wish. I’m merely in a place of reminding myself of my intention to trust.
What someone else is sharing about the readings for the next two weeks:
Mayella Vasquez’s reflection on the readings for March 16th reminds me that part of trusting is listening. Her reflection also makes me consider that the Transfiguration isn’t just something that Peter, James, John and Jesus experienced. It’s something each of us can experience again and again if we look and listen for it
As I prepare to publish this post on Sitting with the Sacred, there’s no reflection for March 23rd posted on the Catholic Women Preach website.
This week’s prayer:
The Serenity Prayer, and Mark 9:24
Scripture Translations Used:
“Second Sunday of Lent — Lectionary: 27.” Daily Readings, Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2nd typical ed, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2025, https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031625.cfm.
“Second Sunday of Lent Year C— Lectionary: 30.” Daily Readings, Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2nd typical ed, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2025, https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/032325-YearC.cfm.
Sitting with the Sacred 