Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent
As we enter deeper into Lent, some of the challenges get more pointed. Today Jesus points out that we must stay focused on humble service in community.
Who doesn’t like to be acknowledged and honored? But what we do mustn’t be with that goal in mind. What we do should be in the spirit of the first reading from Isaiah: making justice our aim. We are called to protect the most vulnerable. We have so many examples of vulnerable ones in our society and even in our neighborhoods today. What are each of do doing to bring greater justice? Now it would be easy to just feel guilty that I’m not doing enough. But that’s not the tone of the first reading. Isaiah even says that those people often held up as models of iniquity, Sodom and Gomorrah, are encouraged, invited to learn to do good. They are not beyond the invitation to “wash yourselves clean” and “redress the wronged”. I have always loved the way the invitation is extended. “Come now, let us set things right,” says the Lord. It is not a judge with arms crossed waiting to see if we can do this by ourselves. It is a lover, gently saying let’s work on this together. Our salvation lies in accepting that invitation and allowing God to help us truly make justice – right living and right loving – our aim.
—Sr. Laura Leming, FMI PhD