Saturday - March 07, 2020
TODAY'S READINGS
March 07 2020
Saturday of the First Week of Lent
Lectionary: 229
Reading 1DT 26:16-19
Moses spoke to the people, saying:
“This day the LORD, your God,
commands you to observe these statutes and decrees.
Be careful, then,
to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.
Today you are making this agreement with the LORD:
he is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways
and observe his statutes, commandments and decrees,
and to hearken to his voice.
And today the LORD is making this agreement with you:
you are to be a people peculiarly his own, as he promised you;
and provided you keep all his commandments,
he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory
above all other nations he has made,
and you will be a people sacred to the LORD, your God,
as he promised.”
“This day the LORD, your God,
commands you to observe these statutes and decrees.
Be careful, then,
to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.
Today you are making this agreement with the LORD:
he is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways
and observe his statutes, commandments and decrees,
and to hearken to his voice.
And today the LORD is making this agreement with you:
you are to be a people peculiarly his own, as he promised you;
and provided you keep all his commandments,
he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory
above all other nations he has made,
and you will be a people sacred to the LORD, your God,
as he promised.”
Responsorial Psalm119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8
R. (1b) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
You have commanded that your precepts
be diligently kept.
Oh, that I might be firm in the ways
of keeping your statutes!
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
I will give you thanks with an upright heart,
when I have learned your just ordinances.
I will keep your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
You have commanded that your precepts
be diligently kept.
Oh, that I might be firm in the ways
of keeping your statutes!
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
I will give you thanks with an upright heart,
when I have learned your just ordinances.
I will keep your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Verse Before The Gospel2 COR 6:2B
Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.
behold, now is the day of salvation.
GospelMT 5:43-48
Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies,
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers and sisters only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
“You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies,
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers and sisters only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
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What is God Telling the Angels About You?
Imagine that God the Father is so pleased with you that he's telling the angels how wonderful you are. What is he saying?
Today's first reading says, "Today you are making this agreement with the Lord: He is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways…."
God's part in this covenant is: "I will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory!"
By trying to grow stronger in faith, you are, in effect, giving glory to God and praising him, because by your deeds of faith and the behavior affected by growth in faith, you're acknowledging that his ways are good.
God the Father then is glorifying you and praising you! Yes, really! He is so pleased with you that he's telling the angels how wonderful you are.
When our deeds are not in keeping with true faith, and if we refuse to go to wherever Jesus is leading us on the journey of faith, then we're breaking ourselves against the covenant that God has made with us. We are breaking our relationship with God.
The promise is always there, like an unbreakable wall protecting us from evil, because God never fails to fulfill his part of the covenant. Thus, when we fail to live up to our side of the covenant, we only break ourselves. And we do exactly that … oh ouch!
It's easy to say with our lips that the ways of God are good, but when our behaviors do not agree with the covenant that God has made with us, we hurt ourselves. We break. We feel pain, stress, worry, fear, lonely and unloved. And we hurt others at the same time.
The ways of God can feel painful, too. In today's Gospel passage, Jesus tells us to love our enemies.
Oh ouch! It hurts to give love without being loved in return. But this is a different kind of pain; it's the pain of the cross. It's perfect unity with Christ. In the midst of this pain, the Lord is our God, and our covenant relationship with him strengthens us and blesses us. He glorifies us.
Wouldn't you rather suffer with Jesus and experience the joy of his glorious resurrection than suffer the self-destruction of turning away from Jesus?
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God Bless You.....
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day
through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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