Thursday - March 03, 2022
TODAY'S READINGS
THURSDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY
Lectionary: 220
Dt 30:15-20
Moses said to the people:
“Today I have set before you
life and prosperity, death and doom.
If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God,
which I enjoin on you today,
loving him, and walking in his ways,
and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees,
you will live and grow numerous,
and the LORD, your God,
will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy.
If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen,
but are led astray and adore and serve other gods,
I tell you now that you will certainly perish;
you will not have a long life
on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and occupy.
I call heaven and earth today to witness against you:
I have set before you life and death,
the blessing and the curse.
Choose life, then,
that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God,
heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.
For that will mean life for you,
a long life for you to live on the land that the LORD swore
he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
Responsorial Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
R. (see 3a) Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Verse Before the Gospel Mt 4:17
Repent, says the Lord;
the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Gospel Lk 9:22-25
Jesus said to his disciples:
“The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected
by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.”
Then he said to all,
“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
yet lose or forfeit himself?”
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On our Lenten road to greater holiness, with Jesus as our companion on the path of self-denial, we pass by those who are taking a different road. Both roads lead to death. One takes us through death to new life. The other is the deadly path of the world; the companions are addiction, greed, anger, and disobedience.
As Moses said in today's first reading, by loving God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him, we choose the path of life. Today's Psalm points out that when we delight in the law of the Lord, we're like a tree planted near running water -- full of life, yielding good fruit, never withering; whatever we do in, through, and with the Lord always prospers.
Jesus says in the Gospel reading that on the life-giving journey of following him, we carry the cross of self-denial, i.e., we deny the desires that are contrary to God's desires.
Fasting during Lent is meant to help with this. By saying no to eating foods that we desire, we grow stronger in the self-discipline that enables us to say no to more difficult temptations.
Giving in to stubborn sins or bad habits while putting off new, good habits is how we keep one foot on the wrong road. Even though we don't believe that it's destructive, it is destroying us. Sooner or later, we lose our balance and fall. In the first reading, God is pleading: "I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life!"
Jesus longs to rescue us from our self-destructive curses. While he waits for us to humbly seek his help, he weeps for us, because he can see the damage that we're causing with our lack of self-denial.
Think of someone you know who's been self-destructive. Perhaps it's a family member who's sinking spiritually by no longer going to church, or a friend who needs therapy but is not seeking help. Why do you feel bad about it? Does it pain you to think of the harm that such people are doing to themselves? Of course it does! You care! Now multiply those feelings ten times, a thousand times, a gazillion times! That's how much God feels pain, because God cares far more than you do. This is how much he cares about you.
The pain we suffer as we watch our loved ones continue down the wrong road feels even worse if we try to help them but are unable to redirect them onto the right path. God, too, keeps trying to help us avoid sin. He keeps trying to hold our hand and lead us farther down the path of life. But the choice is ours. "Choose life," he pleads.
Holiness is a decision to obey God no matter what. This is easier to do when we remember that Jesus is eager to give us his supernatural help. We can't succeed by our own efforts; it's a partnership. When we follow Jesus, we are journeying with him.
Today's Prayer
To Follow You, Lord, is a battle I must fight every day, but I want no other battle than this one. Your love is the award, the victory and my reason for living. Amen.
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The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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