GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Sunday - February 28, 2021

Sunday - February 28, 2021

“Fasting is most intimately connected with prayer. For the mind of one who is filled with food and drink is so borne down as not to be able to raise itself to the contemplation of God, or even to understand what prayer means.”

-Catechism of the Council of Trent

TODAY'S READINGS

February 28, 2021

Second Sunday of Lent
Lectionary: 26

 

Reading 1                             Gn 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18

God put Abraham to the test.

He called to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am!” he replied.

Then God said:

“Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love,

and go to the land of Moriah.

There you shall offer him up as a holocaust

on a height that I will point out to you.”

 

When they came to the place of which God had told him,

Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it.

Then he reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.

But the LORD’s messenger called to him from heaven,

“Abraham, Abraham!”

“Here I am!” he answered.

“Do not lay your hand on the boy,” said the messenger.

“Do not do the least thing to him.

I know now how devoted you are to God,

since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son.”

As Abraham looked about,

he spied a ram caught by its horns in the thicket.

So he went and took the ram

and offered it up as a holocaust in place of his son.

 

Again the LORD’s messenger called to Abraham from heaven and said:

“I swear by myself, declares the LORD,

that because you acted as you did

in not withholding from me your beloved son,

I will bless you abundantly

and make your descendants as countless

as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore;

your descendants shall take possession

of the gates of their enemies,

and in your descendants all the nations of the earth

shall find blessing—

all this because you obeyed my command.”

 

Responsorial Psalm                                  116:10, 15, 16-17, 18-19

R. (116:9) I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.

I believed, even when I said,

    “I am greatly afflicted.”

Precious in the eyes of the LORD

    is the death of his faithful ones.

R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.

O LORD, I am your servant;

    I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;

    you have loosed my bonds.

To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,

    and I will call upon the name of the LORD.

R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.

My vows to the LORD I will pay

    in the presence of all his people,

In the courts of the house of the LORD,

    in your midst, O Jerusalem.

R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.

 

Reading 2                             Rom 8:31b-34

Brothers and sisters:

If God is for us, who can be against us?

He who did not spare his own Son

but handed him over for us all,

how will he not also give us everything else along with him?

 

Who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones?

It is God who acquits us, who will condemn?

Christ Jesus it is who died—or, rather, was raised—

who also is at the right hand of God,

who indeed intercedes for us.

 

Verse before the Gospel                                                                                      Mt 17:5

R. Glory and praise to you O Christ.
From the shining cloud the Father’s voice is heard:

This is my beloved Son, listen to him.
R. Glory and praise to you O Christ..

 

Gospel                                                                                               Mk 9:2-10

Jesus took Peter, James, and John

and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves.

And he was transfigured before them,

and his clothes became dazzling white,

such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.

Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses,

and they were conversing with Jesus.

Then Peter said to Jesus in reply,

“Rabbi, it is good that we are here!

Let us make three tents:

one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.

Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them;

from the cloud came a voice,

“This is my beloved Son.  Listen to him.”

Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone

but Jesus alone with them.

 

As they were coming down from the mountain,

he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone,

except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

So they kept the matter to themselves,

questioning what rising from the dead meant.

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The 'Mountaintop Experience' of Lent

Think of a "mountaintop experience" you've had. What was the peak moment of that? What generated it? What did it mean for you? Did it change your life forever or was it just a momentary high?

 

In Biblical symbolism, a mountain represents getting close to God. Did your mountaintop experience bring you closer to God?

 

It was at the top of Mount Tabor where Jesus revealed the glory of his Godliness to his closest friends. Called a "high mountain" in scripture, Mount Tabor is, in reality, not huge. What was huge is the event that took place there -- and why.

 

Some of the most significant moments in our spiritual lives might not have felt like a mountaintop experience, but indeed they were.

 

The three disciples who witnessed Christ's transfiguration greatly benefited from seeing his glory revealed, because someday they would be commissioned to take over his earthly ministry.

