Friday Third Week of Lent

Daily Readings for Lent
Today's readings: April 1, 2011
First Reading: Hos 14:2-10 ;
Responsorial Psalm:  Ps 81:6c-8a, 8bc-9, 10-11ab, 14 and 17 ;
Gospel:  Mk 12:28-34 ;

And here's an audio file and a video of a priest offering reflections.

I am off on a short retreat this week. Please say lots of prayers for you and yours, and the world.

Thursday Third Week of Lent

Daily Readings for Lent
Today's readings: March 31, 2011
First Reading: Jer 7:23-28
Responsorial Psalm:  Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9 ;
Gospel:  Lk 11:14-23 ;

And here's an audio file and a video of a priest offering reflections.

I am off on a short retreat this week. Please say lots of prayers for you and yours, and the world.

Wednesday Third Week of Lent

Daily Readings for Lent
Today's readings: March 30, 2011
First Reading: Dt 4:1, 5-9
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20  ;
Gospel:  Mt 5:17-19 ;

And here's an audio file and a video of a priest offering reflections.

I am off on a short retreat this week. Please say lots of prayers for you and yours, and the world.

Tuesday Third Week of Lent

Daily Readings for Lent
Today's readings: March 29, 2011
First Reading: Dn 3: 25, 34-43
Responsorial Psalm:  Ps 25: 4, 5ab, 6-7bc, 3,4 ;
Gospel:  Mt 18:21-35 ;

And here's an audio file and a video of a priest offering reflections.

I am off on a short retreat this week. Please say lots of prayers for you and yours, and the world.

Monday Third Week of Lent

Daily Readings for Lent
Today's readings: March 28, 2011
First Reading: 2Kings 5:1-15ab
Responsorial Psalm:  Ps 42: 2, 3, 43: 3,4 ;
Gospel:  Lk 4: 24-30 ;

And here's an audio file and a video of a priest offering reflections.

I am off on a short retreat this week. Please say lots of prayers for you and yours, and the world.

Tuesday, Second Week of Lent

Daily Readings for Lent
Today's readings: March 22, 2011
First Reading: Is 1:10, 16-20
Responsorial Psalm:  Ps 50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23 ;
Gospel:  Mt 23:1-12 ;

And here's an audio file and a video of a priest offering reflections.

Jesus tells His followers that they need to listen to the scribes and pharisees because they do know and understand the law. But they are not to follow their example, since they all too often do not set a very good example. After all, in another passage - Jesus tells us to be perfect, like your Father in heaven is perfect. Of course there are many very good priests, who are wonderful men and good shepherds of their flock. But they are always less than perfect.

I have found it somewhat strange over the years, how so many people are looking for a good "vibe" in the church they wish to attend. Which in all too many cases means they seem to be searching for a preacher that agrees with their world view, so they can feel good about themselves. If you take the preacher's homily out of the equation and just listen to the words of the readings, psalms and the Gospel - they are not easy words to hear sometimes. They are challenging, they very often leave you feeling that you need a lot of work to do, and that what you are doing is not right, or perhaps in nee of much improvement.

And I found myself wondering to myself - how a man's words, albeit the Son of God's words, who came to us in human form - are still hard to hear sometimes over 2,000 years later. And at the same time the words are true and very comforting. I always pray that my ears might listen well, and that my mind and my heart might soak in the message, like rain in a garden. A human life is just a blink of an eye, and at the same time it is a long growing season, going through many cycles and changes.

Don't be afraid to listen and change. Don't be afraid to grow. Truth is, Jesus is offering you good advice to assist you in making your joy complete.

Thursday First Week of Lent

Daily Readings for Lent
Today's readings: March 17, 2011
First Reading: Est: 12, 14-16, 23-25
Responsorial Psalm: 138: 1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8
Gospel: Matthew 7:7-12 ;

And here's an audio file and a video of a priest offering reflections.

Happy St. Patrick's Day !!!!

I am just so grateful. I am grateful to be here. I am grateful to be alive.   ~Saint Patrick 

Today's readings offer assistance on prayer, a similar theme to what was offered on Tuesday, March 15th as we reflected on the Lord's Prayer. We are reminded that Lent is a time to grow closer in our relationship with God, and one of the best ways to do this is in prayer. 

We use prayer as a way to talk with God. For most, this might mean just us talking, and not spending anytime in prayer - listening. Mother Teresa once shared that it took her a long time to learn how to listen during her prayer time, even though she found the listening to be much more fruitful than part where she spoke. Give it a try today - and try and spend more time listening in prayer. It will take a lifetime, but you have to take a first step sometime. Take that step, and I suspect Jesus will walk a mile closer to you, and do great things to close the gap. 


