CATHOLIC MEDITATION: Monday - 7 March, 2022. 1st week - Lent, Year C.

[Music] uh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen greetings god's beloved people and welcome you are listening to catholic meditation i am your preacher for the blessed today is monday the 7th of march 2022 it is monday of the first week of lent church year c the church celebrates the first day of sins perpetua and felicity matters good morning and thanks for joining us let us pray oh god at the urging of whose love the matters since perpetua and felicity defied their persecutors and overcame the torment of death grant we ask by their prayers that we may ever grow in your love through our lord jesus christ your son who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit one god forever and ever amen the first reading is taken from the book of leviticus chapter 19 verses 1 and 2 and verses 11 to 18. the responsorial psalm is taken from psalm 19 the response to the psalm is your word o lord are spirit and life the gospel is taken from saint matthew chapter 25 verses 31-46 i read from the first reading the lord said to moses say to all the congregation of the sons of israel you shall be holy for i the lord your god am holy you shall not steal not deal falsely nor lie to one another and you shall not swear by my name falsely and so profane the name of your god i am the lord you shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him the wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning you shall not curse the death or put a stumbling block before the blind but you shall fear your god i am the lord you shall do no injustice in judgment you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor you shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people and you shall not stand forth against the life of your neighbor i am the lord you shall not hate your brother in your heart but you shall reason with your neighbor lest you bear sin because of him you shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people but you shall love your neighbor as yourself i am the lord the word of the lord thanks be to god [Music] jesus who gave himself [Music] oh [Music] you hear how kind we [Music] the theme for today's meditation is be holy as god is holy be holy as god is holy dear friends in christ in today's first reading god instructed moses to tell the people that he wants them to be holy he wants them to be holy for two reasons first because he god is holy and because he is holy so too his children have to be holy second he wants his children to be holy because only the holy people shall enter heaven it is now important beloved for us to understand what does it mean to be holy who are the holy people to understand this and fully provide a correct response we must make a distinction between being holy and being pious because often we mistake one for the other to be holy is different from being pious and to be pious is different from being holy piety is a quality of being reverent or religious it is general comportment a pious person keeps acts of piety such acts include moving in a reverent way speaking in a soft spoken way inclining one's head and putting hands together like a prayer praying talking only about holy things etc and sometimes i remember while we're back in the seminary when you put on a pair of socks with your sandals oh you look so pious i remember too as young boys growing up often sometimes people looked at those who were very pious and said they were holy perhaps because of the way they walked or because of the way they talked piety could also be seen in dressing wearing a particular kind of dress for example the pharisees were always in long tassels and walked obsticuously they were just simply being pious so we hear consecrated men and women being called religious the addressing mixed empires priests are called reverend father being pious is in no way being holy we can observe acts of piety that is being pious yet we are far from being holy hence the statement is made the habit does not make the monk habit here is the name that is given to the special dress that reverend sisters reverent brothers and monks wear if we were to go by that dressing or perhaps the way of talking or walking of some of them we would say they are very holy but that habit does not make the monk meaning it is not by the wearing of that dress that means one is a monk it is much more anyone can wear that dress of course some have used those habits those particular dresses to do evil but the monk has to go beyond his dress that is he has to go beyond his piety his actions should show it so one who acts well without the dress is much more a monk than the one who wears the dress but does not act accordingly we remember jesus often attacked the pharisees who also won long clothes they were religious they were pious yet we all know how far the way they were away from holiness their deeds proved how evil they were so in a word piety and a pious person limit acts to mere externals these are things we see from the outside you can be very prayerful you can walk with hands together walk like you cannot kill an ant listen only to religious gospel music go to and attend mass always read spiritual books you are just being pious these are acts of piety yet despite all this you could not be holy externally you win admiration but internally you are far from god someone could still go for mass someone could still come back from prayer and still hate his brother or sister so such one is pious but not holy you can fast and pray for seven hours yet you support violence then you have been pious you are not holy you can pray and fast you have been pious but if you come out and cannot forgive one who hurts you then you are far from being holy in today's first reading god tells us exactly what can make us holy it is not to deal falsely with others it is not to steal not to lie to one another not to swear in god's name falsely not to keep back the wages of a hired servant not to curse the death or put a stumbling block on the road of the blind not to deal in justly with others beloved these are the things that make us holy a popular funeral song says heaven is holy and only the righteous shall enter there and in today's first reading god tells us exactly the kinds of things that will make us righteous it is in our relationship with god and with others now this brings us to holiness what is holiness holiness is righteousness it is important beloved that we make this distinction all through this season of lent we are invited to be holy we are making attempts to be holy we are fasting we are praying we are doing arms giving but beloved all these acts are pious acts if they do not transform us then we end at mere religiosity we end at near externals we end at mere piety but we do not become holy your fasting should transform you your arms giving should transform you you are attending stations of the cross should transform you to love your neighbor to forgive those who hurt you to treat others justly then beloved you become holy now that is the difference holiness is righteousness to be righteous means to be morally right and justifiable to be set right before god and one is right or just before god in the good deeds that they do and in their good intentions and actions it is an internal matter and goes far beyond the external so jesus would always accuse the pharisees for their piety and religiosity mere externals but with hearts far from god that which mattered the internal he concluded they were like white washed tombs shining outside beautifully decorated but inside filled with rotten bones dear god good people let us get this clear and straight if our piety does not transform and lead us to holiness then we cannot make heaven your piety must and should lead you to holiness this is the holiness god wants from us holiness that comes from within from inside and when you see someone's actions you can know if they are holy or not it is not just about mere piety now you get it a pious person who does good acts only for externals is a hypocrite a pretender and this is exactly who the pharisees were hypocrites they showed external acts of piety but deep inside they were far from god you cannot be holy without being pious but being pious alone is not enough prerequisite for holiness we need to interiorize our piety a holy person transforms piety to good deeds beloved again i repeat all your prayer means nothing if you cannot give water to a thirsty person all your arms giving means nothing if you cannot get food to a hungry person all of your fasting is useless if you cannot forgive one who has offended you so let us ask ourselves are we truly holy are we heading towards holiness or have we limited ourselves to mere piety to buy us acts that are just external let us pray for that grace beloved that our piety may move us to holiness and that we may not earn only at the externals we may not end only at those things that are just mere piety and pious deeds but that our pious acts may transform us into holiness since perpetua and felicity whose feasts that we celebrate today are two african women among the many christians who gave their life for christ as matters in the early centuries during the persecution of septimus severus at carthage in northern africa around the year 203 perpetua a 22 year old noble woman and her slave felicity who was pregnant faced death hand in hand from wild beasts and the sword the example is a great challenge to all of us to live our christian faith without compromise through your intercession may our piety lead us to holiness amen the lord be with you may the blessing of almighty god the father and the son and the holy spirit come on you and remain with you forever amen we say happy feast day to all the perpetuals and felicities so

Channel: Fr. BLESSED Ambang Njume

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Length: 17min 12sec (1032 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 06 2022