CHOOSE LIFE OR DEATH, BLESSING OR CURSE

Prayer before Mass: Almighty and ever-living God, I approach the sacrament of Your only-begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. I come sick to the doctor of life, unclean to the fountain of mercy, blind to the radiance of eternal light, and poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth. Lord, in Your great generosity, heal my sickness, wash away my defilement, enlighten my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness. May I receive the Bread of Angels, the King of kings and Lord of lords, with humble reverence, with the purity and faith, the repentance and love, and the determined purpose that will help  to bring me to salvation. 

May I receive the sacrament of the Lord’s Body and Blood, and its reality and power. Kind God, may I receive the Body of Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, born from the womb of the Virgin Mary, and so be received into His mystical body and numbered among His members.

Loving Father, as on my earthly pilgrimage I now receive Your beloved Son under the veil of a  sacrament, may I one day see Him face to face in glory, who lives and reigns with You forever. Amen. By Knights of the Holy Eucharist. Readings Lectures  Homily 

First Reading 

I  set before you today, choose life or death, blessing or curse  Deut. 30:15-20

Moses said to the people: ‘See, today I set before you life and prosperity, death and disaster. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I enjoin on you today, if you love the Lord your God and follow his ways, if you keep his commandments, his laws, his customs, you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to make your own. But if your heart strays, if you refuse to listen, if you let yourself be drawn into worshipping other gods and serving them, I tell you today, you will most certainly perish; you will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today: I set before you life or death, blessing or curse. Choose life, then, so that you and your descendants may live, in the love of the Lord your God, obeying his voice, clinging to him; for in this your life consists, and on this depends your long stay in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob he would give them.’

Responsorial Psalm

Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord

Gospel                    Luke 9:22-25

Whoever loses his life for my sake will save it

Jesus said to his disciples: 

‘The Son of Man is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death, and to be raised up on the third day.’

Then to all he said: 

‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, that man will save it. What gain, then, is it for a man to have won the whole world and to have lost or ruined his very self?’

My choice in life will determine my eternity my Father in heaven.  I should strive to keep God's commandments, obey His laws. I must strive to live a pure life, I must be considerate in my dealings with my fellow creatures. I must try to imitate Christ Jesus, I should accept the will of God in my life, not to say I reject it in Jesus name. In rejecting God's will is an act of disobedience to His law, because His Holy will will be my hope of eternity. I should pray to know His will while accepting my daily cross. I should be careful and pray for discernment, for there are crosses that are self-imposed. That I do not become bitter, in the choice I have made, that are not according to God's will of which I will bear the consequence of my action. This will serve as correction to mistakes and wrong choices I made for a better me.

Father I choose life, not death.  I choose blessing, not curse. The criteria for life and blessing is following your will, obeying your commands, and accepting my cross for your greater glory my God.  Father may your will be done in my life. Thank you Lord Jesus for loving me. During this Season of Lent, walk with me Lord, work in me Lord, Lord make me know your will.