March 4, 2026
Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent
Or Optional Memorial of Saint Casimir
Gospel: Matthew 20:17-28

Today is Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent and the Optional Memorial of St. Casimir. The passage from the Gospel of St. Matthew describes Jesus’ second prediction of His impending Passion in Jerusalem—His crucifixion and resurrection on the third day—and what followed.
The mother of the two sons of Zebedee approached Jesus, asking that James and John might sit at His right and left in the kingdom He spoke of, sharing in His kingship. Clearly, she envisioned Jesus’ kingdom as a restored Israelite realm, viewing Him as a political Messiah rather than the Messiah of God. She even hoped Jesus would act according to her desires. In our communities too, there are often such Christians—those who believe they are masters of this world, imposing their will on others because they forget the dignity they received in the sacraments of initiation.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Let us always remember: We have received Christian Baptism, washed clean of original sin by the water from His sacred side; we have received the Holy Spirit of Christ, sharing in His divine nature with all our brothers and sisters who have received the Holy Spirit of God, together with all creation freed from sin and death. We share in Christ’s kingly, priestly, and prophetic dignity. Therefore, like Christ, we must courageously accept all the trials of this world. For the cup Jesus drank is the suffering He was about to undergo in Jerusalem, and as His disciples, we too should drink the same cup.
Though we dwell in different corners of the world, the Blood of Christ in the same chalice and the Body of Christ under the same appearance of bread—received in the same Eucharistic Sacrifice celebrated daily across the globe—unite us with Him, making us one with Him: He in me, I in Him, inseparable. Our thoughts, words, and actions must align with what we have received: imitating Christ, constantly renouncing ourselves, committing ourselves to God, drawing strength from penance and prayer, mortifying the unruly passions of the flesh, growing ever more like Him, always remaining humble, and serving the truth generously. Thus, all may come to know Christ through all that God works in us—taking up our own cross and walking toward holiness, just as He did.

Keep your family, O Lord,
schooled always in good works,
and so comfort them with your protection here
as to lead them graciously to gifts on high.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever

©Totus Tuus 2026
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica