Liturgical Readings for : Monday, 26th February, 2024
Second Week of Lent: Monday
Daniel sees the goodness and generous love of God and contrasts that with the wickedness and betrayal of the people.
He understands well that only God can heal them, only God could have for such mercy .
FIRST READING
A reading from the prophet Daniel 9:4-10
We have sinned, we have done wrong.
“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, O 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.”
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God
Responsorial Psalm Ps 78: 8-9. 11. 13 Rv Ps 102:10
Response Do not treat us according to our sins, O Lord.
1. Do not hold the guilt of our fathers against us. Let your compassion hasten to meet us
for we are in the depths of distress. Response
2. 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. Response
3. 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. Response
Gospel Acclamation
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
The seed is the word of God, Christ the sower;
whoever finds this seed will remain forever.
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
Or Jn 6:63, 68
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life; you have the message of eternal life.
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
Gospel
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 6:36-38 Glory to you, O Lord
Grant pardon, and you will be pardoned.
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘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.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Gospel Reflection Monday, Second Week of Lent Luke 6:36-38
There is a striking image of God in today’s first reading, which is a prayer asking God for forgiveness, ‘Integrity, Lord, is yours… To the Lord, our God, mercy and pardon belong’. It is because the one praying believes so strongly that it is in the nature of God to be merciful and forgiving that he can be so honest about his own failings and those of the people, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’. We can be totally honest about our failings only with those we know will accept us and love us as we are, without judging us. The Lord accepts and loves us as we are, which is why we can be totally honest with him about our failings. The Lord, who loves us as we are, also loves us enough to keep calling us beyond where we are, to live in ways that are true to what is best and deepest in us. The Lord wants us to be holy, as God is holy, to be loving, as God as loving, or, in the opening words of today’s gospel reading, to be compassionate as God is compassionate. We are made in the image of God and only a life that, in some way, reflects the life of God is worthy of us and will bring us true joy.
Jesus reveals the life of God to be a life of self-giving love. To live a life that reflects the life of God is to be giving as God is giving. In the gospel reading, Jesus assures us that in living in this self-giving way, we will receive more than we give, ‘Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, will be poured into your lap’. I like that expression, ‘full measure’. When we give of ourselves as fully as we can in loving service of the Lord and his people, in return we will receive a full measure from the Lord. We pray for the grace to live in such a way that we come to experience the Lord’s full measure.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
