Daily Readings for February 28, 2015

1ST READING

All we need to do is obey the Lord. The good things we have in life have been given to us by God. Discipleship is our willingness to choose not to do what Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden. Obedience in love is the best response to God’s goodness to us. Let us use our free will wisely so that we draw closer to God and not farther from Him.

Deuteronomy 26:16-19

16 Moses spoke to the people, saying: “This day the Lord, your God, commands you to observe these statutes and decrees. Be careful, then, to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17 Today you are making this agreement with the Lord: he is to be your God and you are to walk in his ways and observe his statutes, commandments and decrees, and to hearken to his voice. 18 And today the Lord is making this agreement with you: you are to be a people peculiarly his own, as he promised you; and provided you keep all his commandments, 19 he will then raise you high in praise and renown and glory above all other nations he has made, and you will be a people sacred to the Lord, your God, as he promised.”

P S A L M

Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8

R: Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

1 Blessed are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord. 2 Blessed are they who observe his decrees, who seek him with all their heart. (R) 4 You have commanded that your precepts be diligently kept. 5 Oh, that I might be firm in the ways of keeping your statutes! (R) 7 I will give you thanks with an upright heart, when I have learned your just ordinances. 8 I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me. (R)

GOSPEL

Perfection is a lofty goal. Nevertheless, the Scriptures command us to aim for it. This indicates the high regard in which God holds us. God has never given up on us and He never will. Why should we give up on the goal of perfection if He is on our side?

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Matthew 5:43-48

43 Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may bechildren of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? 47And if you greet your brothers and sisters only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? 48 So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

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