Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

(Isaiah 55:10-11; Matthew 6:7-15)

Today’s first reading is taken from the end of the second part of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah.  It shows God about to act on behalf of His people mired in Babylon.  No more will they have to bear insults and prejudice from their overlords.  God will send them home to Jerusalem with the utterance of His word. 

In the gospel Jesus assures his disciples that the Father is ready to assist them as well.  Their prayers do not inform God of their needs nor catalyze Him to act.  Rather their prayers prepare them to receive humbly what God is about to give.  In 2010 thirty-four Chilean miners were trapped after an underground explosion.  They were of different faiths and no faith, but they began to pray together.  “We are not the best of men, Lord,” they prayed, “but have mercy on us anyway.”  All the miners survived the ordeal.

Lent is time to relearn how to pray.  We come to God humbly knowing that He can help us in our need.  We look to Him as our loving Father ready to give us what we request.  And we pray diligently, not allowing our minds to wander or our hopes to wane.

Monday, February 19, 2018

Monday of the First Week in Lent

(Leviticus 19:1-2.11-18; Matthew 25:31-46)

In the urge to give as much assistance to as many people as possible, helpers sometimes miss what is most important about a work of mercy.  If they do not treat people in need with respect, they may even being doing them harm.  Respect literally means to look twice.  It is to see in the other not just another man or woman in need but a human person with feelings, ideas, and relationships.  In light of today’s gospel, respect means to see the person in need as a substitute for Christ.

The St. Vincent de Paul Society makes respect a priority.  It heartily recommends that provisions not be handed to the needy in centers of distribution but be brought to the places where they live.  In this way not only do real needs become apparent but also a sense of concern is conveyed.  Truly helpful relationships are fostered because the people involved develop more than a superficial knowledge of one another.

It is usually not hard for us to provide services to the needy.  Sometimes, indeed, we receive remuneration for doing so.  But what the Lord wants of us in assisting the poor is to treat them as we would treat him.  That is, we are to respect them by attending to their emotional and spiritual as well as their physical needs.

Friday, February 16, 2018

Friday after Ash Wednesday

(Isaiah 58:1-9a; Matthew 9:14-15)

Some always question whether fasting is a worthwhile activity.  After all, if it does any good, the benefit is not readily seen.  Many even advisenot to fast during Lent but to do something of more obvious merit.  Today’s first readings indicates that helping the oppressed is what the Lord wants most of all.  But the gospel hints, at least, that giving up food is sometimes required.

Why is fasting a good thing to do?  Three reasons have been long proffered in favor of fasting.  First, fasting takes one’s attention from lustful objects and demonstrates one’s self-control.  It is true – the more we think of food, the less will our minds wander to sex.  More importantly, however, fasting raises one’s mind to God.  The distress it causes makes one naturally look to God for relief.  Finally, fasting is an act of penance which satisfies for sins.  As the Letter to the Colossians says, one can join his or her suffering to Christ for the benefit of the Church.  A fourth reason for fasting may be added.   One can show love for God by refraining from what he or she enjoys.  A man shaved his head when his wife was undergoing radiotherapy for cancer as an expression of solidarity with her.  So people can think of their fasts as a way to express solidarity with Christ in the desert.

All adult Catholics are required to fast during Lent.  We should not eat any meat on Ash Wednesday and all the Fridays of the season.  We should also refrain from eating more than three times on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.  In these ways we show ourselves as members of a community on the way to renewal.  Few people would say that these mandated practices comprise a great challenge.  We might also augment our fasting by, for example, abstinence from sweets or alcohol.  Such sacrifice will not hurt us  Quite the contrary, they will likely enable us to emerge even stronger from the Lenten journey.

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Thursday after Ash Wednesday

(Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Luke 9:22-25)

“Choose life.”  We have all seen bumper stickers with this anti-abortion message.  No doubt, people who feel burdened by an unexpected pregnancy find the message ironic.  To them life means not taking on the responsibility of birthing a child so that they may pursue personal ambitions.  Life, then, is one of those simple words with a range of meanings. 

In the reading from Deuteronomy today, Moses exhorts the Israelites to “choose life.”  He has in mind God’s righteousness that promises to benefit both individual and community.  By following God’s commandments not only the present generation but also future ones will thrive.  As is his custom, Jesus radicalizes Moses’ message.  He tells his disciples that life comes when they lose their lives for his sake.  This loss surely entails some sacrifice of personal ambition and may require prematurely letting go of biological life.  But these are small forfeitures in comparison to the promise of happiness in eternal life.

Made at Baptism and renewed in every Eucharist our choice has been for Jesus’ way to life.  But have we been faithful to that selection?  During Lent we test ourselves and make all necessary adjustments.  We should foresee ourselves securely on the road to full life by Easter.   

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Ash Wednesday

(Joel 2:12-18; II Corinthians 5:20-6:2; Matthew 6:1-6.16-18)

 For a number of years now Protestants have taken up the custom of imposing ashes.  Certainly not all Protestants, but those from the mainline churches – Episcopalians, Methodists, and Lutherans – are not unlikely to be seen wearing this Lenten sign.  There is no reason for Catholics to be jealous.  It is, after all, a sign of sinfulness, which is prevalent in the churched as well as the unchurched.  But all who wear ashes need be concerned that they are duly determined to change their sinful ways.

There is a story about a man who gave eulogies at funerals.  For a fee the eulogizer would make up something nice to say about the dead.  At one funeral he said that a scoundrel was an honest man who treated everyone fairly.  The people reacted to what was being said with indignation.  But it was not the lies that upset them, but that they admired the scoundrel for his wickedness!  They did not want to think of him as having reformed or, at one time of his life as acting virtuously.  Wearing ashes today with no intention to move from sinfulness to righteous ways is like admiring the scoundrel for his wickedness.

By wearing ashes we promise to change our ways.  They are not a sign that shows that we are Catholics or even Christians.  They are a sign of shame like the student who brings home a report card with straight D’s.  As the student will pledge to her parents that she will make every effort to raise her grades next term so should we work to expunge sins from our lives.