Second Week of Lent, Monday, March 8

Daniel 9:4-10; Luke 6:36-38 Psalm 79

Daniel makes an act of contrition for all the people of Judah and Israel. In the responsorial psalm we ask God to remember not our iniquities.

If we examine our conscience carefully, we see that over the years we have gone against God and often justified it by pretending that we did not really know better and that we had the right intention.

Right intention is good, and ignorance can be excusable at times, but we still did wrong and disobeyed God, hurt ourselves, and hurt others who were affected by our sinful behavior.

An act of contrition is in order. Every day we could make an act of contrition. If we humbly express sorrow for our sins, that may help us to stop judging and criticizing the behavior of others. Judge not and you will not be judged, Jesus says in today's Gospel.

Don't be so touchy, so critical, so sharp. Be humble.

BACK to the previous page