FEBRUARY 15, 2016 : MONDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT

Monday of the First Week of Lent
Lectionary: 224

Reading 1LV 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 PsalmPS 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 Gospel2 COR 6:2B

Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.

GospelMT 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.”

www.usccb.org

Meditation: Eternal life versus eternal punishment

Do you allow the love of God to rule in your heart? Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A.D.) said, "Essentially, there are two kinds of people, because there are two kinds of love. One is holy the other is selfish. One is subject to God; the other endeavors to equal Him." Jesus came not only to fulfill the law (Leviticus 19), but to transform it through his unconditional love and mercy towards us. The Lord Jesus proved his love for us by offering up his life on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. His death brings freedom and life for us - freedom from fear, selfishness, and greed - and new abundant life in the Holy Spirit who fills our hearts with the love of God (Romans 5:5). Do you allow God's love to purify your heart and transform your mind to think, act, and love others as Christ has taught through word and example?

The lesson of separating goats and sheep at the end of the day
Jesus' description of the Son of Man, a Messianic title which points to the coming of God's anointed Ruler and Judge over the earth (John 5:26-29, Daniel 7:13ff), and his parable about the separation of goats and sheep must have startled his audience. What does the separation of goats and sheep have to do with the Day of Judgement over the earth? In arid dry lands such as Palestine, goats and sheep often grazed together during the day because green pasture was sparse. At nightfall, when the shepherd brought the sheep and goats to their place of rest, he separated them into two groups. Goats by temperament are aggressive, domineering, restless, and territorial. They butt heads with their horns whenever they think someone is intruding on their space. 

Goats came to symbolize evil and the expression "scape-goat" become a common expression for someone bearing blame or guilt for others. (See Leviticus 26:20-22 for a description of the ritual expulsion of a sin-bearing goat on the Day of Atonement.)  Jesus took our guilt and sins upon himself and nailed them to the cross. He payed the price to set us free from sin and death. Our choice is to either follow and obey him as Lord and Savior or to be our own master and go our separate way. We cannot remain neutral or indifferent to the command of Christ. If we do not repent of our sins and obey the Gospel we cannot be disciples and inherit his kingdom. Separation is inevitable because one way leads to sin, rebellion, and death and the other way leads to faith, hope, and love that lasts forever.

Love of God frees us from inordinate love of self 
The parable of the goats and sheep has a similar endpoint with the parable of the rich man who refused to give any help to the poor man Lazarus who begged daily at the rich man's doorstep (Luke 16:19-31). Although Lazarus lacked what he need, he nonetheless put his hope in God. The rich man was a lover of wealth rather than a lover of God and neighbor. When Lazarus died he was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom to receive his reward in heaven. When the rich man died his fortunes were reversed and he was cast into the unquenchable fires of hell to receive his just desserts. The parable emphasizes the great chasm and wall of separation between the former rich man held now bound as a poor and miserable prisoner in hell and Lazarus clothed in royal garments feasting at God's banquet table in heaven.

The day of God's judgment will disclose which kind of love we chose in this present life - a holy unselfish love directed to God and to the welfare of our neighbor or a disordered selfish love that put self above God and everyone else.

When Martin of Tours (316-397 AD), a young Roman soldier who had been reluctant to embrace the Christian faith, met a poor beggar on the road who had no clothes to warm himself in the freezing cold, Martin took pity on him. He immediately got off his horse and cut his cloak in two and then gave half to the stranger. That night Martin dreamt he saw a vision of Jesus in heaven robed in a torn cloak just like the one he gave away that day to the beggar. One of the angels next to Jesus asked, "Master, why do you wear that battered cloak?" Jesus replied, "My servant Martin gave it to me." Martin's disciple and biographer Sulpicius Severus states that as a consequence of this vision "Martin flew to be baptized" to be united with Jesus and the members of his body - the body of Christ on earth and the communion of angels and saints in heaven.

Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A.D.) wrote, "Christ is at once above and below - above in Himself, below in his people. Fear Christ above, and recognize him below. Here he is poor, with and in the poor; there he is rich, with and in God. Have Christ above bestowing his bounty; recognize him here in his need" (excerpt from Sermon 123, 44).

On the day of judgment Jesus will ask "whom did you love"?
When the Lord Jesus comes again as Judge and Ruler over all, he will ask each one of us face to face - did you love me and my Father in heaven above all else and did you love your neighbor as yourself? Let us entrust our lives into the hands of the merciful Savior who gave his life for us. And let us ask him to make our faith and courage strong, our trust and hope secure, and our love and compassion overflowing with joy.

