Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Thursday of the First Week in Lent


Thursday of the First Week in Lent

Readings for Thursday of the First Week in Lent[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible

Readings and Commentary:
[3]

Reading I:
Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25

Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish,
had recourse to the LORD.
She lay prostrate upon the ground, together with her handmaids,
from morning until evening, and said:
“God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, blessed are you.
Help me, who am alone and have no help but you,
for I am taking my life in my hand.
As a child I used to hear from the books of my forefathers
that you, O LORD, always free those who are pleasing to you.
Now help me, who am alone and have no one but you,
O LORD, my God.
“And now, come to help me, an orphan.
Put in my mouth persuasive words in the presence of the lion
and turn his heart to hatred for our enemy,
so that he and those who are in league with him may perish.
Save us from the hand of our enemies;
turn our mourning into gladness
and our sorrows into wholeness.”
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Commentary on
Est C:12, 14-16, 23-25

In this rare reading from the Book of Esther, we find the queen in great distress praying for the deliverance of the people of Israel. They are to be put to death by an evil Persian King (Haman). She places all of her trust in God’s mercy, confident that He will intercede.

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Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8

R. (3a) Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.

I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.

Because of your kindness and your truth;
for you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.

Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
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Commentary on
Ps 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8

Psalm 138 is a psalm of thanksgiving. Placed here it almost feels like a continuation of the prayer of Esther. It praises God for his saving works and expresses confidence in His saving help.

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Gospel:
Matthew 7:7-12

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which one of you would hand his son a stone
when he asked for a loaf of bread,
or a snake when he asked for a fish?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your heavenly Father give good things
to those who ask him.
“Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the law and the prophets.”
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Commentary on
Mt 7:7-12

In this passage from the Gospel of St. Matthew Jesus explains that, if the faithful pray to the Father, what they ask for will be given (within the context of “good gifts”). This universal truth, he explains is because of God’s infinite love for us. In this case he uses the analogy of a father feeding his child and how even sinful parents give good things to their children.

Almost as an afterthought, the Lord then delivers what has been called since the 18th century, the “Golden Rule.” No old testament quote exactly correlates to this quote so we must accept it as an interpretation by the Lord, probably of the Law in Leviticus.

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Reflection:

We all know the Golden Rule. We have heard it since we were children. It is similar in intent to the more recent “What would Jesus Do?” We have all heard it; we all know it. Then why is it so difficult to do in practice?

The difficulty we have in treating others as we want to be treated comes from a couple of different sources within us. First we take a look at our own motives in life. We want to have the very best of everything. We want to have the best material things. We want to do the best at school, at work, and in our social settings. In other words, we want to be first and if we are first, others must be second. How can we treat others with deference when we wish to be deferred to by them? Sitting behind that motive is greed and gluttony.

Next we must look at our natural impulses. When a person treats us badly, even though Jesus says “turn the other cheek”, we do not enjoy being put in that situation. Do we treat others who treat us badly the way we want to be treated? It is unlikely – our natural impulse is to avoid them or worse reciprocate with the way we were treated – a kind of inverse application to the Golden Rule: Treat others as you have been treated by them. Behind these impulses we find wrath and pride.

This being the Lenten Season we need to hold ourselves up this mirror of faith and ask God, first of all for forgiveness. We then must ask him for the strength to do as His Son would do, to be so dominated by our love of others that greed, gluttony, wrath and pride find no place in us. That out of our love for others we find the grace and strength to receive hatred and bitterness with compassion, looking always for the good in others.

The Golden Rule is a difficult rule for us. We are challenged by the Lord to put on his mind to banish self-serving thoughts and actions, thinking always of God’s greater glory instead of our own. We pray for the strength and courage to make strides in that direction – it is that path that leads to the Father.

Pax


[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture is “Esther” by François-Léon Benouville, 1844
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.

3 comments:

js said...

Dear Dean,
Kindly adjust your calendar.
There seems to be an error. I went back a few days and they do not correspond too.
Thank you

Deacon Jim said...

Because I post the readings in time for my brothers and Sisters in Australia, the date automatically insterted corresponds to the day I post not the date for the readings. I have not been able to figure out how to change it. If you can help, I'd love to be able to make them line up.

Pax,

Dcn. Jim

js said...

Oh I see. I thought is was an oversight.
Sorry I do not know how to fix it.
Have a good day.