“WARM WITH GOD’S LOVE”
Lenten Reflections
23rd February 2018.
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FRIDAY, FIRST WEEK OF LENT
Reading 1: Ez 18:21-28 Ezechiel speaks of God’s forgiveness to sinners who repent and warns the virtuous people who depart from the path of virtue to do evil.
Res. Psalm: Ps 130: 1-8 If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord, who would survive?
Gospel:Mt5:20-26 Jesus tells us that worship of God can be ruined by unwillingness to be reconciled with anyone who has anything against us.
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BEING RIGHTEOUS, BEING HOLY!
Today, the prophet Ezekiel places before us God’s expectation of us. He gives us an image of an all merciful God, to all who repent from sin. And a ruthless God of justice, for the good who turn to evil ways. God does not want a mediocrity, he is not concerned with actions, but with the complete personality of each person. Lent is indeed a time for repentance and sorrow for past sins. But repentance is more than mere regret springing from a sense of self-defeat. Lent is a time for conversion, of a real change of mind and heart, a time for all to learn to think, to judge, and to live our community life as totally responsible human beings.
In the Gospel, Jesus speaks about the Kingdom of Heaven. He gives us one bit of clear direction on how to attain that ultimate goal of life – the Kingdom of Heaven. The path He points to is righteousness. Righteousness is being authentic, not fake. The Pharisees struggled with pretending they were holy and good followers of the will of God. But they were not very good at it. They may have been good at the acting job, and they may have convinced themselves and others, but they could not fool Jesus. Jesus could see through the fake covering and perceive that which was underneath. He could see that their “righteousness” was only a show for themselves and others.
If we want to daily keep Heaven as our ultimate goal, then we must also strive to make an honest attempt at holiness. We must daily seek Christ with all sincerity and truth in all the small things of life. We must then let that sincerity shine through, showing what truly lies beneath. To be righteous, in the truest sense, means we sincerely seek God throughout our day and make that sincerity the constant goal of our life.
Prayer: Lord, make me righteous. Please help me to be sincere in all that I do and all that I seek in life. Help me to love You and to love You each and every moment of the day. Jesus, I trust in You. Amen.
Lenten Act: If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, who could survive?” Acknowledgment and confession stands as both prayer and insight into our own place at the altar before God. Let us thus waste no time, but go and be reconciled with God by making a good confession.