March 10, 2022 Thursday of the First Week in Lent

2022년 3월 10일 사순 제1주간 목요일

오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp 

제1독서 

에스테르기 4,17(12).17(14)-17(16).17(23)-17(25) 

“저의 주님, 저희의 임금님, 당신은 유일한 분이십니다.
외로운 저를 도와주소서.
당신 말고는 도와줄 이가 없는데
17(15)이 몸은 위험에 닥쳐 있습니다.
17(16) 저는 날 때부터 저의 가문에서 들었습니다.
주님, 당신께서 모든 민족들 가운데에서 이스라엘을
모든 조상들 가운데에서 저희 선조들을 영원한 재산으로 받아들이시고
약속하신 바를 채워 주셨음을 들었습니다.
17(23) 기억하소서, 주님, 저희 고난의 때에 당신 자신을 알리소서.
저에게 용기를 주소서, 신들의 임금님, 모든 권세의 지배자시여!
17(24) 사자 앞에 나설 때 잘 조화된 말을 제 입에 담아 주시고
그의 마음을 저희에게 대적하는 자에 대한 미움으로 바꾸시어
그 적대자와 동조자들이 끝장나게 하소서.
17(25) 당신 손으로 저희를 구하시고,
주님, 당신밖에 없는 외로운 저를 도우소서.
당신께서는 모든 것을 알고 계십니다.” 

복음 

마태오 7,7-12 

그때에 예수님께서 제자들에게 말씀하셨다.
7 “청하여라, 너희에게 주실 것이다. 찾아라, 너희가 얻을 것이다.
문을 두드려라, 너희에게 열릴 것이다.
8 누구든지 청하는 이는 받고, 찾는 이는 얻고,
문을 두드리는 이에게는 열릴 것이다.
9 너희 가운데 아들이 빵을 청하는데 돌을 줄 사람이 어디 있겠느냐?
10 생선을 청하는데 뱀을 줄 사람이 어디 있겠느냐?
11 너희가 악해도 자녀들에게는 좋은 것을 줄 줄 알거든,
하늘에 계신 너희 아버지께서야 당신께 청하는 이들에게
좋은 것을 얼마나 더 많이 주시겠느냐?
12 그러므로 남이 너희에게 해 주기를 바라는 그대로
너희도 남에게 해 주어라.
이것이 율법과 예언서의 정신이다.” 

 March 10, 2022   

Thursday of the First Week in Lent 

Daily Readings — Audio

Daily Reflections — Video

http://www.usccb.org/bible/ 

Daily Mass : http://www.catholictv.com/shows/daily-mass 

Reading 1 

Est C:12, 14-16, 23-25

Queen Esther, seized with mortal anguish,
had recourse to the LORD.
She lay prostrate upon the ground, together with her handmaids,
from morning until evening, and said:
"God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, blessed are you.
Help me, who am alone and have no help but you,
for I am taking my life in my hand.
As a child I used to hear from the books of my forefathers
that you, O LORD, always free those who are pleasing to you.
Now help me, who am alone and have no one but you,
O LORD, my God.
"And now, come to help me, an orphan.
Put in my mouth persuasive words in the presence of the lion
and turn his heart to hatred for our enemy,
so that he and those who are in league with him may perish.
Save us from the hand of our enemies;
turn our mourning into gladness
and our sorrows into wholeness."

 

Responsorial Psalm 

Ps 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8

R. (3a) Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Because of your kindness and your truth;
for you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.

 

Gospel

 Mt 7:7-12

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which one of you would hand his son a stone
when he asked for a loaf of bread,
or a snake when he asked for a fish?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your heavenly Father give good things
to those who ask him.
"Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
This is the law and the prophets."

http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html

 

 We are in the first full week of Lent, and today’s readings tell us not to be shy in our prayer, but to ask God, to beg God for what we need.  

In the first reading we hear of Esther, a Jewish woman who became queen of Persia and hid her Jewish identity from the king. When the Jewish people came under threat of death, she begged God for the courage to face her husband. She wanted to tell him the truth of who she really is and ask him to spare her people. Before she saw the king, she prayed from morning until night, lying on the ground in anguish, begging God:

God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, blessed are you.
Help me, who am alone and have no help but you,
for I am taking my life in my hand….
Now help me, who am alone and have no one but you,
O LORD, my God.

Her simple, moving prayer, and the ultimate success of her petition reminds us to pray for courage when we are afraid. 
In Matthews’s gospel, Jesus tells us:

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

In speaking of this gospel Pope Francis noted, “That’s an almost incredible guarantee that our prayers will always be heard.”  But, Francis continued, “He doesn’t tell us ‘Ask and you’ll get whatever you ask for.’ He instructs us to seek but he doesn’t tell us exactly what we’ll find. He tells us to knock but he doesn’t say what will be waiting for us on the other side of the opened door. But he promises us that our prayers will be heard and God will respond.”

So, while we don’t know how our prayers will be answered, we do know they will be heard. Our faith tells us that God is really listening to us.  And this might be the year to reframe the season of Lent, from one of “giving up something” to one of asking God what gift he wants to give us this Lent.

Instead of a focus on what I am doing for Lent, we can open our hearts to God and listen to what gift, what healing God offers us this Lent.  Instead of giving up chocolate, maybe this Lent I can pray every morning for just a few minutes to be softer and kinder to my husband.  I am, usually, but sometimes I hear a sharpness in my voice that I never want to have when I talk with him.  My desire is to pray this Lent to take that edge out of my voice and to remember how much I have loved him over our many years of marriage.

