< <  

Saturday, February 27, 2021

  > >


Deuteronomy 26:16-19
Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 7-8
Matthew 5:43-48

View Readings
Similar Reflections

peculiar people

“Today the Lord is making this agreement with you.” —Deuteronomy 26:18

The Lord promises to “raise you high in praise and renown and glory above all other nations” (Dt 26:19). All you have to do is “be a people peculiarly His own” (Dt 26:18). In other words, you must belong and relate to the Lord not like other people but in a special way. You belong to Him not just because you were created by Him but because you are committed to Him. You are perfected as He is perfect (Mt 5:48), and holy as He is holy (1 Pt 1:16). You have the same relation to the world as He does (1 Jn 4:17).
Because you have the heart and mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16), you act and react as He does. You belong to the Lord in such a way that you are His body (1 Cor 12:13). You choose poverty, persecution, and the cross, as He did (2 Cor 8:9; Mt 5:3, 10).
Finally, what definitively proves you have a unique relationship with the Father is your love for enemies (Mt 5:44). Only the Father would create, feed, heal, bless, and be merciful even to those He knew would mercilessly destroy His Son. “His sun rises on the bad and the good, He rains on the just and the unjust” (Mt 5:45). Loving enemies is the most unmistakable indication of being “a people peculiarly His own.”

Prayer:  Father, You gave everything for me, even Your Son, when I had given nothing for You (see Rm 5:8). Thank You for Your unconditional love.

Promise:  “Happy are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord.” —Ps 119:1

Praise:  Pete’s co-workers think him strange for his faith, but they quietly come to him when in trouble.

Reference:  (For a related teaching on Crucified to the World, order, listen to, or download our CD 40A-3 or DVD 40A on our website.)

Rescript:  "In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for One Bread, One Body covering the period from February 1, 2021 through March 31, 2021. Most Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Auxiliary Bishop, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio March 31, 2020"

The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.