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| “Christ on the Cross” by El Greco, 1585-90 |
(Optional Memorial of Saint Patrick,
Bishop)
Reading I: Daniel
9:4b-10
“Lord, great and awesome God,
you who keep your merciful
covenant toward those who love you
and observe your
commandments!
We have sinned, been wicked
and done evil;
we have rebelled and departed
from your commandments and your laws.
We have not obeyed your
servants the prophets,
who spoke in your name to our
kings, our princes,
our fathers, and all the
people of the land.
Justice, O Lord, is on your
side;
we are shamefaced even to
this day:
we, the men of Judah, the
residents of Jerusalem
and all Israel
in all the countries to which
you have scattered them
because of their treachery
toward you.
O LORD, we are shamefaced,
like our kings, our princes, and our fathers,
for having sinned against
you.
But yours, O Lord, our God,
are compassion and forgiveness!
Yet we rebelled against you
and paid no heed to your
command, O LORD, our God,
to live by the law you gave
us through your servants the prophets.”
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Commentary on Dn
9:4b-10
We find in this reading
from Daniel a prayer of repentance. This
is not an individual prayer, but a prayer of the whole people. In addition to enumerating the failings of
the people it also asks for compassion and forgiveness. We note that, following this request, the commandments
of the Lord are summed up with; “…to live by the law you
gave us through your servants the prophets." The Law and the Prophets are fulfilled in Christ.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm
79:8, 9, 11 and 13
R. (see
103:10a) Lord, do not deal with us
according to our sins.
Remember not against us the
iniquities of the past;
may your compassion quickly
come to us,
for we are brought very low.
R. Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.
Help us, O God our savior,
because of the glory of your
name;
Deliver us and pardon our
sins
for your name’s sake.
R. Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.
Let the prisoners’ sighing
come before you;
with your great power free
those doomed to death.
Then we, your people and the
sheep of your pasture,
will give thanks to you
forever;
through all generations we
will declare your praise.
R. Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.
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Commentary on Ps
79:8, 9, 11 and 13
Psalm 79 is a
lament over the destruction of the Temple
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Gospel: Luke
6:36-38
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Be merciful, just as your
Father is merciful.
“Stop judging and you will
not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will
not be condemned.
Forgive and you will be
forgiven.
Give and gifts will be given
to you;
a good measure, packed
together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which
you measure
will in return be measured
out to you.”
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Commentary on Lk
6:36-38
Jesus takes a
quote from the Old Testament and twists it just slightly (In the OT the phrase
frequently used is “Be holy, for
I, the Lord your God, am holy” (e.g. Leviticus 19:2) He goes further to tell the people that they need to stop
judging or condemning but to forgive. He
concludes by saying that: “For the
measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.” In other words, the standard against
which they judge others is the standard by which the disciples will be judged
by the Heavenly Father.
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Reflection:
How
many times have parents or teachers heard from two or more children the words;
“That’s not fair. His piece was
bigger.” We quickly learn that the
easiest way to solve the problem is to have one child cut or separate whatever
it is to be shared and the other child get to choose first which they
want. This ends arguments about fairness
right from the start.
What
we have in the Gospel proclaimed today is the Lord’s way of saying the same
thing about forgiveness and judgment. It
is one of the more important principles the Lord gave us. It certainly goes to the heart of Christian
Justice (the equitable distribution of physical wealth).
If
we look at the Lord’s example we see how judgment must be applied. It is summed up in the rather cliché
statement “Hate the sin, love the sinner.”
Applied in the Gospel, Jesus is telling his apostles not to judge
people, but rather love and accept them; all participate in the fall of
Adam. Does he mean that we are to accept
injustice as a part of being non-judgmental? Not at all, we have seen the Lord
condemn unjust acts even to driving out the moneychangers.
In
the past year, our Pope Francis famously said of homosexuals “Who am I to
Judge?” His statement, completely in
accord with the Gospel was, as usual interpreted by the press as giving tacit approval
to the homosexual life style. As was
seen on many occasions since, that is far from the truth. We are all, as disciples asked to differ to
God for judgment; who are we to judge?
For our part, like our Pope, we proclaim the love of God to all his
creatures but we do not condone sins against the dignity of persons nor do we
abdicate our belief in natural law.
In
our own lives this teaching has a couple of impacts. First, since this is Lent and we are focused
on Prayer, Fasting and Alms Giving, this speaks clearly to the Alms Giving
part. Jesus tells us; “Give and gifts will be given to
you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be
poured into your lap.” This hits us pretty hard
since most of us have a fairly tight budget.
But it is true, the more one gives, the more they seem to receive. The
same is true of forgiveness – the more we forgive, the more we will be forgiven.
This
Gospel also lets us set the standard by which we will be judged to some
degree. Sure there are some absolutes in
God’s law but much or our moral theology is composed of shades of gray. Jesus tells us that the depth of those shades
of gray in which we paint others will be applied to us. That takes us back to the sharing story
above.
Pax
[1]
ALTRE
[2]
The picture is “Christ on the Cross” by El Greco, 1585-90
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and
is for private use only.
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