Tuesday of the 3rd week of Lent year A
Theme: A plea for mercy
In the 1st reading of today from the Book of the prophet Daniel, we see Azariah praying and seeking the mercy of God on behalf of the people. In his prayer we see humility, faith, and absolute trust in God, and this says a lot about his person. He is not praying for himself, friends, and family alone, he was rather praying for all the people, standing in the gap, and seeking for the mercy of God. This is an attitude that is very good and worthy of emulation, by all of us who are called Christians. He is using his personal faith and trust in God to pray for the mercy of God for everybody. Praying for God’s intervention in their situation and deliverance. This is selfless prayer and very powerful.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, the season of Lent also encourage us in a very special way to emulate the action of Azariah, it is selfless and worthy of emulation. We are encouraged to perform good actions for the common good of all, without hidden personal gains or interests. The more we practice such actions in our lives, the more we will attract the love and blessings of God to ourselves. A selfless life is one of the attributes of the followers of Christ, and it is worthy of emulation.
The question of Peter to Jesus in the gospel reading about how many times you must forgive your brother, gave Jesus the opportunity to lecture us on forgiveness. According to the answer of Jesus, you should forgive as many times as they offend you. Humanly speaking, it is a difficult one, but with the grace of God and our human effort it is possible. One thing that is worthy of note from the parable of Jesus in today’s gospel is the fact that we are all in need of mercy and forgiveness in different ways. Thus, when we receive the mercy and forgiveness of God and our neighbours, we must also extend it to others that are also in need of mercy and forgiveness from us. Simply put, we cannot get mercy and forgiveness and refuse to extend the same to others. We must try to practice this in our life, knowing fully well that we are all in need of mercy and forgiveness.
The readings we have today is encouraging us in a very special way to practice some of the virtues of our Christian life, as we go through this season of Lent. May God grant us the grace to practice these virtues in our daily life, in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. Amen. Peace be with you.