Reading 1 Dt 30:15-20
“Today I have set before you
life and prosperity, death and doom.
If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God,
which I enjoin on you today,
loving him, and walking in his ways,
and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees,
you will live and grow numerous,
and the LORD, your God,
will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy.
If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen,
but are led astray and adore and serve other gods,
I tell you now that you will certainly perish;
you will not have a long life
on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and occupy.
I call heaven and earth today to witness against you:
I have set before you life and death,
the blessing and the curse.
Choose life, then,
that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God,
heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.
For that will mean life for you,
a long life for you to live on the land that the LORD swore
he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
Responsorial Psalm PS 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Gospel Lk 9:22-25
“The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected
by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.”
Then he said to all,
“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
yet lose or forfeit himself?”
CHOOSING LIFE IN A CULTURE OF DEATH
"I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life." –Deuteronomy 30:19
For many years, the Lord has challenged us to choose life in the first Bible reading of the Mass for the second day of Lent. In retrospect, we have reason to think we should have taken the Lord's command more seriously in past Lents. Considering partial birth abortions, euthanasia, sperm and egg banks, experiments in cloning humans, artificial insemination, sterilizations, chemical and surgical abortions, rampant pornography, gang violence, more wars and rapes, starvation, more refugees, torture, more prisons, capital punishment, addictions, the debt of the third and fourth world, etc. – considering these things and many others, we had better choose life more seriously and zealously than we have in the past and in past Lents.
This Lent, our culture of death may further deteriorate to the point of no return. On the other hand, this Lent could be the beginning of our culture's resurrection from the dead. Therefore, choose life by denying yourself (Lk 9:23). Choose life by taking up daily the cross Jesus assigns you (Lk 9:23). Choose life by losing your life for love of Jesus and the gospel (Lk 9:24). Choose life by being crucified with Christ (Gal 2:19). We must choose life as we never have before. We can't go on like this. Choose life!
| PRAYER: | Father, may I continually carry about in my body the dying of Jesus so that "the life of Jesus may also be revealed" (2 Cor 4:10). |
| PROMISE: | "What profit does he show who gains the whole world and destroys himself in the process?" –Lk 9:25 |
| PRAISE: | Carol converted to the Catholic faith and chose Lourdes as her confirmation name. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment