7th SUNDAY OF THE YEAR

 

ENTRANCE ANTIPHON

Lord, your mercy is my hope, my heart rejoices in your saving power. I will sing to the Lord, for his goodness to me.

PENITENTIAL RITE

The main theme of today’s liturgy is generous forgiveness. Forgiveness without condition and calculation. Forgive as God forgives us. Jesus wants that we forgive and be reconciled with the offending party before we offer sacrifice to God. Let us pause and make a sincere examination of conscience.

I confess...

Glory to God...

OPENING PRAYER

Let us pray. Father, keep before us the wisdom and love you have revealed in your Son. Help us to be like him in word and deed, for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

FIRST READING

(David magnanimously manifests his loyalty to Saul, his enemy.)

A reading from the book of Samuel

(26: 2.7-9, 12-13, 22-23)

Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, with three thousand chosen men of Israel, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. So David and Abishai went to the army by night; and there lay Saul sleeping within the encampment, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the army lay around him. Then said Abishai to David, "God has given your enemy into your hand this day; now therefore let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice." But David said to Abishai, "Do not destroy him; for who can put forth his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?" So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul’s head; and they went away. No man saw it, or knew it, nor did any awake; for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them. Then David went over to the other side, and stood afar on the top of the mountain, with a great space between them. And David made answer, "Here is the spear, O King! Let one of the young men come over and fetch it. The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faith-fulness; for the Lord gave you into my hand today, and I would not put forth my hand against the Lord’s anointed."

This is the Word of the Lord

PSALM (102)

Response: The Lord is compassion and love.

1. My soul, give thanks to the Lord, all my being, bless his holy name. My soul, give thanks to the Lord and never forget all his blessings. R.

2. It is he who forgives all your guilt, who heals everyone of your ills, who redeems your life from the grave, who crowns you with love and compassion. R.

3. The Lord is compassion and love, slow to anger and rich in mercy. He does not treat us according to our sins nor repay us according to our faults. R.

4. As far as the east is from the west so far does he remove our sins. As a father has compassion on his sons, the Lord has pity on those who fear him. R.

SECOND READING

(Christians will be transformed into the image of the risen Christ.)

A reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians (15:45-49)

The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual which is first but the physical, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

This is the Word of the Lord

ACCLAMATION (Lk 19:38)

Alleluia, alleluia! Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest! Alleluia!

GOSPEL

(Jesus exhorts us to be generous and compassionate as our heavenly Father is.)

A reading from the holy Gospel according to St Luke (6:27-38)

Jesus said to his disciples, "I say to you that hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from him who takes away your cloak do not withhold your coat as well. Give to everyone who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again. And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.

"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back."

This is the Gospel of the Lord

I believe...

PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL

Cel: Dear sisters and brothers, our Father is magnanimous and com-passionate. He wants that we imitate him in our dealings with one another. Let us pray for the grace needed to live, as our heavenly Father desires. Our response: Father, make us com-passionate.

1. We pray for all ministers of the Church: may they be persons of great compassion. R.

2. Let us pray for those who are estranged and alienated: may the word of God and the Spirit of love spur them to forgive from the heart. R.

3. Lord, bring together countries that are at enmity and families that are divided. R.

4. We remember to the Lord all our dead: merciful Father, in your goodness and kindness grant them eternal rest.  R.

(Pause to pray for other intentions.)

Cel: Gracious Father, we thank and praise you for your compassionate love. Grant us that we too may become gradually compassionate and for-giving. We ask this…

PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS

Lord, as we make this offering, may our worship in Spirit and truth bring us salvation. We ask this…

Preface (P 33)

Father all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks.

All things are of your making, all times and seasons obey your laws, but you chose to create man in your own image, setting him over the whole world in all its wonder. You made man the steward of creation, to praise you day by day for the marvels of your wisdom and power, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We praise you, Lord, with all the angels in their song of joy.

COMMUNION ANTIPHON

I will tell all your marvellous works. I will rejoice and be glad in you, and sing to your name, Most High.

