March 22, 2022Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent

2022년 3월 22일 사순 제3주간 화요일 

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

<저희의 부서진 영혼과 겸손해진 정신을 받아 주소서.>

제1독서

다니엘 예언서. 3,25.34-43
그 무렵 25 아자르야는 불 한가운데에 우뚝 서서
입을 열어 이렇게 기도하였다.
34 “당신의 이름을 생각하시어 저희를 끝까지 저버리지 마시고
당신의 계약을 폐기하지 마소서.
35 당신의 벗 아브라함, 당신의 종 이사악, 당신의 거룩한 사람 이스라엘을 보시어
저희에게서 당신의 자비를 거두지 마소서.
36 당신께서는 그들의 자손들을 하늘의 별처럼,
바닷가의 모래처럼 많게 해 주시겠다고 약속하셨습니다.
37 주님, 저희는 모든 민족들 가운데에서 가장 작은 민족이 되었습니다.
저희의 죄 때문에
저희는 오늘 온 세상에서 가장 보잘것없는 백성이 되고 말았습니다.
38 지금 저희에게는 제후도 예언자도 지도자도 없고
번제물도 희생 제물도 예물도 분향도 없으며
당신께 제물을 바쳐 자비를 얻을 곳도 없습니다.
39 그렇지만 저희의 부서진 영혼과 겸손해진 정신을 보시어
저희를 숫양과 황소의 번제물로,
수만 마리의 살진 양으로 받아 주소서.
40 이것이 오늘 저희가 당신께 바치는 희생 제물이 되어
당신을 온전히 따를 수 있게 하소서.
정녕 당신을 신뢰하는 이들은 수치를 당하지 않습니다.
41 이제 저희는 마음을 다하여 당신을 따르렵니다.
당신을 경외하고 당신의 얼굴을 찾으렵니다.
저희가 수치를 당하지 않게 해 주소서.
42 당신의 호의에 따라, 당신의 크신 자비에 따라 저희를 대해 주소서.
43 당신의 놀라운 업적에 따라 저희를 구하시어
주님, 당신의 이름을 영광스럽게 하소서.” 

 

복음

<너희가 저마다 자기 형제들을 용서하지 않으면 아버지께서도 너희를 용서하지 않으실 것이다.>

마태오. 18,21-35
21 그때에 베드로가 예수님께 다가와,
“주님, 제 형제가 저에게 죄를 지으면 몇 번이나 용서해 주어야 합니까?
일곱 번까지 해야 합니까?” 하고 물었다.
22 예수님께서 그에게 대답하셨다. “내가 너에게 말한다.
일곱 번이 아니라 일흔일곱 번까지라도 용서해야 한다.
23 그러므로 하늘 나라는 자기 종들과 셈을 하려는 어떤 임금에게 비길 수 있다.
24 임금이 셈을 하기 시작하자 만 탈렌트를 빚진 사람 하나가 끌려왔다.
25 그런데 그가 빚을 갚을 길이 없으므로, 주인은 그 종에게
자신과 아내와 자식과 그 밖에 가진 것을 다 팔아서 갚으라고 명령하였다.
26 그러자 그 종이 엎드려 절하며,
‘제발 참아 주십시오. 제가 다 갚겠습니다.’ 하고 말하였다.
27 그 종의 주인은 가엾은 마음이 들어, 그를 놓아주고 부채도 탕감해 주었다.
28 그런데 그 종이 나가서 자기에게 백 데나리온을 빚진 동료 하나를 만났다.
그러자 그를 붙들어 멱살을 잡고 ‘빚진 것을 갚아라.’ 하고 말하였다.
29 그의 동료는 엎드려서, ‘제발 참아 주게. 내가 갚겠네.’ 하고 청하였다.
30 그러나 그는 들어주려고 하지 않았다.
그리고 가서 그 동료가 빚진 것을 다 갚을 때까지 감옥에 가두었다.
31 동료들이 그렇게 벌어진 일을 보고 너무 안타까운 나머지,
주인에게 가서 그 일을 죄다 일렀다.
32 그러자 주인이 그 종을 불러들여 말하였다.
‘이 악한 종아, 네가 청하기에 나는 너에게 빚을 다 탕감해 주었다.
33 내가 너에게 자비를 베푼 것처럼
너도 네 동료에게 자비를 베풀었어야 하지 않느냐?’
34 그러고 나서 화가 난 주인은 그를 고문 형리에게 넘겨
빚진 것을 다 갚게 하였다.
35 너희가 저마다 자기 형제를 마음으로부터 용서하지 않으면,
하늘의 내 아버지께서도 너희에게 그와 같이 하실 것이다.” 

