Reflection for Monday of the Second Week of Lent

Today's Mass Readings

The first words we hear today as the entrance antiphon is intoned are: “Redeem me, O Lord, and have mercy on me…” (Ps. 26:11-2). This is the stance of humility and the admission of fault that we hear in the first reading: “We have sinned, been wicked and done evil; we have rebelled and departed from your commandments and your laws” (Dn. 9:5). But the antiphon also reflects an acknowledgment of the Lord’s mercy. Again we hear in Daniel: “But yours, O Lord, our God are compassion and forgiveness.” In spite of all that we have done, the Lord forgives again and again. A similar plea is heard in our responsorial psalm (Ps. 103) “Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins…may your compassion quickly come to us.”

The communion antiphon, “Be merciful, as your Father is merciful” (Lk. 6:36), taken from the opening line of the gospel, challenges us to imitate God in his display of mercy. If we expect to be forgiven (as we entreated the Lord in the entrance antiphon), then we must forgive those who have transgressed against us. We are to be conduits of God’s compassion. We must first show the forgiveness that we hope to receive. “For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.” Indeed, our foot can stand “on level ground,” and we can “bless the Lord in the assembly” if we have first been the agent of the Lord’s clemency and love.

Reflection: Is there anyone in our life we find difficult to forgive? How can we mirror God’s compassion in this situation?

Reflection by Br. Michael Marcotte, OSB