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

Almighty God, help us to live the example of love we celebrate in this eucharist, that we may come to its fulfilment in your presence. We ask this…

LITURGY AND LIFE

The Gestapo arrested Corrie ten Boom at the end of February 1944 and sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp. Suddenly Corrie caught sight of him in the congregation at Munich – the former SS man who had been their guard at Ravensbruck camp. Somehow she managed to go on speaking, but scenes of horror and anguish from those past days crowded into her mind. It was not for herself she cared – she remembered her poor sister, Betsie, ill, frail, yet made to strip while those mocking guards examined their helpless prisoners. Now the leader of them was here in Church.

After the service he came up the Church towards her, smiling broadly and with outstretched hand. ‘Thank you for your message,’ he said, ‘Jesus has washed way my sins.’ Corrie looked at him unable to lift her hand from her side. She had preached forgiveness, but how could she show it to the very person who had humiliated and hurt her beloved sister? For a long moment she paused, then prayed silently, ‘Lord Jesus, forgive me and help me to forgive him.’ But still she could neither smile nor raise her hand – it seemed bound to her side. ‘Give me your forgiveness’, she prayed, ‘I cannot forgive him on my own.’

As she took his hand, Corrie felt an amazing current passing from her to him and love filled her heart. So, she concluded, ‘I discovered that when God tells us to love our enemies, he gives, along with the commandment, the love itself.’

To forgive is to be free and to be freed. Not to forgive is to bind and to be bound. On the one hand to forgive an offender is to free him/her of guilt feelings, fear, of being ill at ease. On the other hand to forgive is to release pent-up resentments, anger and hatred. Not to forgive is to store them up within and poison our inner system. What is not forgiven magnani-mously enslaves us. The negative thoughts and emotions bottled up without release fester. They paint our mental horizon black, vitiate our relationships and create distance between us and the offending persons.

It is a fundamental duty of Christians to forgive, to forgive one’s enemies specifically. The New Testament teachings insist on forgiveness. For Jesus forgiveness has precedence over temple sacrifice. The model of Christian forgiveness is none other than God the Father as depicted in the parable of the prodigal son. This father is goodness and love personified. The father is magnanimous and generous; compassionate and merciful.

The goodness and loving mercy of the father have to be contrasted with the resentment, bitterness and jealousy of the elder son. He is angry that his irresponsible younger brother is welcomed back joyfully. He quickly compares the treatment his younger brother receives with the one he gets and feels let down. He refuses to share in the joy of the celebration. As a consequence and most importantly, he does not and cannot forgive his own younger brother. He cannot forgive precisely because he hasn’t the heart of his father. It is here that the father has lost his elder son. Both his sons in their way walked away from the father.

In order to forgive and forgive our enemies we need the good, loving and compassionate heart of the father. One of the most radical and revolutionary teachings of Jesus is ‘Be compassionate as your Father is com-passionate.’ Without a robustly and consistently compassionate heart it is impossible to forgive unconditionally.

The second model of Christian forgiveness is Jesus. Jesus claimed ‘I and the Father are one.’ ‘Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.’ In other words the heart of Jesus is the heart of the Father. Just as the Father was compassionate, so too Jesus is compassionate. Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness flowed out of his heart. He lived out his teaching to the great annoyance of the legalistic Pharisees and scribes He died on the cross forgiving and praying for his enemies. A genuinely compassionate gesture and prayer.

February 2004 

CALENDAR 

Psalter week 3

23/Mon (R) St Polycarp, bp & m Jm 3:13-18; Ps 18; Mk 9:14-29

24/Tue (G) Jm 4:1-10; Ps 54; Mk 9:30-37

25/Wed (V) ASH WEDNESDAY(Psalter week 4)

Joel 2:12-18; Ps 50; 2 Cor 5:20 – 6:2; Mt 6:1-6,16-18

26/Thu (V) Deut 30:15-20; Ps 1; Lk 9:22-25

27/Fri (V) Is 58:1-9a; Ps 50; Mt 9:14-15

28/Sat (V) Is 58:9b-14; Ps 85; Lk 5:27-32

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