Saturday - March 05, 2022
TODAY'S READINGS
SATURDAY AFTER ASH WEDNESDAY
Lectionary: 222
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;
Then the LORD will guide you always
and give you plenty even on the parched land.
He will renew your strength,
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring whose water never fails.
The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake,
and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up;
“Repairer of the breach,” they shall call you,
“Restorer of ruined homesteads.”
If you hold back your foot on the sabbath
from following your own pursuits on my holy day;
If you call the sabbath a delight,
and the LORD’s holy day honorable;
If you honor it by not following your ways,
seeking your own interests, or speaking with malice--
Then you shall delight in the LORD,
and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (11ab) Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.
Incline your ear, O LORD; answer me,
for I am afflicted and poor.
Keep my life, for I am devoted to you;
save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God.
R. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.
Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for to you I call all the day.
Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
R. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.
Hearken, O LORD, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my pleading.
R. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth.
Verse Before the Gospel
I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord,
but rather in his conversion, that he may live.
Gospel
Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post.
He said to him, “Follow me.”
And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him.
Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house,
and a large crowd of tax collectors
and others were at table with them.
The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying,
“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
Jesus said to them in reply,
“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.”
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Because Lent this year is like no other ...
Remove from your habits the sins of oppression, false accusation and malicious speech. Share your food with the hungry and comfort the afflicted. Honor the Lord by not following your own ways. In other words: Do what Jesus did, handle evil the way Jesus did, and lovingly obey the Father like Jesus did. Then light shall replace your darkness.
For the past couple of years, we've been shocked by the depths of darkness in our world. Exposed in ever-deepening layers, evil has become clearer to us. We see the many ways it's been destroying our societies, our health, our families, and even our churches from within. And the revelations are still unfolding. Because of how much has been unveiled, Lent this year is like no other.
It's now extremely important to read the signs of the times, especially looking for clues of what God wants us to do about evil. And we must read what's happening in the world through the lens of scripture, which means: through God's eyes. Not through fear. Not through the news media. But through faith in God the Father who brings resurrection from disaster.
Now more than ever we need to repent of our participation in evil -- both personally and corporately. We need to repent from being silent when we could have spoken up against evil. We need to repent from the fear of persecution. We need to repent from voting for politicians who are pro-abortion and who commit and promote other destructive evils. We need to repent from letting fearful things take our eyes off of Jesus. We need to repent from blindly following leaders without examining their guidance or commands through the lens of faith (a faith that's been formed by the Word of God and the untainted teachings of the Catholic Church).
Following Jesus takes us to the purifying cross, but it also leads us to resurrection, the fruits of purification. Repentance this Lent needs to take us to deeper levels of humility. This Lent, it's not enough to sacrifice from eating candy or drinking coffee. Our Lenten practice should change us -- make us more like Jesus -- which then also changes the world.
We need to humbly examine how unlike Christ we are (individually and as a Church). What did he do that we are not doing? What did he think that we are not thinking? What did he boldly teach that we are not teaching? Now more than ever, we need to beg God's forgiveness personally and corporately. (And by "corporately" I don't mean parish penance services. I mean praying, "Lord forgive us, for WE have sinned," feeling agony about the various ways that the Christian body on Earth has failed to look like Christ.)
This is how light replaces darkness. Remember, the purifying cross leads us to resurrection. The more purification we force ourselves into, the greater the resurrection. And the more serious we are about changing, the sooner the fruits of purification will change our Church and, from there, the world.
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The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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