Today, March 13,2010—Saturday, the First Reading is according to the Book of Hosea Chapter Six Verses One to Six (Hos 6:1-6):

The People’s Insincere Repentance

The people say, “Let’s return to the Lord!  He has hurt us, but he will sure to heal us; he has wounded us, but he will bandage our wounds, won’t he?  In two or three days he will revive us, and we will live in his presence.  Let us try to know the Lord.  He will come to us as surely as the day dawns, as surely as the spring rains fall upon the earth.”

But the Lord says, “Israel and Judah, what am I going to do with you?  Your love for me disappears as quickly as morning mist; it is like dew that vanishes early in the day.  That is why I have sent my prophets to you with my message of judgment and destruction.  What I want from you is plain and clear; I want your constant love, not your animal sacrifices.  I would rather have my people know me than burn offerings for me.”

Our Song of Thanksgiving is from Psalms Chapter Fifty One Verses  Three to Four, Eighteen to Twenty One (Ps 51:3-4,18-21):

A Prayer for Forgiveness

I recognize my faults; I am always conscious of my sins.  I have sinned against you—only against you—and done what you consider evil.  So you are right in judging me; you are justified in condemning me.  O God, be kind to Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.  Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifices and with our burnt offerings; and bulls will be sacrificed on your altar.

The Holy Gospel is according to Luke Chapter Eighteen Verses Nine to Fourteen (Lk 18:9-14):

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Jesus also told this parable to people who were sure of their own goodness and despised everybody else.  “Once there were two men who went up to the Temple to pray: one was a Pharisee, the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee stood apart by him and prayed, ‘I thank you, God, that I am not greedy, dishonest, or an adulterer, like everybody else.  I thank you that I am not like the tax collector over there.  I fast two days a week, and I give you one tenth of all my income.’ 

But the tax collector stood at a distance and would not even raise his face to heaven, but beat on his breast and said, ‘God, have pity on me, a sinner!  I tell you, “said Jesus, “the tax collector, and not the Pharisee, was in the right with God when he went home.  For those who make themselves great will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be made great.”  

The Lord is asking us for a sincere repentance and to open our hearts to forgiveness.  This may not be a simple call yet the Lord has exemplified His unconditional love by Way of the Cross.  May the Lord always be in our hearts and may we always love Him with all of our mind, with all of our heart and with all of our strength.

A Blessed Day to all of you.

Your  Spiritual Advisor—Catherine Lopez-Pepito