 

The Father told them, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him." As we listen to Jesus, it is we who are now transfigured.

 

Lent is meant to be a mountaintop experience for each of us. If we follow Jesus up the mountain, his light will consume any darkness within us.

 

The more we listen to his teachings and apply them to our daily lives and ministries, the more we become like him. And the more we become like Jesus, the more our lives are transfigured by his light, and the more our lives then transfigure the world around us.

 

As the first reading tells us, Abraham did not withhold his son from the Lord, just like God the Father did not withhold his Son from us.

 

Likewise, we are faithful to the responsibilities of Christian living if we do not withhold the Son from the people we encounter. Whether it's through an evangelizing word or a helping hand, or a compassionate and attentive ear, or the generous giving of mercy and forgiveness or money or time, we are Christ's hands and feet and voice in the world today. We are his earthly body. We are the answers to people's prayers.

 

We have been empowered through our baptisms to shine with the glory of Christ's love. We have all been commissioned to continue his earthly ministry. May the experience of Lent take us to new heights of union with Christ and his mission!

 

Today's Prayer

 

Thank you for the moments of joy in the midst of trials, Lord! Those are the moments that strengthen me and transform me every day, so that I become more like You and less like me. Amen.

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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!”

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Saturday - February 27, 2021

Saturday - February 27, 2021

“Fasting cleanses the soul, raises the mind, subjects one’s flesh to the spirit, renders the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of concupiscence, quenches the fire of lust, kindles the true light of chastity.”

--St. Augustine

TODAY'S READINGS

February 27, 2021

Saturday of the First Week of Lent
Lectionary: 229

 

Reading 1                             Dt 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.”

 

Responsorial Psalm                                  119:1-2, 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!

 

Verse before the Gospel                                                                                      Ez 18:31

R. Glory and praise to you O Christ.
Behold, now is a very acceptable time;

behold, now is the day of salvation.
R. Glory and praise to you O Christ..

 

Gospel                                                                                               Mt 5:20-26

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.”

 

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Reflection for Saturday:
Do you know why God is rejoicing over you?  

In your prayer time, imagine God the Father so pleased with you that he's telling the angels how wonderful you are. What is he saying?

God has made a covenant with you: "I will raise you high in praise and renown and glory!"

Because you are keeping your part of the covenant -- trying to grow stronger in faith -- you are, in effect, giving glory to God and praising him. Through your deeds of faith and the behavior that comes from growth in faith, you're acknowledging that his ways are good.

God the Father therefore 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 this Saturday'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?

-------------------------------

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!”

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Friday - February 26, 2021

 

Friday - February 26, 2021

TODAY'S READINGS

February 26, 2021

Friday of the First Week of Lent
Lectionary: 228

 

Reading 1                             Ez 18:21-28

Thus says the Lord GOD:

If the wicked man turns away from all the sins he committed,

    if he keeps all my statutes and does what is right and just,

    he shall surely live, he shall not die.

None of the crimes he committed shall be remembered against him;

    he shall live because of the virtue he has practiced.

Do I indeed derive any pleasure from the death of the wicked?

    says the Lord GOD.

Do I not rather rejoice when he turns from his evil way

    that he may live?

 

And if the virtuous man turns from the path of virtue to do evil,

    the same kind of abominable things that the wicked man does,

    can he do this and still live?

None of his virtuous deeds shall be remembered,

    because he has broken faith and committed sin;

    because of this, he shall die.

You say, “The LORD’s way is not fair!”

Hear now, house of Israel:

    Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair?

When someone virtuous turns away from virtue to commit iniquity, and dies,

    it is because of the iniquity he committed that he must die.

But if the wicked, turning from the wickedness he has committed,

    does what is right and just,

    he shall preserve his life;

    since he has turned away from all the sins that he committed,

    he shall surely live, he shall not die.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                  130:1-2, 3-4, 5-7a, 7bc-8

R.    (3) If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;

    LORD, hear my voice!

