Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent
Lectionary: 239
Lectionary: 239
Moses spoke to the
people and said:
“Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees
which I am teaching you to observe,
that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land
which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees
as the LORD, my God, has commanded me,
that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy.
Observe them carefully,
for thus will you give evidence
of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations,
who will hear of all these statutes and say,
‘This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.’
For what great nation is there
that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us
whenever we call upon him?
Or what great nation has statutes and decrees
that are as just as this whole law
which I am setting before you today?
“However, take care and be earnestly on your guard
not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen,
nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live,
but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.”
“Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees
which I am teaching you to observe,
that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land
which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees
as the LORD, my God, has commanded me,
that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy.
Observe them carefully,
for thus will you give evidence
of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations,
who will hear of all these statutes and say,
‘This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.’
For what great nation is there
that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us
whenever we call upon him?
Or what great nation has statutes and decrees
that are as just as this whole law
which I am setting before you today?
“However, take care and be earnestly on your guard
not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen,
nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live,
but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.”
Responsorial PsalmPS 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20
R. (12a) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
He spreads snow like wool;
frost he strews like ashes.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
He spreads snow like wool;
frost he strews like ashes.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Verse Before The GospelSEE JN 6:63C, 68C
Your words, Lord,
are Spirit and life;
you have the words of everlasting life.
you have the words of everlasting life.
GospelMT 5:17-19
Jesus said to his
disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”
Meditation: "Whoever relaxes one of the commandments "
Do you view God's law negatively or positively? Jesus' attitude
towards the law of God can be summed up in the great prayer of Psalm 119:
"Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day." For the
people of Israel the "law" could refer to the ten commandments or to
the five Books of Moses, called the Pentateuch, which explain the commandments
and ordinances of God for his people. The "law" also referred to the
whole teaching or way of life which God gave to his people. The Jews in Jesus'
time also used it as a description of the oral or scribal law. Needless to say,
the scribes added many more things to the law than God intended. That is why
Jesus often condemned the scribal law. It placed burdens on people which God
had not intended. Jesus, however, made it very clear that the essence of God's
law - his commandments and way of life, must be fulfilled.
Jesus taught reverence for God's law - reverence for God
himself, for the Lord's Day, reverence or respect for parents, respect for
life, for property, for another person's good name, respect for oneself and for
one's neighbor lest wrong or hurtful desires master us. Reverence and respect
for God's commandments teach us the way of love - love of God and love of
neighbor.
The transforming work of the Holy Spirit
What is impossible to men and women is possible to God and those who put their faith and trust in God. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit the Lord transforms us and makes us like himself. We are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) because "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). God gives us the grace to love as he loves, to forgive as he forgives, to think as he thinks, and to act as he acts.
What is impossible to men and women is possible to God and those who put their faith and trust in God. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit the Lord transforms us and makes us like himself. We are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) because "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). God gives us the grace to love as he loves, to forgive as he forgives, to think as he thinks, and to act as he acts.
The Lord loves justice and goodness and he hates every form of
wickedness and sin. He wants to set us free from our unruly desires and sinful
habits, so that we can choose to live each day in the peace, joy, and
righteousness of his Holy Spirit (Romans 14: 17). To renounce sin is to turn
away from what is harmful and destructive for our minds and hearts, and our
very lives. As his followers we must love and respect his commandments and hate
every form of sin. Do you love and revere the commands of the Lord?
"Lord Jesus, grant this day, to direct and sanctify, to
rule and govern our hearts and bodies, so that all our thoughts, words and
deeds may be according to your Father's law and thus may we be saved and protected
through your mighty help."
|
To Keep or To Abolish...
|
|
March 11, 2015. Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent
|
|
Matthew 5:17-19
Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to
abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter
or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things
have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these
commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom
of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called
greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Introductory Prayer: Lord, as I journey through Lent I have a
great desire to be close to you. I know that I am your creature and that I
owe you all glory and homage. I want to glorify you by following your
teaching. I need you to help me see clearly the truth of your teaching and to
love you in return. Here I am Lord, hungry for you alone. I know that you
will not turn me away empty-handed.
