Lenten Exercise #13
Again, apologies for getting behind.
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Monday of the Second Week in Lent
Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/021808.shtml
The readings today have a sort of call and answer dynamic. In Daniel and in the Psalm, there is a pleading for mercy - an acknowledgment of sinfulness, a profound sense of contrition, and a prayer - more like a desperate cry - for the mercy of God. In turn, Christ answers not merely with an assurance but an antidote.
"Stop judging, and you will not be judged. Stop condemning, and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you." While we may be reliant on the grace of God and His mercy to emerge from our sinfulness (i.e., we cannot make it on our own), we are also not to be merely passive. What we do, how we act, shapes who we are. It disposes us well to receive the grace, mercy, and forgiveness of God.
Note again that the tone of the reading from Daniel is markedly penitential, but at the same time hopeful. It is not asking for punishment; rather, it is looking towards the compassion and mercy of God. The point is this: to err in the sight of such a good God is even more woeful, and this leads to genuine and heartfelt contrition. It is not merely contrition born of fear. It is just like the feeling you get when you've let someone down - which is worse, I take it, than when you feel you've simply broken a rule. Thus, contrition takes on a positive tint in that it is not simply fear of retribution, but it is disappointment with self that cannot be shaken but that will be met with mercy and forgiveness.
In this light, we can also look again at the Gospel. It is the response of a loving and generous father who admonishes but charges us to do better. It is the response of "I understand, you are forgiven, but go and sin no more." The command is to be merciful "as your Father is merciful." That is a tall order, and alone we fail, but by aiming at it and by our works we dispose ourselves to receive the grace in its fullness. We dispose ourselves by setting the bar high (i.e., the mercy of the Father) so that by striving we are always reaching for what is best with the support of a good, generous, and gracious God. When we do fail, we then feel a depth of disappointment in ourselves. We then turn to God for forgiveness, and having been well disposed receive the grace to again pick up our cross and follow Christ.
*****
Monday of the Second Week in Lent
Readings: http://www.usccb.org/nab/021808.shtml
The readings today have a sort of call and answer dynamic. In Daniel and in the Psalm, there is a pleading for mercy - an acknowledgment of sinfulness, a profound sense of contrition, and a prayer - more like a desperate cry - for the mercy of God. In turn, Christ answers not merely with an assurance but an antidote.
"Stop judging, and you will not be judged. Stop condemning, and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you." While we may be reliant on the grace of God and His mercy to emerge from our sinfulness (i.e., we cannot make it on our own), we are also not to be merely passive. What we do, how we act, shapes who we are. It disposes us well to receive the grace, mercy, and forgiveness of God.
Note again that the tone of the reading from Daniel is markedly penitential, but at the same time hopeful. It is not asking for punishment; rather, it is looking towards the compassion and mercy of God. The point is this: to err in the sight of such a good God is even more woeful, and this leads to genuine and heartfelt contrition. It is not merely contrition born of fear. It is just like the feeling you get when you've let someone down - which is worse, I take it, than when you feel you've simply broken a rule. Thus, contrition takes on a positive tint in that it is not simply fear of retribution, but it is disappointment with self that cannot be shaken but that will be met with mercy and forgiveness.
In this light, we can also look again at the Gospel. It is the response of a loving and generous father who admonishes but charges us to do better. It is the response of "I understand, you are forgiven, but go and sin no more." The command is to be merciful "as your Father is merciful." That is a tall order, and alone we fail, but by aiming at it and by our works we dispose ourselves to receive the grace in its fullness. We dispose ourselves by setting the bar high (i.e., the mercy of the Father) so that by striving we are always reaching for what is best with the support of a good, generous, and gracious God. When we do fail, we then feel a depth of disappointment in ourselves. We then turn to God for forgiveness, and having been well disposed receive the grace to again pick up our cross and follow Christ.