Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent
“Come now, let us set things right, says the LORD: Though your sinsbelike scarlet, they may become white as snow; Though they be red like crimson, they may become white as wool (Is 1:18).” As we continue to celebrate the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, Isaiah offers us this vivid and beautiful imagery of the Mercy of God, and his desire to help us “set things right.”
In today’s Gospel, Jesus admonishes religious leaders who are showing off in their prayer by, “widen[ing] their phylacteries and lengthen[ing] their tassels” (Mt. 23:5) both of which are outward symbols of piety for the Jewish people.
If this admonishing sounds familiar, it might be because the Gospel for Ash Wednesday has a similar message (a footnote in today’s Gospel even points us to that reading). In those two passages from Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus calls us to a humble discipleship.
We are 32.5% of the way through Lent today. Today’s readings prompt us to ask how we are doing with our Lenten promises, albeit in different ways.
We all make mistakes, each and every single day. The first reading reminds us that all of us face a daily decision to either accept God’s mercy and work to make things right or to carry on in our sinful ways. Perhaps we have stumbled in our effort to keep our Lenten promises. The first reading leads us to ask if we are willing to try again. Those times we’ve fallen short on our Lenten promises, are we willing to admit that we have made a mistake, ask for forgiveness then pick up and try again?
Our Gospel leads us to ask if we are keeping our Lenten promises with a sense of humility. Is our Lenten promise common knowledge in our workplace because we have been griping and groaning about it for the past thirteen days? Or are we keeping our Lenten promises quietly and humbly? What opportunity can we take to live our Lent more humbly in the remaining twenty-seven Lenten days?
Lord God, Father of all Mercy, we ask you to help guide us as we enter the last two-thirds of the Lenten season. Open us to returning to You who is capable of washing away our most staining crimson sin. Help us to find the path to live as humble disciples. We ask this through your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you forever and ever. Amen.
-Will Marsh