Saturday of the First Week of Lent
Intention: That God may bless and protect all those who carry healing and peace to the poor, the abused, and the forgotten people of the world.
Today’s Gospel | Matthew 5:43-48
Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers and sisters only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
A Brief Lenten Reflection
Over the years, the life and teachings of Jesus have routinely been subjected to a type of revisionism intended to soften, if not nullify, their moral demands. Matthew’s narrative of Jesus’ call to love our enemies has been especially scrutinized for what Jesus could have “really” meant, since a literal reading would upset society’s “us vs. them” competition for superiority and control. In a world where power is measured not by what you can do for others, but by what you can do to them, compassion and forgiveness are weakness.
However, equating compassion and forgiveness with weakness betrays a deep misunderstanding of both. Compassion strengthens rather than weakens a community by engendering the trust and cooperation needed to overcome the setbacks and effects of sin. Forgiveness preserves rather than destroys respect and accountability among persons by promoting the healing and conversion that can turn individuals away from hurting one another. Together, the mutual acceptance and respect that are compassion and the mutual mercy and good faith that are forgiveness transform desperate circumstances into ones of hope.
Author Marianne Williamson writes, “Until we have seen someone’s darkness, we don’t really know who they are. Until we have forgiven someone’s darkness, we don’t really know what love is.” These are the experiences that reveal our oneness and chase from our hearts our ignorance and fears about one another. Lent can be a time of reassurance and revelation as we open ourselves to knowing one another and ourselves better through the bonds of compassion and forgiveness.
Prayer
Eternal Father, your Son came to us so that, through his sacrifice on the cross, we would be reconciled to you and to each other. In this time of Lent, bring us together as your body, your church, your people. Restore our hearts to once again welcome each other with joy and without judgment. Help us to love one other, reconciled and sharing forgiveness and healing with one another. Make of us a people worthy of your Son. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.