Lent 3rd Week: March 8-13:
March 8 Monday (St. John of God, Religious): Lk 4: 24-30: [23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, `Physician, heal yourself; what we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here also in your own country.'”] 24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own country. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there came a great famine over all the land; 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 ……30…USCCB video reflections:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/
The context: Today’s Gospel presents Jesus
reacting with prophetic courage to the skepticism and criticism with which the
people of Nazareth, his hometown, responded to his “Inaugural Address” in
their synagogue that Sabbath.
Jesus’ reaction to his people’s skepticism:
Jesus reacted to the negative attitude of the Nazarenes with the
comment, “No prophet is accepted in his native place.” Next, he
referred to the Biblical stories of how God had blessed two Gentiles,
while rejecting the many Jews in similar situations, precisely because those
Gentiles had been more open to the prophets than the Jewish people were.
First, Jesus told them of the Gentile widow of Zarephath, in Lebanon (1
Kgs 17:7-24). The Prophet Elijah stayed with her and her son during
the three-and-a-half-year drought, fed them miraculously and revived her
son from death. Then Jesus described how Naaman, the pagan military
general of Syria, was healed of leprosy by Elisha the prophet (2 Kgs 5:1-19).
Jesus’ words implied that, like the people of his hometown, the
Israelites of those former days had been unable to receive miracles because of
their disbelief. Jesus’ reference to the unbelief of the Jews and to the
stronger Faith of the Gentiles infuriated his listeners at Nazareth. They
rushed to seize Jesus and throw him over the edge of the cliff on
which their town was built. But Jesus escaped because “His hour had
not yet come.”
Life messages: 1) We need to face rejection with
prophetic courage and optimism when we experience the pain of rejection,
betrayal, abandonment, violated trust, neglect, or abuse from our friends,
families, or childhood companions.
2) Let us not, as the people in Jesus’ hometown did, reject
God in our lives. Are we unwilling to be helped by God, or by
others? Does our pride prevent us from recognizing God’s direction,
help, and support in our lives, coming to us through His words in the Bible,
through the teachings of the Church and through the advice and example of
others? 3) We must have the prophetic courage of our
convictions. The passage challenges us to have the courage of our
Christian convictions in our day-to-day lives in our communities, when we face
hatred and rejection because of our Christian Faith. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/21
March 9 Tuesday(St. Frances of Rome, Religious): Matthew
18:21-35: 21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how
often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven
times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy
times seven.23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who
wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began the reckoning,
one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents; 25 and as he could
not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all
that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees,
imploring him, `Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27
And out of pity for him the lord of that servant released him and forgave him
the debt. 28 …35 USCCB reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/
The lessons taught by the parable: (1) We must
forgive so that we may be forgiven. Jesus explains this truth after teaching
the prayer, “Our Father.” He warns us, “For if you forgive men their
trespasses, your Heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not
forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Mt
6:14-15). As James states it later, “For judgment is without mercy to
the one who has shown no mercy” (Jas 2:13). Clearly, Divine and human
forgiveness work together.
(2) We represent the greater debtor in the parable; that is,
we owe God the ten thousand talents of the parable. We commit sins every day
and, hence, we need God’s forgiveness every day. The sum total of all the
offenses which our brothers and sisters commit against us is equivalent to the
small debt of the second debtor in the parable, namely 100 denarii. Yet,
shockingly and sadly, we are merciless towards our fellow human beings. The
moral of Jesus’ story is that, as members of a community, we must treat one
another as God has treated each of us. Here is a Divine call to throw away the
calculator when it comes to forgiveness. We must choose the more
honorable path and forgive one another “from the heart.” We have been forgiven
a debt beyond all human paying – the sin of man which God forgave through the
willing, sacrificial death of His own Son. Since that is so, we must forgive
others as God has forgiven us. Otherwise, we cannot hope to receive any mercy
ourselves.
Life messages: 1) We need to forgive: Having experienced
forgiveness at the hands of God and God’s people, we are then called to make it
possible for others to experience the same forgiveness. Let us forgive the
person who has wronged us before hatred eats away at our ability to forgive. 2)
Forgiveness will not be easy, but God is there to help us. We can call on God’s
help by offering that individual to God, not by sitting in judgment, but simply
by saying, “Help so-and-so and mend our relationship.” We may never forget the
hurt we have experienced, but we can choose to forgive. 3) We need to remind
ourselves that with God’s grace we have already forgiven the one that hurt us.
