February 28, 2026
Saturday of the First Week of
Lent
Lectionary: 229
Reading
1
Moses spoke to the
people, saying:
"This day the LORD, your God,
commands you to observe these statutes and decrees.
Be careful, then,
to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.
Today you are making this agreement with the LORD:
he is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways
and observe his statutes, commandments and decrees,
and to hearken to his voice.
And today the LORD is making this agreement with you:
you are to be a people peculiarly his own, as he promised you;
and provided you keep all his commandments,
he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory
above all other nations he has made,
and you will be a people sacred to the LORD, your God,
as he promised."
Responsorial
Psalm
R. (1b) Blessed
are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
You have commanded that your precepts
be diligently kept.
Oh, that I might be firm in the ways
of keeping your statutes!
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
I will give you thanks with an upright heart,
when I have learned your just ordinances.
I will keep your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Verse
Before the Gospel
Behold, now is a
very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.
Gospel
Jesus said to his
disciples:
"You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies,
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers and sisters only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022826.cfm
Commentary on Deuteronomy 26:16-19
Today’s reading
comes from the last part of the Book of Deuteronomy, which is also the last of
the five books forming the Pentateuch. It contains the covenant laws by which
the lives of observant Jews were guided.
Moses reminds the
people of the solemn agreement that has been made between God and them:
Today you have
obtained the Lord’s agreement…
And the
declaration is that he will be their God and they are to:
…walk in his
ways…keep his statutes, his commandments, and his ordinances…and to obey him.
It is a mutually
binding contract. However, it does not mean that if the people fail, they will
be abandoned by God. In fact the opposite is true: their subsequent
back-sliding highlights the fidelity of God!
This is also
evident everywhere in the New Testament and also in our liturgy. The
Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation says:
Though time and
again we have broken your covenant,
You have bound the human family to yourself
through Jesus Christ our redeemer
with a bond so tight that it can never be undone.
The reading has to
be read in the later context of the gospel, which spells out more clearly just
what are the commandments and statutes that really count. The emphasis in the
Law of the Old Testament was very much on external observance of rules and
regulations. The emphasis in the gospel is very much on our interior attitude
and on the mutual relationships between God, other people and oneself. Today’s
Gospel passage on loving even one’s enemies shows, in particular, how far God’s
commands are to be observed.
Nevertheless, the
basic message stands: he is our God and we are to walk in his ways and to
listen to his voice. That is the covenant that has been made between God and
his people.
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Commentary on Matthew 5:43-48
Today’s passage,
like yesterday’s, comes from the Sermon on the Mount. The two passages are
related, as they both speak of dealing with people with whom we have
difficulties.
Today’s is a
passage which many find difficult, too idealistic, or just downright
meaningless. The Mosaic Law said that one must love one’s neighbour. It does
not actually say we should hate our enemies, but in practice such hatred was
condoned. Jesus rejects that teaching outright for his followers. We are to
love our enemies and pray for them. How can we possibly do that? It is
important that we understand what ‘love’ here means.
In Greek, it is
the word agape, a deep concern for the good of the other that
reaches out, even if there is nothing in return. It is not sexual, physical
love (eros), nor is it the mutual love of intimate friendship or that
between marriage partners (philia).
“Enemy” here means
those who do harm to us in some way. It does not include the people we turn
into enemies because we don’t like them. The true Christian does not have this
kind of enemy. The main reason Jesus gives for acting in a loving way is that
this is what God himself does.
God has many
friends and many who are opposed to him, yet he treats them all exactly the
same. God’s agape-love reaches out to all indiscriminately, just as
the welcome rain falls and the burning sun shines with equal impartiality on
every single person.
Elsewhere we are
told that God is love; it is his nature; he cannot do anything
else. And that love is extended equally to every single
person—to Our Lady, to St Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa), to the murdering
terrorist, the serial killer, the abusive husband, the paedophile—to everyone.
The difference is not in God’s love for each of these people, but in their
response to that love.
Jesus tells us
that we must try to love people in the same way he does. It is important to
note that he is not telling us to be in love with those who
harm us, or even to like them, or to have them as our friends. That would be
unrealistic and unreasonable to ask.
But if we just
care for those who are nice to us, how are we different from others? Even
people who murder, or have no religion or morals, may do the same. But we are
called to imitate the God in whose image we have been made.
And is it so
unreasonable to love, to care for, to have genuine concern for our enemies, and
pray for them? One presumes, as we have said, they are enemies in the sense
that they are hostile to us, even though we may not have provoked them in any
way. True Christians, from their side, do not have enemies.
For someone to be
my enemy, it means that person really hates me, and may wish to do harm to me
or may already have harmed me in some way. What do I gain by hating that person
back? Then there are two of us who hate. Why should I allow another person’s
hate to influence my feelings towards them? A person who hates is a person who
is suffering, a person who is doing more damage to himself or herself, rather
than to the supposed enemy. As the Gospel says, another person can hurt my
body, but not my inner self.