 

March 22, 2022

Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent 

Daily Readings — Audio

Daily Reflections — Video

http://www.usccb.org/bible/ 

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

Reading 1

Dn 3:25, 34-43

Azariah stood up in the fire and prayed aloud:

"For your name's sake, O Lord, do not deliver us up forever,
or make void your covenant.
Do not take away your mercy from us,
for the sake of Abraham, your beloved,
Isaac your servant, and Israel your holy one,
To whom you promised to multiply their offspring
like the stars of heaven,
or the sand on the shore of the sea.
For we are reduced, O Lord, beyond any other nation,
brought low everywhere in the world this day
because of our sins.
We have in our day no prince, prophet, or leader,
no burnt offering, sacrifice, oblation, or incense,
no place to offer first fruits, to find favor with you.
But with contrite heart and humble spirit
let us be received;
As though it were burnt offerings of rams and bullocks,
or thousands of fat lambs,
So let our sacrifice be in your presence today
as we follow you unreservedly;
for those who trust in you cannot be put to shame.
And now we follow you with our whole heart,
we fear you and we pray to you.
Do not let us be put to shame,
but deal with us in your kindness and great mercy.
Deliver us by your wonders,
and bring glory to your name, O Lord."
 

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 25:4-5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8-9

R. (6a) Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Remember that your compassion, O LORD,
and your kindness are from of old.
In your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.
 

Gospel

Mt 18:21-35

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
"Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?"
Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.'
Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a much smaller amount.
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
'Pay back what you owe.'
Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
But he refused.
Instead, he had him put in prison
until he paid back the debt.
Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,
they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master
and reported the whole affair.
His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant!
I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?'
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt.
So will my heavenly Father do to you, 

unless each of you forgives your brother from

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

 In this joyful season of Lent, I bring you Good News.  I bring you Great News!  YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE GIFT OF FORGIVENESS.  God, in His mercy, has given you the gift of being forgiven.  And equally as wonderful: God, in His mercy, has given you the ability to forgive.

Actually, we are given not just the ability but also the responsibility to forgive.  Sometimes we (and I write “we” in the hopes that I am not the only one) may treat that responsibility as a burden, viewing the act of forgiving as the price we pay so that we can be forgiven.  We do it grudgingly, sparingly.  We reserve the right to rescind that forgiveness if the offending party offends again.  Like Peter, we ask, “Lord, how many times?”  When Jesus responds, He says in essence, “You are asking the wrong question because you do not understand.  Don’t count.  Don’t sit in judgment, determining if the number or the severity of transgressions exceeds the limit of what you are to forgive.  You are being called to forgive far less than God has already forgiven of you.”

Of the lessons that emerge from Jesus’ parable, two really caught my attention:

1. My being forgiven is inextricably linked to my forgiving others.  These are two sides of the same coin.  Jesus must really want us to know this because he states it more explicitly in two of his most famous teaching episodes.  His Sermon on the Plain states, “Forgive, and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37).  In the Sermon on the Mount, He includes “forgive us . . . as we forgive others” in the Lord’s Prayer, then immediately follows the prayer with: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15).
   
   
2. Forgiveness is an all or nothing enterprise.  He is instructing Peter not to bother with counting.  Just forgive, and keep forgiving, never partially or with limits, but repeatedly and endlessly.  You can’t dole out forgiveness case by case or person by person.  You either are someone who forgives or you are not.  Forgiving partially or conditionally is not an option.

Don’t count, Peter (and the rest of us), because that conflicts with forgiving.  Remember, Jesus commanded us to love one another as He has loved us (John 13:34), and love keeps no record of wrongs (I Cor 13:5).  In the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “you do not notice that as long as you are still counting, for that long you are still reckoning that earlier sin against the person, for that long you still have not really forgiven that person, not even for the first time.”  As long as we keep track, we still hold onto the first (and second and third) wrongs done to us, and they are festering, ready to hurt us over and over.  The mere act of counting, of adding to the list, dredges up painful memories. 

So forgive, instead of counting, as an act of obedience that yields immense benefits.  Recognize that being able to forgive fully and completely is not a burden, it is a blessing.  When we are able to forgive, we are freed from feelings and forces that harm us and those around us.  We can let go of anger, hatred, bitterness, hurt, even judgmental self-righteousness.  Letting go frees us from those pains (and from the chore of keeping count), and it allows us to change our focus away from what was done to us so that we can recall the many good things done for us.  You may not feel that the person who offended you deserves to be forgiven – but you deserve the blessing of being able to forgive.

Gracious and merciful Lord, thank you for forgiving us.  Help us to forgive so that we can follow you with our whole hearts.

 

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

DID I FORGIVE?

“My heavenly Father will treat you in exactly the same way unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.” —Matthew 18:35

We Christians know that we must forgive or we will not be forgiven. Jesus even taught us to pray for this (Mt 6:12). Therefore, we Christians usually say that we have forgiven, for we know we have no acceptable alternative. Nonetheless, have we forgiven by God’s standards? Have we forgiven from the heart?

