Saturday of the First Week of Lent
Lectionary: 229
Lectionary: 229
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.”
“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
Psalm119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8
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!
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 Gospel2 COR 6:2B
Behold, now is a very acceptable
time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.
behold, now is the day of salvation.
GospelMT 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.”
“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.”
For the readings of the Optional Memorial
of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, please go here.
Meditation: Love and pray for your enemies
Do
you know the love that conquers every fear, sin, and selfish desire? God renews
his love for us each and every day. His love has the power to free us from
every form of evil - selfishness, greed, anger, hatred, jealously and envy. In
Jesus' teaching on the law he does something quite remarkable and unheard of.
He transforms the old law of justice and mercy with grace (favor) and
loving-kindness.
Grace
and loving-kindness
God is good to the unjust as well as the just. His love embraces saint and sinner alike. God seeks our highest good and teaches us to seek the greatest good of others, even those who hate or cause ill-will. Our love for others, including those who are ungrateful or selfish towards us, must be marked by the same kindness and mercy which God has shown to us. It is easier to show kindness and mercy when we can expect to benefit from doing so. How much harder when we can expect nothing in return. Our prayer for those who do us ill both breaks the power of revenge and releases the power of love to do good in the face of evil.
God is good to the unjust as well as the just. His love embraces saint and sinner alike. God seeks our highest good and teaches us to seek the greatest good of others, even those who hate or cause ill-will. Our love for others, including those who are ungrateful or selfish towards us, must be marked by the same kindness and mercy which God has shown to us. It is easier to show kindness and mercy when we can expect to benefit from doing so. How much harder when we can expect nothing in return. Our prayer for those who do us ill both breaks the power of revenge and releases the power of love to do good in the face of evil.
How
can we possibly love as God loves and overcome evil with good? With God all
things are possible. He gives power and grace to those who believe and accept
the gift of the Holy Spirit. His love conquers all, even our hurts, fears,
prejudices and griefs. Only the cross of Jesus Christ can free us from the
tyranny of malice, hatred, revenge, and resentment and gives us the courage to
return evil with good. Such love and grace has power to heal and to save from
destruction. Do you know the power of Christ's redeeming love and mercy?
Perfect
- made
whole
Was Jesus exaggerating when he said we must be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48)? Jesus' command seems to parallel two passages from the Old Testament Scriptures. The first is where God instructed Abraham to "be perfect" or "blameless" before God (Genesis 17:1). The original meaning of "perfect" in Hebrew and the Aramaic dialect is "completeness" or "wholeness" - "not lacking in what is essential."
Was Jesus exaggerating when he said we must be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48)? Jesus' command seems to parallel two passages from the Old Testament Scriptures. The first is where God instructed Abraham to "be perfect" or "blameless" before God (Genesis 17:1). The original meaning of "perfect" in Hebrew and the Aramaic dialect is "completeness" or "wholeness" - "not lacking in what is essential."
The
second passage that seems to parallel Jesus' expression, "be perfect as
your heavenly Father is perfect" is the command that God gave to Moses and
the people of Israel to "be holy, for I am holy" (Leviticus 11:44,45;
19:2). God made each of us in his image and likeness (Genesis 1:26,27). That is
why he calls us to grow in maturity and wholeness so
we can truly be like him - a people who love as he loves and who choose to do
what is good and to reject what is evil and contrary to his will (Ephesians
4:13-16).
God
knows our sinfulness and weaknesses better than we do - and he assures us of
his love, mercy, and help. That is why he freely gives us his power, strength,
and gifts so that we may not lack anything we need to do his will and to live
as his sons and daughters (2 Peter 1:3). Do you want to grow in your love for
God and for your neighbor? Ask the Holy Spirit to purify and transform you in
the image of the Father that you may walk in the joy and freedom of the Gospel.
"Lord
Jesus, your love brings freedom and pardon. Fill me with your Holy Spirit and
set my heart ablaze with your love that nothing may make me lose my temper,
ruffle my peace, take away my joy, nor make me bitter towards anyone."
A
Daily Quote for Lent: The
gift to love all people - even enemies, by Augustine, Bishop of Hippo,
354-430 A.D.
"Beg
God for the gift to love one another. Love all people, even your enemies, not
because they are your brothers and sisters but that they may become such. Love
them in order that you may be at all times on fire with love, whether toward
those who have become your brothers and sisters or toward your enemies, so that
by being beloved they may become your brothers and sisters." (excerpt
from Sermon on 1 John 10,7)
SATURDAY, MARCH 7: MATTHEW 5:43-48
(Deuteronomy 26:16-19; Psalm 119)
(Deuteronomy 26:16-19; Psalm 119)
KEY VERSE: "But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you" (v. 44).
TO KNOW: Israel believed that their enemies were also the enemies of God (Ps 139:21), but God did not command Israel to hate their enemies (Lev 19:17-18). Neither were they allowed to mistreat a resident alien, that is, someone who dwelt in the land but was not a member of the nation or religion of the Jews (Lev 19:33-34). Israel ought to remember that they too were once aliens in the land of Egypt. But Jesus took the law further. He said that it was no virtue to love only those who loved them; nonbelievers could do as much. His disciples should imitate their loving God who gave gifts of sun and rain to the just and unjust alike. Christians must never seek retaliation for any insult no matter how hostile. They must strive to love even those who persecuted them (Mt 5:11). Jesus showed us the supreme example of enemy love when he asked God to forgive those who were putting him to death (Lk 23:34).
