Tuesday of the First Week of Lent
Lectionary: 225
Lectionary: 225
Thus says the LORD:
Just as from the heavens
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.
Just as from the heavens
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
Psalm34:4-5, 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.
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 GospelMT 4:4B
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
GospelMT 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.
“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.
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.”
your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men,
neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”
For the readings of the Optional Memorial
of Saint Katharine Drexel, please go here.
Meditation: Your
heavenly Father knows what you need
Do
you believe that God's word has power to change and transform your life today?
Isaiah says that God's word is like the rain and melting snow which makes the
barren ground spring to life and become abundantly fertile (Isaiah 55:10-11).
God's word has power to penetrate our dry barren hearts and make them springs
of new life. If we let God's word take root in our heart it will transform us
into the likeness of God himself and empower us to walk in his way of love and
holiness.
Let
God's word guide and shape the way you judge and act
God wants his word to guide and shape the way we think, act, and pray. Ambrose (339-397 AD), an early church father and bishop of Milan, wrote that the reason we should devote time for reading Scripture is to hear Christ speak to us. "Are you not occupied with Christ? Why do you not talk with him? By reading the Scriptures, we listen to Christ."
God wants his word to guide and shape the way we think, act, and pray. Ambrose (339-397 AD), an early church father and bishop of Milan, wrote that the reason we should devote time for reading Scripture is to hear Christ speak to us. "Are you not occupied with Christ? Why do you not talk with him? By reading the Scriptures, we listen to Christ."
We
can approach God our Father with confidence
We can approach God confidently because he is waiting with arms wide open to receive his prodigal sons and daughters. That is why Jesus gave his disciples the perfect prayer that dares to call God, Our Father. This prayer teaches us how to ask God for the things we really need, the things that matter not only for the present but for eternity as well. We can approach God our Father with confidence and boldness because the Lord Jesus has opened the way to heaven for us through his death and resurrection.
We can approach God confidently because he is waiting with arms wide open to receive his prodigal sons and daughters. That is why Jesus gave his disciples the perfect prayer that dares to call God, Our Father. This prayer teaches us how to ask God for the things we really need, the things that matter not only for the present but for eternity as well. We can approach God our Father with confidence and boldness because the Lord Jesus has opened the way to heaven for us through his death and resurrection.
When
we ask God for help, he fortunately does not give us what we deserve. Instead,
God responds with grace, mercy, and loving-kindness. He is good and forgiving
towards us, and he expects us to treat our neighbor the same. God has poured
his love into our hearts through the gift of the Holy Spirit who has been given
to us (Romans 5:5). And that love is like a refining fire - it purifies and
burns away all prejudice, hatred, resentment, vengeance, and bitterness until
there is nothing left but goodness and forgiveness towards those who cause
us grief or harm.
The
Lord's Pray teaches us how to pray
Consider what John Cassian (360-435 AD), an early church father who lived for several years with the monks in Bethlehem and Egypt before founding a monastery in southern Gaul, wrote about the Lord's Prayer and the necessity of forgiving one another from the heart:
Consider what John Cassian (360-435 AD), an early church father who lived for several years with the monks in Bethlehem and Egypt before founding a monastery in southern Gaul, wrote about the Lord's Prayer and the necessity of forgiving one another from the heart:
"The
mercy of God is beyond description. While he is offering us a model prayer he
is teaching us a way of life whereby we can be pleasing in his sight. But that
is not all. In this same prayer he gives us an easy method for attracting an
indulgent and merciful judgment on our lives. He gives us the possibility of
ourselves mitigating the sentence hanging over us and of compelling him to
pardon us. What else could he do in the face of our generosity when we ask him
to forgive us as we have forgiven our neighbor? If we are faithful in this
prayer, each of us will ask forgiveness for our own failings after we have
forgiven the sins of those who have sinned against us, not only those who have sinned
against our Master. There is, in fact, in some of us a very bad habit. We treat
our sins against God, however appalling, with gentle indulgence - but when by
contrast it is a matter of sins against us ourselves, albeit very tiny ones, we
exact reparation with ruthless severity. Anyone who has not forgiven from the
bottom of the heart the brother or sister who has done him wrong will only
obtain from this prayer his own condemnation, rather than any mercy."
Do
you treat others as you think they deserve to be treated, or do you treat them
as the Lord has treated you - with mercy, steadfast love, and kindness?
"Father
in heaven, you have given me a mind to know you, a will to serve you, and a
heart to love you. Give me today the grace and strength to embrace your holy
will and fill my heart and mind with your truth and love that all my
intentions and actions may be pleasing to you. Help me to be kind and forgiving
towards my neighbor as you have been towards me."
A
Daily Quote for Lent: Pardon
your brother and sister, by Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"Pardon,
that you may be pardoned. In doing this, nothing is required of the body. It is
the will that acts. You will experience no physical pain - you will have
nothing less in your home. Now in truth, my brothers and sisters, you see what
an evil it is that those who have been commanded to love even their enemy do
not pardon a penitent brother or sister." (quote from Sermon
210,10)
TUESDAY, MARCH 3, MATTHEW 6:7-15
Lenten Weekday
(Isaiah 55:10-11; Psalm 34)
Lenten Weekday
(Isaiah 55:10-11; Psalm 34)
KEY VERSE: "This is how you are to pray..." (v. 9).
TO KNOW: The pagans sought their god's approval by lengthy repetition of their prayers; however, Jesus taught his followers a simple prayer, which we call "The Lord's Prayer." Jesus told his disciples that they could approach God as "Father," a loving parent who was intimately present and already knew their needs. At the same time, they were to reverence God's name and obey the divine will of "Heaven" so that God's reign would be established "on earth." Just as Israel had to depend upon God's providential gift of manna during their wilderness journey (Ex 16:4, 15), Jesus' disciples were to put their trust in God for their daily bread, the Eucharist, as they journeyed to the Promised Land, their eternal home. Since God's mercy is bestowed on sinners, Jesus' disciples must offer forgiveness to others, and pray that they will not fail God in the final test.
TO LOVE: Do I pray the Lord's Prayer with faith and trust in God's loving care?
TO SERVE: How is the Lord’s Prayer a good model for my prayer in terms of praise, forgiveness, and petition?
Optional Memorial of Saint Katharine Drexel, virgin
Katharine Drexel was the daughter of a wealthy railroad entrepreneur and philanthropist She was taught from an early age to use her wealth for the benefit of others. Interested in the condition of Native Americans, she asked Pope Leo XIII to send more missionaries to Wyoming for her friend, Bishop James O'Connor. The pope replied, "Why don't you become a missionary?" Katharine visited the Dakotas, met the Sioux chief, and spent millions of the family fortunes to aid Indian missions. She entered the novitiate of the Sisters of Mercy and later founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored, now known simply as the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. By 1942 she had a system of Catholic schools for African Americans in 13 states, 40 mission centers, 23 rural schools, 50 Indian missions, and Xavier University in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, the first United States University for blacks. Following a heart attack, she spent her last twenty years in prayer and meditation. The Shrine of Saint Katharine is located at the motherhouse of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, Pennsylvania, USA.
Tuesday 3 March 2020
Isaiah 55:10-11. From all their afflictions God will
deliver the just – Psalm 33(34):4-7, 16-19. Matthew 6:7-15
How to pray
At the start of Autumn, Isaiah gives us a timely reminder that
God’s word will always produce fruit in the listener. Even on those days when
we read or listen and do not fully attend, somehow, God’s word is working
within us. On the days when we are worried, distracted or just not in the
moment somehow, God is still planting seeds in us. We may not be aware of their
germination and flowering, but God is patient and will always wait for us to
produce fruit.
Saint Katharine Drexel
Saint of the Day for March 3
(November 26, 1858 -March 3, 1955)
 |
| Saint Stephen, Martyr Roman Catholic Church, Chesapeake, Virginia | Stained glass of Saint Katharine Drexel | photo by Nheyob |
Katharine Drexel’s Story
If your father is an international banker and you ride in a
private railroad car, you are not likely to be drawn into a life of voluntary
poverty. But if your mother opens your home to the poor three days each week
and your father spends half an hour each evening in prayer, it is not impossible
that you will devote your life to the poor and give away millions of dollars.
Katharine Drexel did that.
Born in Philadelphia in 1858, she had an excellent education and
traveled widely. As a rich girl, Katharine also had a grand debut into society.
