WEDNESDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF LENT

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9

Matthew 5:17-19

The Lord, The Law and The Life

Dear brothers and sisters in christ jesus, the readings of the day focus on the “Law”.

In the first reading:

The people of Israel were on the verge of entering into the Promised Land. so moses as a final act of reminding the message of God, he brings to their attention to the Lord, the Law and the Life. there is no greater God than Him, for He created them, liberated and accompanied throughout their desert journey always protecting through his presence. God was always with them, through the Ark, through tabernacle, through the pillar of Cloud and Fire and also through Moses.

Generally speaking, if a society is to be considered to be great and best is usually measured by their Laws, administration and observance of those Laws. The Laws God commanded to Israel are a way of life, which enables them to be closer to God as well as enriches their life.

Two objectives of the Laws.

1. Therefore he strongly instructs them to be a living witness to the way of life inscribed by the laws, that is to heed to them and apply to their lives then only it will be recognised law is fulfilled.
2. And they ought to pass onto the next generation, instil the way of life to their children that they have fostered through the laws. The reason being, people usually are surrounded by many different people and laws and customs. Therefore if they do not keep up nor transmit to the next generation there is a danger of forgetting the beauty of their way of life, eventually it may perish.

Gospel

Jesus Christ was the best expression of the Law, the closeness and the blessing of God. During Jesus' time, the law was seen only as an external observance and Pharisees and scribes were deemed as best exemplary in this regard. The original intention envisioned by God in regard to the Laws was in some way distorted over the years. Therefore Jesus makes it his mission to point out the obvious and steer them back to the original intention.

Everyone thought looking at how Jesus acts towards the laws, has come to abolish the law. However he makes it perfectly clear that He has not come to abolish, abrogate but to complete it, bring forth the deeper meaning assigned to the laws.

Laws include a deep sense of Love, Justice, compassion and unity. It must transcend mere external show to involve the heart and mind. Thus the purpose of the Law is to Live, let live and grow. In other words, it is the love of God and love of neighbours. The Laws of God embody moral, religious and civil force for a better way of life and identity.

Observe them carefully, for this is your wisdom and discernment in the sight of the peoples, who will hear of all these statutes and say, “This great nation is truly a wise and discerning people.” (Deuteronomy 4:6)

then the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. (Romans 7:12)

FR. JAYARAJU MANTHENA OCD

 

Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent

Daniel 3:25, 34-43

Matthew 18:21-35

Forgiveness leads to Freedom

Dear brothers and sisters in christ jesus, the readings of the day focus on Prayer for Protection and Forgiveness.

1st reading:

The Context : Nebuchadenezzar, the king of Babylon, sets up a huge statue (Probably His or His Gods) in the centre of Babylon and orders everyone to bow down and worship and whosoever refuses to heed the command are punishable by death and will be thrown into the high voltage furnace blazing high.

But the Hebrews officials, especially  Shadrach, Meshach and Azariah refused to bow down and worship, then they were summoned before the king to give their account. The king was enraged with anger and ordered  them to be thrown into the furnace. Here in this context Azariah makes a wonderful prayer for God’s Mercy and Protection.

At the moment of their agony, they were content with one thing that they have been faithful to God and His call and never turned away from Him. Azariah prayed to God praising and thanking for all the blessings. He prayed for God’s will and pleaded for forgiveness for the times they were not able to worship as they were abandoned in Babylon without any leader. He prayed to receive them with their contrite heart and humble spirit. And thus placed their situation at the feet of the Lord’s mercy and protection. 

God heard their prayers and saved them, everyone along with Nebuchadenezzar witnessed the Presence of Living God.

 

Everytime we recite Our Father, (the Lord’s Prayer) we pray for forgiveness “forgive us as we forgive those who sin against us.” it’s a courageous prayer, to be honest it’s not easy to forgive. It's a hard task indeed. Because the pain, the grief that arises from the offences,hurts and opinions of the others makes it even impossible to face.

Today in the Gospel, St. Peter asks how many times should I forgive my brother?, well he thought he was very generous with 7 times but Jesus multiplied it and places no limit to it. There is no quantity and there is no fixed quota, that we should forgive only these many times. But everytime one genuinely repents and returns, he has to accept, forgive and renew the relationship. God acts in the same way. 

An Example:

The act of forgiving: we are in controle. when we forgive we relieve another person’s debt and we are on the other hand released from the pain and can move. Therefore it’s a kind of freedom we experience at the moment.

The act of asking for forgiveness: we are at the mercy of Giver.

In the parable when the servant appears to be sincere and pleads for mercy and time,  the king was so generous that he forgave the total debt. He was freed.  But the same servant could not forgive his fellow servant who vowed only a little amount compared to him. Instead he seized, choked and demanded to be paid immediately. Unfortunately he was not sincere in his repentance, thus he lost the mercy of the King too. here:

The king represents God, He has forgiven completely and in return we are encouraged to forgive others. There is no “ifs and Buts” and there is no limit to forgiving. But if we try to hold it ourselves there is a risk of losing God’s mercy in our lives.

★      Forgiveness leads to freedom

★      Forgiveness renews relationships

★      Forgiveness consists of a “Give and Take” system.

★      Forgiveness is not turning blind eye to the wrong but restoring the broken one.

★      Forgiveness is to form an alliance with God

“with contrite heart and humble spirit let us be received” (Daniel 3:39)

“forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12)

 

 FR. JAYARAJU MANTHENA OCD