Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 6, 36-38

At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert
to be tempted by the devil.
He fasted for forty days and forty nights,
and afterwards he was hungry.
The tempter approached and said to him,
“If you are the Son of God,
command that these stones become loaves of bread.”
He said in reply,
“It is written:
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth
from the mouth of God.”

Then the devil took him to the holy city,
and made him stand on the parapet of the temple,
and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.
For it is written:
He will command his angels concerning you
and with their hands they will support you,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
Jesus answered him,
“Again it is written,
You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.”
Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain,
and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence,
and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you,
if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.”
At this, Jesus said to him,
“Get away, Satan!
It is written:
The Lord, your God, shall you worship
and him alone shall you serve.”

Then the devil left him and, behold,
angels came and ministered to him.

Be merciful

1) Just as your Father. Jesus invites us and asks us to be merciful because heaven is our ultimate goal. Mercy is something that we are encouraged to put into practice especially during this season of Lent. A time when you should look inside yourself and become aware of those things that you regret; things that are not good, but that no one else knows, just you. In spite of this, God never stops showing you His love and closeness. God never gets tired of giving you opportunities and keeps filling you with His love.

Today you are called to do the same: knowing other people’s troubles, give them the opportunity to change.

2) Judging. This is an issue that is always on our mind. It would be good to play the “how many times have I judged others” game every day… you might be surprised! We want everybody to be perfect or to be what we want them to be… and whoever is not on the same page as us gets criticized! How awful it is to judge, especially based on mere suspicion and not on reality. If we let our imagination run wild, we might imagine a scene with someone on the defendant’s bench!

3) The measure. The measure of things depends on how you measure. Sometimes you are very hard with those around you, but you feel you’re free to do whatever you want. Look at yourself and be honest, be faithful and consistent with what you think and believe. It’s not good to be too hard on yourself or others. Virtue’s measure is right in the middle… not in the extremes. 

Try to make this Lent different. And don’t forget that something good is on the way!   God bless you and be with you, in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit