Reading 1 Dt 26:16-19
“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 PS 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8
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 Gospel 2 Cor 6:2b
Behold, now is a very acceptable time;behold, now is the day of salvation.
Gospel Mt 5:43-48
“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.”
"I FIRMLY RESOLVE"
"Oh, that I might be firm in the ways of keeping Your statutes!" –Psalm 119:5
Is your Ash Wednesday Lenten resolve still firm or are temptations wearing down your self-denial? Our weak flesh is vulnerable to the relentless pressures of temptation. We desire to do what is right, but we don't have the power (see Rm 7:18). Our old, sinful nature rebels against our new, redeemed nature. There's a civil war raging inside us (see Jas 4:1). What wretches we are! (Rm 7:24) "Who can free" us? (Rm 7:24)
Jesus has set us free (Jn 8:36). He freed us for lifelong liberty (Gal 5:1). He shattered the bonds of sin that held us bound and gave us new life and risen power (Col 2:13-14). Praise Jesus!
Yet we still live in human bodies and are weak flesh. We live a risen life (Col 3:1), yet are subject to temptation, just as Jesus was (Mt 4:1ff; Heb 4:15). With the psalmist, we pray to be firm in resisting temptation (Ps 119:5). We must ask Jesus to "increase our faith" (Lk 17:5), for unless our faith is firm, we will not be firm (Is 7:9).
Jesus "is able to help those who are tempted" (Heb 2:18). Ask Him to immerse you in the Holy Spirit (Jn 7:37-39), Who fights against the temptations of the flesh (Gal 5:17). "My point is that you should live in accord with the Spirit and you will not yield to the cravings of the flesh" (Gal 5:16). "So stand firm, and do not take on yourselves the yoke of slavery a second time!" (Gal 5:1)
| PRAYER: | Father, "I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more, and avoid the near occasion of sin." |
| PROMISE: | "You will be a people sacred to the Lord, your God, as He promised." –Dt 26:19 |
| PRAISE: | By learning to practice regular and spontaneous prayer, Roger grew closer to Jesus each week. |
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