Set Our Souls on Justice
Today's readings are from Is 58:1-9a, Ps 51:3-6,18-19, Matt 9:14-15.
The reading from Isaiah today really forces us to look at what it is we hope to accomplish by our Lenten fast. It is very easy to get caught feeling good about ourselves for our fast, thinking that by an insignificant finite suffering we are somehow meriting favor with God. The people of Israel were demanding that God would "declare what is due to them, pleased to gain access to God." The Lord responds through the prophet, "Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits, and drive all your laborers. Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting, striking with wicked claw." It is important especially during this Lenten season to understand that fasting is not something which merits favor from God, but rather is an act of repentance for our sinfulness. It is a corrective measure, an aid to helping us heed the words of the Lord in the opening of Mark's Gospel, "Repent, and believe in the gospel."
Fasting is a way of turning our souls away from the worldly pleasures which so enslave us, so that we might repent and turn back towards God, our highest good. This is why the prophet Isaiah tells us that a true fast is one which aligns our souls with justice, for as St. Augustine says, "The work of God is justice." And so during our fast, it is not enough to give up some material pleasure, but we also must make a sacrifice of love. We should also be spending additional time in prayer, focusing on loving our neighbor, friend and enemy alike. We should especially use this time to work towards forgiving those who have hurt us. And we should work towards justice, "releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke." Then we will offer a fast which is pleasing to God.
So during this Lenten season, let us work not only to empty ourselves of our worldly attachments, but let us also work to empty ourselves in love for the children of God, the true "agape" love to which we are called. And let us be filled in prayer with the goodness of God, so that when we do empty ourselves, we are so filled with God that the old habits and old attachments have no room to work their way back into our soul. Let us offer to our God our contrite spirit, for "a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn."
Peace in Christ,
Michael
The reading from Isaiah today really forces us to look at what it is we hope to accomplish by our Lenten fast. It is very easy to get caught feeling good about ourselves for our fast, thinking that by an insignificant finite suffering we are somehow meriting favor with God. The people of Israel were demanding that God would "declare what is due to them, pleased to gain access to God." The Lord responds through the prophet, "Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits, and drive all your laborers. Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting, striking with wicked claw." It is important especially during this Lenten season to understand that fasting is not something which merits favor from God, but rather is an act of repentance for our sinfulness. It is a corrective measure, an aid to helping us heed the words of the Lord in the opening of Mark's Gospel, "Repent, and believe in the gospel."
Fasting is a way of turning our souls away from the worldly pleasures which so enslave us, so that we might repent and turn back towards God, our highest good. This is why the prophet Isaiah tells us that a true fast is one which aligns our souls with justice, for as St. Augustine says, "The work of God is justice." And so during our fast, it is not enough to give up some material pleasure, but we also must make a sacrifice of love. We should also be spending additional time in prayer, focusing on loving our neighbor, friend and enemy alike. We should especially use this time to work towards forgiving those who have hurt us. And we should work towards justice, "releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke." Then we will offer a fast which is pleasing to God.
So during this Lenten season, let us work not only to empty ourselves of our worldly attachments, but let us also work to empty ourselves in love for the children of God, the true "agape" love to which we are called. And let us be filled in prayer with the goodness of God, so that when we do empty ourselves, we are so filled with God that the old habits and old attachments have no room to work their way back into our soul. Let us offer to our God our contrite spirit, for "a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn."
Peace in Christ,
Michael