Saturday February 27, 2021 - First week of Lent - Now is the right time, now is the day of salvation - Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 5, 43-48

Jesus exhorts us to holiness or to perfection, and commands to this effect: "You therefore will be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." When God created the universe in the beginning, He saw that everything He had done was good, and it is this goodness which gradually leads to this perfection; that is, we have to take back the state in which we were created. Therefore, in everything we do, we must aim for this perfection. Beware of what is bad and persevere in what is good to do better. Here it says in the Old Testament: "You shall love your neighbor and you will hate your enemy. "But Jesus brought it to perfection by commanding:" Well! I say to you: Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may truly be the children of your Father who is in heaven. ”He did not abolish what is written, but made it more worthy and perfect. Of course, it is not easy to put into practice, but one must resign himself to it and persevere with love and conviction. The easiest way, so that it does not become too burdensome, is not to create enemies: let us be peacemakers and sowers of love.However, let us always be vigilant, because evil knows how to take advantage of our slightest weakness to make us fall.

Moreover, one of the attributes of God that Jesus reveals to us here is impartiality: "He makes his sun rise on the wicked and on the good, He makes rain fall on the just and on the unjust". We, on the contrary, are quick to discriminate, to be arrogant and conceited; so that those who are not of the same opinion, race, origin, party or association, and even our successful brothers or sisters, we seek to harm them. It is far from being the ideal image of our Father, an image that we have nevertheless inherited. It requires that we change direction and repent of it; living an authentic Lent also demands it. It is in politics that the concepts of opponents and partisans run, but we who are all children of God are the same in his eyes. The limbs, although different and numerous, form the whole body; also there is no reason to discriminate especially since it is unworthy of the children of God. Let us support each other in our journey towards holiness and take courage as we move forward towards Easter, a foretaste of eternal Easter that we will share one day. Amen.