Saturday of the First Week of Lent
We believe that God truly speaks to us in times of peace but even more in times of turmoil, violence, and the brutality of war. We desperately need to know how to respond in this particular moment of history.
The prophet Moses presented God’s covenant with instructions attached. God was promising to be their God but the people had to do their part. It was not a covenant between equals or equal contribution. God was reaching down with a creative love beyond measure, only asking that the people fulfill their promise of fidelity.
The coming of Christ as the Son of God into the human condition was an explosion of light and power as never before. Jesus, by His example, showed us how to respond: love your enemies and those who persecute you! In this, He is speaking to us with His Father’s love which has been implanted in us through his image. Only God’s creative love could fully understand our weak and incomplete state as we struggle to respond to His call. Jesus tells us to be “perfect,” which sounds like an impossibility. Scholars tell us the word could also be translated as “complete.” We often realize, sometimes painfully, that we along with the whole human race are still not yet “complete.” The presence of war, poverty, national and personal greed convince us that the first and ongoing step continues to be the search for universal justice. Only then can we hope for an emerging peace to still our restless hearts.
Reflection by Fr. Daniel Petsche, OSB
Posted in Articles for Lent, Daily Reflections, Lenten Resources