First Reading
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.”
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 119:1-2, 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!
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.”
REFLECTION
SOURCE: One Bread One Body
TITLE: RAIN LOVE ON YOUR ENEMIES
"My command to you is: love your enemies." –Matthew 5:44
Jesus commands us to love our enemies. This proves we are God's children (Mt 5:45), because only those who have a share in God's nature (2 Pt 1:4) have the power to love their enemies.
When we realize we can't love our enemies by our own power, we often change Jesus' command from "love your enemies" to "don't hate your enemies." This is a big change. The Lord commands us to do much more than not insult or hurt our enemies. The Lord wants us to actively love them. For example, God the Father doesn't just refrain from sending tornadoes, lightning bolts, and floods against His enemies. He gives them beautiful sunny days and life-giving rains (Mt 5:45). We too should actively bless our enemies with beautiful days. Like the father of the prodigal son, we should show affection to our enemies (Lk 15:20). We should honor them with gifts and a special celebration (Lk 15:22-23). We should be sunshine for them and rain down presents on them.
Since we don't have the power even to not hate our enemies, loving them as God does is obviously impossible. God, however, lives in us and has adopted us as His children. Therefore, by His grace we can give love to our enemies.
PRAYER: Father, this Lent may I shock myself and others as I love my enemies.
PROMISE: "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." –Dt 26:18-19
PRAISE: Louise prayed to love her enemy – her husband.
...may the good Lord bless His holy word in our hearts...
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