Opening the Word: Fourth Sunday of Lent (03/30/2025)

Opening the Word is a series of prompts from The Emmaus Institute for Biblical Studies to help focus our minds and hearts on the Sunday Mass Readings. After Jesus revealed Himself to the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus, they said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:32). Our Lord desires to enflame our hearts also by revealing Himself to us in His Word. Take this opportunity to pause, and allow the Lord to make Himself known to you through the opening of the Scriptures which will ready your eyes to see Him in the breaking of the bread.

Fourth Sunday of Lent (Year C): March 30, 2025

First Reading: Joshua 5:9a, 10-12 

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7

Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Gospel: Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Step 1: Begin in prayer, asking the Lord to open your heart to receive how He wants to make Himself known to you. Then, attentively read the Scriptures. 

Step 2: Consider these meditation prompts that follow from the readings:

1. The first reading from the book of Joshua tells us of the final eating of the manna, the bread that sustained Israel through their journey in the wilderness. Now that Israel had found rest in the promised land, they no longer needed the miraculous bread from heaven. How does this text reveal the nature and purpose of the Eucharist and our journey to heaven?

2. This week we hear the famous story of the Father and his two sons, better known as the Prodigal Son, from the Gospel of Luke. Since the beginning of the Church herself, this passage has been a stable foundation for depicting the love of the Father and the journey of conversion. Take time in prayer to carefully read this text and ask yourself the following questions: How is the heart of the Father being revealed in this passage? And with which character in the story do I most strongly associate with? Why? Bring these things to the Lord in prayer. 

Step 3: Conclude with a prayer of gratitude and ask the Lord to keep these Words in your heart.