A reading from the book of Daniel (9:4-10)
I pleaded with the Lord my God and made this confession: “O my Lord, God great and to be feared, you keep the covenant and show faithful love towards those who love you and who observe your commandments: we have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly, we have betrayed your commandments and rulings and turned away from them. We have not listened to your servants the prophets who spoke in your name to our kings, our chief men, our ancestors and all people of the land.
“Saving justice, Lord, is yours; we have only the look of shame we wear today, we, the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the whole of Israel, near and far away, in every land to which you have dispersed us because of the treachery we have committed against you. To us, our kings, our chief men and our ancestors belongs the look of shame, O Lord, since we have sinned against you. It is for the Lord our God to have mercy and to forgive since we have betrayed him and have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God nor followed the laws he has given us through his servants the prophets.”
This prayer of Daniel, inspired by the reading of Scripture, is set during the Exile, but can be used in any situation of need. Daniel recalls the covenant love of God, and then repeatedly acknowledges the sin of the people. They admit: ‘we have not listened to your servants the prophets who spoke in your name’. Disregarding God’s word is the basis of all sin. God is a god of ‘saving justice’, but only ‘shame’ belongs to the people scattered ‘near and far away’. Daniel prays fervently that God will show mercy and forgive.
Psalm 79 (78) is a psalm of penitence, which reflects the statements in the prayer of Daniel.
A reading from the holy gospel according to Luke (6:36-38)
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap; because the standard you use will be the standard used for you.’
While in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus says ‘Be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect’, in Luke we learn what those words of Jesus might mean. Jesus insists here on being ‘compassionate’, a word which has a depth of feeling to it and a clear requirement of holiness and love. It is accompanied by four more imperatives: ‘do not judge’, ‘do not condemn’, ‘forgive’ and ‘give’. Each of these imperatives, if acted on, will bring positive consequences of compassionate love. These verses of Luke’s gospel, like the Sermon on the Mount, confirm that we are called to imitate the goodness of the Father.
Should we strive for perfection?
For people trapped in situations where there is no compassion or human warmth, we pray.