Reading 1Dt 26:16-19Moses 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.Today you are making this agreement with the LORD:he is to be your God and you are to walk in his waysand 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 gloryabove all other nations he has made,and you will be a people sacred to the LORD, your God,as he promised.”
Responsorial PsalmPs 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8R.
(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 preceptsbe diligently kept.Oh, that I might be firm in the waysof 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!
GospelMt 5:43-48Jesus said to his disciples:“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,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.”
For many of us Lent is a time to carry out discipline….to give up or do without. It can also be a time to look inward, to examine our being and renew our spirit. In today’s Lenten readings we are reminded of the importance of living our lives according to God’s laws. One such directive is found in the reading from Matthew 5 where we are asked to love our neighbors as well as our enemies.
This reading has caused me to reflect on the meaning of love. The Greeks used several words for it. Agape means active, caring love; it represents divine, unconditional, thoughtful love. Agape is often used in relation to family, love of a spouse or brotherly love. Philia, another word for love, relates to affection, friendship, brotherhood or concern for others. A third word, eros generally refers to affection of a sexual nature. These translations help to explain a broader meaning of the word.
Reflecting on the meaning of love I asked myself several questions related to what God calls me to do. Is Matthew 5 referring to the love of family, friends, or neighbors? Can love be found in the ways I relate to my colleagues on a daily basis? Does it mean I need to be concerned for and protect the environment? Is love found in my support for those less fortunate than I? Is it my concern for those who have been displaced through ethnic cleansing? What does love my neighbor as well as my enemy mean for the fighting in the Middle East or for the war in Iraq?
It is easy for me to love those for whom I care. I have a two-month old grandson and my heart overflows with love when I cradle him in my arms. But God’s creations are everywhere. His children are in our daily lives, on the streets in our nation and around the world. This Lenten season may we each look inward to find new ways to affirm and express our love, both agape and philia, so that we can more fully live according to His laws.
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