Today, March 10,2010—Wednesday, the First Reading is according to Deuteronomy Chapter One Verses Five to Nine (Dt 1:5-9):

It was while the people were east of the Jordan in the territory of Moab that Moses began to explain God’s laws and teachings.  He said, “When we were at Mount Sinai, the Lord our God said to us, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain.  Break camp and move on.

 Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the surrounding regions—to the Jordan Valley, to the hill country and the lowlands, to the surrounding region, and to the Mediterranean coast.  Go to the land of Canaan and on beyond the Lebanon Mountains as far as the great Euphrates River. 

All of this is the land which I, the Lord, promised to give your ancestors; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants.  Go and occupy it.’   Moses said to the people, “While we were still at Mount Sinai, I told you, “The responsibility for leading you is too much for me.  I can’t do it alone.

Our Song of Thanksgiving is from the Book of Psalms Chapter One Hundred Forty Seven Verses Twelve to Thirteen, Fifteen to Sixteen, Nineteen to Twenty (Ps 147:12-13,15-16,19-20):

In Praise of God the Almighty

Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!  Praise your God, O Zion!  He keeps your gates strong; he blesses your people.  He keeps your borders safe and satisfies you with the finest wheat.

He gives a command to the earth; and what he says is quickly done.  He spreads snow like a blanket and scatters frost like dust.  He gives his message to his people, his instructions and laws to Israel.  He has not done this for other nations; they do not know his laws.

Praise the Lord!  

The Holy Gospel is according to Matthew Chapter Five Verses Seventeen to Nineteen (Mt 5:17-19):

Teaching about the Law

“Do not think that I have come to do away with the Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets.  I have not come to do away with them; but to make their teachings come true.  Remember that as long as heaven and earth last, neither the least point nor the smallest detail of the Law will be done away with—not until the end of all things.

So then, whoever disobeys even the least important of the commandments and teaches others to do the same, will be great in the Kingdom of Heaven.  I tell you, then, that you will be able to enter the Kingdom of heaven only if you are more faithful than the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees in doing what God requires.  

Tomorrow, March 11,2010—Thursday, the First Reading is according to Jeremiah Chapter Seven Verses Twenty Three to Twenty Eight (Jer 7:23-28):

The People’s Disobedience

But I did command them to obey me, so that I would be their God and they would be my people.  And I told them to live the way I had commanded them, so that things would go well for them.  But they did not obey or pay any attention.  Instead, they did whatever their stubborn and evil hearts told them to do, and they became worse instead of better.

From the day that your ancestors came out of Egypt until this very day I have kept on sending to you my servants, the prophets.  Yet no one listened or paid any attention.  Instead, you became more stubborn and rebellious than your ancestors.

“So Jeremiah, you will speak all these words to my people, but they will not listen to you; you will call them, but they will not answer.  You will tell them that their nation does not obey me; the Lord their God, or learn from their punishment.  Faithfulness is dead.  No longer is it even talked about.

Our Song of Thanksgiving is from Psalms Chapter Ninety Five Verses One to Two, Six to Nine (Ps 95:1-2,6-9):

A Song of Praise

Come, let us praise the Lord!  Let us sing for joy to God, who protects us!  Let us come before him with thanksgiving and sing joyful songs of praise.  Come, let us bow down and worship him; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker!  He is our God; we are the people he cares for the flock for which he provides.

Listen today for what he says; “Don’t be stubborn; as your ancestors were at Meribah, as they were that day in the desert at Massah.  There they put me to the test and tried me although they had seen what I did for them.

The Holy Gospel is according to Luke Chapter Eleven Verses Fourteen to Twenty  Three (Lk 11:14-23):

Jesus and Beelzebul

Jesus was driving out a demon that could not talk; and when the demon went out, the demon began to talk.  The crowds were amazed, but some of the people said, “It is Beelzebul , the chief of the demons, who gives him the power to drive them out.”

Others wanted to trap Jesus; so they asked him to perform a miracle to show that God approved of him.  But Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he said to them, “Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long; a family divided against itself falls apart.

So if Satan’s kingdom has groups fighting each other; how can it last?  You say that I drive out demons because Beelzebul gives me the power to do so.  If that is how I drive them out, how do your followers drive them out?  Your own followers prove that you are wrong!  No, it is rather by means of God’s power that I drive out demons, and this proves that the Kingdom of God has already come to you.

“When a strong man with all his weapons ready, guards his own house, all his belongings are safe.  But when a stronger man attacks him and defeats him; he carries away all the weapons owner was depending on and divides up what he stole.”

“Anyone who is not for me is really against me; anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering.”

This Friday—March 12,2010, the First Reading is according to the Book of Hosea Chapter Fourteen Verses Two to Ten (Hos 14:2-10):

Hosea’s Plea to Israel

Return to the Lord, and let this prayer be your offering to him:  “Forgive all our sins and accept our prayer, and we will praise you as we have promised.  Assyria can never save us, and war horses cannot protect us.  We will never again say to our idols that they are our God, O Lord, you show mercy to those who have no one else to turn to.”

The Lord Promises New Life for Israel

The Lord says, “I will bring my people back to me.  I will love them with all my heart; no longer am I angry with them.  I will be to the people of Israel like rain in a dry land.  They will blossom like flowers; they will be firmly rooted like the trees of Lebanon.

They will be alive with new and growth, and beautiful like olive trees.  They will be fragrant like the cedars of Lebanon.  Once again they will live under my protection.  They will grow crops of grain and be fruitful like a vineyard. They will be as famous as the wine of Lebanon. 

The people of Israel will have nothing more to do with idols; I will answer their prayers and take care of them.  Like an evergreen tree I will shelter them; I am the source of all their blessings.” 

May those who are wise understand what is written here, and may they take it to heart.  The Lord’s ways are right, and righteous people live by following them, but sinners stumble and fall because they ignore them.

Our Song of Thanksgiving is from Psalms Chapter Eighty One Verses Six to Eleven, Fourteen, Seventeen (Ps 81:6-11,14,17):

A Song for a Festival

“I took the burdens off your backs; I let you put down your loads of bricks.  When you were in trouble, you called to me, and I saved you.  From my hiding place in the storm, I answered you.  I put you to test at the springs of Meribah.

Listen, my people, to my warning; Israel, how I wish you would listen to me!  You must never worship another god.  I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt.  Open your mouth and I will feed you.  “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not obey me. I would quickly defeat their enemies and conquer all their foes. 

The Holy Gospel is according to Mark Chapter Twelve Verses Twenty Eight to Thirty Four (Mk 12:28-34):

The Great Commandment

A teacher of the Law was there who heard the discussion.  He saw that Jesus had given the Sadducees a good answer, so he came to him with a question:  “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 

Jesus replied, “The most important one is this: ‘Listen, Israel!  The Lord our God is the only Lord.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with your entire mind, and will all your strength.’  The second most important commandment is this; ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’  There is no other commandment more important than these two.

The teacher of the Law said to Jesus, “Well done, Teacher!  It is true, as you say, that only the Lord is God and that there is no other god but Him.  And you must love God with all your heart and with your entire mind and with all your strength; and you must love your neighbor as you love yourself. 

It is more important to obey these two commandments than to offer on the altar animals and other sacrifices to God.’  After this nobody dared to ask Jesus any more questions.

The readings for today until Friday are already prepared.  There are important things I really need to attend to.  Always include our family in our prayers. 

May the Lord God be with us all.

Your Spiritual Advisor—Catherine Lopez-Pepito