Whether we live or die, we live for the Lord

 

Sunday 13 September 2020

Whether we live or die, we live for the Lord 

 

Prayer

Father in heave you are the merciful One. Teach us to be merciful as you are merciful. Your name is Mercy. Your face is Jesus. May we be like him. We make our prayer through you Son, the same Jesus our Lord.

First reading

Ecclesiasticus 27:33-28:9

Forgive your neighbour the hurt he does you; and when you pray, your sins will be forgiven

Resentment and anger, these are foul things,

and both are found with the sinner.

He who exacts vengeance will experience the vengeance of the Lord,

who keeps strict account of sin.

Forgive your neighbour the hurt he does you,

and when you pray, your sins will be forgiven.

If a man nurses anger against another,

can he then demand compassion from the Lord?

Showing no pity for a man like himself,

can he then plead for his own sins?

Mere creature of flesh, he cherishes resentment;

who will forgive him his sins?

Remember the last things, and stop hating,

remember dissolution and death, and live by the commandments.

Remember the commandments, and do not bear your neighbour ill-will;

remember the covenant of the Most High, and overlook the offence.

 

Prayerful reflection

The first reading speaks to each one of us. Anger and hatred apart from causing pain to others is also self-destructive.  Anger and its daughter hatred will eat us away in body and soul. Nonetheless so many indulge in it to their own ruin. The Psalm contrasts God with human beings. Which side of the divide are you on?  

 

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 102(103):1-4,9-12

The Lord is compassion and love, slow to anger and rich in mercy.

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.

The Lord is compassion and love, slow to anger and rich in mercy.

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.

The Lord is compassion and love, slow to anger and rich in mercy.

His wrath will come to an end;

he will not be angry for ever.

He does not treat us according to our sins

nor repay us according to our faults.

The Lord is compassion and love, slow to anger and rich in mercy.

For as the heavens are high above the earth

so strong is his love for those who fear him.

As far as the east is from the west

so far does he remove our sins.

The Lord is compassion and love, slow to anger and rich in mercy.

 

Second reading

Romans 14:7-9 ·

Alive or dead, we belong to the Lord

The life and death of each of us has its influence on others; if we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord, so that alive or dead we belong to the Lord. This explains why Christ both died and came to life: it was so that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

 

Prayerful reflection

Life is an opportunity to be introduced to Jesus, to come to know him and thereby come to love him. Life is meant to be your love story with God who became a human being for you. Once we know him, we will in love live for him and our death will be the moment of seeing the one who loves us, even to the point of his death for us on the Cross. We will live with him forever.

 

Gospel

Matthew 18:21-35

To be forgiven, you must forgive

Peter went up to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times.

‘And so the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who decided to settle his accounts with his servants. When the reckoning began, they brought him a man who owed ten thousand talents; but he had no means of paying, so his master gave orders that he should be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, to meet the debt. At this, the servant threw himself down at his master’s feet. “Give me time” he said “and I will pay the whole sum.” And the servant’s master felt so sorry for him that he let him go and cancelled the debt. Now as this servant went out, he happened to meet a fellow servant who owed him one hundred denarii; and he seized him by the throat and began to throttle him. “Pay what you owe me” he said. His fellow servant fell at his feet and implored him, saying, “Give me time and I will pay you.” But the other would not agree; on the contrary, he had him thrown into prison till he should pay the debt. His fellow servants were deeply distressed when they saw what had happened, and they went to their master and reported the whole affair to him. Then the master sent for him. “You wicked servant,” he said “I cancelled all that debt of yours when you appealed to me. Were you not bound, then, to have pity on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you?” And in his anger the master handed him over to the torturers till he should pay all his debt. And that is how my heavenly Father will deal with you unless you each forgive your brother from your heart.’

Homily

We have received Baptism. But, why? We are Christians. But, why. We go to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. Bur, why?

St. Paul in the second reading gives us what should be our answer. We have come to know Jesus, who was born, died and rose again and is with us now. In love we have given our heart and out life to him. From the time of our Baptism we live for the Lord. He is the king of our heart. His love for us has captured us for himself. Likewise we die for him. Death is not the fearful, crushing event of our life. It is the door to a life of love with the God who longs for us to come to him.

Jesus died on the Cross such a bitter death, because there would be no other way of showing his intense love for us. Now, for his sake, we leave everything. All we want is him.

 

Living for Jesus makes living according to his Gospel easy. To forgive those who are deliberately our enemies is beyond human power. But living for Jesus, we always try to do what is pleasing to him. Our joy is to please him.

 

We pray to our beloved for the grace to be liberated from anger and hatred and all self-destructive habits. He will certainly set us free.

 

 

 

Prayer

Father may we love Jesus, your Son, with all our hearts and live for him live in love with everyone, even our enemies. This is to be a Christian. We make our prayer the your Son, the same Christ our Lord.