"Lord Jesus, be the Master and Ruler of my life. May your love rule in my heart that I may only think, act, and speak with charity and good will for all."

www.dailyscripture.net

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, MATTHEW 25:31-46
Lenten Weekday
(Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18; Psalm 19)

KEY VERSE: "Come, you who are blessed by my Father" (v 34).
TO KNOW: Jesus' last discourse in Matthew's gospel provides an illustration of those who were either blessed or chastised at the final judgment. Jesus' picture was drawn from the sheep and goats that were pastured together during the day and separated at nightfall. He said that the favored "sheep," those who would inherit God's reign, would be placed at his right hand (the place of authority); however, the "goats" would be punished for having failed to heed God's commands. The criteria that Jesus used for this sorting out was the corporal works of mercy shown to the poor, alienated, sick and oppressed. Christians who recognized the suffering Christ in the world's unfortunate ones would be eternally blessed by God. St. John of the Cross wrote: "When the evening of this life comes, we will be judged on how we love."
TO LOVE: What works of mercy do I plan to do this Lent?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to see you in all those in need.

PRESIDENT'S BIRTHDAY

George Washington's Birthday was originally implemented by the federal government in 1880 in the District of Columbia and expanded in 1885 to include all federal offices. As the first federal holiday to honor an American citizen, the holiday was celebrated on Washington's actual birthday, February 22. Abraham Lincoln, another revered president, was born on the 12th of February. The first formal observance of his birthday took place in 1865, the year after his assassination, when both houses of Congress gathered for a memorial address. While Lincoln's Birthday did not become a federal holiday like George Washington's, it did become a legal holiday in several states. In 1968, legislation shifted Washington's Birthday to the third Monday in February whether or not it fell on the 22nd. This act, which took effect in 1971, was designed to simplify the yearly calendar of holidays and give federal employees some standard three-day weekends. 

www.togetherwithgodsword.com

Monday 15 February 2016

Mon 15th. Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18. Your words, Lord, are spirit and life—Ps 18(19):8-10, 15. Matthew 25:31-46.


Readings

The final judgment is made very clear in today’s reading. 

It is here where we are asked about how we recognised Christ in the poor. There is a tendency among us to give lip service to this teaching. We might say that living in countries like Australia that people don’t go hungry, and that the poor can rely on social services, a safety net. Yet, Mother Teresa when visiting Australia was said to have proclaimed ‘I have never seen such poverty.’

Kerry Weber, a journalist living in New York City decided to take the call of Matthew’s Gospel very seriously, and spent Lent of 2013 performing the corporal works of mercy and reflecting on her experience in what became the book Mercy in the City: How to Feed the Hungry, Give Drink to the Thirsty, Visit the Imprisoned, and Keep Your Day Job. In this book, she demonstrates just how transformative the encounter with the poor really is, and that we are all called to see Christ in the ‘distressing disguise’ of the poor.

www.pray.com.au

MINUTE MEDITATIONS 

True Friends

Striving side by side toward the good life and encouraging one another in the virtues, true friends are primarily concerned not with what they get out of the friendship but with what is best for the friend and with pursuing the virtuous life with that friend.

— from Men, Women, and the Mystery of Love

February 15
St. Claude de la Colombière
(1641-1682)

This is a special day for the Jesuits, who claim today’s saint as one of their own. It’s also a special day for people who have a special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus—a devotion Claude de la Colombière promoted, along with his friend and spiritual companion, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. The emphasis on God’s love for all was an antidote to the rigorous moralism of the Jansenists, who were popular at the time.

Claude showed remarkable preaching skills long before his ordination in 1675. Two months later he was made superior of a small Jesuit residence in Burgundy. It was there he first encountered Margaret Mary Alacoque. For many years after he served as her confessor.

He was next sent to England to serve as confessor to the Duchess of York. He preached by both words and by the example of his holy life, converting a number of Protestants. Tensions arose against Catholics and Claude, rumored to be part of a plot against the king, was imprisoned. He was ultimately banished, but by then his health had been ruined.

He died in 1682. Pope John Paul II canonized Claude de la Colombière in 1992.

www.americancatholic.org

LECTIO DIVINA: MATTHEW 25,31-46

Lectio Divina: 

 Monday, February 15, 2016

Lent Time

1) OPENING PRAYER

Lord, holy God, loving Father,
you give us the task to love one another
because you are holy
and you have loved us before we could love you.
Give us the ability to recognize your Son
in our brothers and sisters far and near.
Make us witnesses that love exists and is alive
and that you, the God of love,
exist and are alive now for ever.

2) GOSPEL READING - MATTHEW 25, 31-46

'When the Son of man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels, then he will take his seat on his throne of glory. All nations will be assembled before him and he will separate people one from another as the shepherd separates sheep from goats. He will place the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left.

Then the King will say to those on his right hand, "Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take as your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you made me welcome, lacking clothes and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me."

Then the upright will say to him in reply, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and make you welcome, lacking clothes and clothe you? When did we find you sick or in prison and go to see you?"

