23 February, 2024 | Friday of the First Week of Lent

 

Reading : Ez 18:21-28

Gospel Mt 5:20-26

Jesus said to his disciples:

"I tell you,

unless your righteousness surpasses that

of the scribes and Pharisees,

you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.

"You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,

You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.

But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother

will be liable to judgment,

and whoever says to his brother, Raqa,

will be answerable to the Sanhedrin,

and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna.

Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar,

and there recall that your brother

has anything against you,

leave your gift there at the altar,

go first and be reconciled with your brother,

and then come and offer your gift.

Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court.

Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge,

and the judge will hand you over to the guard,

and you will be thrown into prison.

Amen, I say to you,

you will not be released until you have paid the last penny."

Reflection: 

In the gospel, Jesus talks about holding onto grudges, anger, hurt and even hatred. Through this Jesus reminds us of  the importance of having a good relationship with our God and our neighbour. Even if they did something wrong, we should always consider the act of reconciliation and forgiveness.

The word of God places before us the choices we need to make in our daily life; we can choose to focus on the attitudes that we know are positive and make us feel good: love, generosity, forgiveness. Or we can choose to focus on those that that disturb  and upset us: anger, jealousy, hatred, etc. 

Activity: 

Choose to work on your emotions of  hatred, envy, and jealousy towards one person, and get help in order to adopt  the spirit of love, forgiveness and acceptance.