Let your ears be attentive

    to my voice in supplication.

R.    If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?

If you, O LORD, mark iniquities,

    LORD, who can stand?

But with you is forgiveness,

    that you may be revered.

R.    If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?

I trust in the LORD;

    my soul trusts in his word.

My soul waits for the LORD

    more than sentinels wait for the dawn.

    Let Israel wait for the LORD.

R.    If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?

For with the LORD is kindness

    and with him is plenteous redemption;

And he will redeem Israel

    from all their iniquities.

R.    If you, O Lord, mark iniquities, who can stand?

 

Verse before the Gospel                                                                                      Ez 18:31

R. Glory and praise to you O Christ.
Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, says the LORD,

and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.
R. Glory and praise to you O Christ..

 

Gospel                                                                                               Mt 5:20-26

Jesus said to his disciples:

“I tell you,

unless your righteousness surpasses that

of the scribes and Pharisees,

you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.

 

“You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,

You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.

But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother

will be liable to judgment,

and whoever says to his brother, Raqa,

will be answerable to the Sanhedrin,

and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna.

Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar,

and there recall that your brother

has anything against you,

leave your gift there at the altar,

go first and be reconciled with your brother,

and then come and offer your gift.

Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court.

Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge,

and the judge will hand you over to the guard,

and you will be thrown into prison.

Amen, I say to you,

you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.”

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Choose Anger or Healing

In today's Gospel passage, Jesus speaks to us about anger. He makes us aware of the increasing dangers of anger by referring to increasingly disastrous results in the angry person's soul. At the lowest level, anger in the heart results in "judgment," which in that day meant the Jewish local court where the easiest punishments were meted out.

 

Then, he describes how anger in the heart becomes anger that kills: To use abusive language destroys self-esteem. It's belittling. It kills the spirit. The abuser must now face a trial before the Sanhedrin, which was the highest judicial body.

 

Finally, Jesus warns that holding someone in contempt is the worst of all forms of anger. To hate a person so much as to see no value in him or her is to condemn oneself to Gehenna. "Gehenna" was the name of a nearby valley where children were burned in sacrifices to the gods. The Jews borrowed the name to illustrate the concept of punishment by fire; today we call it "hell."

 

Abortion is such a sin, because it sees no value in the unborn child. However, even in this, God's forgiveness and healing is very nearby. The Sacrament of Confession re-opens the door to heaven, where we will someday be happily reunited with these children.

 

The rest of this scripture passage is God's remedy for the times we feel angry. In essence, Jesus says: Go and do whatever is necessary to be reconciled with whomever has made you angry. This, he points out, is even more important than worshiping God. We are not loving others as God loves us if we are refusing to give someone our time and a desire to reconcile. Even when we cannot be together, we can give love through words that offer reconciliation -- and if the person has died, we can still do this through Jesus.

 

How genuine can our worship really be if anger has replaced love in our hearts? Since God is love, worship that's mixed with hateful anger is hollow and hypocritical, a slap on God's face, a crushing stomp on the Eucharist.

 

Anger as an emotion is not evil. Feelings are neither right nor wrong, they're merely a temporary reflection of what's going on inside of us at the moment. It's usually rooted in the emptiness of not feeling loved. Filling that void with anger deceptively feels good, and it becomes a sin when it festers in us long enough to damage others.

 

We receive healing when we choose to fill the void with love. By choosing to give love instead of anger, we let God's love penetrate us, and once God's love fills our emptiness, there's no room left for anger.

 

Jesus got angry about sin. It's okay to feel justifiable anger. It's what we do with the feeling that matters. Do we allow God to use it for loving purposes or do we use it as a weapon that hurts others?

 

Today's Prayer

 

Dear Father, I need Your help so that neither hatred nor anger creep into my heart. May Your Holy Spirit fill me so that I can respond with love when I am hurt. Amen.

--------------------------------

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!”