But when she nursed her stepmother through a three-year terminal illness, she
saw that all the Drexel money could not buy safety from pain or death, and her
life took a profound turn.
Katharine had always been interested in the plight of the
Indians, having been appalled by what she read in Helen Hunt Jackson’s A
Century of Dishonor. While on a European tour, she met Pope Leo XIII and
asked him to send more missionaries to Wyoming for her friend Bishop James
O’Connor. The pope replied, “Why don’t you become a missionary?” His answer
shocked her into considering new possibilities.
Back home, Katharine visited the Dakotas, met the Sioux leader
Red Cloud and began her systematic aid to Indian missions.
Katharine Drexel could easily have married. But after much
discussion with Bishop O’Connor, she wrote in 1889, “The feast of Saint Joseph
brought me the grace to give the remainder of my life to the Indians and the
Colored.” Newspaper headlines screamed “Gives Up Seven Million!”
After three and a half years of training, Mother Drexel and her
first band of nuns—Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and
Colored—opened a boarding school in Santa Fe. A string of foundations followed.
By 1942, she had a system of black Catholic schools in 13 states, plus 40
mission centers and 23 rural schools. Segregationists harassed her work, even
burning a school in Pennsylvania. In all, she established 50 missions for
Indians in 16 states.
Two saints met when Mother Drexel was advised by Mother Cabrini
about the “politics” of getting her order’s Rule approved in Rome. Her crowning
achievement was the founding of Xavier University in New Orleans, the first
Catholic university in the United States for African Americans.
At 77, Mother Drexel suffered a heart attack and was forced to
retire. Apparently her life was over. But now came almost 20 years of quiet,
intense prayer from a small room overlooking the sanctuary. Small notebooks and
slips of paper record her various prayers, ceaseless aspirations, and
meditations. She died at 96 and was canonized in 2000.
Reflection
Saints have always said the same thing: Pray, be humble, accept
the cross, love and forgive. But it is good to hear these things in the
American idiom from one who, for instance, had her ears pierced as a teenager,
who resolved to have “no cake, no preserves,” who wore a watch, was interviewed
by the press, traveled by train, and could concern herself with the proper size
of pipe for a new mission. These are obvious reminders that holiness can be
lived in today’s culture as well as in that of Jerusalem or Rome.
Lectio Divina: Matthew 6:7-15
Lectio Divina
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Season of Lent
1) OPENING PRAYER
Lord God,
You speak Your mighty word to us,
but we cannot hear it
unless it stirs our lives
and is spoken in human terms.
Keep speaking Your word to us, Lord,
and open our hearts to it,
that it may bear fruit in us
when we do Your will
and carry out what we are sent to do.
We ask You this through Your living Word,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
You speak Your mighty word to us,
but we cannot hear it
unless it stirs our lives
and is spoken in human terms.
Keep speaking Your word to us, Lord,
and open our hearts to it,
that it may bear fruit in us
when we do Your will
and carry out what we are sent to do.
We ask You this through Your living Word,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
2) GOSPEL READING - MATTHEW 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."
3) REFLECTION
There are two versions of the Our Father: Luke (Lk 11:1-4) and
Matthew (Mt 6:7-13). In Luke, the Our Father is shorter. Luke writes for the
communities which came from Paganism. In Matthew the Our Father is found in the
Discourse on the Mountain, in the part where Jesus orientates the disciples in
the practice of the three works of piety: alms (Mt 6:1-4), prayer (Mt 6:5-15)
and fasting (Mt6:16-18). The Our Father forms part of a catechesis for the
converted Jews. They were accustomed to pray, but had some vices which Matthew
tries to correct.
Matthew 6:7-8: The faults to be corrected. Jesus criticizes the
people for whom prayer was a repetition of a magic formula, strong words
addressed to God to oblige Him to respond to our needs. The acceptance of our
prayer by God does not depend on the repetition of words, but on God’s
goodness, on God who is love and mercy. He wants our good and knows our needs
even before we pray to Him.
