Saturday of the First Week in Lent

Saints Perpetua and Felicity, Martyrs

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

Readings and Commentary for Saturday of the First Week in Lent:[3]

Reading 1: Deuteronomy 26:16-19

"This day the LORD, your God,
commands you to observe these statutes and decrees.
Be careful, then,
to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.
Today you are making this agreement with the LORD:
he is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways
and observe his statutes, commandments and decrees,
and to hearken to his voice.
And today the LORD is making this agreement with you:
you are to be a people peculiarly his own, as he promised you;
and provided you keep all his commandments,
he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory
above all other nations he has made,
and you will be a people sacred to the LORD, your God,
as he promised."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Dt 26:16-19

This reading from Deuteronomy is the final agreement in Moses’ Covenant. In it the Israelites are told by Moses that for their part they must always follow God’s commandments and statutes. For his part, the Lord has made them his special possession, favored above the other nations he has made.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Responsorial Psalm:[4] Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8

R. (1b) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Blessed are they whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
You have commanded that your precepts
be diligently kept.
Oh, that I might be firm in the ways
of keeping your statutes!
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
I will give you thanks with an upright heart,
when I have learned your just ordinances.
I will keep your statutes;
do not utterly forsake me.
R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Ps 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8

An acrostic poem; each of the eight verses of the first strophe (aleph) begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet; each verse of the second strophe (beth) begins with the second letter; and so on for all 22 letters of the alphabet.

The entire work is in praise of the Law, and the joys to be found in keeping it. It is not "legalism" but a love and desire for the word of God in Israel's Law, which is the expression of the Lord's revelation of himself and his will for man.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gospel: Matthew 5:43-48

"You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I (Jesus) say to you (disciples), love your enemies,
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers and sisters only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commentary on Mt 5:43-48

This passage is the second of six examples in St. Matthew’s Gospel of conduct demanded of the Christian disciple. Jesus takes the commandment to “love thy neighbor: and gives it a deeper meaning. He goes further and strengthens this commandment including ones enemies in that list of those to be prayed for and loved.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reflection:

Why in the world would Jesus ask us to pray for our enemies? Why would he tell us to pray for those who persecute us? He says in the Gospel it’s because God created them too – “…for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good”. But still, couldn’t he just have asked us not to take vengeance on them; to leave them alone or simply avoid them?

If we are totally honest with ourselves, in most cases don’t we do exactly that; avoid them or leave them alone? How often can we honestly say that immediately following an altercation with a person we have prayed for that person, that God might give them every good thing and bless them? There are undoubtedly saints out there who do this, they have developed what is called the “Jesus Reflex”; that is they unthinkingly react as Jesus would have under similar circumstances. Most of us would not claim to be at that level of spiritual growth.

The point Jesus makes with his disciples when he tells them to pray for their enemies and those who persecute them is qualified with a result. Jesus says “…that you may be children of your heavenly Father.” (in the Jerusalem Bible it reads “…in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven.”) In other words, Jesus tells us that our adoption as children of God in baptism places this new response to the world we live in.

We can no longer accept our behavior as “good” if we simply avoid those who hate and persecute us (although the Lord does not tell us we have to enjoy it or hang out with these people). We must care for them as if they were our biological brothers and sisters. Those of us who have siblings know that there have been frequent times growing up when we have had disagreements. We have had fights and quarrels but even in the worst of those times, there was an underlying familial love. It is this same sense of love the Lord calls us to have for others, including those who hate and persecute us.

As a unifying force, love is unmatched. And Jesus demands that action from us with the force of the commandments. Just as Moses demanded the Hebrew people adhere to the Covenant of the Law, Jesus demands that his disciples follow this new interpretation of the law fundamentally changing it to include those outside our immediate family and friends. We are all God’s children.

Once more the Lord calls us to go beyond our human nature and live up to our adopted status as God’s children. As hard as it is, this law of love is the one we pledged to follow. May God give us the strength and compassion to follow it as we walk the pilgrim way of Lent.

Pax

[1] ALTRE
[2] The picture used is “Moses with the Tables of the Law” by Guido Reni, 1624
[3] Text of Readings is taken from the New American Bible, Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
[4] Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.