As life goes on we may remember the incident or occasion that was hurtful. Then
let us offer the offender to God’s mercy and pray for God’s blessings on him or
her. (Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/20
March 10 Wednesday: 17 “Think not that I
have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them
but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, till heaven and
earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.
19 Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men
so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and
teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. USCCB
reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/
The context: Today’s Gospel passage, taken from
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, presents Jesus as giving the highest compliments to
the Mosaic Law. These words of Jesus that Matthew reports touched the
communities of converted Jews, helping them to overcome the criticism of the
brothers of their own race who accused them saying, “You are unfaithful to the
Law of Moses.” Ironically, Jesus himself would be falsely condemned and
crucified as a Lawbreaker. Jesus says that the Old Testament, as the word of
God, has Divine authority and deserves total respect. The Mosaic Law was
ultimately intended to help people honor God by practicing love. Its moral
precepts are to be respected because they are, for the most part, specific,
Divine-positive promulgations of the natural law. But Christians are not
obliged to observe the legal and liturgical precepts of Old Testament because
they were laid down by God for a specific stage in Salvation History.
Jesus’ teaching: In Jesus’ time, the Law was
understood differently by different groups of the Jews to be 1) The Ten
Commandments, 2) The Pentateuch, 3) The Law and the Prophets, or 4) The oral
(Scribal) and the written Law. Jesus, and later Paul, considered the oral Law
as a heavy burden on the people and criticized it, while honoring the Mosaic
Law and the teachings of the prophets. At the time of Jesus, the Jews believed
that the Torah (Law given to Moses), was the eternal, unchangeable,
Self-Revelation of God. In today’s Gospel, Jesus says that he did not come to
destroy the Torah but to bring it to perfection by bringing out its inner
meaning because He IS the ultimate self-Revelation of God, the
Lawgiver. That is why the Council of Trent declared that Jesus was given to us,
“not only as a Redeemer, in whom we are to trust, but also as a Lawgiver whom
we are to obey” (“De Iustificatione,” can. 21). Jesus honored the
two basic principles on which the Ten Commandments were based, namely
the principle of reverence and the principle of respect. In
the first four commandments, we are asked to reverence God, reverence His holy
Name, reverence His holy day and reverence our father and mother. The next set
of commandments instructs us to respect life, the marriage bond, one’s personal
integrity and others’ good name, the legal system, another’s property and spouse,
and one’s own spouse. Jesus declares that he has come to fulfill all Divine
laws based on these principles. By “fulfilling the law,” Jesus means fulfilling
the purpose for which the Law was given: that is, justice, or
“righteousness,” as the Scriptures call it – a word that includes a just
relationship with God).
Life messages: 1) In obeying God’s laws and Church
laws, let us remember these basic principles of respect and reverence. 2) Our
obedience to the laws needs to be prompted by love of God and gratitude to God
for His blessings. Fr. Tony (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/21
March 11 Thursday: Lk 11: 14-23: When the evil
spirit has gone out, the dumb man spoke, and the people marveled. 15
But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of
demons”; 16 while others, to test him, sought from him a sign from heaven. 17
But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against
itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. 18 And if Satan also is
divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast
out demons by Beelzebul. 19 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do
your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. 20 But if it is
by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come
upon you. 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods
are in peace; 22 but when one stronger than he assails him and overcomes him,
he takes away his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoil. 23 He who
is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. USCCB
reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/
The context: Today’s Gospel passage gives the
crushing reply of Jesus to the Scribes’ slanderous explanation of Jesus’
miracle, namely, that Jesus expelled devils by using the assistance of the
leader of devils, Beelzebul.
Jesus refutes the false allegation raised by the Scribes
against him with four counterarguments. 1) A house divided against
itself will perish, and a country engaged in civil war will be ruined. Hence,
Satan will not fight against Satan by helping Jesus to expel his coworkers. 2)
If Jesus is collaborating with Satan to exorcise minor demons, one must admit
that the Jewish exorcists are doing the same. 3) Jesus claims that he is using
the power of his Heavenly Father to evict devils, just as a strong man guards
his house and possessions from the thief. 4) Finally, Jesus gives a crushing
blow to his accusers as described in Mark’s Gospel (Mark 3:22-30), warning them
that by telling blatant lies they are blaspheming against the Holy Spirit;
their sins are unforgivable because they will not repent and ask for
forgiveness.
Life messages: 1) We can be influenced by
the evil spirit if we listen to him and follow him. Hence, we have to keep our
souls daily cleansed and filled with the Spirit of God, leaving no space for
the evil spirit to enter our souls.
