GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY (based on Catholic Liturgical Readings)
DATE: 11TH MARCH 2017
SATURDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT
FIRST READING: Deuteronomy 26:16-19
PSALM: Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8
GOSPEL: Matthew 5:43-48
THEME: LOVE YOUR ENEMIES
A student-friend of yours is in need of a loan. You stand in as a guarantor. After securing the loan, the friend absconds and leaves you in the hands of law enforcers to take responsibility of the unpaid loan. How would you feel? What would you do?
You are not feeling well at your workplace, so you get permission to go home and take some rest. You enter your bedroom only to find a close friend in bed with your married partner. How would you feel? What would you do?
You discover that a colleague of yours at your workplace has been going around peddling lies about you in the hope that he would taint your hard-earned reputation. How would you feel? What would you do?
In today’s Gospel text, Jesus invites us to love our enemies. He tells us, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy’, but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Mat 5:43-44).
An enemy is anyone who is antagonistic to your total wellbeing. An enemy is someone who hates to see you progress in life and opposes every good thing that comes your way or any good thing that you do. We meet enemies in various contexts of our earthly life and their activities can sometimes hurt badly.
During this season of Lent, let us choose to make room in our hearts to forgive all those who have made it their life’s project to destroy us. To love an enemy is not a sign of weakness; it is a mark of deep inner strength.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, today I choose to forgive everyone who has said derogatory things about me or done things to hurt me; I pray for all those who have purposed in their hearts to destroy me. I ask you to bless them and grant them all the graces they need. May they find happiness and peace in their lives; for the sake of your name I pray. Amen
Andrews Obeng, svd
DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
BIBLICAL PASTORAL MINISTRY
(Ghana Province)
“May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace. And may the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all people” (St. Arnold Janssen).