Petition: Lord, teach me what it means to fulfill the law.
1. The Spirit Fulfills the Mere Letter: We can speak of
fulfilling the law in two ways: by doing everything that is asked or by
completing that which is missing. Jesus completes the law of the Old
Testament with the new law of love – to love one another as he has loved us.
Jesus fulfills the law not by simply fulfilling each of the many precepts,
but by showing where all of the precepts have their end: in loving God above
all things. When we obey the law of love we are fulfilling all of the laws –
we are bringing them to their natural end.
2. The All-Encompassing New Law: The law of love reaches
to the ends of the earth. There is no created being in the universe that is
outside the law of love that Jesus has come to teach us. There is no being,
not even the smallest, that escapes the demand of this law. When Jesus uses
the metaphor, “the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter,” he is
showing us the completeness of this law. Love and its demands reach to the
farthest ends of the universe, to the smallest created being, and to the end
of time. Am I convinced in my heart and in my actions that the law of love
asks me to love all people – not just my family, friends and those who rub me
the right way?
3. Seeking Perfection: The commandments of the old law as
exemplified in the Ten Commandments (e.g. Thou shall not kill; Thou shall not
commit adultery; etc.) are grave transgressions but easy to define, referring
as they do to external actions. Christ’s commandments (e.g. to not show
anger; to not lust in the heart; to forgive our enemies; etc.) have more
subtle expressions, and because of this often times they are more difficult
to obey. Living these commandments with the proper motivation and a
considerate, dedicated attitude is what makes a person great. Having love as
the motivation of all of our actions not only helps us make it to heaven, but
also will win us a greater share in God’s happiness and glory there.
Conversation with Christ: Thank you, Lord, for this
time of prayer. Do not let me be content simply to do the minimum that my
faith asks of me. Do not let me be content simply with avoiding grave sin.
Help me to live the fullness of the law of charity. I want this Lent to be a
time of growth in love.
Resolution: When I am obeying the laws of the Church I will stop to reflect how they fit into the greater law of love. |
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, MATTHEW 5:17-19
Lenten Weekday
(Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9; Psalm 147)
Lenten Weekday
(Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9; Psalm 147)
KEY VERSE: "Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father" (v 16).
TO KNOW: Throughout human history there have been shifts from an exaggerated dependence on God to an excessive dependence on oneself (Pelagianism). Jesus taught his disciples that a spiritually healthy person was one who had a balance between self-reliance and reliance on God. When the two came together, then the Kingdom of God was truly present on earth. Jesus' disciples must be living signs of God's reign. They must be "salt" to those who had lost their taste for the things of God. Jesus' disciples could offer an important ingredient that added zest to peoples’ lives and help to preserve them from evil. Jesus also commanded his followers to do what he did, to give light to the world (Jn 8:12). The houses in Palestine were very dark, so a lamp was placed on a lampstand to provide illumination for the whole household. Jesus’ disciples should be beacons of light to those who lost their way. Christians can be an influence for good by illuminating the pathway to God.
TO LOVE: How can I be "salt" and "light" to my community?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to live in such a way that others will want to follow you.
Wednesday 11 March 2015
Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9.
Praise the Lord, Jerusalem—Ps 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20. Matthew 5:17-19.
‘I have come to complete
the Law.’
So frail are our hearts, so
undiscerning our minds, Lord, that your love gives them the laws that bind us
to you in the church. Love is the fulfilling of the law, and law is itself an
expression of love, wanting only what is good for the other. Thus you express
your desire to unite all of us in bonds of love.
You give our souls the freedom that follows from obedience. In your will is our peace, and you support us by your grace. Our love for you finds its expression in willing as you will, on earth as in heaven. Give us, Lord, a love for what you command.