Please pray for the people of Japan in the hour of trial.

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

Daily Readings for Lent
Today's readings: March 15, 2011
First Reading: Is 55:10-11
Responsorial Psalm: 34: 4-5, 6-7, 17-18, 18-19
Gospel: Matthew 6:7-15 ;

And here's an audio file and a video of a priest offering reflections.

The Lord's Prayer may be committed to memory quickly, but it is slowly learnt by heart.

~Frederick Denison Maurice

Today's Gospel reading from Matthew offers what has been called the greatest of all prayers. A perfect prayer, given to us by Jesus Christ to help us learn how to pray. The prayer is said daily by the millions I imagine, as has been for over 20 centuries. I thought I might include a reflection on the Lord's Prayer by Victor Hoagland, C.P.
based on the New Catholic Catechism 2759-2865

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The Lord's Prayer is a basic Christian prayer. As a model of prayer, every Christian learns it by heart. It appears everywhere in the church's life: in its liturgy and sacraments, in public and private prayer. It 's a prayer Christians treasure.
Though we memorize it as a set formula, the Lord's Prayer shouldn't be repeated mechanically or without thought. Its purpose is to awaken and stimulate our faith. Through this prayer Jesus invites us to approach God as Father. Indeed, the Lord's Prayer has been called a summary of the gospel.

Albrect Durer's Praying Hands

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.

When Moses approached God on Mount Sinai, he heard a voice saying, "Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." An infinite chasm separates us from the transcendent God.
In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus invites us to draw near to God who is beyond human understanding, who dwells in mystery, who is all holy. We can call God "our Father".
Calling God "Father" does not mean that God is masculine. God is beyond the categories of gender, of masculine or feminine. None of our descriptions of God is adequate. God, who is "in heaven", whose name is holy, cannot be fully known by us.
By calling God "Father" we are more rightly describing ourselves and our relationship with God. Jesus teaches that we have a filial relationship with God; God sees us as if we were a daughter or a son. And we, on our part, can approach God in the familiar confident way a child approaches a loving parent. What is more, we approach God through God's only Son, Jesus Christ, who unites us to himself .

Thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

God's kingdom. Jesus often said that God's power would appear and renew all creation. God like a mighty king would rule over the earth according to a plan that unfolds from the beginning of the world. God's kingdom would be marked by peace and justice. Good would be rewarded and evil punished. The kingdom, according to Jesus, is not far off, but already present in our midst, though not yet revealed.
In the Lord's prayer we pray that God's kingdom come, that God's will, which is for our good, be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

We are God's children. What can be more childlike than this petition in which we pray for our daily bread, a word that describes all those physical, human and spiritual gifts we need to live. With the confidence of children we say: "Give us this day what we need."

Forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.

This petition of the Lord's Prayer is a demanding one. Not only do we ask God's forgiveness for our daily offenses, but we link God's forgiveness of us with our forgiveness of others. Forgiving others is not always easy to do. We need God's help to do it. But it must be done or we ourselves cannot receive God's mercy.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Life is not easy. It is a daily battle. Trials like sickness and failure can crush our spirits. False values and easy promises can entice us and even destroy our souls. And so we ask God to keep us from failing when we are tested, to help us to know the right thing to do, to deliver us from the evil which awaits us in life.
The Lord's Prayer sums up the teaching of Jesus. It is also a prayer that offers the grace of Jesus: his reverence for God, his childlike confidence in his Father, and his power to go bravely through life no matter what comes. When we pray his prayer, his spirit becomes our own.

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As a final reflection on this perfect prayer - here's a video of the Lord's prayer, sung in ancient Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus. It is very powerful, don't be surprised if you get goosebumps. And don't say I did not warn you.

Ash Wednesday

Today's Readings for Ash Wednesday, March 9, 2011 (text) (audio) & reflections.

Basic Rules for Lent

Lent is a time for more prayer and almsgiving. Fasting and abstinence. Fasting obliges all Catholics, age 18 through 59, to refrain from eating between meals and to limit their eating to one full meal and two lighter meals a day. And abstinence, which obliges those 14 years of age and older not to eat meat. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday include both fasting and abstinence. And every Friday in Lent is a day without meat. (with Good Friday being both abstaining from meat and fasting).

Many people also give up things like chocolate, alcohol, watching a favorite TV show, or in other cases, Facebook. Some use the time as a way to make good on New Year's resolutions - like go to the gym 3 times a week. While these ideas are all good to increase one's discipline - the focus should really be, the things or habits or practices that keep you from loving God with all your heart, mind and soul. Spending more time to grow in your relationship with God is the sweet spot.

Put aside some time prayer and reflection. Read the Bible. Go to daily mass or confession when offered. Visit the sick in a hospital or a nursing home. It is somewhat ironic, because these acts will really bring you closer to God, and they are not a burden once you try and actually do these things. The irony? These little acts of kindness will make you feel better, and allow Jesus to accomplish what He wanted to for all of us. He wants to make our joy complete. Trust Him, He loves you.

Friday, Second Week of Lent

Daily Readings for Lent
Today's readings: March 5, 2010
First Reading: Gn 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a;
Responsorial Psalm: 105:16-17, 18-19, 20-21 ;
Gospel: Mt 21:33-43, 45-46 ;

And here's an audio file and a video of a priest offering reflections.

First Reading:  Gn 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a

Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons,
for he was the child of his old age;
and he had made him a long tunic.
When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his sons,
they hated him so much that they would not even greet him.
One day, when his brothers had gone
to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem,
Israel said to Joseph,
“Your brothers, you know, are tending our flocks at Shechem.
Get ready; I will send you to them.”
So Joseph went after his brothers and caught up with them in Dothan.
They noticed him from a distance,
and before he came up to them, they plotted to kill him.
They said to one another: “Here comes that master dreamer!
Come on, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here;
we could say that a wild beast devoured him.
We shall then see what comes of his dreams.”
When Reuben heard this,
he tried to save him from their hands, saying,
“We must not take his life.
Instead of shedding blood,” he continued,
“just throw him into that cistern there in the desert;
but do not kill him outright.”
His purpose was to rescue him from their hands
and return him to his father.
So when Joseph came up to them,
they stripped him of the long tunic he had on;
then they took him and threw him into the cistern,
which was empty and dry.
They then sat down to their meal.
Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead,
their camels laden with gum, balm and resin
to be taken down to Egypt.
Judah said to his brothers:
“What is to be gained by killing our brother and concealing his blood?
Rather, let us sell him to these Ishmaelites,
instead of doing away with him ourselves.
After all, he is our brother, our own flesh.”
His brothers agreed.
They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.

Responsorial Psalm  105:16-17, 18-19, 20-21
R.         Remember the marvels the Lord has done.
When the LORD called down a famine on the land
and ruined the crop that sustained them,
He sent a man before them,
Joseph, sold as a slave.
R.        Remember the marvels the Lord has done.
They had weighed him down with fetters,
and he was bound with chains,
Till his prediction came to pass
and the word of the LORD proved him true.
R.        Remember the marvels the Lord has done.
The king sent and released him,
the ruler of the peoples set him free.
He made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions.
R.        Remember the marvels the Lord has done.

Gospel   Mt 21:33-43, 45-46
Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people:
“Hear another parable.
There was a landowner who planted a vineyard,
put a hedge around it,
dug a wine press in it, and built a tower.
Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey.
When vintage time drew near,
he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.
But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat,
another they killed, and a third they stoned.
Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones,
but they treated them in the same way.
Finally, he sent his son to them,
thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’
But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another,
‘This is the heir.
Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.’
They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?”
They answered him,
He will put those wretched men to a wretched death
and lease his vineyard to other tenants
who will give him the produce at the proper times.”
Jesus said to them, Did you never read in the Scriptures:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?
Therefore, I say to you,
the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you
and given to a people that will produce its fruit.”
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables,
they knew that he was speaking about them.
And although they were attempting to arrest him,
they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet.

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Commentary: First off - please pray for Mary K and her mom, baby Bridget, Michelle, Claire, Jenifer, Bob, Louise, Florence, Charlotte, Pat, my family, my friends, for all the kids, and parents, ... everybody. oh yeah... please, for me too. Thanks.

I always loved the story about Joseph in the first reading. Poor guy - his jealous brothers are at first planning to just kill him outright. Then Reuben, with good intentions suggests they just throw him down a well. Joseph gets captured and sold as a slave, sent to Egypt and things look really really bleak. But that is not how the story ends for Joseph, who is indeed a good man. The story is just a few chapters long - in the end, he forgives his brothers, and thanks God from the deepest regions of his soul - because Joseph credits God with making all these things good. And indeed - the way it worked out, the whole family was saved from the famine. And yes, in case you wondered - this is how the Jewish people ended up in Egypt in the first place. There was a famine, and they went there to get food, from a wise man who was helping pharaoh by interpreting a dream Pharaoh had. After seven good years, this wise man stored the grain for the people, because he knew it would be followed by 7 years of famine. That man, was Joseph - the man his brothers had tossed down the well and left for dead.

The Gospel follows along the same story line. Jesus knows He will be killed. And unlike Joseph, Jesus really does get killed in perhaps the most painful horrific way possible. But that is not how the story ends. Be encouraged when times look really bad - and be a good person still. These stories are here to remind you - have faith. You do not know how the story ends in your own life, unless you have faith that Jesus will be true to His word. If you have that faith, He will come and save you, He has prepared a place for you in Heaven, and it will be more glorious than you can even imagine.

Like last year - I will add some songs that popped through my head - some of them new, some of them old. For me, songs are very much like prayers and the church has a saying that when you sing, you pray twice. Today I added two songs that I included from last year, (which were acoustic renditions played on an afternoon in March 2009). Sometime in the last half of 2009, I re-recorded these songs and tried to do a little production on them as well. No, do NOT worry - I am not quitting my day job hahaha. But I hope you enjoy them all the same. The first is called - Sara's Prayer and the second is called Benedictus. The Benedictus comes from the Gospel of St Luke, chapter one. (go read it... it will make it much more interesting). The second song was written as a prayer... that has been around  as long as men yearned for God. Sara's prayer is how that sentiment came out of my own desire to ask God to increase my faith. I dedicated it to dear friend named Sara has has always been a friend, and has given me great joy for many years, in short she is like a daughter to me. Thanks to this wild new publishing world - you can meet sweet lil doe Sara, and watch her take a leap of faith. What a fun world we live in. Be thankful.

Wednesday, Second Week of Lent

Daily Readings for Lent
Today's readings: March 3, 2010
First Reading: Jer 18:18-20;
Responsorial Psalm: 31:5-6, 14, 15-16 ;
Gospel: Mt 20:17-28 ;

And here's an audio file and a video of a priest offering reflections.

 First Reading:  Jer 18:18-20
The people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem said,
“Come, let us contrive a plot against Jeremiah.
It will not mean the loss of instruction from the priests,
nor of counsel from the wise, nor of messages from the prophets.
And so, let us destroy him by his own tongue;
let us carefully note his every word.”
Heed me, O LORD,
and listen to what my adversaries say.
Must good be repaid with evil
that they should dig a pit to take my life?
Remember that I stood before you
to speak in their behalf,
to turn away your wrath from them.

Responsorial Psalm  31:5-6, 14, 15-16
R.          Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.
You will free me from the snare they set for me,
for you are my refuge.
Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.
R.        Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.
I hear the whispers of the crowd, that frighten me from every side,
as they consult together against me, plotting to take my life.
R.        Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.
But my trust is in you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”
In your hands is my destiny; rescue me
from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors.
R.        Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.

Gospel   Mt 20:17-28
As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem,
he took the Twelve disciples aside by themselves,
and said to them on the way,
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem,
and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests
and the scribes,
and they will condemn him to death,
and hand him over to the Gentiles
to be mocked and scourged and crucified,
and he will be raised on the third day.”
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons
and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something.
He said to her, “What do you wish?”
She answered him,
“Command that these two sons of mine sit,
one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom.”
Jesus said in reply,
“You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?”
They said to him, “We can.”
He replied,
“My chalice you will indeed drink,
but to sit at my right and at my left,
this is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
When the ten heard this,
they became indignant at the two brothers.
But Jesus summoned them and said,
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
and the great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.
Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

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Commentary: In today's first reading, we first hear the thoughts of the people of Jerusalem, who decide to listen closely to Jeremiah - not to hear what he has to say, but to use his words, and parse them in a way to put Jeremiah to death. And yes, he was eventually killed just like many other prophets of the old testament. That passage is followed by Jeremiah's plea to God - not to seek God's protection from their evil intentions, but it is a lowly plea - merely asking God to remember, that he prayed for these people, asking God to take away his wrath. I wonder how those people might have felt - if they knew what Jeremiah had in his heart?

Does this kind of thing happen today? Of course it does. All the time - each and every day, thousands of times a day. Perhaps it might not end in killing - but friendships end, cruel words are spoken, people can be mean by "getting even", and love is withdrawn in the heat of anger - all too often because we fail to know the heart of the person saying words that might be hard to hear. Or we can cut off all conversation and not want to learn at all. Just go away.

For good people, this kind of situation happens all the time. And harder still, the sweeter and more gentle the person is - the deeper these wounds will go. That is just the way it is. It takes great discipline to suffer through all that is asked in these situations. To not retort and slap back. To be patient and try to make amends. All too often, people today just give up on people and move on in lieu of trying to help. Or worse... give up on trying to even understand. How sad - when in many cases, the problem is not what the person may have said - it is how we heard it. Try this for Lent - be patient and listen. Open the door instead of slamming it shut. So many years in my younger days as a man - I was in that spot - it was natural and easy to get angry, I grew impatient at the slightest offense and very often...  just blew people off. As I grew older, and mellowed - I learned most people are just plain wonderful. If they have an issue or seem disturbed - it is usually because they are going through a great deal of suffering. Thankfully, I also have learned it is much more fruitful to listen and try and help instead of running away. Oh don't get me wrong - I have an infinite road ahead of me to get where I need to... but I am thankful to God - because He has taken me a long way from where I used to be. And - He will be with me on the long road to go as well. But learning that in so many cases -when people are short, difficult and acting weird - it is usually because they have something going on in their lives I know nothing about. If I just took the time to be a patient friend, I could have won a precious friend. Live and learn.

I very much enjoyed the video homily by the priest today. If you missed it, here's a link to go watch it. (March 3 on the calendar)

Tuesday, Second Week of Lent

Daily Readings for Lent
Today's readings: March 2, 2010
First Reading: Is 1:10, 16-20;
Responsorial Psalm: 50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23 ;
Gospel: Mt 23:1-12 ;

And here's an audio file and a video of a priest offering reflections.

 First Reading:  Is 1:10, 16-20
Wash yourselves clean!
Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes;
cease doing evil; learn to do good.
Make justice your aim: redress the wronged,
hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow.
Come now, let us set things right,
says the LORD:
Though your sins be like scarlet,
they may become white as snow;
Though they be crimson red,
they may become white as wool.
If you are willing, and obey,
you shall eat the good things of the land;
But if you refuse and resist,
the sword shall consume you:
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken!

Responsorial Psalm  50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23
R.      To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
for your burnt offerings are before me always.
I take from your house no bullock,
no goats out of your fold.”
R.        To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”
R.        To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
R.        To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

Gospel   Mt 23:1-12
Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying,
“The scribes and the Pharisees
have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.
Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you,
but do not follow their example.
For they preach but they do not practice.
They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry
and lay them on people’s shoulders,
but they will not lift a finger to move them.
All their works are performed to be seen.
They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.
They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues,
greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’
As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’
You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.
Call no one on earth your father;
you have but one Father in heaven.
Do not be called ‘Master’;
you have but one master, the Christ.
The greatest among you must be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled;
but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

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Commentary: Yesterday I had the opportunity to accompany a priest
to a local hospital where he was asked to perform the rite of Annointing of the Sick, which back in the day, was called Extreme Unction. It is such a lovely rite and is one of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. The rite begins with the priest absolving the sick person of all their sins - all of them committed in the course of their lifetime. And a sweet reminder, of how deeply they are loved by Jesus. Soon the time will come, when Jesus will come for them and for the sick person to make the final surrender into God's loving hands. No matter how tough or faithful one might be, I sincerely doubt anyone is ever really ready for this moment, except for maybe the saints. It is not an easy trial - the final suffering and death. That said, I am convinced it is much easier if we spend time in prayer and seek to grow close to God all the days of our life. When we do that - we are less afraid, and better still - we might even be anticipating this cross-over to the heavenly kingdom. And also - find ourselves with a much lighter load to carry while we live. We can actually live the full life God is offering to all of us, and allow Him to make our joy complete. If you are honest with yourself - you know, we are the ones holding back.

So take advantage of the Lenten Season - and make amends. Humble yourself and grow closer in  God's loving relationship. He will help you get there - just ask.

Saturday, First Week of Lent

Daily Readings for Lent
Today's readings: February 26, 2010
First Reading: Dt 26:16-19;
Responsorial Psalm: 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8 ;
Gospel: Mt 5:43-48 ;

And here's an audio file and a video of a priest offering reflections.

First Reading:  Dt 26:16-19
Moses 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 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.”

Responsorial Psalm:  119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8
R.       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!

Gospel:   Mt 5:43-48
Jesus 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.”