Monday of the First Week of Lent

Today's Mass Readings

When we read a gospel like this, we have to face some hard truths. We realize that hell is a real state of being, not set up to scare us straight. And although faith is a gift that leads the faithful to salvation, we are apparently going to be judged by our charitable works. As the Lord says elsewhere in Matthew’s gospel:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers’” (7:21-23).

This is why we must take the Bible in context. We would not want to reduce Christ’s message and example to works of righteousness. It takes grace to initiate, sustain, and perfect these deeds. In fact, we often fail until we surrender to doing them by God’s will and not out of vainglory.

Another thing we may have misunderstood comes to us in Leviticus today. We think the commandment to not take the Lord’s name in vain is using it as profanity. The Lord rather says that it is to not attribute to God things that He has not said or imply that God approves our evil deeds as just. This ought to cause us to be cautious, especially in our culture today. Often, we feel compassion for what seems to be suffering, when we may enable persons to persist in sin and ignorance.

Along with the Corporal Works of Mercy, upon which we will be judged, we are called to follow the Spiritual Works of Mercy: instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, admonish sinners, bear wrongs patiently, forgive offenses willingly, comfort the afflicted, and pray for the living and dead. The complete picture of discipleship always includes the nuance of both/and propositions.

Reflection by Fr. Pachomius Meade, OSB