I can knock on the door, I can seek and ask for the help to love more generously.  If I can pray with that every day in Lent and make that my Lent commitment, that will deepen my experience of Lent and my own relationship with Jesus.

Loving God, I want to do everything myself, but like Esther, I realize I have no help but you. Please give me the strength and courage to be more loving and open in all of my relationships this Lent.  Give me a listening heart to hear you speak to me when I knock.

This reflection was taken from the Daily Reflection Archives from 2020.

 http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp

FRESH SPRING AIR

“If you, with all your sins, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to anyone who asks Him!” —Matthew 7:11

Lent means “springtime.” As nature awakens from the dormancy of winter to the vitality of spring, so should our life in the Spirit break forth into new life. The Lord wants to give us a freshness and a newness in our relationship with Him. He wants to go on a “second honeymoon” with us and restore our early love (see Rv 2:4). He desires to bring us back to the childlike awareness of His loving presence which we had when we first started to love Him (see Lk 18:17).

To give us a spiritual springtime, the Lord may lead us through a time of crisis. Like Esther, we may be “seized with mortal anguish” and cry out to the Lord from the depths of our hearts (Est C:12). Or we may experience the Lord’s glory and power through a conversion, deliverance, breakthrough, or healing in our lives. Then our relationship will be so refreshed that we will pray with childlike faith and simply ask and receive (Mt 7:7). We will no longer gasp for breath amid the secularist pollution of doubt and confusion. We can take a deep breath for the first time in a long time and breathe in the fresh, warm air of a Lenten springtime.

Prayer:  “My Lord, our King, You alone are God. Help me, who am alone and have no help but You, for I am taking my life in my hand” (Est C:14-15).

Promise:  “Put in my mouth persuasive words in the presence of the lion.” —Est C:24

Praise:  Thomas returned to Confession again after an absence of several years and the peace he experienced melted his heart.

 http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/

 

  Do you expect God to hear your prayers? Esther's prayer on behalf of her people is a model for us (Esther 14). She prayed for help according to God's promise to be faithful to his people. God wants us to remember his promises and to count on his help when we pray.

Your Father in heaven gives good things to those who ask with expectant faith
Jesus wanted to raise the expectations of his disciples when he taught them how to pray. Jesus' parable of the father feeding his son illustrates the unthinkable! How could a loving father refuse to give his son what is good; or worse, to give him what is harmful? In conclusion Jesus makes a startling claim: How much more will the heavenly Father give what is good to those who ask!

Our heavenly Father graciously gives beyond our expectations. Jesus taught his disciples to pray with confidence because the heavenly Father in his goodness always answers prayers. That is why we can boldly pray: Give us this day our daily bread.

The power of prayer to those who believe
Those who know God and trust in God's love, pray with great boldness. Listen to what John Chrysostom (347-407 AD), a gifted preacher and bishop of Constantinople, had to say about the power of prayer:

"Prayer is an all-efficient panoply [i.e. 'a full suit of armor' or 'splendid array'], a treasure undiminished, a mine never exhausted, a sky unobstructed by clouds, a haven unruffled by storm. It is the root, the fountain, and the mother of a thousand blessings. It exceeds a monarch's power... I speak not of the prayer which is cold and feeble and devoid of zeal. I speak of that which proceeds from a mind outstretched, the child of a contrite spirit, the offspring of a soul converted - this is the prayer which mounts to heaven... The power of prayer has subdued the strength of fire, bridled the rage of lions, silenced anarchy, extinguished wars, appeased the elements, expelled demons, burst the chains of death, enlarged the gates of heaven, relieved diseases, averted frauds, rescued cities from destruction, stayed the sun in its course, and arrested the progress of the thunderbolt. In sum prayer has power to destroy whatever is at enmity with the good."

Allow God's love to purify your mind, heart, and speech
Prayer flows 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 (Romans 5:5). Jesus concludes his discourse on prayer with the reminder that we must treat our neighbor in the same way we wish to be treated by God. We must not just avoid doing harm to our neighbor, we must actively seek his or her welfare. In doing so, we fulfill the scriptural teaching from the "law and the prophets," namely what God requires of us - loving God with all that we have and are and loving our neighbor as ourselves. The Holy Spirit is ever ready to change our hearts and transform our lives in Jesus' way of love and merciful kindness towards all. Do you thirst for holiness and for the fire of God's purifying love?

Let me love you, my Lord and my God, and see myself as I really am - a pilgrim in this world, a Christian called to respect and love all whose lives I touch, those in authority over me or those under my authority, my friends and my enemies. Help me to conquer anger with gentleness, greed by generosity, apathy by fervor. Help me to forget myself and reach out towards others. (Prayer attributed to Clement XI of Rome, 1721)

Psalm 138:1-3,7-8

1 I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the angels I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness; for you have exalted above everything your name and your word.
3 On the day I called, you answered me, my strength of soul you increased.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me.
8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures for ever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: The gift of being good, by Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"He who has given us the gift of being gives us also the gift of being good. He gives to those who have turned back to Him. He even sought them out before they were converted and when they were far from his ways!" (Commentary on Psalm 103, 2)

  

More Homilies

February 25, 2021 Thursday of the First Week in Lent