You give our souls the freedom that follows from obedience. In your will is our peace, and you support us by your grace. Our love for you finds its expression in willing as you will, on earth as in heaven. Give us, Lord, a love for what you command.
MINUTE MEDITATIONS
|
Source of Greatness
|
By His life, death and resurrection, Jesus opens the way for us to
claim the very source of God’s wealth, God Himself. He alone is the true source
of the greatness of creation and all that is good and true and beautiful.
March
11
St. John Ogilvie
(c. 1579-1615)
St. John Ogilvie
(c. 1579-1615)
John Ogilvie's noble Scottish family was partly Catholic and
partly Presbyterian. His father raised him as a Calvinist, sending him to the
continent to be educated. There John became interested in the popular debates
going on between Catholic and Calvinist scholars. Confused by the arguments of
Catholic scholars whom he sought out, he turned to Scripture. Two texts
particularly struck him: "God wills all men to be saved and come to the
knowledge of the truth," and "Come to me all you who are weary and
find life burdensome, and I will refresh you."
Slowly,
John came to see that the Catholic Church could embrace all kinds of people.
Among these, he noted, were many martyrs. He decided to become Catholic and was
received into the Church at Louvain, Belgium, in 1596 at the age of 17.
John
continued his studies, first with the Benedictines, then as a student at the
Jesuit College at Olmutz. He joined the Jesuits and for the next 10 years
underwent their rigorous intellectual and spiritual training. Ordained a priest
in France in 1610, he met two Jesuits who had just returned from Scotland after
suffering arrest and imprisonment. They saw little hope for any successful work
there in view of the tightening of the penal laws. But a fire had been lit
within John. For the next two and a half years he pleaded to be missioned
there.
Sent by
his superiors, he secretly entered Scotland posing as a horse trader or a
soldier returning from the wars in Europe. Unable to do significant work among
the relatively few Catholics in Scotland, John made his way back to Paris to
consult his superiors. Rebuked for having left his assignment in Scotland, he
was sent back. He warmed to the task before him and had some success in making
converts and in secretly serving Scottish Catholics. But he was soon betrayed,
arrested and brought before the court.
His trial
dragged on until he had been without food for 26 hours. He was imprisoned and
deprived of sleep. For eight days and nights he was dragged around, prodded
with sharp sticks, his hair pulled out. Still, he refused to reveal the names
of Catholics or to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the king in spiritual
affairs. He underwent a second and third trial but held firm.
At his
final trial, he assured his judges: "In all that concerns the king, I will
be slavishly obedient; if any attack his temporal power, I will shed my last
drop of blood for him. But in the things of spiritual jurisdiction which a king
unjustly seizes I cannot and must not obey."
Condemned
to death as a traitor, he was faithful to the end, even when on the scaffold he
was offered his freedom and a fine living if he would deny his faith. His
courage in prison and in his martyrdom was reported throughout Scotland.
John
Ogilvie was canonized in 1976, becoming the first Scottish saint since 1250.
Comment:
John came of age when neither Catholics nor Protestants were willing to tolerate one another. Turning to Scripture, he found words that enlarged his vision. Although he became a Catholic and died for his faith, he understood the meaning of “small-c catholic,” the wide range of believers who embrace Christianity. Even now he undoubtedly rejoices in the ecumenical spirit fostered by the Second Vatican Council and joins us in our prayer for unity with all believers.
John came of age when neither Catholics nor Protestants were willing to tolerate one another. Turning to Scripture, he found words that enlarged his vision. Although he became a Catholic and died for his faith, he understood the meaning of “small-c catholic,” the wide range of believers who embrace Christianity. Even now he undoubtedly rejoices in the ecumenical spirit fostered by the Second Vatican Council and joins us in our prayer for unity with all believers.
LECTIO DIVINA:
MATTHEW 5,17-19
Lectio:
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Lent Time
1)
OPENING PRAYER
Lord our God,
your prophets remind us
in season and out of season
of our responsibilities toward you
and toward the world of people.
