Saturday of the First Week of Lent
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. Deuteronomy 26:17-19
“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.” Matthew 5:43-45
Piety
For Discontent
Come, God!
Do not smile and say you are already with us.
Millions do not know you and to us who do, what is the difference?
What is the point of your presence if our lives do not alter?
Change our lives, shatter our complacency.
Make your word flesh of our flesh, blood of our blood and our life’s purpose.
Take away the quietness of a clear conscience.
Press us uncomfortably.
For only this that other peace is made, your peace.
-- Dom Helder Camara
(The Fire of Peace: A Prayer Book. Compiled and edited by Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB.
Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/021608.shtml
Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Leviticus 19:18)
The people have had a covenant with God for thousands of years. There is a whole set of rules to which they are used to following. Moses gave them the Ten Commandments. Then in the Book of Leviticus, he outlined a list of other rules to keep.
Everyone is happy with the arrangement. The Pharisees interpret the rules. The people follow. Then, Jesus of Nazareth comes along and raises all standards of behavior up a notch or two…or three.
The notes in the NAB explain that 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. In fact, the Hebrew Bible assumes that hatred of evil persons is not only acceptable, but it is something they think God wants.
If only you would destroy the wicked, O God, and the bloodthirsty would depart from me! Deceitfully they invoke your name; your foes swear faithless oaths. Do I not hate, LORD, those who hate you? Those who rise against you, do I not loathe? With fierce hatred I hate them, enemies I count as my own. Psalm 139:19-22
Jesus comes along and changes – and extends – the love commandment to the enemy and the persecutor. His disciples, as children of God, must imitate – not each other’s flawed human persona – but the example of their Father, who, in perfection, grants his gifts to both the good and the bad. His disciples must imitate the perfect example of the Father’s mercy.
Action
Lent is the season of change. We try new acts, little by little, so that they become habits. Prayer. Fasting. Almsgiving.
We say forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Make a call this Lenten season to your member of Congress and ask them to help persuade the World Bank and IMF to forgive the debt of
We all know that
You can help by calling your Congressman. Go to this link: http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/mcapdir.html to find their number, call their office and ask them to sign Representatives Waters' and Senator Bachus' letter and support HR 241. Cancelling the debt service could make a big difference in a lot of lives!
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