CCC Cross Reference:
Ps 79:9 431
Lk 6:36 1458, 2842
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Reading 1
Dn 9:4b-10
“Lord, great and awesome God,
you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you
and observe your commandments!
We have sinned, been wicked and done evil;
we have rebelled and departed from your commandments and your laws.
We have not obeyed your servants the prophets,
who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes,
our fathers, and all the people of the land.
Justice, O Lord, is on your side;
we are shamefaced even to this day:
we, the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem,
and all Israel, near and far,
in all the countries to which you have scattered them
because of their treachery toward you.
O Lord, we are shamefaced, like our kings, our princes, and our fathers,
for having sinned against you.
But yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness!
Yet we rebelled against you
and paid no heed to your command, O Lord, our God,
to live by the law you gave us through your servants the prophets.”
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 79:8, 9, 11 and 13
R. (see 103:10a) Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.
Remember not against us the iniquities of the past;
may your compassion quickly come to us,
for we are brought very low.
R. Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.
Help us, O God our savior,
because of the glory of your name;
Deliver us and pardon our sins
for your name’s sake.
R. Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.
Let the prisoners’ sighing come before you;
with your great power free those doomed to death.
Then we, your people and the sheep of your pasture,
will give thanks to you forever;
through all generations we will declare your praise.
R. Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.
Gospel
Lk 6:36-38
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
“Stop judging and you will not be judged.
Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.
Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Give and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.
For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Daniel 9:4 - 10
O Lord, God great and to be feared, you keep the covenant and have kindness for those who love you and keep your commandments: we have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly, we have betrayed your commandments and your ordinances and turned away from them. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, our ancestors, and to all the people of the land. Integrity, Lord, is yours; ours the look of shame we wear today, we, the people of Judah, the citizens of Jerusalem, the whole of Israel, near and far away, in every country to which you have dispersed us because of the treason we have committed against you. To us, Lord, the look of shame belongs, to our kings, our princes, our ancestors, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God mercy and pardon belong, because we have betrayed him, and have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God nor followed the laws he has given us through his servants the prophets.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 78(79):8-9,11,13
Do not treat us according to our sins, O Lord.
Do not hold the guilt of our fathers against us.
Let your compassion hasten to meet us;
we are left in the depths of distress.
Do not treat us according to our sins, O Lord.
O God our saviour, come to our help.
Come for the sake of the glory of your name.
O Lord our God, forgive us our sins;
rescue us for the sake of your name.
Do not treat us according to our sins, O Lord.
Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;
let your strong arm reprieve those condemned to die.
But we, your people, the flock of your pasture,
will give you thanks for ever and ever.
We will tell your praise from age to age.
Do not treat us according to our sins, O Lord.
Gospel Luke 6:36 – 38
Jesus said: ‘Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Monday of the 2nd Week of Lent
From: Daniel 9:4b-10
Daniel's Penitential Prayer
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[4b] "O Lord, the great and terrible God, who keepest covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, [5] we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from thy commandments and ordinances; [6] we have not listened to thy servants the prophets, who spoke in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. [7] To thee, O LORD, belongs righteousness, but to us confusion of face, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those that are near and those that are far away, in all the lands to which thou hast driven them, because of the treachery which they have committed against thee. [8] To us, O LORD, belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers; because we have sinned against thee. [9] To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness; because we have rebelled against him, [10] and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by following his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets."
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Commentary:
9:4-19. This is a penitential prayer in which Daniel speaks in solidarity with his people and intercedes on their behalf. He acknowledges that God has acted justly in punishing the people by driving them out of the chosen land (vv. 4-8), but he reminds God that he is also forgiving and merciful (v. 9). They have been punished in line with the Law of Moses (v. 13), but God, who delivered them from Egypt (v. 15), will surely listen to his servants when they appeal to him, for his mercy is great (v. 18). If he forgives them, it will redound to the honor of God's name (vv. 17, 19). Commenting on v. 18, St Jerome observes: "Daniel expresses himself in human terms: when we are listened to, it seems as if God has inclined his ear to us; when he turns to look at us, it seems as if he has opened his eyes; and when he turns his face away, it is as if we are not worthy of being heard or to appear in his sight" ("Commentarii in Danielem", 9, 18). St Basil, on another point, notes that Daniel's fasting prepares the ground for the revelation that follows: "Daniel would not have seen the vision if he had not first refined his soul by fasting" ("De Jejunio", 1,9). For penitential prayers similar to this, see Ezra 9: 6-15; Neh 9; Ps 51; Bar 1:15-3:8. Although Daniel's prayer is about the ordeal of exile, it is valid at all times. The Church, too, "embracing in her bosom sinners, at same time holy and always in need of being purified, always follows the way of penance and renewal" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 8).
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From: Luke 6:36-38
Love of Enemies (Continuation)
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(Jesus said to His disciples,) [36] "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. [37] Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; [38] 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."
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Commentary:
36. The model of mercy which Christ sets before us is God Himself, of whom St. Paul says: 'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions" (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). "The first quality of this virtue", Fray Luis de Granada explains, "is that it makes men like God and like the most glorious thing in Him, His mercy (Luke 6:36). For certainly the greatest perfection a creature can have is to be like His Creator; and the more like Him he is, the more perfect he is. Certainly one of the things which is most appropriate to God is mercy, which is what the Church means when it says that prayer: 'Lord, God, to whom it is proper to be merciful and forgiving...'. It says that this is proper to God because just as a creature, as creature, is characteristically poor and needy (and therefore characteristically receives and does not give), so, on the contrary, since God is infinitely rich and powerful, to Him alone does it belong to give and not to receive, and therefore it is appropriate for Him to be merciful and forgiving" ("Book of Prayer and Meditation", Third Part, Third Treatise).
This is the rule a Christian should apply: be compassionate towards each other people's afflictions as if they were one's own, and try to remedy them. The Church spells out this rule by giving us a series of corporal works of mercy (visiting and caring for the sick, giving food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty...) and spiritual works of mercy (teaching the ignorant, correcting the person who has erred, forgiving injuries...): cf. "St. Pius X Catechism", 944f.
We should also show understanding towards people who are in error: "Love and courtesy of this kind should not, of course, make us indifferent to truth and goodness. Love, in fact, impels the followers of Christ to proclaim to all men the truth which saves. But we must distinguish between the error (which must always be rejected) and the person in error, who never loses his dignity as a person even though he flounders amid false or inadequate religious ideas. God alone is the judge and the searcher of hearts; He forbids us to pass judgment on the inner guilt of others" (Vatican II, "Gaudium Et Spes", 28).
38. We read in Sacred Scripture of the generosity of the widow of Zarephath, whom God asked to give food to Elijah the prophet even though she had very little left; He then rewarded her generosity by constantly renewing her supply of meal and oil (1 Kings 17:9ff). The same sort of thing happened when the boy supplied the five loaves and two fish which our Lord multiplied to feed a huge crowd of people (cf. John 6:9)--a vivid example of what God does when we give Him whatever we have, even if it does not amount to much.
God does not let Himself be outdone in generosity: "Go, generously and like a child ask Him: 'What can You mean to give me when You ask me for "this"?'" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 153). However much we give God in this life, He will give us more in life eternal.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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