Saturday of the First Week of Lent
Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Mt 5: 43-48
March 4, 2023 | Saturday
You have heard, that it was said: Love your neighbor and do not do good to your enemy. But this I tell you: love your enemies; and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in Heaven. For he makes his sun rise on both the wicked and the good; and he gives rain to both the just and the unjust.
If you love those who love you, what is special about that? Do not even tax collectors do as much? And if you are friendly only to your friends, what is so exceptional about that? Do not even the pagans do as much? As for you, be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Today’s Reflection:
It is not easy to practice the commandment of love of Jesus: loving one’s enemies, doing good to one’s haters, and praying for persecutors requires an act of faith, hope, and love. Yet this is the mortification that matters in living out the pious acts of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving counseled this Lenten season. When one starts praying for his enemies, haters, and persecutors, the fruits of Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection are visible in His followers. /Vulnerasti, 2023
