Daily Retreat 02/28/09
2009 Feb 28 Sat: Saturday after Ash Wednesday
Is 58: 9b-14/ Ps 85(86): 1-2. 3-4. 5-6/ Lk 5: 27-32
From today’s readings: “Thus says the LORD: If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday.... You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in kindness to all who call upon You.... Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”
The Joy of Lent
Popular parlance focuses on the somber side of Lent, as if our simple sacrifices were somehow sufficient to actually weigh heavily on us. While a real commitment to practical penance and our serious meditation on Christ's passion is nothing light-hearted, gloominess during penance is actually forbidden by Christ in the Gospel of Ash Wednesday (Matthew 6:16), and the first reading today relates how, through true Lenten practices, "gloom shall become for you like midday!"
In fact, the first Lenten preface in the missal (prayed aloud by the priest immediately before the "Holy, Holy, Holy" Sanctus prayer)actually refers to Lent as this "joyful season" of purification and self-denial!
So Levi had it right: our awareness and confession of our sinfulness is absolutely essential so we can hear the voice of Him who explained, "Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners!" When you and I hear that voice, and give answer with our lives to His invitation to "Follow Me!", surely that is nothing to be glum about - rather, our Lenten response needs to be celebrated with the great Eucharistic banquet of joy!
Is 58: 9b-14/ Ps 85(86): 1-2. 3-4. 5-6/ Lk 5: 27-32
From today’s readings: “Thus says the LORD: If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday.... You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in kindness to all who call upon You.... Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”
The Joy of Lent
Popular parlance focuses on the somber side of Lent, as if our simple sacrifices were somehow sufficient to actually weigh heavily on us. While a real commitment to practical penance and our serious meditation on Christ's passion is nothing light-hearted, gloominess during penance is actually forbidden by Christ in the Gospel of Ash Wednesday (Matthew 6:16), and the first reading today relates how, through true Lenten practices, "gloom shall become for you like midday!"
In fact, the first Lenten preface in the missal (prayed aloud by the priest immediately before the "Holy, Holy, Holy" Sanctus prayer)actually refers to Lent as this "joyful season" of purification and self-denial!
So Levi had it right: our awareness and confession of our sinfulness is absolutely essential so we can hear the voice of Him who explained, "Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners!" When you and I hear that voice, and give answer with our lives to His invitation to "Follow Me!", surely that is nothing to be glum about - rather, our Lenten response needs to be celebrated with the great Eucharistic banquet of joy!
posted by FrPitstick | 2/26/2009
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