Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent
Have you gotten to the point in your life where you think: “Observing nine out of the Ten Commandments isn’t bad, right? Let me have one.” We should know that God is merciful but he is not nice. He will not abide any cooperation with evil or settle for anything less than holiness.
Will we get there? Not by our own means, certainly, but in Christ, we can do all things. The first thing we must do is to identify as sinners. The prophet Isaiah calls the Chosen People, God’s own nation – Israel – princes of Sodom and people of Gomorrah – cities destroyed by the Lord due to widespread, grievous sin. Mercy is given when we recognize that in justice we deserve punishment, but then God gifts us with an opportunity to start anew, to be made like Him, reconciled to Him. “Though your sins be like scarlet,” says Isaiah, “they may become white as snow.”
To believe that we cannot change or that God does not want me to strive for holiness is not Christian. As George Cardinal Pell once said: “Secular wisdom claims that leopards do not change their spots. But we Christians believe in the power of the Spirit to convert and change persons away from evil to good; from fear and uncertainty to faith and hope” (World Youth Day 2008).
Reflection by Fr. Pachomius Meade, OSB
Posted in Articles for Lent, Daily Reflections, Lenten Resources