Toward Easter - Daily Readings & Meditations for Lent 2025 - Day 20

What happens when pride confronts the simplicity of God's healing? The ancient story of Naaman washing in the Jordan River provides a powerful metaphor for our Lenten journey and approach to confession.

We're approaching the halfway mark of Lent, and today's reflection invites us into a deeper understanding of the Sacrament of Penance through the lens of Naaman's healing. This Syrian general, accustomed to honor and recognition, initially rejected the prophet's simple instruction to wash in the Jordan seven times. His indignation mirrors our own resistance to spiritual practices that seem too humble to bring transformation. Yet when he finally submitted, complete healing followed.

This narrative brilliantly illuminates how we should approach confession – not with reluctance or skepticism, but with the faith St. John Vianney describes as recognizing "God present in the priest," the hope that believes in God's pardoning grace, and the charity that places in our hearts regret for having offended divine love. The daily examination of conscience becomes our practical tool for preparation, helping us identify patterns that reveal the shape of our soul and highlighting areas needing correction.

As St. Padre Pio reminds us, the Lord awaits us with "infinite tenderness" in the Sacrament of Penance. If your Lenten practices have faltered, now is the perfect moment to renew your commitment. Incorporate a nightly examination into your routine, work against your predominant fault, and approach confession with humility. The healing waters of God's mercy are waiting – will you step in?

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Day 20 of Lent
• 2:46 Naaman's Story and Leprosy Healing
• 4:27 Examination of Conscience and Prayer
• 6:10 Daily Practices for Spiritual Growth
• 10:39 Renewing Lenten Commitments

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:55

Sancte, sancte, amare morti decadas nos. Good morning everyone and welcome to day 20 of Lent in 2025. We are nearing halfway. Let's see if today's day 20 on Monday, 21, 22, 23. Thursday will be halfway through Lent. So we're on Monday of the third week of Lent here in our work toward Easter. From Father Patrick Trodeck, we will put up an image on screen here and get going. Won't be anything for you to look at, you just listen. And here we go. Monday of the third week in Lent. The Sacrament of Penance From the fourth book of Kings, chapter five, verse 14.

Speaker 1: 2:12

Naaman went down and washed in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of Elisha, and he was cleansed of his leprosy. Naaman, who is mentioned in today's epistle, was a general of the army of the king of Syria. He was a pagan. It turns out he has caught leprosy. Leprosy is a terrible disease which eats away at the whole body. He learns that there is in Israel an all-powerful God who could heal him, and so he goes there. He is an important man and he expected to be received with all the honors due to his rank. Yet a simple servant of the prophet Elysius comes to tell him to wash seven times in the Jordan in order to recover his health. Naaman is furious. There are rivers in Syria whose water are better than those of the Jordan. However, his own servants point out to him that if Elisha had asked him to do difficult things in order to be healed, he would have done them. Why not, then, carry out what he prescribed? It is so simple. Naaman therefore went and washed himself seven times in the Jordan, and he came out healed.

Speaker 1: 3:32

This bath, prepared by the God of all mercy, represents the seven sacraments, and especially the sacrament of penance. It is principally that sacrament which brings healing to our souls. Let us not neglect it by lack of a spirit of faith. Let us prepare ourselves for it. In seeking out our failures toward the commandments of God and of the church, as well as toward our duty of state, let us aim first at finding the most frequent and most voluntary faults, for it is those which reveal the shape of our soul and tell us the points we should give priority to correcting shape of our soul, and tell us the points we should give priority to correcting.

Speaker 1: 4:18

Lord Jesus, in order to make good confessions, I resolve never to omit my evening examination of conscience. To make that examination, I will begin by thanking thee for the graces received during the day that is ending, and then I will try to meet thy gaze, or the gaze of thy holy mother, to see what, in my day, has displeased thee. I will make concrete resolutions for the next day, in fighting constantly against my predominant fault and in practicing the contrary virtue. I will then make my act of contrition. And now a prayer from the Imitation of Christ, book 3, chapter 20. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, amen. Consider my lowness and weakness, o Lord, for Thou knowest all things. Have mercy on me and raise me from the mire that I may not stick fast in it. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, amen.

Speaker 1: 5:18

Our first thought for today is from St Padre Pio. Let us run with confidence toward the sacrament of penance, where, at every moment, the Lord awaits us with infinite tenderness. And our second thought of the day comes from St John Vianney. To receive the sacrament of penance, three things are needed the faith which reveals to us God present in the priest. The hope which makes us believe that God will give us the grace of pardon. The charity which carries us to love God and which places in our heart the regret of having offended him. And now, three resolutions for today, and three to keep in the state of grace, whatever the cost and with joy, and that is our reading and meditation for today. You know, as we're getting ready for bed each night, or going to bed each night, you know we all have, we all have our bedtime routines and you know it's, it's something as a parent, you do with your kids too, is establish a bedtime routine to help them get ready and calm down. And you know your, your nighttime prayers are whether you do the rosary before bed or say like comp line, or you know, or, or whatever, whatever it is Um, but one thing we we need to be adding to our, our nightly routine is an examination of conscience, and there are uh, there are lots of good, of good ones, um, lots of good guides for it.

Speaker 1: 7:48

Any of your traditional uh, you know, daily missiles will have a good examination of conscience in there. Um, there are lots of different apps that will have them, like uh, I, uh, ip at, uh, um, law day, things like that, so you can find a good examination of conscience almost anywhere. Really, um, you know, you can even just go through the 10 commandments, uh, yourself, and and think of any way you know you may have disobeyed one or displeased god, but every night we need to be doing an examination of conscience and then saying a good act of contrition, um, you know, prior to going to sleep. Uh, if you look or read the lives of the saints, you'll find that that most of them talk about a daily examination of conscience, usually at the end of the day, before bed. It's just a good way to work against our predominant fault. And if you, if you're not sure what your predominant fault is, um, father ripper, who we've had on the channel, um, he says, praying the, this, the, our lady of sorrows, cha chaplet, and asking her assistance in finding your predominant fault is one of the best ways to do it.

Speaker 1: 9:32

But, yeah, to conquer sin, we need to be working at it daily and figuring out what those sins are, what the predominant fault are, and asking for God's forgiveness every night is is a great way to do it. Um, yeah, I think that's. That's all I have for you today. So, yeah, monday of the third week in lent here, beginning the third week of Lent. Keep up whatever penance you're doing strong. We'll be halfway by the end of the week here, so keep it up. If you've stumbled or your Lenten practices have fallen away, now is the time to renew it and get back to it strong. Thank you all. I hope you have a great start to the work week and we'll see you all again tomorrow morning. Thank you.