1st WEEK OF LENT
Psalter: Week 1 / (Violet)
Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 15
Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
1st Reading: Lev 19:1-2, 11-18
Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, “Speak to the entire assembly of the people of Israel and say to them: Be holy for I, Yahweh, your God, am holy.
Do not steal or lie or deceive one another. Do not swear falsely by my name so as to profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh.
Do not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning. 14 You shall not curse a deaf man nor put a stumbling block in the way of the blind; but you shall fear your God; I am Yahweh.
Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor nor bow to the great; you are to judge your neighbor fairly so as not to share in his guilt. Do not go about as a slanderer of your people and do not seek the death of your neighbor; I am Yahweh.
Do not hate your brother in your heart; rebuke your neighbor frankly so as not to share in his guilt. Do not seek revenge or nurture a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am Yahweh.
Gospel: Mt 25:31-46
Jesus said to his disciples, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory with all his angels, he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be brought before him; and, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, so will he do with them, placing the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left.
“The king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, blessed of my Father! Take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me into your home. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to see me.’
“Then the righteous will ask him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and give you food; thirsty, and give you something to drink; or a stranger, and welcome you; or naked, and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison, and go to see you?’ The king will answer, ‘Truly I say to you: just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it to me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Go, cursed people, out of my sight, into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels! For I was hungry, and you did not give me anything to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not welcome me into your house; I was naked, and you did not clothe me; I was sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me.’
“They, too, will ask, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, thirsty, naked or a stranger, sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ The king will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you: just as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.’
“And these will go into eternal punishment; but the just, to eternal life.“
REFLECTION:
The Tree of Holiness
In todays’ reading we hear Yahweh reveal to Moses the fundamental Law: “Be holy, for I, Yahweh, your God am holy.“ What is holiness? How does one become holy?
Holiness is following the way of Christ. And the way of Christ is the way of the Cross! Under the sign of the Cross we pray, bless, and are sanctified. It is in the sign of the Cross that we become holy. The Cross has two dimensions, namely, the vertical and the horizontal. The vertical dimension tells us to raise our eyes to God in heaven in prayer. The horizontal dimension tells us to reach out to our brothers and sisters in charity, in the corporal works of mercy. This reminds me of two beautiful literary pieces.
In “The Trees“ Joyce Kilmer wrote:
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
Holiness is stretching our arms in prayer.
The other literary piece is “The Giving Tree“ by Shel Silverstein. It is the story of an apple tree that gives itself to a man from boyhood to adulthood. The “giving tree“ gave its entire life to the boy. Holiness is giving until it hurts, giving until nothing remains!
Yes, holiness is about the Cross! Holiness is becoming like Jesus who prayed with outstretched arms and giving all! Holiness comes in the form of The Tree of Life, the Cross!
Daily Reflection
Daily Gospel ® is a product Claretian Publications, a division of Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc. (CCFI) which is a pastoral endeavor of the Claretian Missionaries in the Philippines that brings the Word of God to people from all walks of life. CCFI aims to promote integral evangelization and renewed spirituality that is geared towards empowerment and total liberation in response to the needs and challenges of the Church today.
CCFI is a member of Claret Publishing Group, a consortium of the publishing houses of the Claretian Missionaries all over the world: Bangalore, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Chennai, Colombo, Dar es Salaam, Lagos, Madrid, Macao, Manila, Owerry, São Paolo, Varsaw , Yaoundé.
Biblical Texts are taken from Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition (57th Edition) The New English Translation for the ROMAN MISSAL
With permission from the EPISCOPAL COMMISION ON LITURGY of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
Readings and Reflections
Copyright © 2O16
Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc.
U.P. P.O. Box 4, Diliman,
1101 Quezon City, Philippines
Tel.: (63-2) 921-3984
Fax: (6352) 921-7429
Email: ccfi@claretianpublicationscom
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Web: www.claretianph.com
