Thursday - March 08, 2018
"As Lent is the time for greater love, listen to Jesus' thirst...'Repent and believe' Jesus tells us. What are we to repent? Our indifference, our hardness of heart. What are we to believe? Jesus thirsts even now, in your heart and in the poor -- He knows your weakness. He wants only your love, wants only the chance to love you."
-- Blessed Teresa of CalcuttaMarch 8, 2018
Thursday of the Third Week of Lent Lectionary: 240
Reading 1JER 7:23-28
Thus says the LORD:
This is what I commanded my people:
Listen to my voice;
then I will be your God and you shall be my people.
Walk in all the ways that I command you,
so that you may prosper.
But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed.
They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts
and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.
From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day,
I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets.
Yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed;
they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers.
When you speak all these words to them,
they will not listen to you either;
when you call to them, they will not answer you.
Say to them:
This is the nation that does not listen
to the voice of the LORD, its God,
or take correction.
Faithfulness has disappeared;
the word itself is banished from their speech.
This is what I commanded my people:
Listen to my voice;
then I will be your God and you shall be my people.
Walk in all the ways that I command you,
so that you may prosper.
But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed.
They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts
and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.
From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day,
I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets.
Yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed;
they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their fathers.
When you speak all these words to them,
they will not listen to you either;
when you call to them, they will not answer you.
Say to them:
This is the nation that does not listen
to the voice of the LORD, its God,
or take correction.
Faithfulness has disappeared;
the word itself is banished from their speech.
Responsorial PsalmPS 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
R. (8) If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
"Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works."
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
return to me with your whole heart,
for I am gracious and merciful.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
"Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works."
R. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Verse Before The GospelJL 2:12-13
Even now, says the LORD,return to me with your whole heart,
for I am gracious and merciful.
GospelLK 11:14-23
Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute,
and when the demon had gone out,
the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed.
Some of them said, "By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,
he drives out demons."
Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.
But he knew their thoughts and said to them,
"Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste
and house will fall against house.
And if Satan is divided against himself,
how will his kingdom stand?
For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.
If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul,
by whom do your own people drive them out?
Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,
his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor on which he relied
and distributes the spoils.
Whoever is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters."
and when the demon had gone out,
the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed.
Some of them said, "By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,
he drives out demons."
Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven.
But he knew their thoughts and said to them,
"Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste
and house will fall against house.
And if Satan is divided against himself,
how will his kingdom stand?
For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons.
If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul,
by whom do your own people drive them out?
Therefore they will be your judges.
But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,
his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him,
he takes away the armor on which he relied
and distributes the spoils.
Whoever is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters."
******************************
How to overcome divisions 
Progress on the Lenten journey is found in the words of Jesus in today's Gospel reading: "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters."
There is no neutral ground. There is no progress made when one foot is on the path of holiness and the other foot is on the world's path. Either we sit on the fence or we lose our balance.
Whenever we fail to fully cooperate with Jesus, we are working (to some degree) against his perfect plans, against his strategies for spreading the kingdom of God, and against his attempts to answer other people's prayers.
If we neglect the needs of others, if we ignore the sufferings of even the least significant people around us, if we refuse to love those whom he loves, we are working against Jesus.
Wow.
Are there divisions in your family or parish or rectory or religious order or ministry? Every division is more than just person against person, faction against faction. It's an act against Jesus and it scatters people away from the path that he has paved for them. Jesus says, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste. Any house torn by dissension falls."
However, through God's resurrection power, all divisions can become great opportunities for new and stronger unity -- if people on both sideschoose to reconcile and to handle the problems God's way.
What if you're willing, but others in a divisive situation have hardened their hearts and stiffened their necks (as described in today's first reading)? The division might not end in your lifetime, but God will bless you and heal your heart and strengthen your holiness.
To receive this healing, we have to hear God's voice and harden not our own hearts (as it says in today's responsorial Psalm). Condemnation and vengeful anger work against God's plans, so instead of adding to the wall of division, we take pity on our enemies and pray for them and stand beside Jesus, ready and eager to be conduits of his merciful love if and when opportunities arise.
Sometimes for the sake of safety or emotional and spiritual health, we have to separate ourselves from others when they refuse to cooperate with reconciliation. This breakup is not a sin, regardless of how long the division continues, that is, if we listen for God's voice, soften our hearts, and choose to lovingly do good for our enemies.
Loving those from whom we're divided means that we don't decide how to treat them based on how they treat us nor on what we think they deserve. Instead, we give them what they're ready to receive from Jesus through us. (Note the word "ready". If we force it on them before they're ready and open to it, we cause more division.) That's how to have unity even in the midst of divisions!
-----------------------------
God Bless You.....
Rosary Family
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
No comments:
Post a Comment