2) If we disregard and disobey God’s word, we open the door
to the power of sin and to Satan’s deception and control.
(http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/21
March 12 Friday: Mk 12:28-34: Another, and
seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the
first of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The first is, `Hear, O Israel: The
Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your
strength.’ 31 The second is this, `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to
him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that he is one, and there is
no other but he; 33 34 … USCCB reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/
The context: A scribe who believed in both the
written Law and the oral tradition was pleased to see how Jesus had defeated
the Sadducee who had tried to humiliate him with the hypothetical case of a
woman who had married and been widowed by seven husbands in succession.
Out of admiration, the scribe challenged Jesus to summarize the most important
of the Mosaic Laws in one sentence. In the Judaism of Jesus’ day, there
was a double tendency: to expand the Mosaic Law into hundreds of rules and
regulations and to condense the 613 precepts of the Torah into a single
sentence or few sentences.
Jesus’ novel contribution: Jesus gave a
straightforward answer, quoting directly from the Law itself and startling all
with his profound simplicity and mastery of the Law of God and its
purpose. He combined the first sentence of the Jewish Shema prayer
from Deuteronomy 6:5: … Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength” with
its complementary law from Leviticus 19:18: “You shall love your neighbor as
yourself.” Thus, Jesus proclaims that true religion is to love God
both directly and as living in our neighbor. Jesus underlines the
principle that we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves because both of
us bear God’s image. For, to honor God’s image is to honor both Him Who made it
and Him Whom it resembles. Besides, our neighbors, too, are the children of God
our Father, redeemed by the Blood of Jesus. Love for our neighbor is a
matter, not of feelings, but of deeds by which we share with others the
unmerited love that God lavishes on us. This is the agape love
for neighbor that God commands in His Law. Jesus then uses the parable of the
Good Samaritan, as reported in Luke’s Gospel, to show them what God means by
“neighbor.”
Life Messages: 1) We need to love God
whole-heartedly: Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, means
that we should place God’s will ahead of our own, seek the Lord’s will in all
things, and make it paramount in our lives. It also means that we must
find time to adore Him, to present our needs before Him, and to ask His pardon
and forgiveness for our sins. 2) God’s will is that we should love everyone,
seeing Him in our neighbor. This means we have to help, support,
encourage, forgive, and pray for everyone without regard to color, race,
gender, age wealth, social status, intelligence, education or charm.
(Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/21
March 13 Saturday: Lk 18: 9-14: 9 He also
told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous
and despised others: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a
Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus
with himself, `God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners,
unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a
week, I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far
off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying,
`God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his
house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be
humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” USCCB
reflections: http://www.usccb.org/bible/reflections/index.cfm; https://catholic-daily-reflections.com/daily-reflections/
The context: The main theme of today’s Gospel is
that true humility must be the hallmark of our prayers. However, the
central focus of today’s parable is not prayer, but rather pride,
humility, and the role of grace in our salvation. The parable was
mainly intended to convict the Pharisees who proudly claimed they obeyed
all the rules and regulations of the Jewish law, while they actually ignored
the Mosaic precepts of mercy and compassion. Through this parable of
Jesus, Luke was reminding his Gentile listeners that God values the
prayer of any humble and contrite heart.
In the parable, Jesus tells us about two men who went to
pray, a Pharisee and a tax-collector. The Pharisee stood in the very
front of the Temple, distancing himself from his inferiors, and explained to
God his meticulous observance of the Mosaic Law, at the same time despising the
publican. But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even lift up
his eyes to Heaven but beat his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me a
sinner!” Jesus declared that only the humble tax-collector went
home justified.
Life messages: 1) We need to evict the
Pharisee and revive the publican in each one of us. There is a big
dose of the Pharisee’s pride in us and a small dose of the tax-collector’s
humility. Hence, we have to make a pilgrimage from pride to humility,
realizing the truth that if we are not sensitive to other people, we are not
sensitive to God.
2) Let us have the correct approach in our prayer
life. For most of us, prayer means asking God for something when we are
in need. We conveniently forget the more important aspects of
prayer: adoration, praise, contrition and thanksgiving. If we have forgotten
God through our years of prosperity, how can we expect him to take notice
of us when something goes wrong? Yet, even there His mercy welcomes
us. Our day’s work and our day’s recreation, if offered for the honor and
glory of God, are prayers pleasing in His sight.
(Fr. Tony) (http://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/21
