Readings & Reflection for Mass

Thursday after Ash Wednesday
Reading 1 
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Moses said to the people:
“Today I have set before you
life and prosperity, death and doom.
If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I enjoin on you today, loving him, and walking in his ways, and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees, you will live and grow numerous, and the LORD, your God, will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy.
If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen,
but are led astray and adore and serve other gods, I tell you now that you will certainly perish;  you will not have a long life on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and occupy.
I call heaven and earth today to witness against you:
I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse.
Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God,
heeding his voice, and holding fast to Him.
For that will mean life for you,
a long life for you to live on the land that the LORD swore
he would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

Responsorial Psalm Ps 1:1-2
Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.

Gospel Lk 9:22-25
Jesus said to his disciples:
“The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”

Then he said to all,
“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
yet lose or forfeit his soul?”

Meditation: Do you know the healing, transforming power of the cross?
When Jesus predicted his passion his disciples were dismayed. Rejection
and crucifixion meant defeat and condemnation, not victory and freedom.
How could Jesus' self-denial, suffering and death lead to victory and life?
Through his obedience to his Father's will, Jesus reversed the curse of
Adam's disobedience. His death on the cross won pardon for the guilty,
freedom for the oppressed, healing for the afflicted, and new life for
those condemned to death. His death makes possible our freedom to live
as sons and daughters of God. There's a certain paradox in God's economy.
We lose what we gain, and we gain what we lose. When we try run our life
our own way, we end up losing it to futility. Only God can free us from
our ignorance and sinful ways. When we surrender our lives to God, he gives
us new life in his Spirit and the pledge of eternal life. God wants us
to be spiritually fit to serve him at all times. When the body is very
weak or ill, we make every effort to nurse it back to health. How much
more effort and attention should we give to the spiritual health of our
hearts and minds!
What will you give to God in exchange for freedom and eternal life?
Are you ready to part with anything that might keep you from following
him and his perfect plan for your life? Jesus poses these questions to
challenge our assumptions about what is most profitable and worthwhile
in life. In every decision of life we are making ourselves a certain kind
of person. It is possible that some can gain all the things they
set their heart on, only to wake up suddenly and discover that they missed
the most important things of all. A true disciple is ready to give up all
that he or she has in exchange for happiness and life with God. The life
which God offers is abundant, everlasting life. And the joy which God places
in our hearts no sadness or loss can diminish.
The cross of Jesus Christ leads to freedom and victory over sin and
death. What is the cross which Christ commands me to take up each day as
his disciple? When my will crosses with his will, then his
will must be done. The way of the cross involves sacrifice, the sacrifice
of laying down my life each and every day for Jesus' sake.  What makes
such sacrifice possible and "sweet" is the love of God poured out for us
in the blood of Jesus Christ. Paul the Apostle reminds us that "God's
love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit" (Romans 5:5). We can never outgive God. He always gives us more than we can
expect or imagine. Are you ready to lose all for Christ in order to gain
all with Christ?
"Lord Jesus, I give you my hands to do your work. I give you my feet
to go your way. I give you my eyes to see as you do. I give you my tongue
to speak your words.  I give you my mind that you may think in me.
I give you my spirit that you may pray in me. Above all, I give you
my heart that you may love in me, your Father, and all mankind. I give
you my whole self that you may grow in me, so that it is you, Lord Jesus,
who live and work and pray in me." (Prayer from The Grail)
The following reflection is courtesy of Presentation Ministries (c) 2013.
      
       LOVE-LIFE
      
       "Whoever wishes to be My follower must deny his very self." Luke 9:23
      
In a cartoon, the patient said to the psychiatrist: "Do I have to do my own thing? Do I have to do what feels good?" Living for self and pleasure gets old. We like this kind of life at first, but after a while we suspect we're destroying ourselves and wasting our lives. Jesus said as much: "Whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. What profit does he show who gains the whole world and destroys himself in the process?" (Lk 9:24-25) Those who live to do their own thing are to be pitied. They have traded their birthright for trifles (see Gn 25:31ff), and have given up life and love for a shadow of human existence. The only way to escape slavery to self, the emptiness of pleasure-seeking, and the boredom of doing your own thing is to love Jesus with all your heart. Only Christ's love makes life worth living, gives meaning to everyday existence, and provides sure hope for the future. What joy there is in not being enslaved to self! What freedom is to be found in not reducing life to mere pleasure-seeking! What sweetness in carrying the daily cross, for Jesus' yoke is easy and His burden light! (Mt 11:30)
      
            Prayer: Father, I accept the power of the cross and reject the futility of doing my own thing. And please help me this day to accept the people who hurt me & pray for them because they obviously don't know You & there is a strong possibility that they might lose their soul.

            Promise: "I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the Lord, your God, heeding His voice, and holding fast to Him." Dt 30:19-20