Saturday - March 13, 2021
"Show me your hands. Do they have scars from giving? Show me your feet. Are they wounded in service? Show me your heart. Have you left a place for divine love?"
-Ven. Fulton Sheen
TODAY'S READINGS
March 13, 2021
Saturday of the Third Week of Lent
Lectionary: 242
Reading 1 Hos 6:1-6
“Come, let us return to the LORD,
it is he who has rent, but he will heal us;
he has struck us, but he will bind our wounds.
He will revive us after two days;
on the third day he will raise us up,
to live in his presence.
Let us know, let us strive to know the LORD;
as certain as the dawn is his coming,
and his judgment shines forth like the light of day!
He will come to us like the rain,
like spring rain that waters the earth.”
What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your piety is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that early passes away.
For this reason I smote them through the prophets,
I slew them by the words of my mouth;
For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice,
and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Responsorial Psalm 51:3-4, 18-19, 20-21ab
R. (see Hosea 6:6) It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.
For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
R. It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.
Be bountiful, O LORD, to Zion in your kindness
by rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem;
Then shall you be pleased with due sacrifices,
burnt offerings and holocausts.
R. It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.
Alleluia Ps 95:8
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
If today you hear
his voice,
harden not your hearts.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Lk 18:9-14
Jesus addressed this parable
to those who were convinced of their own righteousness
and despised everyone else.
“Two people went up to the temple area to pray;
one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.
The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself,
‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity —
greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week,
and I pay tithes on my whole income.’
But the tax collector stood off at a distance
and would not even raise his eyes to heaven
but beat his breast and prayed,
‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’
I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former;
for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,
and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
*****************************************
Have you been "Cancelled" because of your Faith?
There are two types of Christians. There are those who place themselves into the grace of God -- the grace that's been made available to us at the cost of Jesus painfully sacrificing his life. These are saints who sin but gladly repent. And there are those who live by cheap grace. They accept the Spirit of the Age (moral relativism) while thinking they are spiritually okay because they believe in Jesus; these are sinners who are basically good people but they are lazy about their calling to sainthood.
A truly holy person knows that he or she can be tempted to sin and continually relies on the arsenal that Jesus gives us for conquering sin: sacraments, sacramentals, and our guardian angels.
The Sacrament of Baptism gives us the fullness of grace and freedom from Satan. The Sacraments of Confession and the Anointing of the Sick renew and reactivate the grace of God within us and protect us from Satan. The Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist purifies us as we unite to Jesus. The Sacraments of Marriage and of Holy Orders pours God's grace into our vocations. And the Sacrament of Confirmation enlivens our personal relationship with the Holy Spirit who teaches us how to choose holiness and to resist sin.
The use of sacramentals (such as holy water, blessed candles, blessed salt, well-prayed rosary beads, relics, scapulars, and holy medals) further strengthen our resolve against sin. And our guardian angels stand between us and the tempters when we call upon their help -- and wow does this work well! Saints in Heaven help us too when we have a relationship with them through private devotions.
Jesus gave us an arsenal for defeating temptation. But if we don't know what is sinful and what is not, we remain defeated. How many Christians today claim to know right from wrong but choose for themselves what is good and what is evil? How many children were raised in the Faith but now as adults are rejecting what they once knew to be true?
Jesus points out in Saturday's Gospel passage that we commit the huge sin of pride when we are convinced of our own righteousness and despise everyone who disagrees us. There are a lot of "cheap grace" Christians today siding with the anti-Christians who are using increasingly disturbing measures to silence ("cancel") those who speak "politically incorrect" truths. Here in Good News Ministries, there were attempts to cancel us from the very start 26 years ago, but it's gotten much worse in recent months. I've lost friendships. We've lost a few donors. We've been in Facebook Jail. And I'm being tested by God's question: "Are you willing to be criticized for the Truth?"
The teachings of the Catholic Church are counter-cultural. God is allowing evil to spread like an out-of-control COVID virus so that our desire to be saints is tested. This testing has a purpose. It strengthens our resolve to be true followers of Christ. It makes us run to the Father for safety. It reminds us of how much we need the Holy Spirit to help us be true Christians.
And it unites the true followers while separating out the "cheap grace" Christians. I have a hunch that God is reforming a weak Church into a strong Body of Christ who will push back -- victoriously -- against evil. A fully awake Body of Christ who "will do the same works I do and greater far than these" (Jesus's promise in John 14:12). A Church that attracts non-believers and draws back lost children through the evidence of the supernatural power of Jesus working through our sainthood (as we see throughout the New Testament).
Today's Prayer:
Lord, heal the divisions that exist in my heart so that I can let You reign in my life and become, together with my brothers and sisters, an unconditional servant. Amen.
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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