No. 16              February  20,  2011            (Cycle A) VII SUNDAY OF THE YEAR           Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.       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. (Ps 12:6)   PENITENTIAL RITE   Jesus challenges us today by his teaching, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. He urges us to imitate the all-embracing love of God. From the human point of view to love and forgive our enemies is next to impossible. Jesus chose the path of love and forgiveness even when he was wrongly judged, persecuted and killed. Forgiveness is a gift of God and those who ask him for this grace, obtain it so freely because God is full of love and forgiveness. Hence, let us ask ourselves: Am I able to forgive? Or do I persist in revenge, and anger towards the other and even to God? (Pause) I confess... Glory to God...   OPENING PRAYER   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   (God instructs Moses to tell his people to imitate the holiness of God and be charitable in their lives because He does not want them to exact vengeance or bear a grudge against another.)   A reading from the Book of Leviticus    (19:1-2,17-18)   The Lord said to Moses, “Say to all the congregation of the people of Israel, You shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy. “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason with your neighbour, lest you bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbour as yourself: for I am the Lord.” This is the Word of the Lord    PSALM   (102)   Response: The Lord is compassion and love.   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./ It is He who forgives all your guilt, who heals every one of your ills, who redeems your life from the grave, who crowns you with love and compassion. R./ 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./ 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   (St Paul reminds the Corinthians that they are the Temple of the Holy Spirit and so they should respect one another forgetting all their differences and shortcomings.)   A reading from the First Letter of St Paul to the Corinthians    (3:16-23)   Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If any one destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and that temple you are. Let no one deceive himself. If any one among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” So let no one boast of men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life, or death or the present or the future, all are yours; and you are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s. This is the Word of the Lord   ACCLAMATION   Alleluia, alleluia! Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest! Alleluia! (Lk 19:38)   GOSPEL   (Jesus teaches us the most sublime lesson, when he says: “Love your enemies, pray for your persecutors”. What differentiates the disciples from others is their willingness to love others as God loves them.) A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Matthew    (5:38-48) Jesus said to his disciples, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if any one would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well; and if any one forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to him who begs from you, and do not refuse him who would borrow from you. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” This is the Gospel of the Lord   I believe in God,/the Father Almighty,/ Creator of heaven and earth./ I believe in Jesus Christ,/his only Son, our Lord./ He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit/ and born of the Virgin Mary./He suffered under Pontius Pilate,/was crucified, died, and was buried./He descended to the dead./On the third day he rose again./He ascended into Heaven,/and is seated at the right hand of the Father./He will come again to judge the living and the dead./I believe in the Holy Spirit,/the Holy Catholic Church,/the communion of saints,/the forgiveness of sins,/the resurrection of the body,/and the life everlasting./ Amen.   PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL   Cel: Dear brothers and sisters, forgiveness is not easy. But Jesus showed us how to forgive, even when he was wrongly judged, persecuted and killed. God our Father forgives us unconditionally, so let us ask him in faith, to give us the strength and magnanimity to forgive others, saying:   Response: Father, help us to forgive.   1. That our Holy Father the Pope, bishops, priests and religious may become living examples of forgiveness and compassion. R./ 2. That Christians all over the world may realize the importance of forgiveness in their lives and strive to communicate Jesus’ message of love to the society they live in. R./ 3. That Christians who are divided due to petty and individual differences, may experience the forgiveness and the healing of the Lord in their lives, and work for unity. R./ 4. That those who follow the path of destruction, fundamentalism and other negative practices in the name of religion, may realize that the real victory is in forgiveness and love. R./ 5. That those who cannot forgive, those who have experienced tragedies in their lives and those who are addicted to drugs and alcohol, may experience the forgiving love of Jesus and be healed. R./ (Pray for local and personal needs)   Cel: Merciful Father, fill our hearts with your love and help us to forgive others. Give us the grace we need to overcome the evils of unforgiveness and retaliation. 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 34)   Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks.   In you we live and move and have our being. Each day you show us a Father’s love; your Holy Spirit, dwelling within us, gives us on earth the hope of unending joy. Your gift of the Spirit, who raised Jesus from the dead, is the foretaste and promise of the paschal feast of heaven. With thankful praise, in company with the angels, we glorify the wonders of your power:   All: Holy, holy, holy…   COMMUNION ANTIPHON   Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into this world. (Jn 11:27)   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     When Abraham Lincoln was aspiring to be the President of the United States of America he had an arch-enemy called Stanton, who never lost a chance to attack Lincoln. Yet when Lincoln won the election, he surprised his friends, by giving Stanton a post in his cabinet. He defended his action by saying: “He is the best man for the job”, and he was proved right as Stanton gave him loyal service. When Lincoln was assassinated, Stanton paid him this tribute. He said: “Lincoln was one of the greatest men who ever lived”. Once when someone asked Lincoln why didn’t he destroy his enemies, he said: “Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?” It is much easier to take revenge, than to forgive someone. The Lord has made it clear to us that vengeance is His and we have no right to take it. When one fails to forgive and takes revenge, one tries to become like God. St Paul reminds us: “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord’. No, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head. Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good” (Rm 12:19-21). An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth was the norm in Jesus’ time. He advocates a different path to his followers. They have to love their enemies and pray for their persecutors. This was a teaching so far unheard of and following this would definitely hurt the pride, honour and status of a man in society. In spite of this, if one wanted to follow Jesus one should suffer persecution and humiliation, in love and forgiveness. Jesus wanted his disciples to go beyond the Mosaic Law and follow a new path, which he himself walked. Jesus tells us that God the Father loves all of His children deserving and undeserving. He loves them not because they are good but He is all good. His ‘love’ extends impartially and inclusively to all, the good and the bad. His ‘gifts’ of sun and rain extend to all. We must be “perfect” in the same way that “God is perfect.” Forgiveness defeats the enemy and it accomplishes joy, freedom and peace. Unless Christians seek to imitate the all-embracing love of God, they are no better than others. It is said, “Not to forgive, is a decision to suffer”. So let us pray that we may be enabled to forgive and experience forgiveness in our lives. —Fr Johnson Vattakkunnel, ss       February  2011       READINGS  OF  THE  WEEK        Psalter Week  3 21 Mon (W) St Peter Damian, Sir 1:1-10/ Ps 92:1ab.1cd-2.5/ Mk 9:14-29 22 Tue (W) The Chair of St Peter, Fst, 1 Pt 5:1-4/ Ps 22:1-3a.4.5.6/                      Mt 16:13-19 23 Wed (R) St Polycarp, Sir 4:12-22/ Ps 118:165.168.171.172.174.175/                      Mk 9:38-40 24 Thu (G) Sir 5:1-10/ Ps 1:1-2.3.4 & 6/ Mk 9:41-50 25 Fri (G) Sir 6:5-17/ Ps 118:12.16.18.27.34.35/ Mk 10:1-12 26 Sat (G) Sir 17:1-13/ Ps 102:13-14.15-16.17-18/ Mk 10:13-16