Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. – Leviticus 19:2
BE HOLY
The
members of the Executive Council of Servant Leaders (ECSL) of the Bukas
Loob sa Diyos (BLD) Community received their marching orders from the
BLD Global Spiritual Director, Archbishop Angel N. Lagdameo: Go and set
the hearts of BLD members on F.I.R.E. So off we went to visit our 51
global districts, including those in the U.S., Canada and Hong Kong.
F - ruitful, I - nspired, R - enewed and E - mpowered. This was the
recurring theme of our renewal weekends wherever we went. The five
couple-servant leaders are ordinary men and women, chosen by the Lord to
carry out the extraordinary task of stirring the hearts of people.
At the end of each weekend, we would fly back home to Manila feeling
drained and exhausted from a fully packed trip spent on our feet,
teaching and ministering to our members. But, inspired by the Holy
Spirit, our hearts would always be full of joy and gratitude for a
faithful and amazing God. He does not call the qualified, but He
qualifies those whom He calls. Indeed, we serve a holy and awesome God! Mari Sison-Garcia
1ST READING
Sometimes
we do not embrace the truth that we are called to be holy because we
think it is too hard to do this. This is a cop out and unacceptable in
God’s eyes. He has given us the grace we need to be holy, no matter how
difficult it may be. We just get on with it and respond to His mercy and
love. Each of us has overcome adversity at one time or another. Here is
another opportunity to do this.
Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18
1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the whole assembly of the children of Israel and tell them: Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. 11 “You shall not steal. You shall not lie or speak falsely to one another. 12 You shall not swear falsely by my name, thus profaning the name of your God. I am the Lord. 13 You shall not defraud or rob your neighbor. You shall not withhold overnight the wages of your day laborer. 14 You shall not curse the deaf, or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am the Lord. 15 You
shall not act dishonestly in rendering judgment. Show neither
partiality to the weak nor deference to the mighty, but judge your
fellow men justly. 16 You
shall not go about spreading slander among your kinsmen; nor shall you
stand by idly when your neighbor’s life is at stake. I am the Lord. 17 You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. Though you may have to reprove him, do not incur sin because of him. 18 Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”
P S A L M
Psalm 19:8, 9, 10, 15
R: Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.
7 [8] The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The decree of the Lord is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple. (R) 8 [9] The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the command of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eye. (R) 9 [10] The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are true, all of them just. (R) 14 [15] Let the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart find favor before you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. (R)
GOSPEL
Caring
for the poor is an essential aspect of our calling. It is an integral
part of the Gospel message. Social justice is always going to be an
important aspect of the Gospel and encapsulates our community’s response
to the poor. Let us never lose heart in discovering new ways to love
those in our midst, especially the poor.
Matthew 25:31-46
31 Jesus
said to his disciples: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all
the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, 32 and
all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them
one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 Then
the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by
my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ 40 And
the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you
did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ 41 Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ 44 Then
they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your
needs?’ 45 He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ 46 And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
REFLECTION
IS IT A NO OR YES FOR YOU?
I
can’t remember who said it but I cannot forget what was said. The line
goes, “In the beginning was the word, and the word was ‘No!’” I laughed
when I first read it. If you did not after reading this, that means you
did not get the message. More so, that means you are not familiar with
your Scripture. Any Bible-reading Christian will easily recognize that
this was a parody of the prologue of St. John where we read: “In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”
(John 1:1).
Sadly, that is how the world (and some Christians even) perceive
Catholic Christianity — a religion of don’ts. In a way it’s
understandable. Look at the Ten Commandments, it’s a list of “Thou shall nots.” Look at the
First Reading today from the book of Leviticus. The whole tenor of the
reading is prohibition, restriction and thou shall not. I actually
counted 10 “not,” not counting the “nor” which is almost the same as “not.”
While I believe the perception is not without basis, it is not
unavoidable. It all depends on what we focus on, more like the
“half-filled, half-empty” perception question. You see, in every no is a
hidden yes. If you said no to going left, that means you said yes to
going right.
The no that we find in the commandment must not be seen in isolation.
The same principle applies. We are reminded to say no so that we can
freely say yes to a higher value.
So when the book of Leviticus reminds us to say no to lying, it is
actually a yes to the value of sincerity. A no to hatred is a yes to
love, a no to sin is a yes to holiness. The same goes for the rest of
the admonitions.
How positive and liberating it will be when we see the rules of faith
this way. We are prevented from doing something so that we may be free
for something better. Fr. Joel Jason
"Grant me, Lord, the courage to say no
to things that would not lead me to You, and to say yes to those that
will bring me closer to You."
Source: http://kerygmafamily.com/modules/dailyreadings/read.php?date=2014-03-10
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