Understanding the Day
Season
Lent
Week
Week 2 of Lent
Rank
Weekday
Lent is a forty-day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that prepares Catholics for the Easter Triduum and the joy of Easter. The rank “Greater Non-Privileged Feria” is a technical way of saying this day is an ordinary weekday in the liturgical calendar but carries more importance than a simple memorial; it keeps the Lenten character and its readings and prayers reflect penitential themes. There is no octave or special vigil attached to this day; it belongs to the continuous rhythm of Lent leading toward Holy Week.
Daily Prayer
The Introit for this day has not yet been generated.
Weekly Prayer
Weekly prayer content will appear here once it is scheduled.
Weekly Formation
Beatitude 4
The Beatitudes
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for justice; for they shall be satisfied.
To hunger and thirst for justice is to desire holiness and every virtue with the urgency of bodily hunger and thirst. The promise of being filled means that God satisfies this sincere desire through grace now and perfect righteousness in heaven.
Saint & Feast
Principal celebrationCalendar title
Monday of Week 2 of Lent
A biography or feast reflection has not yet been prepared.
Customs & Fasting
Traditional fast
Traditional Lenten fast.
Today in Church History
No Church history reflection has been prepared for this date yet.
Catechism
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Church has no light of her own; like the moon reflecting the sun, she reflects the light of Christ. She is holy through the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is the source and giver of holiness and flourishes in the Church. As God calls his people together from every part of the earth, the Church is present in local communities and becomes especially real when believers gather for the liturgy, above all the Eucharist. In our family prayer and worship, we can remember that the Church draws her life from the Word and the Body of Christ, and so becomes Christ’s Body.
In the Catechism, the Church is beautifully depicted through many biblical images that speak of her inexhaustible mystery. These images gather around Christ, who is the head of the People of God and whose Body the Church is. The Church is described as a sheepfold, with Christ as the one gateway and the Good Shepherd who nourishes and leads his flock. She is also like God’s cultivated field and vineyard: Christ, the true vine, gives life and fruitfulness to those who remain in him through the Church. The Church is further called God’s building, founded on Christ the cornerstone, where God’s family dwells and believers are built together as living stones. Finally, she is described as the holy city and the spotless spouse whom Christ loves, sanctifies, nourishes, and cherishes.
¶ 748
"Christ is the light of humanity; and it is, accordingly, the heart-felt desire of this sacred Council, being gathered together in the Holy Spirit, that, by proclaiming his Gospel to every creature, it may bring to all men that light of Christ which shines out visibly from the Church." These words open the Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. By choosing this starting point, the Council demonstrates that the article of faith about the Church depends entirely on the articles concerning Christ Jesus. the Church has no other light than Christ's; according to a favorite image of the Church Fathers, the Church is like the moon, all its light reflected from the sun.