Tag: commandment

Saturday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 23:1-12)

Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. All their works are performed to be seen.”

Jesus, who came to fulfill and not to abolish the law and the prophets, says of the scribes and Pharisees: “Do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you.” But as for the burdens they place on others and their self-righteousness, Jesus also says: “Do not follow their example.” At the end of today’s Gospel, Jesus’ message to the crowds and to the disciples is unequivocal: “The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

God, keep me from the temptation to seek honor and titles that draw attention to myself. Help me refuse to be led by pride, which tempts me to put myself first above others. Jesus calls his disciples to embrace humility and recognize their dependence on you and their need for your grace. Help me do the same, examining my attitudes and motives, and able to prioritize serving and uplifting others rather than seeking personal gain or recognition.

From the responsorial psalm: “Blessed are you who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways! For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork; blessed shall you be, and favored.” Make known to me your ways, LORD; teach me your paths!

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.

Friday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 22:34-40)

A scholar of the law, tested Jesus by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Following his encounter with Sadducees concerning the resurrection of the dead, Jesus is approached by the Pharisees. In his response to one of the Pharisees, Jesus lays out his entire moral groundwork, building on teachings from the Old Testament and offering guiding principles for his Church on earth. “The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments,” Jesus tells the scholar of the law. Where does a genuine relationship with God lead? The first commandment frees us from strict, legalistic observance to do the second. Jesus challenges us to cultivate a deep love for God and in turn to express that love through acts of compassion, mercy, and justice toward others.

God, help me today to dwell on what it means to love others as I love myself. I know very well how to take care of myself with all the perks and self-pampering. And if I am attentive, I know that means putting myself and my needs behind the needs of others. Help me, Lord, increase my love for you and in that show greater compassion, mercy, and love to others. Give me the grace to free myself from anything that keeps me from loving you with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my mind.

From the responsorial psalm: “The LORD keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets captives free.”

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.

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

Jesus said to his disciples: “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.”

In speaking to the disciples in this way, Jesus prepares them for persecution, as he was persecuted. “If they persecuted me,” he tells them, “they will also persecute you.” But he also recognizes that there will be those who will follow him and the teachings of the Church: “If they kept my word,” Jesus says, “they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me.” Through the sacraments of the Church and my faith in its teachings, Jesus has chosen me out of the world. If the world hates me, it hates me on account of the name of Jesus. Is that a reality I am prepared to accept?

God, work with me so that I understand today’s Gospel reading. What does it mean to be hated by the world on account of the name of Jesus your Son? It means to be chosen out of this world, as the disciples were, to keep his word. In keeping his word and proclaiming my faith in the name of Christ, persecution may come. But if Jesus sends out those who keep his word, he also gives them the means to withstand hatred and accomplish your work. In yesterday’s reading, Jesus tells the disciples that they are his friends. if they do what he commands. “This I command you,” he says to them, “love one another.” Help me, God, be a witness to the love between you and your Son.

Lord, in the hours left of this day, give me the grace to remember that even as I face the passing tribulations of this world, you have chosen me out of it to one day enjoy your love forever in the world to come.

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.

Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

Jesus said to the disciples: “I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another.”

Jesus tells the disciples in today’s Gospel that he calls them friends. In doing that, at the same time he expresses his oneness with the Father in doing his will: “because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.” As the Son of God, Jesus takes initiative of loving others to extremes, even to the point of laying down his life for them. As the beloved Son, Jesus tells the disciples, “It was not you who chose me, but I chose you.” To receive that love, Jesus appoints the disciples to go and bear fruit that remains. Rather than leave them wondering how they are to do this with their human limitations, Jesus commands them to love one another. In return, whatever they ask of the Father in Jesus’ name, he will give them.

God, help me understand the words Jesus spoke to his disciples: “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” Such a command might seem contradictory to free will, yet to live in the love of God and to do his will is to live in truth. And what is the command that Jesus gives? It is the same by which he lived, died, and rose from the dead: loving your own to reconcile them to you. Help me, God, know and do your will as your Son does, in perfect obedience to his friendship and to his command to love one another.

Lord, thank you for the gift of your friendship. Grant me the grace to remain in you today by doing your will and asking you for what I need.

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.