February
20, 2016
Saturday
of the First Week of Lent
Reading 1
16Moses
spoke to the people, saying: “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.
17Today
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.
18And
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, 19He
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.”
Responsorial Psalm
1Blessed
are they whose way is blameless, who
walk in the law of the LORD.
2Blessed
are they who observe His decrees, who
seek Him with all their heart.
R.
Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
4You
have commanded that your precepts be
diligently kept. 5Oh,
that I might be firm in the ways of
keeping Your statutes!
R.
Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
7I
will give You thanks with an upright heart, when
I have learned Your just ordinances. 8I
will keep Your statutes; do
not utterly forsake me.
R.
Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Verse
Before The Gospel 2 Corinthians 6;2b
Behold,
now is a very acceptable time;
behold,
now is the day of salvation.
Gospel
43Jesus
said to His disciples: “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your
neighbor and hate your enemy.[1]
44But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, 45that
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.
46For
if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax
collectors 28do the same?[2]
47And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the
pagans do the same?[3] 48So be perfect,
just as your heavenly Father is perfect.[4]
Notes on Readings:
[1] Matthew 5:43-48 - See Leviticus 19:18. There is no Old Testament commandment demanding hatred
of one's enemy, but the "neighbor" of the love commandment was
understood as one's fellow countryman. Both in the Old Testament (Psalm 139:19-22) and at Qumran (1QS 9:21) hatred of evil persons is
assumed to be right. Jesus extends the love commandment to the enemy and the
persecutor. His disciples, as children of God, must imitate the example of
their Father, who grants His gifts of sun and rain to both the good and the
bad.
[2] Matthew 5:46 - Tax collectors: Jews
who were engaged in the collection of indirect taxes such as tolls and customs.
See the footnote on Mark 2:14.
[3] Matthew
5:47 - Jesus' disciples must not be content with merely usual standards of
conduct; see Matthew 5:20 where the verb
"surpass" (Greek perisseuo) is cognate with the unusual (perisson) of
this verse.
[4] Matthew 5:48 - Perfect: in the
gospels this word occurs only in Matthew, here and in Matthew 19:21 . The Lucan
parallel (Matthew 6:36) demands that the disciples be merciful.
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Dear Humanity,
I personally encourage everyone to emulate JESUS' values on LOVE, FAITH, HOPE
and CHARITY, as the humanity has been a failure; which resulted to the more than two (2) years of pandemic and its after-effects on economy, not only here in the Philippines but worldwide.
And the saddest part of it, is that, it affected the POOREST of the POOR to even extremely be more poorer, in exchange of the affluent to be more richer.
Thank you and may GOD bless you and the whole family to have an enjoyed life's journey at home, Church, schools/universities, corporate commitments, public and places of interest.