Monday - Lent Time
1) Opening prayer
Just
and holy God,
our loving Father,
you offered us your hand in friendship
and you sent us your Son Jesus
to go with us the road
of obedience and loyalty.
God, we often hurt this friendship,
we act as if we were not your sons and daughters.
See the look of shame on our faces.
Forgive us, for we count on you.
Accept our thanks
for continuing to take us as we are
and loving us notwithstanding our sins.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.
2) Gospel Reading - Luke 6, 36-38
'Be compassionate just as your
Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not
condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken
together, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap; because the standard
you use will be the standard used for you.'
3) Reflection
•
These three brief verses of today’s Gospel (Lk 6, 36-38) are the final part of
a brief discourse of Jesus (Lk 6, 20-38). In the first part of his discourse,
he addresses himself to the disciples (Lk 6, 20) and to the rich (Lk 6, 24)
proclaiming four beatitudes for the disciples (Lk6, 20-23), and four curses for
the rich (Lk 6, 20-26). In the second part, he addresses himself to all those
who are listening (Lk 6, 27), that is, the immense crowd of poor and sick, who
had come from all parts (Lk 6, 17-19). The words which he addresses to this
people and to all of us are demanding and difficult: to love the enemy (Lk
6,27), not curse them (Lk 6, 28), offer the other cheek to the one who slaps
you on one and do not complain if someone takes what is ours (Lk 6, 29). How
can this difficult advice be understood? The explanation is given in the three
verses of today’s Gospel, from which we draw the centre of the Good News
brought by Jesus.
•
Luke6, 36: Be merciful as your Heavenly Father is merciful. The
Beatitudes for the disciples (Lk 6, 20-23) and the curses against the rich (Lk
6, 24-26) cannot be interpreted as an occasion for the poor to revenge against
the rich. Jesus orders to have the contrary attitude. He says: “Love your
enemies!” (Lk 6, 27). The change or the conversion which Jesus wants to bring
about in us does not consist in merely turning something to invert the system
because in this way nothing would change. He wants to change the system. The Novelty which Jesus wants to construct comes from the new experience that he has of
God Father/Mother full of tenderness who accepts all, good and bad, who makes
the sun shine on both the good and on the bad and makes the rain fall on both
good and bad (Mt 5, 5,45). True love does not depend nor it can depend on what
I receive from others. Love must want the good of the other independently of
what he does for me. Because this is how God’s love is for us. He is merciful
not only toward those who are good, but with all, even with the “ungrateful and
the evil” Lk 6, 35). The disciples of Jesus should radiate this merciful love.
•
Luke 6, 37-38: Do not judge and you will not be judged. These last words
repeat in a clearer way what Jesus had said before: “Treat others as you would
like them to treat you” (Lk 6, 31; cf. Mt 7, 12). If you do not want to be
judged, do not judge! If you do not want to be condemned, do not condemn” If
you want to be forgiven, forgive! If you want to receive a good measure, give
this good measure to others! Do not wait for the other one to take the
initiative, but you take it and begin now! And you will see that it is like
this!.
4) Personal questions
•
Lent is a time of conversion. Which is the conversion which today’s Gospel is
asking of me?
•
Have you already been merciful as the Heavenly Father is?
5) Concluding Prayer
Help us, God our Saviour,
for the glory of your name;
Yahweh, wipe away our sins,
rescue us for the sake of your
name. (Ps 79,9)
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