Friday - March 03, 2023
TODAY'S READINGS
Friday of the First Week of Lent
Lectionary: 228
Reading I
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
Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, says the LORD,
and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.
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.”
**********************************
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.
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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