God Pours out His Spirit (Joel 2:28-32)

28 “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. 29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. 30 I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth,

God Answers His People (Joel 2:18-27)

18 Then the Lord was jealous for his land and took pity on his people. 19 The Lord replied to them: “I am sending you grain, new wine and olive oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations. 20 “I will drive the northern horde far from you, pushing it into a parched and barren land; its

Rend Your Heart (Joel 2:12-17)

12 “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” 13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. 14 Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a

A Terrible Army (Joel 2:6-11)

6 At the sight of them, nations are in anguish; every face turns pale. 7 They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. They all march in line, not swerving from their course. 8 They do not jostle each other; each marches straight ahead. They plunge through defenses without breaking ranks. 9 They rush upon the city; they run

The Day of the Lord (Joel 2:1-5)

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand—2     a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was in

Ash Wednesday, First Reading (Joel 2:12-18)

(The St. Joseph’s Bible Study blog will have a number of activities for Lent including specific prayers and thoughts for each day. Every Tuesday there will be a reflection on one of the glorious mysteries of the rosary.) You can find a commentary on the second reading here: https://biblestudystjosephsparis.wordpress.com/2022/03/01/ash-wednesday-mass-second-reading-commentary-2-corinthians-520-62/ and for the gospel here: https://biblestudystjosephsparis.wordpress.com/2021/02/16/ash-wednesday-matthew-61-6-16-18/