Sunday, February 28, 2010

Monday in the Second Week of Lent

FIRST READING (Daniel 9:4b - 10)
"O Lord, the great and terrible God, who keepest covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from thy commandments and ordinances; we have not listened to thy servants the prophets, who spoke in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

"To thee, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us confusion of face, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those that are near and those that are far away, in all the lands to which thou hast driven them, because of the treachery which they have committed against thee.

"To us, O Lord, belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.

"To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness; because we have rebelled against him, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by following his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets."


GOSPEL READING (Luke 6:36-38)
At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back."


REFLECTIONS
With God all things are possible
(Word of Life Community)


How hard it is to love someone . . .
(From a priest of St. Michael's Romanian Orthodox Christian Church)


Forgive to give
(Presentation Ministries)


FURTHERMORE . . .
In today's gospel reading, Jesus provides us a few simple instructions. He asks us to not judge or condemn. He also instructs us to give and forgive. We are reminded that we cannot receive without first giving of ourselves. St. Ignatius reminds us this in his prayer for generosity:

Lord, teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve;
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labor and not to ask for reward,
save that of knowing that I do your will.

Let us be challenged this Lenten season to truly try giving without counting the costs or expecting something in return. To be the first to forgive. Jesus tells us that only the measure we give will be what we receive.
Sarah Signorino


PRAYER
Grant we beseech thee, merciful Lord,
to thy faithful people pardon and peace,
that they may be cleansed from all their sins,
serve thee with a quiet mind,
and gladly forgive one another.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Ghost,
one God, world without end. Amen.

[I seldom approve of extending the themes in the Church's ancient collects, but the addition of the line "and gladly forgive one another" (as suggested in the NZ Prayer Book) would seem to perfect this wonderful prayer in the light of today's Gospel reading.]

1 comments:

Br Bernardine FHC said...

Have you ever felt something was not quite right, but could not place your finger on the seat of the problem. Well I felt a loss, a "confusion of face" Other desires for the things of this world had crept in(love of painting pictures), and I could not explain why I was not feeling good, despite saying loads of prayers and attending mass. It seems these desires had taken away the pinacle of my complete attention towards the Lord. And as you are aware he does not like taking second place in our lives. So you have saved me from myself and from turning away from the importance of staying on track with the lord. Blessings +++

Post a Comment