Monday of the Second Week of Lent

JUSTIN MARTYR:

We pray for you that you might experience the mercy of Christ. He instructed us to pray for our enemies, when he said, “Be kind and merciful, even as your heavenly Father is merciful.” We can observe that almighty God is kind and merciful, causing his sun to shine on the ungrateful and on the just and sending rain to both the holy and the evil. All of them, he has told us, he will judge.¹

AUGUSTINE:

The Christian soul understands how far removed he should be from theft of another’s goods when he realizes that failure to share his surplus with the needy is like to theft. The Lord says, “Give, and it shall be given to you. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven.” Let us graciously and fervently perform these two types of almsgiving, that is, giving and forgiving, for we in turn pray the Lord to give us good things and not to repay our evil deeds.²

AUGUSTINE:

“Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” “Give, and it will be given you.” These are the two wings of prayer, on which it flies to God. Pardon the offender what has been committed, and give to the person in need.³

AUGUSTINE:

So there is hope in God’s mercy, if our misery is not so barren as to yield no work of mercy. What do you want from the Lord? Mercy. Give, and it shall be given to you. What do you want from the Lord? Pardon. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.⁴

1. DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO 96.  Just, A. A. (Ed.). (2005). Luke (p. 109). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
2. SERMON 206.2.  Just, A. A. (Ed.). (2005). Luke (p. 110). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
3. SERMON 205.3.  Just, A. A. (Ed.). (2005). Luke (p. 110). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
4. SERMON 179A.1.  Just, A. A. (Ed.). (2005). Luke (pp. 110–111). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.