Apr 1, 2025 | DAILY BREAD
Wednesday of the 4th week of Lent
First reading Isaiah 49:8-15
On this Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent, the words of Isaiah echo with tender power: “I will never forget you.” As we journey through Lent, we are invited to fix our eyes on the future promised by God—a future not marked by uncertainty, but by the “favourable time,” the “day of salvation.” This day is not distant or abstract; it is made visible and real in the Cross of Christ. In Jesus’ self-giving love, we see the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy—a God who remembers us even when we forget Him, who binds Himself to us with an unbreakable promise of mercy. The Cross is not simply a symbol of suffering, but the definitive revelation of divine love—a love so deep, so enduring, that God declares, “I will never forget you.” Lent, then, becomes our time to embrace this love anew, to return to the heart of God who, in the suffering and resurrection of Jesus, says to each of us: “You are not forgotten. You are mine”. Lent calls us to receive that love with open hearts, to trust that even in our brokenness, we are not forgotten but eternally held in the compassionate gaze of the Father. Lent is believing that I will never be forgotten by God.
Don Giorgio
Mar 31, 2025 | DAILY BREAD
Tuesday of the 4th week of Lent
First reading Ezekiel 47:1-9,12
The reading from Ezekiel 47 on this Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent presents a striking image of the mercy of God flowing like a river from the Temple—gentle at first, then deep and strong, bringing life wherever it goes. This living water is a symbol of God’s grace that never runs dry, a mercy that seeks not only to cleanse but to renew and transform. As we journey through Lent, we are invited to step into this river, to open the dry and hardened places of our hearts to its healing flow. Lent is a sacred season of encounter—where God's mercy meets our weakness and bears fruit. Like the trees growing along the riverbanks in the prophet’s vision, whose leaves never wither and whose fruit is plentiful, we too can become sources of nourishment, consolation, and love for others when we are rooted in God’s mercy. Every prayer offered, every sin confessed, every act of charity becomes a channel through which this divine water flows through us and beyond us. The more we allow this mercy to penetrate our lives, the more we will find ourselves transformed into instruments of peace, agents of compassion, and signs of hope in a thirsty world. Let’s reflect: Lent is opening up of our heart to the boundless mercy of God.
Don Giorgio
Mar 30, 2025 | DAILY BREAD
Monday of the 4th week of Lent
First reading Isaiah 65:17-21
“No more will the sound of weeping or the sound of cries be heard in her” (Isaiah 65:19)—this tender promise reveals the heart of God’s desire for His people: not only to forgive, but to heal; not only to cleanse, but to restore joy. On this Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent, we are invited to enter into that vision of newness. God is not simply erasing the past—He is creating something altogether new: new heavens, a new earth, a new heart within each of us. The sorrow that once echoed through the streets of our lives—the weeping caused by sin, by loss, by fear—is silenced by the mercy of a God who makes all things new. Through Christ, we are offered the grace to become a new creation. Lent is the sacred season when we allow that transformation to begin. Through repentance, prayer, and acts of charity, we take part in this transformation. Let us not only long for the day when no more cries will be heard, but let us also become people who dry the tears of others, who carry peace instead of judgment, and who, renewed in Christ, become living signs of the world God is already bringing to birth. Let’s reflect: Lent is the transformation of heart to be part of new heavens and new earth which God created in Jesus.
Don Giorgio
Mar 30, 2025 | DAILY BREAD
4th Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday)
Readings, Joshua 5:9-12; Psalm 33(34):2-7; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Luke 15:1-3,11-32
Laetare Sunday offers a moment of joyful pause amid the Lenten journey, inviting us to look ahead to the fulfillment of God's promises. In the reading from Joshua, the end of manna and the beginning of eating the produce of Canaan marks a shift from wandering to belonging, from dependence on daily miracles to a deeper participation in the fruits of God’s promise. This transition symbolizes not an absence of God, but a new phase of His faithful accompaniment. Likewise, Lent calls us to leave behind the wilderness of sin and to enter the land of reconciliation, as Paul urges in his letter to the Corinthians: “Be reconciled to God.” Repentance is our way of stepping into this promised land—not only a turning away from sin, but a stepping into maturity, trust, and a life sustained by grace. Like the prodigal son in Luke’s Gospel, we are invited to return home, where the Father waits not with reproach, but with a feast. Let’s reflect: Lent is embracing the joy of reconciliation by penitence.
Don Giorgio
Mar 29, 2025 | DAILY BREAD
Saturday of the 3rd week of Lent
First reading Hosea 5:15-6:6
On this Saturday of the third week of Lent, the prophet Hosea invites us into a deeper examination of our hearts: “What I want is love, not sacrifice; knowledge of God, not holocausts.” These words are a powerful reminder that God does not delight in ritual for its own sake, nor is He moved by outward displays of piety if they are not rooted in sincere love and a desire to know Him. Our love for God is not meant to be like the morning cloud or the dew that vanishes with the first heat of day—beautiful perhaps, but shallow and short-lived. Lent is not merely about fasting, ashes, or giving things up; it is about returning to the Lord with a whole and undivided heart. It is about letting go of the illusion that we can earn God's favor through performance, and instead embracing the truth that God desires a living relationship with us. When we love with steadfastness, when we seek Him with a hunger to know Him more intimately, our actions naturally become offerings that please Him—not because of their perfection, but because of the love from which they spring. Let us reflect: Lent is moving beyond superficial devotion to a real love to God which permeates in all our actions.
Don Giorgio
