Thursday of the First Week of Lent
Esther
C:12, 14-16, 23-25 — Matthew 7:7-12
February
25, 2010
Scripture readings from Holy Mass:
Verse for Recollection throughout the Day:
“Do to
others /
whatever you
would have them do to you. /
This is the law and the prophets.”
This is the law and the prophets.”
[Matthew 7:12]
Reflection:
Today Jesus gives us the “Golden Rule”. He gives a new focus for our moral choices,
asking us to see ourselves in others. If
we saw another person as “our self”, we wouldn’t make many of the choices that
we do.
Unfortunately, we often don’t
look on others as “our self”, and so Jesus, knowing how greatly we need help,
offers a further perspective to help us in making moral decisions. Jesus asks us to think as a father
thinks. More specifically, He is asking
us to think as God the Father thinks.
How and why does God the Father give you gifts? He does not give you gifts in order for you
to become popular. He does not give you
gifts in order to make you more attractive.
He does not give you gifts in order to make your life smooth. These things are not bad, but they are beside
the point. Beside the point of life, that
is…
God the Father gives you the gifts you need to accomplish
your vocation:
your reason for being in this
world. If we believe
this, then we will accept what God the Father gives us as gifts that are means
to that end. It’s really no more
complicated than what the Catechism taught us as children. “God made us to know Him, to love Him and to
serve Him in this world, so as to be happy with Him in the next.”
Reflection Question:
Our Reflection Question today is another
verse from today’s Gospel.
It is a rhetorical question.
But reflect on Jesus’ point in asking it…
“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?”
when he asked for a loaf of bread, /
or a snake when he asked for a fish?”
[Matthew
7:9-10]
