Today’s Readings – Friday of week 1 of Lent - First Reading

Commentary on Ezek 18:21-28

The prophet Ezekiel today makes a double point.

On the one hand if the man who has done evil genuinely repents of what he has done he will be totally forgiven. “All the sins he committed will be forgotten from then on; he shall live because of the integrity he has practised.” Because it is God’s desire that we should live rather than die. On the other hand, if the formerly good man turns to a life of sin, he will die in his sin. Some may object that that is not fair. Why should he be punished when he did so much good in the past?

There was a tendency among the people of the Old Testament to believe that people were not only guilty of their past sins but even of the sins of their parents. We remember, in John’s go … Continue

Yesterday’s Readings – Thursday of week 1 of Lent - First Reading

Commentary on Esth C 12, 14-16, 23-25

Esther, a Jewish woman and queen to King Assuerus (in Greek, Xerxes) of Persia, used her influence to avert a massacre of her people by the Persians. As she prepared to enter the presence of the king she made the prayer in today&rsq … Continue