And if he or she
does harm me, they harm themselves as well—even if they get twisted pleasure in
the short term. If I have a true Christian spirit, I will reach out in
compassion to that person. I will want that person to be healed, healed of
their hatred, healed of their anger, and to learn how to love. Surely it is
much better, and makes more sense, to pray for that person than to hate them
back—to bring about healing and reconciliation, rather than deepen the wound on
both sides.
What Jesus is
asking us to do is not something impossible or unnatural. It is the only thing
that makes sense, and will bring peace to me and hopefully, in time, to the
person who is hostile to me. We can literally disarm a hating person by acting
towards them in a positive and loving way, and refusing to be controlled by
their negative attitudes:
Blessed are the
peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matt 5:9)
Jesus tells us
today:
Be perfect,
therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Obviously, this is
an ideal that we can only reach for. But it is a call to do our utmost to
imitate God in extending our goodwill impartially and unconditionally to every
single person. This is not just a commandment. When we reflect on it, it is
simply common sense and it is as much in our own interest as it benefits
others.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/l1017g/
LECTIO DIVINA
Season of Lent
Opening Prayer
Lord God, from You
comes the initiative of love. You seek us out and You tell us: I am your God;
you are my people. You love us in Jesus Christ, Your Son. God, may our response
of love go far beyond the demands of any law. May we seek You and commune with
You in the deepest of our being and may we express our gratitude to You by
going to our neighbor with a love that is spontaneous like Yours. We ask You
this through Christ our Lord.
Gospel Reading – Matthew 5: 43-48
Jesus said to his
disciples: "You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor
and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those
who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he
makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just
and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you
have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers and
sisters only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be
perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Reflection
In today’s Gospel
we see how Jesus has interpreted the commandment “You shall not kill” in such a
way that its observance leads to the practice of love. Besides saying “You
shall not kill” (Mt 5: 21), Jesus quoted four other commandments of the ancient
law: you shall not commit adultery (Mt 5: 27), you shall not bear false witness
(Mt 5: 33), eye for eye, and tooth for tooth (Mt 5: 38) and, in today s Gospel,
you shall love your neighbor and will hate your enemy (Mt 5: 43), five times,
Jesus criticizes and completes the ancient way of observing these commandments
and indicates the new way to attain the objective of the law, which is the
practice of love (Mt 5: 22-26; 5: 28-32; 5: 34-37; 5: 39-42; 5: 44-48). Love
your enemies. In today s Gospel Jesus quotes the ancient law which says: You
will love your neighbor and hate your enemy. This text is not found like this
in the Old Testament. It is more a question of the mentality of the time,
according to which there was no problem if a person hated his enemy. Jesus was
not in agreement and says: But I tell you: if you love those who love you, what
reward will you get? Do not even the tax collectors do as much? And if you save
your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Do not
even the gentiles do as much? You must, therefore, set no bounds to your love,
just as your heavenly Father sets none to His. And Jesus gives us the proof.
At the hour of His
death He observed that which He preached.
Father, forgive
them, they do not know what they are doing. A soldier takes the wrist of Jesus
and places it on the arm of the cross, places a nail and begins to hammer it
in. Several times. The blood was flowing down. The body of Jesus contorted with
pain. The soldier, a mercenary, ignorant, far from knowing what he was doing,
and of what was happening around him, continued to hammer as if it were a piece
of the wall of his house and he had to put up a picture. At that moment Jesus
prays for the soldier who tortures Him and addresses His prayer to the Father:
Father, forgive them! They know not what they are doing! He loved the soldier
who killed Him. Even wanting it with all their strength, the lack of humanity
did not succeed to kill in Jesus His humanity and love! He will be imprisoned,
they will spit on Him, will laugh and make fun of Him, they will make of Him a
false king crowning Him with a crown of thorns, they will torture Him, will
oblige Him to go through the streets like a criminal hearing the insults of the
religious authority. On Calvary they will leave Him completely naked in the
sight of all. But the poison of this lack of humanity did not succeed in
suppressing the source of love and humanity which sprang from within Jesus. The
water of the love which sprang from within was stronger than the poison of
hatred which was coming from without. Looking at that soldier, Jesus felt
sorrow and prayed for him and for all: Father, forgive them! They know not what
they are doing! Jesus, in solidarity, almost excuses those who were
ill-treating and torturing Him. He was like a brother who goes with his
murderous brothers before the judge and he, the victim of his own brothers,
says to the judge: They are my brothers, you know they are ignorant. Forgive
them! They will become better! He loved the enemy!
Be perfect as is
your Father who is in Heaven. Jesus does not want to frighten, because this
would be useless. He wants to change the system of human living altogether. The
notion which He constructs comes from the new experience He has from God the
Father, full of tenderness and who accepts all! The words of threat against the
rich cannot be an occasion of revenge on the part of the poor. Jesus orders
that we have a contrary attitude: Love your enemies! True love cannot depend on
what one receives from others. Love should want the good of others
independently of what they do for me. This is the way God s love is for us.
Personal Questions
• Am I capable to love my enemies?
• Contemplate Jesus, in silence, who at the
hour of His death, loved the enemy who killed Him.
Concluding Prayer
How blessed are
those whose way is blameless, who walk in the Law of Yahweh! Blessed are those
who observe His instructions, who seek Him with all their hearts (Ps 119: 1-2)