When they disturb and upset us,
let it be a holy disturbance
that makes us restless, eager to do your will
and to bring justice and love around us.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.
your prophets remind us
in season and out of season
of our responsibilities toward you
and toward the world of people.
When they disturb and upset us,
let it be a holy disturbance
that makes us restless, eager to do your will
and to bring justice and love around us.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.
2)
GOSPEL READING - MATTHEW 5, 17-19
'Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the
Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. In truth I tell you,
till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, is to
disappear from the Law until all its purpose is achieved.
Therefore, anyone who infringes even one of the least of these
commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in
the kingdom of Heaven; but the person who keeps them and teaches them will be
considered great in the kingdom of Heaven.
3)
REFLECTION
• Today’s Gospel (Mt 5, 17-19) teaches how to observe the law of
God in such a way that its practice indicates in what its complete fulfilment
consists (Mt 5, 17-19). Matthew writes in order to help the communities of the
converted Jews to overcome the criticism of the brothers of their own race who
accused them saying: You are unfaithful to the Law of Moses”. Jesus himself had
been accused of infidelity to the Law of God. Matthew has the clarifying
response of Jesus concerning his accusers. Thus, he gives some light to help
the communities solve their problems.
• Using images of daily life, with simple and direct words,
Jesus had said that the mission of the community, its reason for being, is that
of being salt and light! He had given some advice regarding each one of the two
images. Then follow two or three brief verses of today’s Gospel.
• Matthew 5, 17-18: Not one dot, nor one stroke is to disappear
from the Law. There were several different tendencies in the communities of the
first Christians. Some thought that it was not necessary to observe the laws of
the Old Testament, because we are saved by faith in Jesus and not by the
observance of the Law (Rm 3, 21-26). Others accepted Jesus, the Messiah, but
they did not accept the liberty of spirit with which some of the communities
lived the presence of Jesus. They thought that being Jews they had to continue
to observe the laws of the Old Testament (Acts 15, 1.5). But there were
Christians who lived so fully in the freedom of the Spirit, who no longer
looked at the life of Jesus of Nazareth, nor to the Old Testament and they even
went so far as to say: ”Anathema Jesus!” (1 Co 12, 3). Observing these
tensions, Matthew tries to find some balance between both extremes. The
community should be a space, where the balance can be attained and lived. The
answer given by Jesus to those who criticized him continued to be actual for
the communities: “I have not come to abolish the law, but to complete it!” The
communities could not be against the Law, nor could they close up themselves in
the observance of the law. Like Jesus, they should advance, and show, in
practice, which was the objective which the law wanted to attain in the life of
persons, that is, in the perfect practice of love.
• Matthew 5, 17-18: Not one dot or stroke will disappear from
the Law. It is for those who wanted to get rid of all the law that Matthew
recalls the other parable of Jesus: “Anyone who infringes even one of the least
of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the
least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but the person who keeps them and teaches them will
be considered great in the Kingdom of Heaven”. The great concern in Matthew’s
Gospel is to show that the Old Testament, Jesus of Nazareth and the life in the
Spirit cannot be separated. The three of them form part of the same and unique
project of God and communicate to us the certainty of faith: The God of Abraham
and of Sarah is present in the midst of the community by faith in Jesus of
Nazareth who sends us his Spirit.
4)
PERSONAL QUESTIONS
• How do I see and live the law of God: as a growing horizon of
light or as an imposition which limits my freedom?
• What can we do today for our brothers and sisters who consider
all this type of discussion as obsolete and not actual? What can we learn from
them?
5)
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Praise Yahweh, Jerusalem,
Zion, praise your God.
For he gives strength to the bars of your gates,
he blesses your children within you. (Ps 145,12-13)
Zion, praise your God.
For he gives strength to the bars of your gates,
he blesses your children within you. (Ps 145,12-13)
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét