2nd Week of Lent
6th March 2023 (Monday) Readings and Reflection
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Reading of the Day
First Reading: Daniel 9:4b-10
O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
Psalm 79:8, 9, 11, 13 (R. see Psalm 103:10a)
R/. O Lord, do not treat us according to our sins.
Gospel : Luke 6:36-38
At that time: Jesus said to his disciples, "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you."
Daily Gospel Reflection
The Reflection by Fr. Thumma Mariadas Reddy MSFS{alertWarning}
Main Theme: Fidelity counts the most!
Indicative: Our God is a merciful God. As His children, we are called to be like Him. He is our greatest model to be merciful{alertSuccess}
1. Mercy is rapidly diminishing in the world of today. Instead, many harbour so much negativity, grudge, and resentment. This leads to a steep lack of understanding and forgiveness on one hand, and on the other hand, the increase of revenge and retaliation resulting in violence and destruction
2. It is in this context, Jesus exhorts us to be merciful. The model is God the Father Himself. Despite the repeated infidelity and failures, He has been ever merciful and forgiving toward His chosen people Israel.
3. Whenever they return to Him repenting and seeking forgiveness, He readily forgives them, reconciles with them, and blesses them again with abundance. We have a testimony to this in today’s first reading. People realise their infidelity and sinfulness. They repent over them. They plead for His mercy with humble and contrite hearts. They attest, “Yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness”
4. Now, how to inculcate the spirit of mercy? We must be humble enough to see and admit our sinfulness. We must repent and seek God’s forgiveness. We must avoid our frequent judgmental attitude that eagerly and hastily judges and condemns others. We must also guard against our double standards, remembering that “the measure with which we measure will be the measure that we get back”
5. We must forgive others with all magnanimity and empathy. For this, we must remember that we too receive so much mercy and we receive God’s mercy only in proportion to our mercy toward others
Imperative: Instead of running after false and defective models, let us seek and imitate God as our model, especially for mercy {alertSuccess}