Thursday of the First Week in Lent

Romans 13:9-10: The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Prayer ...

Heavenly Father, you gave Moses the Law on tablets of stone, please write your character and will on our heart that we might be a living stone, testifying to your righteousness and grace. Help us to think more carefully about how our neighbors feel before us act or react to them - not just today, but every day! In the name of Infant Jesus we pray. Amen.

Today's Readings ... (February 21, 2013)

Day:	Thursday of the First Week in Lent
First Reading:	Est C:12, 14-16, 23-25
Responsorial Psalm:	Psalm 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8
Second Reading:	Nil
Gospel:	Matthew 7:7-12
Lectionary:	226
Colour:	Violet
Listen to Reading:

Scripture: Matthew 7:7-12

⁷"Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. ⁹Or what man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? ¹¹If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! ¹²So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this is the law and the prophets.

Meditation on Today's Scripture:

Prayer floods from the love of God; and the personal love we show to our neighbor is fueled by the love that God has poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Jesus concludes his dialogue on prayer with the token that we must treat our neighbor in the same way we wish to be treated by God and by others. We must not just keep away from doing harm to our neighbor; we must actively seek his or her welfare. In doing so, we complete the law and the prophets, namely what God needs of us - loving God with all that we have and are and loving our neighbor as ourselves. The Holy Spirit is every ready to change our lives in Jesus’ way of love. Do we thirst for holiness and for the fire of God’s love? Let us love others, Lord and God, and see ourselves as we really are – a pilgrim in this world, a Christian called to admiration and love all whose lives we touch, those in authority over us or those under our authority, our friends and our enemies. Help us to conquer anger with gentleness, greed by kindness, apathy by fervor. Help us to forget ourselves and reach out towards others.