Tag: kingdom of heaven

Friday of the Third Week of Lent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus replied, “The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”

In today’s Gospel, a scribe asks Jesus which is the first or greatest of the commandments. First among them, part of Mosaic law embodied in the Shema, or the Jewish profession of faith, is to love God above all else. The Shema was a daily prayer for ancient Israelites, still recited today by Jewish people. And then Jesus says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no separating these two great commandments to love. As in the Lord’s Prayer, to forgive is to know God’s forgiveness; to love others is to experience the love of God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Those others God puts before us daily—whether strangers, friends, or family—are a humbling reminder of how demanding it is to put God first and love others.

God, help me understand that in forgiving others, I commend them to you and learn to love them. Without your grace, Lord, it is a weak and faltering love, tending toward collapse. With the first reading from Hosea, I see you present your mercy as a model: “I will heal their defection, says the LORD, I will love them freely; for my wrath is turned away from them.” How do I dare to say that I will love you with everything I have? Give me the grace, Lord, to obey your two great commandments.

From the Prayer after Communion: “May your strength be at work in us, O Lord, pervading our minds and bodies, that what we have received by participating in this Sacrament may bring us the fullness of redemption. Through Christ our Lord.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

Thursday of the Third Week of Lent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke

Jesus said to the crowds: “But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

In today’s Gospel, as Jesus drives out a demon from a mute man, some of the people in the crowds say of him: “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.” Others in the crowd ask Jesus for a sign. He knows their thoughts and says to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?” Similarly, in the first reading the LORD speaks to the Israelites through the prophet Jeremiah: “From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day, I have sent you untiringly all my servants the prophets. Yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed.” The strong man Jesus refers to is Satan in all his forms—sin that takes possession of the person. Jesus is the stronger one, who attacks and overcomes Satan. His invitation to gather with him is a call to let go of what possesses us and follow him in obedience.

God, help me understand what takes place in my soul when you overthrow sin and I am able to return to you. From the Gospel acclamation: “Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, for I am gracious and merciful.” When I confess my sins in the sacrament of reconciliation and receive absolution, you take away the armor on which I relied and restore my wholehearted devotion to you; you remove the old armor and put on me the armor of light; you take away my stony heart and give me a natural heart; you distribute the spoils—every good gift you have given me—that I can be a light to others. Just as you sent prophets to the Israelites, you send me your Son so that I can hear your voice and receive your mercy.

Lord, remain with me today. Let me call to mind throughout the day what you announced through Jeremiah: “Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Walk in all the ways that I command you, so that you may prosper.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.”

These words of Jesus refer to the law that the LORD commanded Moses to teach to the people of Israel. In the first reading, Moses said to the people: “Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.” Jesus came not to take the law away that the LORD had given Israel but to fulfill it. Just as the LORD told Moses to obey so that the Israelites may live, Jesus also came to give life—abundant life—so that we may enter the Kingdom of heaven. From the Gospel acclamation, we pray: “Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life.” In the natural order, life diminishes; each day is one less day on earth. But so that we may have life, as Jesus says in the Gospel according to John: “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

Thank you, God, for the gift of your only Son. In his fulfillment, there is nothing in the law or the prophets to be forgotten or discarded. As Moses said to the Israelites, I can say of the fullness of my faith: “However, take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.” Give me the grace, Lord, to be obedient to the teachings of Christ and his bride, the Church.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

Friday of the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time

At midnight, there was a cry, “Behold, the bridegroom!  Come out to meet him!” Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.”

The bridegroom comes late. At midnight, at the hour least expected, there was a cry to come out to meet him. While driving a few days ago, I saw a bumper sticker that said, “Look busy. Jesus is coming.” If I knew when Jesus was coming, I’m sure I’d go all in at looking busy. The five foolish virgins are unprepared for the bridegroom’s arrival; the wise ones are ready. Again, like yesterday’s parable of the faithful and wicked servants, Jesus presents polar opposites: the wise and the foolish; the ones prepared for his coming and the ones unprepared. The bridegroom is long delayed, Jesus says, “for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Jesus, help me understand that I have the choice of being unprepared, looking busy but finding that the door has already been shut, or of being ready at an unexpected hour. Memento mori. Help me see every day what I need to take with me as I wait for your coming: a little flask of oil to light the lamp, the light of faith, keeping enough for myself to let the light burn. Either I am ready or I am not; either I go out to meet you, the light of lights, or I plunge into the dark to make up for lost time. Either/or: Is there no in between?

I know you want me to love you, God, with all my heart and soul and mind. Throughout the day, I think of you little, if at all. Like a child in a playground, I am unaware of time passing as I find new challenges and problems to solve. Give me the grace today, Lord, to keep the lamp burning within me, carrying within me all that I need to come out to meet you, early or late or sometime in between.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Readings

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