GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Tuesday - March 08, 2022

Tuesday - March 08, 2022

TODAY'S READINGS

March 8, 2022

TUESDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT
Lectionary: 225

 

Reading 1                                                    

                                                                        Is 55:10-11

 

Thus says the LORD:

Just as from the heaven

            the rain and snow come down

And do not return there

            till they have watered the earth,

            making it fertile and fruitful,

Giving seed to the one who sows

            and bread to the one who eats,

So shall my word be

            that goes forth from my mouth;

It shall not return to me void,

            but shall do my will,

            achieving the end for which I sent it.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                  34:4-5, 6-7, 16-17, 18-19

 

R.        (18b)  From all their distress God rescues the just.

 

Glorify the LORD with me,

            let us together extol his name.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me

            and delivered me from all my fears.

R.        From all their distress God rescues the just.

Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,

            and your faces may not blush with shame.

When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,

            and from all his distress he saved him.

R.        From all their distress God rescues the just.

The LORD has eyes for the just,

            and ears for their cry.

The LORD confronts the evildoers,

            to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.

R.        From all their distress God rescues the just.

When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,

            and from all their distress he rescues them.

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;

            and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.

R.        From all their distress God rescues the just.

 

Verse Before the Gospel                                      Mt 4:4b                     

One does not live on bread alone,

but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.

 

Gospel                                                                       Mt 6:7-15

 

Jesus said to his disciples:

“In praying, do not babble like the pagans,

who think that they will be heard because of their many words.

Do not be like them.

Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

 

“This is how you are to pray:

 

            Our Father who art in heaven,

                        hallowed be thy name,

                        thy Kingdom come,

            thy will be done,

                        on earth as it is in heaven.

            Give us this day our daily bread;

            and forgive us our trespasses,

                        as we forgive those who trespass against us;

            and lead us not into temptation,

                        but deliver us from evil.

 

“If you forgive men their transgressions,

your heavenly Father will forgive you.

But if you do not forgive men,

neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”

 

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Meet Our Father in the Lord's Prayer

In today's Gospel reading, Jesus is showing us how intimately our Father loves us. In the first reading, we see our Father reminding us that whatever he has promised to do for us (promised in his Word), he will indeed do for us. Why do we doubt this?

 

Doubt comes from incomplete information: We received our first images of what God the Father is like from our human fathers and other authority figures (including mothers). Since even the best of parents imitated God imperfectly and loved us insufficiently, our knowledge of God the Father's love is insufficient.

 

When we pray the "Our Father" prayer -- if we really pay attention to the words, praying from our hearts instead of rattling off the words like babbling pagans -- we open ourselves to his complete love. Each part of this prayer, which Jesus learned from his own experiences with the Father, is a prescription for an intimate relationship with our heavenly Daddy.

 

A good spiritual exercise this Lent is to pray the "Our Father" slowly, line by line, reflecting on how each part connects you to the love of the Papa who loves you perfectly and completely and unconditionally.

 

At the end of this Gospel reading, Jesus offers us the key that unlocks the power of our Father's love. It's no accident that he gives additional instruction for only one part of the prayer: "If you forgive the faults of others, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours." Unforgiveness closes our hearts to love. When the door is shut, we're not open to receive love, not even our perfect Father's love.

 

This is why Jesus told us to pray to our Father instead of to my Father or to the Father. We're all in this together. Our Father is Jesus' Father. It's a community prayer. Even when we pray it by ourselves, we are not alone. Jesus is our prayer partner.

 

When we pray it in church, we're united to all of God's children. How can we love God while refusing to love someone for whom he cares deeply? The more willing we are to love others -- including those who are most difficult to love -- the more we open ourselves to the love of our Father.

 

And the more we open ourselves to our Father's love, the more love we have to share with others.

 

Today's Prayer

 

My Father, I ask You to grant me the grace of having a deep and sincere relationship with You. May Your love start bearing fruit in me, forgiving others and being merciful to them. 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!”

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Monday - March 07, 2022

Monday - March 07, 2022

TODAY'S READINGS

March 7, 2022

MONDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT
Lectionary: 224

 

Reading 1                                                    

                                                                        Lv 19:1-2, 11-18

 

The LORD said to Moses,

“Speak to the whole assembly of the children of Israel and tell them:

Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy.

