Daily Bible Readings for March 2021

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During this Lenten Season, let’s continue to share these Daily Bible Readings from Sacred Space as we prepare our hearts for Easter.

March 1:  Luke 6: 36-38

We are amazed at the immensity of God’s capacity to love.  Jesus invites us to be as God is!  We are called to great love and hope.  We are called into the life of God!  Lord, help me to be generous, sharing fully what you give to me.

March 2;  Matthew 23: 1-12

I want to take to heart what Jesus says about humility.  I ask God for the help I need, humbly and sincerely.

March 3:  Matthew 20: 17-28

Our prayer often finds us asking for what we want.  “As we grow in awareness of the presence of God, we realize how God wants something greater for us.

March 4:  Luke 16: 19-31

Jesus is asking his listeners to open their eyes to what is around them, and to open their ears to the simple command of the Gospel:  love your neighbor.

March 5:  Matthew 21: 33-43, 45-46

Jesus was rejected and killed, but took no revenge.  By his love we are reconciled with God.  Jesus showed what divine love is like.  Let us learn from him how to love.

March 6:  Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32

This parable gives us a picture of the steadfast love of God, welcoming, celebrating, delighting in his children.

March 7, Third Sunday of Lent:  John 2: 13-25

We imagine ourselves in the temple when Jesus enters.  What do we learn from his angry rebuke?

March 8:  John 4: 5-42

Like the woman at the well, may I experience the joy of meeting Jesus and her eagerness to share his love with others.

March 9:  Matthew 18: 21-35

It requires great grace to forgive.  Forgiveness says, “I want the person to be fully well and alive again.”

March 10:  Matthew 5: 17-19

We are to “walk it as we talk it.”  We are called to sincerity and integrity of life.

I ask for God’s help each day.

Match 11:  Luke 11: 14-23

Jesus is accused of being in league with the devil!  How must Jesus feel, he who willingly gave his life that we might have life. “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

March 12:  Mark 12: 28-34

Lord, enlarge my heart.  Make me more and more sensitive to the quality of your love, especially as Holy Week comes near.  There you show me so dramatically how much you love me.  Make me a grateful person.

March 13:  Luke 18: 9-14

The Pharisee trusts in his own righteousness, whereas the tax collector throws himself wholly on God’s mercy.  One is centered on God; the other is centered on himself.  What matters is handing oneself over to God’s mercy.

March 14, Fourth Sunday of Lent:  John 3: 14-21

God loved the world.  Jesus on the cross, offering himself in love for us.  Jesus shows us what divine love looks like.

March 15:  John 9: 1-41

Spend time thanking the Lord for what he has done for you.  Thanking God and others opens our eyes!

March 16:  John 5: 1-16

God can always surprise us.  Let us hear Jesus say to us, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.”  Let us be open to the healing and the strength that God can give.

March 17:  John 5: 17-30

“My aim is to do not my own will, but the will of him who sent me.”  We get a glimpse of Jesus’ heart in unison with God.  Jesus does nothing without praying to his Father.

March 18:  John 5: 31-47

As we make our Lenten journey, let us reflect on what we are doing to make our own crooked ways straight.

March 19:  Luke 2: 31-51a

Today I remember all the missing children of our world and I pray for them and  their distraught parents who frantically seek for the child entrusted to them.

March 20:  John 7: 40-53

Jesus speaks with integrity, with wisdom, and with authority.  Let us listen to the poor and the marginalized who have special insight into the reality of the world and of God.

March 21, Fifth Sunday of Lent:  John 12: 20-33

In every death, there is life—this is the big message of Lent and of Easter.  In the death of relationships, of health, of faith, and all that may be dear to us there is always the invitation to deeper life.  In our final death is the call to everlasting life.

March 22:  John 11: 1-45

Do I believe that the Lord is the resurrection and the life?  Lord, I believe.  Help my unbelief.

March 23:  John 8: 21-30

Jesus reveals the mystery of what God is like.  When I knock on God’s door, Jesus opens it and invites me in to meet his Father!

March 24:  John 8:31-42

Jesus’ promise is that the truth will make us free.  Lord, I do want to be free, so let me listen to those who tell me the truth about myself.  Let me listen also to your word, which tries to reach into my heart and liberate me.  Let me start with the great truth of which you try to convince me:  that I am endlessly loved by you.

March 25:  Luke 1: 26-38

Let us be open to becoming more open, more generous, more humble, and deeper in service to God.

March 26:  John 10:31-42

The works of Jesus are the works of love.  This is the love we know of him—love unto death.  We pray that our hearts may be made like the heart of Jesus.

March 27:  John 11: 45-56

The most learned people of the day did not recognize Jesus.  Blinded by prejudice, they decided to put him to death.

March 28, Palm Sunday:  Mark 14: 1–15: 47

As I read these verses, I pray to open my heart to God’s revelation.

March 29:  Luke 4: 16-21

Jesus’ good news is that we are all loved unconditionally by God—no ifs, no buts.  When I accept that, truly believe and live by it, I gain freedom of heart and mind and a new insight into the ways God works in our lives.

March 30:  John 13: 21-33, 36-38

Like Peter, we oscillate in our following of the Lord;  these days let us know in the certainty of Jesus’ love that there is always another day, another chance, another joy in our following of Jesus.

March 31:  Matthew 26: 14-25

Holy Week is an invitation to walk closely with Jesus; we fix our gaze on him and accompany him in his sufferings; we let him look closely at us and see us as we really are.  Help me to see, Jesus, how you do not condemn.  You invite each of us to recognize the truth of our own discipleship.  You invite us to follow you willingly, freely, forgiven.

April 1, Holy Thursday:  John 13: 1-15

Jesus invites us to listen and to allow him to serve us.  “Accept who I am and then be who you are!”

April 2, Good Friday:  John 18:1–19:42

What do I learn from Jesus as he goes through his trial and crucifixion?

April 3, Holy Saturday:  Mark 16: 1-7

May we, too, go on to Galilee, trusting that we will meet Jesus.

April 4, Easter Sunday:  John 20: 1-9

The resurrection is an explosion of love!  It ushers in a new dimension of being, through which a new world emerges.  Death is overcome by God’s eternal love!