TO LOVE: Do I measure up to Jesus' command to forgive those who have injured me and to pray for their welfare?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to strive to imitate your perfect love.
Optional
Memorial of Perpetua and Felicity, martyrs
Vibia Perpetua was born to a noble pagan family. She was a convert, wife and mother. She was martyred March 7, 203 at Carthage with her maid, friend, and fellow convert Felicity. Perpetua, the aristocrat, and Felicity, the slave-girl, met martyrdom hand in hand. A significant account of their last days was recorded:
The day of the martyrs' victory dawned. They marched from their cells into the amphitheater, as if into heaven, with cheerful looks and graceful bearing. If they trembled it was for joy and not for fear. Perpetua was the first to be thrown down, and she fell prostrate. She got up and, seeing that Felicity was prostrate, went over and reached out her hand to her and lifted her up. Both stood up together. Rousing herself as if from sleep (so deeply had she been in spiritual ecstasy), she began to look around. To everyone's amazement she said, "When are we going to be led to the beasts?" When she heard that it had already happened she did not at first believe it until she saw the marks of violence on her body and her clothing. The people, however, had demanded that the martyrs be led to the middle of the amphitheater. They wanted to see the sword thrust into the bodies of the victims, so that their eyes might share in the slaughter. Without being asked they went where the people wanted them to go; but first they kissed one another, to complete their witness with the customary kiss of peace.
Saturday 7 March 2020
Sts Perpetua and Felicity, martyrs
Deuteronomy 26:16-19. Happy are they who follow the law
of the Lord! – Psalm 118(119):1-2, 4-5, 7-8. Matthew 5:43-48.
You will be a people consecrated to the Lord
The Catholic faith is well known for having many, in the words
of Deuteronomy, ‘statutes, commandments and decrees’. Those with no link to the
Church can quote (at least a version of) the Ten Commandments, expectations
regarding Lent, fasting, abstinence, attendance at Mass and so on. Post Vatican
II suggestions that, for example, an adult might choose a form of penance that
was personally meaningful, hasn’t really taken root in the popular imagination
the way that ‘no meat on Fridays’ or ‘what have you given up for Lent?’ did.
While this reading clearly states the requirement that ‘statutes, commandments
and decrees’ be observed, this is so because of the relationship God
has established with God’s people: ‘. . . you are to be a people peculiarly his
own . . .you will be a people sacred to the Lord . . .’ The ‘rules’ are not
primarily a form of discipline, or a test imposed by God on God’s creation;
rather they are the outcome of a deeply significant relationship.
The ‘rules’ highlight that God wants God’s people to live (to use a
contemporary expression) their best lives; to live in ways that unite them,
distinguish them, challenge them – and never allow them to forget that they are
the People of God.
Saints Perpetua and Felicity
Saint of the Day for March 7
(d. 203)
 |
| Mary and Child with Saints Felicity and Perpetua (Sacra Conversazione) | Anonymous |
Saints Perpetua and Felicity’s Story
“When my father in his affection for me was trying to turn me
from my purpose by arguments and thus weaken my faith, I said to him, ‘Do you
see this vessel—waterpot or whatever it may be? Can it be called by any other
name than what it is?’ ‘No,’ he replied. ‘So also I cannot call myself by any
other name than what I am—a Christian.’”
So writes Perpetua: young, beautiful, well-educated, a
noblewoman of Carthage in North Africa, mother of an infant son and chronicler
of the persecution of the Christians by Emperor Septimius Severus.
Perpetua’s mother was a Christian and her father a pagan. He
continually pleaded with her to deny her faith. She refused and was imprisoned
at 22.
In her diary, Perpetua describes her period of captivity: “What
a day of horror! Terrible heat, owing to the crowds! Rough treatment by the
soldiers! To crown all, I was tormented with anxiety for my baby…. Such
anxieties I suffered for many days, but I obtained leave for my baby to remain
in the prison with me, and being relieved of my trouble and anxiety for him, I
at once recovered my health, and my prison became a palace to me and I would
rather have been there than anywhere else.”
Despite threats of persecution and death, Perpetua, Felicity–a
slavewoman and expectant mother–and three companions, Revocatus, Secundulus and
Saturninus, refused to renounce their Christian faith. For their unwillingness,
all were sent to the public games in the amphitheater. There Perpetua and
Felicity were beheaded, and the others killed by beasts.
Felicity gave birth to a girl a few days before the games
commenced.
Perpetua’s record of her trial and imprisonment ends the day
before the games. “Of what was done in the games themselves, let him write who
will.” The diary was finished by an eyewitness.
Reflection
Persecution for religious beliefs is not confined to Christians
in ancient times. Consider Anne Frank, the Jewish girl who with her family, was
forced into hiding and later died in Bergen-Belsen, one of Hitler’s death camps
during World War II. Anne, like Perpetua and Felicity, endured hardship and
suffering and finally death because she committed herself to God. In her diary,
Anne writes, “It’s twice as hard for us young ones to hold our ground, and
maintain our opinions, in a time when all ideals are being shattered and
destroyed, when people are showing their worst side, and do not know whether to
believe in truth and right and God.”
Saint Felicity is the Patron Saint of:
Widows
Mothers of Deceased Sons
Mothers of Deceased Sons
Lectio
Divina: Matthew 5:43-48
Lectio Divina
Saturday, March 7, 2020
1) 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.
2) 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."
3) 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.
4) 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.
Contemplate Jesus, in silence, who at the hour of His death, loved the enemy who killed Him.
5) 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)
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)
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