Matthew 6:9a: The first words: Our Father, Abba Father, is the
name which Jesus uses to address Himself to God. It reveals the new
relationship with God that should characterize the life of the communities (Ga
4:6; Rm 8:15). We say Our Father and not My Father . The adjective places the
accent on the awareness or knowledge that we all belong to the great human
family of all races and creeds. To pray to the Father is to enter in intimacy
with Him. It also means to be sensitive to the cry of all the brothers and
sisters who cry for their daily bread. It means to seek in the first place the
Kingdom of God. The experience of God as our Father is the foundation of
universal fraternity.
Matthew 6:9b-10: Three requests for the cause of God: The Name,
the Kingdom, the Will. In the first part we ask that our relationship with God
may be re-established again. To sanctify His name: The name JAHVE means I am
with you! God knows. In this name He makes Himself known (Ex 3:11-15). The name
of God is sanctified when it is used with faith and not with magic; when it is
used according to its true objective, not for oppression but for the liberty or
freedom of the people and for the construction of the Kingdom. The coming of
the Kingdom: The only Lord and King of life is God (Is 45:21; 46:9). The coming
of the Kingdom is the fulfillment of all the hopes and promises. It is life in
plenitude, the overcoming of frustration suffered with human kings and
governments. This Kingdom will come when the Will of God will be fully
accomplished. To do His will: The will of God is expressed in His Law. His will
be done on earth as it is in Heaven. In Heaven the sun and the stars obey the
laws of their orbit and create the order of the universe (Is 48:12-13). The
observance of the law of God will be a source of order and well-being for human
life.
Matthew 6:11-13: Four petitions for the cause of the brothers:
Bread, Pardon, Victory, Liberty. In the second part of the Our Father we ask
that the relationship among persons may be restored. The four requests show how
necessary it is to transform or change the structures of the community and
society in order that all the sons and daughters of God may have the same
dignity. The daily bread. In Exodus the people received the manna in the desert
every day (Ex 16:35). Divine Providence passed through the fraternal
organization, the sharing. Jesus invites us to live a new Exodus, a new
fraternal way of living together which will guarantee the daily bread for all
(Mt 6:34-44; Jo 6:48-51). Forgive us our debts: Every 50 years, the Jubilee
Year obliged people to forgive their debts. It was a new beginning (Lv
25:8-55). Jesus announces a new Jubilee Year, a year of grace from the Lord (Lk
4:19). The Gospel wants to begin everything anew! Do not lead us into
temptation, do not put us to the test: In Exodus, people were tempted and fell
(Dt 9:6-12). The people complained and wanted to go back (Ex 16:3; 17:3). In
the new Exodus, the temptation will be overcome by the strength which people
receive from God (I Co 10:12-13). Deliver us from evil: The Evil One is Satan,
who draws away from God and is a cause of scandal. He succeeds in entering in
Peter (Mt 16:23) and to tempt Jesus in the desert. Jesus overcomes him (Mt
4:1-11). He tells us: Courage, I have conquered the world! (Jn 16:33).
Matthew 6:14-15: Anyone who does not forgive will not be
forgiven. In praying the Our Father, we pronounce the phrase which condemns us
or absolves us. We say: Forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass
us (Mt 6:12). We offer God the measure of pardon that we want. If we forgive
very much, He will forgive us very much. If we forgive little, He will forgive
little. If we do not forgive, He will not forgive us.
4) PERSONAL QUESTIONS
Jesus prayer says forgive our debts . In some countries it is
translated as forgive our offenses . What is easier to forgive, the offenses or
to forgive the debts?
Christian nations of the Northern Hemisphere (Europe and USA)
pray everyday: Forgive our debts as we forgive those who are in debt to us! But
they do not forgive the external debt of poor countries of the Third World. How
can we explain this terrible contradiction, source of impoverishment of
millions of people?
Debt, in the context of society, is not only money. In fact, in
referring to people who have served time in jail we say “they have paid their
debt to society”. Do we accept these people back into society? Not only have
they paid their “debt”, they are often treated as having not been forgiven.
How do we forgive others in terms of immigration, documented or
not, and accept them into our communities?
5) CONCLUDING PRAYER
Proclaim with me the greatness of Yahweh,
let us acclaim His name together.
I seek Yahweh and He answers me,
frees me from all my fears. (Ps 34,3-4)
let us acclaim His name together.
I seek Yahweh and He answers me,
frees me from all my fears. (Ps 34,3-4)
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