Friday, February 27, 2026

 Friday of the First Week of Lent

(Ezekiel 18:21-28; Matthew 5:20-26)

Children have difficulty comprehending the message in today’s reading from the prophet Ezekiel.  They see not forgiving the offense of someone who has always lived virtuously as unfair.  Before one agrees with them, she should realize that children are, by definition, young.  They don’t have a treasury of memories for which continual thankfulness to God is due.  God will reject the sinner, even if he has priorly lived an exemplary life, for not having expressed gratitude with increasing virtue.

Childishness is also behind the rebellion that causes a person to call a brother or sister “fool.”  Children often act out when they do not get their way because they have not yet learned how to control their emotions.  They think that they have a right to express what they feel inside.  Maturing, especially under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, should temper their rebellious ways.

The season of Lent aids the maturing process.  It is a time of intense reflection on our actions and our lives.  We are to recall God’s beneficence and to respond with gratitude. We are also to review our relationships and to reconcile ourselves with anyone we have mistreated.

Friday, March 11, 2022

 Friday of the First Week of Lent

(Ezekiel 18:21-28; Matthew 5:20-26)

So many people remain stuck in their vices that stories of conversions seem hard to come by.  Who knows many individuals who lived for years lives in deceit but now are model Christians?  However, every Alcoholics Anonymous group can give hundreds of examples.  The number of conversion stories becomes gigantic with the one hundred three thousand AA groups in the world today.

Both Scripture readings speak of the need for conversion.  The Lord says in Ezekiel that when one converts, past sins are forgotten.  The converted person does not have to worry about her debts, at least to the Lord.  In the gospel Jesus implores sinners to reconcile with those they have offended.  If not, he warns, they will pay a heavy price.

Lent is a time of conversion.  We make amends.  We start anew.  One writer notes how many families are guilty of willful neglect by seldom eating together. He suggests that the family meal would serve as a better Lenten practice than giving up desserts.  We should create at least one new habit each Lent that would move us out of a sinful way.

Friday, March 10, 2017

Friday of the First Week in Lent

(Ezekiel 18:21-28; Matthew 5:20-26)

At the beginning of “Paradise Lost” John Milton claims his intent is to “justify the ways of God to men.”  He is needed after reading the passage from Ezekiel which says that God might condemn a person after making just one false move.  As school children will ask, would a man really be damned to hell after failing to attend mass one Sunday morning and then being hit by a dump truck on the way to the store to buy ice cream?

O.k., the example is frivolous, but the question remains crucial.  How can it be said that a person might not be judged on the totality of her actions but for one malicious deed?  As always, the best way to address the issue is to defer to Jesus.  Today’s gospel is taken from his Sermon on the Mount where he presents his New Law or righteousness.  He says that people will not be judged so much on their outer actions as on their heart’s intentions.  A man may bow before another not out of esteem but in deception.  His action will be judged as wanting.  A woman may say nice things to another one day and gossip about the person the next.  Her words will convict her of duplicity.

In any case we need to be slow about judging others.  The human heart is often so twisted by life’s contingencies that it does not know what it desires. And then there is God’s overwhelming mercy!  We pray that everyone will be saved as we try to purify our own intentions.  In these ways we trust that God will not condemn us.

Friday, February 27, 2015

Friday of the First Week of Lent

(Ezekiel 18:21-28; Matthew 5:20-26)

At a recently held male spirituality retreat many of the participants were recovering alcoholics.  They had decided previously to give their lives to a “Higher Power” as Alcoholics Anonymous prefers to call God and now were deepening their commitment.  Although alcoholism is evidently as much a physical as a moral condition, AA at least does not deny some responsibility on the part of alcoholics. They must recognize that they have hurt others by their habit and take responsibility for not falling into the condition again.  Today’s readings portray such people as saints.

Ezekiel announces the Lord’s will as the salvation of sinners.  It does not free them from responsibility but urges them to reform.  Their reward, it says, will be “life.”  In the gospel Jesus teaches his disciples that they must seek forgiveness from those they have offended for their altar sacrifice to be worthy.

It is not easy to recognize our sins and even harder to seek the forgiveness of others.  Yet both chores are at the heart of Christian faith.  If we are going to walk with Jesus, we must act so that our sins are forgiven.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Friday of the First Week in Lent

(Ezekiel 18:21-28; Matthew 5:20-26)

At first God’s judgment in the passage from Ezekiel seems unfair. Where is justice if one person transgresses the law every the day of her life, makes a death bed confession, and then leaves the world in peace while another always tries to do what is right, clicks the wrong Internet file, and then has a heart attack while viewing pornography? But such scenarios defy human experience. People who habitually sin find self-justifying reasons for their offenses and do not readily stop. A liar, for example, likely takes such pleasure in deceit that foregoing it requires considerable effort.

On the other hand, the righteous person has developed virtue which makes violating the principles by which she lives unthinkable. Such a person hardly “slips up” but will do wrong only after a conscious change of heart. For example, people who attend Mass every Sunday will usually find a church when they are on the road unless their reason all along has been to be seen by others.

The “scribes and the Pharisees” are the ones in Matthew’s gospel whom Jesus criticizes for doing good for show and harboring pride in their hearts. Because he dispenses the Holy Spirit to his disciples, Jesus expects better behavior from us. Indeed, the Spirit moves us to develop virtue by prompting us to do what is right despite the difficulty involved. Once virtue is established, we do not have to worry about slipping up before we die. Performing righteous acts will then be as normal as breathing.

Homilette for Friday, March 6, 2009

Friday of the First Week in Lent

(Ezekiel 18:21-28; Matthew 5:20-26)

At first God’s judgment in the passage from Ezekiel today looks unfair. What justice is there if one person transgresses the law every the day of her life, changes her ways just before she dies, and then leaves the world in good standing while another always tries to do what is right, slips up before he dies, and finds himself in very hot water? But such a question defies human experience. Humans who sin become accustomed to acting as they do and find self-justifying reasons. If a man habitually masturbates, for example, he will likely say that the act is good for him because it makes him feel better. To repent of this sin, then, requires considerable effort.

On the other hand, the person who always does what is right becomes virtuous so that violating the principles by which she lives becomes unthinkable. That person hardly “slips up” but does what is wrong through a very conscious decision. For example, people who have given God His due every Sunday will usually find a church unless they have all along been attending mass just to be seen by others.

The “scribes and the Pharisees” are the ones in Matthew’s gospel whom Jesus criticizes as doing good for show and harboring pride in their hearts. Because he dispenses the Holy Spirit to his disciples, Jesus expects better behavior from us. Indeed, he enables us to develop virtue by doing what is right because it is right despite the difficulty involved. Once we do so, we do not have to worry about slipping up before we die. Virtue will be so ingrained that doing what is right will become as normal as breathing.