And the King will answer, "In truth I tell you, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me." Then he will say to those on his left hand, "Go away from me, with your curse upon you, to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you never gave me food, I was thirsty and you never gave me anything to drink, I was a stranger and you never made me welcome, lacking clothes and you never clothed me, sick and in prison and you never visited me." Then it will be their turn to ask, "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or lacking clothes, sick or in prison, and did not come to your help?" Then he will answer, "In truth I tell you, in so far as you neglected to do this to one of the least of these, you neglected to do it to me." And they will go away to eternal punishment, and the upright to eternal life.'

3) REFLECTION

• The Gospel of Matthew presents Jesus, the New Messiah. Like Moses, Jesus also promulgates the Law of God. As the Ancient Law, the new one, given by Jesus, also contains five books or discourses. The Sermon on the Mountain (Mt 5, 1 to 7, 27), the first discourse opens with eight Beatitudes. The discourse on vigilance (Mt 24, 1 to 25, 46), the fifth discourse, contains the description of the Last Judgment. The Beatitudes describe the door of entrance into the Kingdom, enumerating eight categories of persons: the poor in spirit, the meek, the afflicted, those who hunger and thirst for justice, the merciful, the pure of heart, the peacemakers and the persecuted because of justice (Mt 5, 3-10). The parable of the Last Judgment tells us what we should do in order to possess the Kingdom: accept the hungry, the thirsty, the foreigners, the naked, the sick and the prisoners (Mt 25, 35-36): At the beginning as well as at the end of the New Law, there are the excluded and the marginalized.

• Matthew 25, 31-33: Opening of the Last Judgment. The Son of Man gathers together around him the nations of the world. He separates the persons as the shepherd does with the sheep and the goats. The shepherd knows how to discern. He does not make a mistake; sheep on the right, goats on the left. Jesus does not make a mistake. Jesus does not judge nor condemn. (cfr. Jn 3, 17; 12, 47). He hardly separates. It is the person himself/herself who judges and condemns because of the way in which he/she behaves toward the little ones and the excluded.

• Matthew 25, 34-36: The sentence for those who are at the right hand of the Judge. Those who are at the right hand of the judge are called “Blessed of my Father!”, that is, they receive the blessing which God promised to Abraham and to his descendants (Gen 12, 3). They are invited to take possession of the Kingdom, prepared for them from the foundation of the world. The reason for the sentence is the following: “I was hungry, a foreigner, naked, sick and prisoner, and you accepted me and helped me!” This sentence makes us understand who are the sheep. They are the persons who accepted the Judge when he was hungry, thirsty, a foreigner, naked, sick and prisoner. And because of the way of speaking “my Father” and “the Son of Man”, we can know that the Judge is precisely Jesus Himself . He identifies himself with the little ones!

• Matthew 25, 37-40: A request for clarification and the response of the Judge: Those who accept the excluded are called “just”. That means that the justice of the Kingdom is not attained by observing norms and prescriptions, but rather by accepting those in need. But it is strange that the just do not even know themselves when they accepted Jesus in need. And Jesus responds: “Every time that you have done this to one of my brothers, you have done it to me”. Who are these little brothers of mine?” In other passages of the Gospel of Matthew, the expression “my brothers” and “the smallest brothers” indicates the disciples (Mt 10, 42; 12, 48-50; 18, 6.10.14; 28, 10). This also indicates the members of the community who are more abandoned and neglected who have no place and are not well received (Mt 10, 40). Jesus identifies himself with them. But not only this. In the broader context of the last parable, the expression “my smallest brothers” is extended and includes all those who have no place in society. It indicates all the poor. And the “just” and the “blessed by my Father” are all the persons from all nations who accept, welcome others with total gratuity, independently of the fact that they are Christians or not.

• Matthew 25, 41-43: The sentence for those who were at the left hand side. Those who were on the other side of the Judge are called “cursed” and they are destined to go to the eternal fire, prepared by the devil and his friends. Jesus uses a symbolical language common at that time to say that these persons will not enter into the Kingdom. And here, also, the reason is only one: they did not accept, welcome Jesus hungry, thirsty, a foreigner, naked, sick and prisoner. It is not that Jesus prevents them from entering into the Kingdom, rather it is our way of acting, that is our blindness which prevents us from seeing Jesus in the little ones.

• Matthew 25, 44-46: A request for clarification and the response of the Judge. The request for clarification indicates that it is a question of people who have behaved well, persons who have their conscience in peace. They are certain to have always practiced what God asked from them. For this reason they were surprised when the Judge says that they did not accept him, did not welcome him. The Judge responds: “Every time that you have not done these things to one of my brothers, the little ones, you did not do it to me”. It is the omission! They did not do anything extra. They only missed practicing good towards the little ones and the excluded. This is the way the fifth Book of the New Law ends!

4) PERSONAL QUESTIONS

• What struck you the most in this parable of the Last Judgment?

• Stop and think: if the Last Judgment would take place today, would you be on the side of the sheep or on the side of the goats?

5) CONCLUDING PRAYER

The precepts of Yahweh are honest,
joy for the heart;
the commandment of Yahweh is pure,
light for the eyes. (Ps 19,8)

www.ocarm.org