"WALK DAILY WITH JESUS”, 27/02/26, (Friday, 1st Week of Lent in Year A).

COLLECT: “GRANT THAT YOUR FAITHFUL, O LORD, WE PRAY, MAY BE SO CONFORMED TO THE PASCHAL OBSERVANCES, THAT THE BODILY DISCIPLINE NOW SOLEMNLY BEGUN MAY BEAR FRUIT IN THE SOULS OF ALL. THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, YOUR SON, WHO LIVES AND REIGNS WITH YOU IN THE UNITY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, GOD, FOR EVER AND EVER. AMEN”.

Ez 18:21-28; Ps 129:1-8 and Mt 5:20-26

The ideal life for a Christian/believer is ‘to be perfect as God is perfect’ (Cf. Mt 5:48). However, since we live in this imperfect and sinful world, it is not possible to be like God. We can only live some of the virtues or attributes of God to a certain extent. We are encouraged to avoid sin as a way of becoming perfect as God our Father is in Heaven. Sin is not committed at the very point or moment it is carried out or effected, but right from the mere thought of it in the mind and in the heart. That is why Jesus teaches that we should rather avoid the root causes of sinful acts. Being angry with a neighbour easily leads to a quarrel, and then to a fight, and this may easily end up in murder. Also, a prolonged grudge, if no move is made toward reconciliation, may easily result in worse things and acute sufferings (Cf. Mt 2:20-26). Sometimes even innocent people suffer for this.

We can be as perfect as our Heavenly Father is, if we also make the effort to change our guilty lives, either due to our personal/individual sins or due to some person(s) sins and wrong deeds which have affected us (Cf. Ezekiel 18:21-28). If we renounce our life’s direction of sin and rebellion and return to God our heavenly Father who is perfect, he will give us a new direction, a new love and a new power to change for the better. Thus, “if the wicked man turns away from all the sins he committed…, he shall surely live, he shall not die… And if the virtuous man turns from the path of virtue to do evil, …can he do this and still live?....” (Ez 18:21-28). May we always humbly acknowledge our wrong deeds and come to God for forgiveness. May we also avoid complacency.

Indeed, God is perfect love but he also dispenses perfect justice. His perfect love is the reason for his being merciful to those who acknowledge their sinful deeds and turn back to him. He however cannot overlook those who willfully or deliberately sin and refuse to acknowledge and return to him. Wicked people die both physically and spiritually as they refuse to repent and reconcile to God and with their neighbour. However, God does not take joy in the death of the wicked person who refuses to repent. Rather, God prefers that such a person turn to him and have eternal life.

Let us remind ourselves that this earthly life is short and temporal. It will end maybe at a time and point I am not expecting it. These days the way people die (suddenly or by accident) should speak a lot to us, to always prepare ourselves and put our lives in order. We should not die keeping or holding a grudge or hatred against anyone. We should always make the effort to reconcile and let go of whatever grievances we have with God or against anyone. Let us pray during this grace-filled season of God to return to him to help us change our sinful lives and one day gain eternal life.

Today is Friday in Lent. It is a day of fasting and abstinence. Do something good for someone in your family, workplace, Church, or political party. Also, present or drop what you have not spent today in the Lenten Box for the poor and the needy. Remember to go the Way of the Cross, prayerfully meditating on the 14 Stations of it. Stay blessed and may you have a blissful weekend. God bless you and may your weekend be restful and blissful.

WE MEDITATE TODAY, FRIDAY, ON THE SORROWFUL MYSTERIES: ‘THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN, THE SCOURGING AT THE PILLAR, THE CROWNING WITH THORNS, THE CARRYING OF THE CROSS AND THE CRUCIFIXION’ (WE PRAY FOR SORROW FOR SIN, PURITY, COURAGE, PATIENCE, AND PERSEVERANCE) “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, sinners, now and the hour of our death, Amen”.

PRAYER: “MAY THE HOLY REFRESHMENT OF YOUR SACRAMENT RESTORE US ANEW, O LORD, AND, CLEANSING US OF OLD WAYS, TAKE US UP INTO THE MYSTERY OF SALVATION. THROUGH CHRIST OUR LORD. AMEN”.

Rev. Fr. Aloysius Kpiebaya, Catholic Diocese of Wa, UW/R, Ghana. (00233) 0207867239/0545462863. Email: aloybaya20@yahoo.