My reflections for Mar. 11, 2006 - Saturday

Reading I
Deuteronomy 26:16-19

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.”

(Obedience to the Commandments is the People of Israel's side of the Covenant that God made with Moses. The Commandments outline for us a basic description of what it means to live within the will of God. Of course, they need to be drawn out as they are applied to the varied situations that we come across in life, but this basis, the Commandments, is unchanging for all time! Let us place our lives under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the teaching authority of the Church as we try to discern the right from wrong in our moral lives.)

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8

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!

Gospel
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.”

(Holiness, even perfection, is not an option for the Christian. They are essential to the goal of holiness and eternal life. We can even say that without them we cannot be saved as it is not possible to enter into the presence of God on a permanent basis without them. Let us never get discouraged by our trials and struggles but always place our hope and trust in God's ability to bring this about in our lives through His grace and love.)

Meditation for Lent <== Click here

God's special verse/thought for me today.

my reflections
think: Am I striving enough to grow in holiness?

thank You Lord for: