SAINT QUOTE OF THE DAY : Monday - March 14, 2022

Monday - March 14, 2022

"Lent is a fitting time for self-denial; we would do well to ask ourselves what we can give up in order to help and enrich others by our own poverty. Let us not forget that real poverty hurts: no self-denial is real without this dimension of penance. I distrust a charity that costs nothing and does not hurt."

-Pope Francis

March 14, 2022

MONDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK IN LENT
Lectionary: 230

 

Reading 1                                                    

                                                                        Dn 9:4b-10

 

“Lord, great and awesome God,

you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you

and observe your commandments!

We have sinned, been wicked and done evil;

we have rebelled and departed from your commandments and your laws.

We have not obeyed your servants the prophets,

who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes,

our fathers, and all the people of the land.

Justice, O Lord, is on your side;

we are shamefaced even to this day:

we, the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem,

and all Israel, near and far,

in all the countries to which you have scattered them

because of their treachery toward you.

O LORD, we are shamefaced, like our kings, our princes, and our fathers,

for having sinned against you.

But yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness!

Yet we rebelled against you

and paid no heed to your command, O LORD, our God,

to live by the law you gave us through your servants the prophets.”

 

Responsorial Psalm                                  79:8, 9, 11 and 13

 

R.        (see 103:10a)  Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.

 

Remember not against us the iniquities of the past;

            may your compassion quickly come to us,

            for we are brought very low.

R.        Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.

Help us, O God our savior,

            because of the glory of your name;

Deliver us and pardon our sins

            for your name’s sake.

R.        Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.

Let the prisoners’ sighing come before you;

            with your great power free those doomed to death.

Then we, your people and the sheep of your pasture,

            will give thanks to you forever;

            through all generations we will declare your praise.

R.        Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.

 

Verse Before the Gospel                                      Jn 6:63c, 68c           

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life;

you have the words of everlasting life.

 

Gospel                                                                       Lk 6:36-38

 

Jesus said to his disciples:

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

 

“Stop judging and you will not be judged.

Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.

Forgive and you will be forgiven.

Give and gifts will be given to you;

a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,

will be poured into your lap.

For the measure with which you measure

will in return be measured out to you.”

 

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The True Meaning of Mercy

Why be merciful toward someone who doesn't deserve it? Because we don't deserve mercy ourselves. God is merciful toward us, despite our unworthiness. We can do the same for others, with God's help.

 

Psalm 79 speaks for us as it begs of God: "Please don't remember the sins of my past! I need your compassion -- and quickly!"

 

As today's first reading points out, it is only God who is able to keep the covenant. We break the covenant repeatedly -- we do something unloving and break our relationship with him daily -- and yet he is steadfastly available to us, never moving away from us, always waiting for us to face our brokenness and renew our friendship with him. That's mercy!

 

And because God gives us his mercy, we are to be merciful to others, says Jesus in the Gospel reading. The moment we refuse to give mercy to anyone (think of the most difficult person to love), we pull ourselves away from him again. And again he waits for us to return to him whole-heartedly.

 

Giving mercy doesn't mean condoning the sins of others, nor ignoring them, nor allowing them to continue. Mercy means that while we wait for others to repent, we don't judge them as unworthy of our love. God who is so great and awesome never believes that we are unworthy of a relationship with him, no matter how lousy and unholy we are! He never turns away from us, even though we turn away from him. This is the same love that we should give to others.

 

Mercy also means that while we wait, we hope for, we pray for, and if we can, we speak up for whatever is necessary to build a holy relationship. For a season, the relationship might not exist anymore, but that's not our preference. If we've contributed to the break-up (for example, we've retaliated against evil deeds with our own sinful reactions), we need to seek forgiveness and reconciliation, doing whatever we can to restore what has been lost, but if the reconciliation is not equal and reciprocal, we continue to wait in brokenness and separation.

 

And mercy goes one step further. When sinners repent, God "forgets" the sins. How can he forget? Doesn't he know everything? Do we have better memories than he does? Of course not. Forgetting simply means that he doesn't hold the past against us, and likewise we don't condemn others for what they did in the past and might do again.

 

Oh, this does not mean that we ignore the possibility of getting hurt again. Rather it means that, with wisdom gained from the past, we give the repentant sinner the opportunity to act upon the changes he or she wants to make, and at the same time we make adjustments in our lives to protect ourselves from that person's particular vulnerabilities toward sin. We stay out of harm's way while giving the other person room to grow.

 

Today's Prayer 

Teach me to be merciful, Jesus, as You are merciful. Grant me the grace not to judge my neighbor, but to know that both he and I are children of the same Father who loves us equally. Amen.

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God Bless You.....

The Rosary Family

The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”