 

“You shall not steal.

You shall not lie or speak falsely to one another.

You shall not swear falsely by my name,

thus profaning the name of your God.

I am the LORD.

 

“You shall not defraud or rob your neighbor.

You shall not withhold overnight the wages of your day laborer.

You shall not curse the deaf,

or put a stumbling block in front of the blind,

but you shall fear your God.

I am the LORD.

 

“You shall not act dishonestly in rendering judgment.

Show neither partiality to the weak nor deference to the mighty,

but judge your fellow men justly.

You shall not go about spreading slander among your kin;

nor shall you stand by idly when your neighbor’s life is at stake.

I am the LORD.

 

“You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart.

Though you may have to reprove him,

do not incur sin because of him.

Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

I am the LORD.”

 

Responsorial Psalm                                  19:8, 9, 10, 15

 

R.        (John 6:63b)  Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

 

The law of the LORD is perfect,

            refreshing the soul.

The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,

            giving wisdom to the simple.

R.        Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

The precepts of the LORD are right,

            rejoicing the heart.

The command of the LORD is clear,

            enlightening the eye.

R.        Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

The fear of the LORD is pure,

            enduring forever;

The ordinances of the LORD are true,

            all of them just.

R.        Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

Let the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart

            find favor before you,

            O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

R.        Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

 

Verse Before the Gospel                                      2 Cor 6:2b                

Behold, now is a very acceptable time;

behold, now is the day of salvation.

 

Gospel                                                                       Mt 25:31-46

 

Jesus said to his disciples:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory,

and all the angels with him,

he will sit upon his glorious throne,

and all the nations will be assembled before him.

And he will separate them one from another,

as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Then the king will say to those on his right,

‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father.

Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

For I was hungry and you gave me food,

I was thirsty and you gave me drink,

a stranger and you welcomed me,

naked and you clothed me,

ill and you cared for me,

in prison and you visited me.’

Then the righteous will answer him and say,

‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you,

or thirsty and give you drink?

When did we see you a stranger and welcome you,

or naked and clothe you?

When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’

And the king will say to them in reply,

‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did

for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’

Then he will say to those on his left,

‘Depart from me, you accursed,

into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.

For I was hungry and you gave me no food,

I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,

a stranger and you gave me no welcome,

naked and you gave me no clothing,

ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’

Then they will answer and say,

‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty

or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison,

and not minister to your needs?’

He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you,

what you did not do for one of these least ones,

you did not do for me.’

And these will go off to eternal punishment,

but the righteous to eternal life.”

 

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MAKING A GOOD EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE

In today's Gospel story, Jesus warns us how eternally important it is to be a "sheep" instead of a "goat". To grow in holiness this Lent, we need to take an honest look at the goatiness that we still have within us.

 

Probably all of us reading this (and writing it; yeah me, too) have two feet -- a goat's foot that's straying off to the left side of Jesus, and a sheep's foot that wants to stand on his right side. This makes us rather wobbly. The Sacrament of Reconciliation gets us balanced again. It brings out the fullness of our sheepness.

 

To make a good examination of conscience and get rid of our goatiness, we can use the Ten Commandments (today's first reading). "Since they express man's fundamental duties toward God and towards his neighbor, the Ten Commandments reveal, in their primordial content, grave obligations. They are fundamentally immutable, and they oblige always and everywhere. No one can dispense from them" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, para. 2072).

 

When we look into the heart of each law to identify our sins, our honesty gives us the joyful experience of entering into God's mercy. He does not ask us to live a holy life without giving us the ability -- through graces received from the Holy Spirit -- to resist sin. "What God commands he makes possible by grace," notes paragraph 2083 of the Catechism.

 

Though God's laws might sometimes seem to limit our fun and our freedom, they were given to us for our benefit. "The gift of the Commandments is the gift of God himself" (para. 2059). Our obedience plants our feet firmly in the kingdom of God -- in his love, in his help, in his healing, etc.

 

Any time we disobey God, we make our lives more difficult because we are turning away from love: "Sin sets itself against God's love for us and turns our hearts away from it" (para. 1850).

 

Today's Prayer

 

Lord, I need to receive Your Holy Spirit and to experience His power in my life. I need to recognize Him in a sensitive way and let myself be guided by Him. Thank You for being Your beloved child and for receiving this prayer. 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!”