GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Tuesday - March 14, 2023

 

Tuesday - March 14, 2023

"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, 2023

Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent

Lectionary: 238

 

Reading I     

                                                                                    Dn 3:25, 34-43

 

Azariah stood up in the fire and prayed aloud:

 

"For your name's sake, O Lord, do not deliver us up forever,

or make void your covenant.

Do not take away your mercy from us,

for the sake of Abraham, your beloved,

Isaac your servant, and Israel your holy one,

To whom you promised to multiply their offspring

like the stars of heaven,

or the sand on the shore of the sea.

For we are reduced, O Lord, beyond any other nation,

brought low everywhere in the world this day

because of our sins.

We have in our day no prince, prophet, or leader,

no burnt offering, sacrifice, oblation, or incense,

no place to offer first fruits, to find favor with you.

But with contrite heart and humble spirit

let us be received;

As though it were burnt offerings of rams and bullocks,

or thousands of fat lambs,

So let our sacrifice be in your presence today

as we follow you unreservedly;

for those who trust in you cannot be put to shame.

And now we follow you with our whole heart,

we fear you and we pray to you.

Do not let us be put to shame,

but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy.

Deliver us by your wonders,

and bring glory to your name, O Lord."

 

Responsorial Psalm                                  Ps 25:4-5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8-9

 

R. (6a) Remember your mercies, O Lord.

 

Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;

teach me your paths,

Guide me in your truth and teach me,

for you are God my savior.

R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.

Remember that your compassion, O LORD,

and your kindness are from of old.

In your kindness remember me,

because of your goodness, O LORD.

R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.

Good and upright is the LORD;

thus he shows sinners the way.

He guides the humble to justice,

he teaches the humble his way.

R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.

 

Verse Before the Gospel 

 

Even now, says the LORD,

return to me with your whole heart;

for I am gracious and merciful.

 

Gospel                                                           Mt 18:21-35

 

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,

"Lord, if my brother sins against me,

how often must I forgive him?

As many as seven times?"

Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.

That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king

who decided to settle accounts with his servants.

When he began the accounting,

a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.

Since he had no way of paying it back,

his master ordered him to be sold,

along with his wife, his children, and all his property,

in payment of the debt.

At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,

'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.'

Moved with compassion the master of that servant

let him go and forgave him the loan.

When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants

who owed him a much smaller amount.

He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,

'Pay back what you owe.'

Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,

'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'

But he refused.

Instead, he had him put in prison

until he paid back the debt.

Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,

they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master

and reported the whole affair.

His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant!

I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.

Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,

as I had pity on you?'

Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers

until he should pay back the whole debt.

So will my heavenly Father do to you,

unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart."

 

**********************************

Forgive, Forgive, and Forgive… Again?

How many people have taught you how to forgive seventy times seven? These are the ones who repeatedly — sometimes seventy times in one day! — give you opportunities to practice forgiveness. This method of learning the lesson of today’s Gospel passage is not fun. But there’s a reason why God allows it: These people need your gesture of mercy more than others do. In God’s great concern for them, he has put them in your path. (Gee thanks God, but couldn’t you have picked someone else?)

 

Such people are in desperate need of unconditional love; they’ve received less of it than we have, and that’s why they behave so badly. In many cases, they have never received real love; their only experience of “love” is actually co-dependency or control or emotional bribery.

 

In some cases, disease, addiction, demonic oppression, or mental illness has robbed them of the ability to receive love when it is, in fact, given to them.

 

No one can give to us what they do not have. They can only give us what they do have, and sadly, that’s grief — and plenty of it!

 

We, on the other hand, can give them the forgiveness we’ve received from our loving Father — the “king who settled accounts with his officials” in the parable. We know what love is, because we’ve opened ourselves to God’s generous love, and therefore we have the responsibility of sharing it with those who have less.

 

They might assume that they know what love is, but they don’t know how to recognize real, unconditional, Christ-like love, so we have to persist and forgive and persist and forgive until finally — finally! — our love breaks through the barricades of their hearts.

 

Then, when they slip back into their old ways, we forgive them again. Our persistence might be the only true connection to Jesus that they have.

 

However, we cannot succeed alone. Others are also needed, including counselors, doctors, or therapists. Sometimes God tells us that we’ve done enough and it’s time to step away so that he can help them through someone else.

 

The process is long. We have to ask God to give us a supernatural love for these people. When we want to quit prematurely, we can look at Jesus hanging on the cross for us. He did not give up on us. If we truly want to follow him, we have to become like him. By uniting our sufferings to his cross, we are intimately united to his redemptive power.

 

Pray for those who are causing you pain; choose to forgive them. Forgiveness is a choice, not a feeling. And we need to do it now, not when (or if) they repent. Jesus did not delay his walk to Calvary hoping that humankind would repent before he got nailed for our sins. As you follow him in the spirit of forgiveness, remember: After crucifixion there is always resurrection!

 

Today's Prayer

 

My Lord, help me to understand that forgiving is the key that opens us to Your love and help me to accept that You long to fill our souls with holiness. Amen.

 

 

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!”