If we have truly forgiven, we:

• should realize that forgiveness is a miracle of God’s grace, for “to err is human; to forgive is divine,”
• are willing to reach out in love and mercy to honor and restore those who have sinned against us, as did the father of the prodigal son (Lk 15:20ff),
• will be messengers and ministers of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18-19),
• will recognize the great benefits from the Sacrament of Reconciliation, for we are forgiven as we forgive,
• are willing to embrace those who have sinned against us (see Lk 15:20),
• have let the Lord heal and purify our memory of hatred, rancor, the desire for revenge, and
• remember not only others’ sins against us but especially the miraculous grace in which we forgave each of those sins.

If there is any reasonable doubt about your forgiving others, go before Christ present in the tabernacle and say: “By the grace of Jesus Christ, I forgive      (name)         for      (sin)     .” Repeat this statement until you are totally purified of unforgiveness.

Prayer:  Father, I reject Satan’s work of unforgiveness.

Promise:  “And now we follow You with our whole heart, we fear You and we pray to You.” —Dn 3:41

Praise:  Daniel learned to forgive his ex-wife by praying for her every day.

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

 

 Who doesn't have debts they need to pay off! And who wouldn't be grateful to have someone release them from their debts? But can we really expect mercy and pardon when we owe someone a great deal? When the people of Israel sinned and rebelled against God, God left them to their own devices until they repented and cried out to him for mercy. The Book of Daniel in the Old Testament recounts the story of Daniel and his three young friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who were sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. When the King of Babylon threw Daniel's three friends into the fiery furnace, they cried out to God to have mercy not only on themselves, but to have mercy upon all his people. "Do not put us to shame, but deal with us in your forbearance and in your abundant mercy" (Daniel 3:19-43).

The prophet Jeremiah reminds us that God's "mercies never come to an end - they are new every morning" (Lamentations 3:22-23). God gives grace to the humble and he shows mercy to those who turn to him for healing and pardon.

We owe God a debt we could never repay
God's mercy towards each one of us shows us the way that God wants each one of us to be merciful towards one another. When Peter posed the question of forgiveness and showing mercy to one's neighbor, he characteristically offered an answer he thought Jesus would be pleased with. Why not forgive your neighbor seven times! How unthinkable for Jesus to counter with the proposition that one must forgive seventy times that. Jesus made it clear that there is no reckonable limit to mercy and pardon. And he drove the lesson home with a parable about two very different kinds of debts. The first man owed an enormous sum of money - millions in our currency. In Jesus' time this amount was greater than the total revenue of a province - more than it would cost to ransom a king! The man who was forgiven such an incredible debt could not, however bring himself to forgive his neighbor a very small debt which was about one- hundred-thousandth of his own debt. The contrast could not have been greater!

Jesus paid the price in full for our guilt and condemnation
Paul the Apostle tells us that "the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). There is no way we could repay God the debt we owed him because of our sins and offenses. Only his mercy and pardon could free us from such a debt. There is no offense our neighbor can do to us that can compare with our debt to God! If God has forgiven each of us our own debt, which was very great, we, too must forgive others the debt they owe us.

Jesus ransomed us from slavery to sin and eternal death
Through Jesus' atoning sacrifice for our sins on the cross, we have been forgiven a debt beyond all reckoning. It cost God his very own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to ransom us with the price of his blood. Jesus paid the price for us and won for us pardon for our sins and freedom from slavery to our unruly desires and sinful habits. God in his mercy offers us the grace and help of his Holy Spirit so we can love as he loves, pardon as he pardons, and treat others with the same mercy and kindness which he has shown to us.

True peace with God
God has made his peace with us. Have you made your peace with God? If you believe and accept God's love and and pardon for you, then you likewise must choose to be merciful towards those who are in debt to you. Are you ready to forgive and to make peace with your neighbor as God has made peace with you?

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury let me sow pardon. Where there is doubt let me sow faith. Where there is despair let me give hope. Where there is darkness let me give light. Where there is sadness let me give joy. (Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi, 1181-1226)

Psalm 25:4-9

4 Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
6 Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth, or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness' sake, O LORD!
8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.

Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: A daily remedy for our sins, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors. Let us say this sentence with sincerity, because it is an alms in itself. Sins that oppress and bury us cannot be termed trifles! What is more minute than drops of rain? Yet they fill the rivers. What is more minute than grains of wheat? Yet they fill the barns. You note the fact that these sins are rather small, but you do not take note that there are many of them. In any case, God has given us a daily remedy for them." (excerpt from Sermon 205,1) 

  

More Homilies

March 9, 2021 Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent