Saturday of the Third Week of Lent
Jesus’ parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee leaves all of us feeling a little uncomfortable. It should; that was Jesus’ intention! Lent is an appropriate time to examine our interior attitude toward prayer. This gospel passage holds up a mirror to our spiritual lives. Most Catholics take on bona opera or good works for Lent, such as extra prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. It can be all too easy for us to fall into a subconscious pattern of patting ourselves on the back for a good job at keeping a rigorous fast, putting in long hours of extra prayer each week, or giving very generous donations to charity. It is tempting at times to glance at someone else’s Lenten practices and say to ourselves, “Hmm…that seems pretty minimal” or “I would hope he/she is doing more than that. After all, I’m doing the max this year!”
The purpose of our Lenten good works is to remove the attachments in our lives that hinder our spiritual growth—those things that come between us and the Lord. Our bona opera are simply aids in opening our hearts to God and in helping us realize that we depend totally upon Him. God showed the depth of his love for us by sending his only begotten Son to save us from sin and death. In the face of such great love, we realize our own poverty and sinfulness. Rather than contrasting our spiritual practices with those of others this Lent, we need to examine our lives using Jesus as our exemplar. In comparison to Jesus’ selfless gift of his life for us, (“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” Jn 15:12.) we are overwhelmed by our inability to love to the point of total sacrifice. We can only fall to our knees and humbly cry out with the tax collector: “O God, be merciful to me a sinner” (Lk 18:13).
Reflection by Br. Michael Marcotte, OSB
Posted in Articles for Lent, Daily Reflections