Mt 5:20-26 God’s Way or The World’s
If the wicked man turns away from all the sins he committed, if he keeps all my statutes and does what is right and just, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
It was very late at night. I was spending the night at a friend’s lake house out in Mabank, Texas. While I was saying my night prayers I noticed the hands of a clock suddenly moving rapidly. I looked around to see if anyone else noticed. They were all concentrating in their prayers. Then I realized that the clock, handing on the wall, is an atomic clock. It was re-calibrating itself. Linked to a satellite it was adjusting itself to the exact time by means of a “universal” standard. I got to thinking. Christ is the standard, the universal standard, in which all life is measured. We need to be in sync with Him.
The Lord has set the standard for all of his children and we know we need to periodically adjust, calibrate, re-calibrate ourselves to His Will, His Way, His watch! Lent is a time for reflection so that we can function properly – for the purpose we were given.
Even better, Lent is for us the time to be true to our Maker.
Sin leaves us empty, broken, wasted; feeling abused and used and utterly worthless. “Turn back to me”, says the Lord. He invites us to turn back and reconcile with your brother and yourself before doing anything else. You cannot move forward if broken; otherwise the pain will only get worse.
Now is the time. Now is an acceptable time for our salvation.
What does it mean to surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees? It means to recognize my own sins! The righteous will always be good at pointing fingers at others but never at themselves. If the Lord is to create a new heart, a new spirit in us, then we will have to get rid of the old to make room for the new. Confessing our sins leaves room for a new heart, a new life!
Before asking someone on a date, going on a date, going on the Internet, reading a novel, going on Spring Break, departing on a trip; before writing a response to an e-mail, text messaging, or leaving a message on Facebook or Twitter; before all other things let us turn to the One who is in all things!
Do I need to settle with the Lord my thoughts, my intentions and my actions? Do so NOW before judgment. Catholics have Lent. Protestants have the constant twenty year cycle of predicting the end of the world. New date: 2012!
The Lord invites us to come to Him with open arms, bent knees and broken hearts. The Lord invites us to come to him as our Savior rather than as our Judge. Better to go to the Lord as our Savior and King than as our Judge and Ruler.
The Lord invites us to forgive and be forgiven; to love and be loved. He calls me from afar, from within, from above. I can heed the call or else, prepare for a long drawn out battle with the devil of intrigue, suspicion, jealousies and falsehoods. I will not win! I will surely die.
Whatever happened to the Pharisees? Why did they turn so nasty? How did they get to that place in their lives were they could no longer love or recognize goodness and purity? How did they get so cynical, judgmental and vicious? Believe me when I tell you: all these things are near to us! All these things that I hate in others are near to me! Their problem can easily be mine too: Refusing Christ!
The Lord highlighted, in every word and gesture, what was wrong with the World. Lent is a reminder that He has my name highlighted too!
Let us ask the Lord with all our hearts to keep us from falling again into sin; to deny ourselves today and not to deny those in need; to receive this day of penance as a gift and give it back through works of mercy; to master our rebellious hearts and teach generosity. We ask this in His name. Amen! (Liturgy of the Hours)
"All these things that I hate in others are near to me! Their problem can be mine too: Christ!"
ReplyDeleteAMEN!
It is so easy to find my faults in others. I can miss them in myself, avoid them in myself or justify them in myself. Because if someone else has these 'defects' then I must be okay, right?
I think that when we refuse to look into the mirror, Christ puts others 'like us' in our path so we cannot avoid seeing our own imperfections reflected in them, so that we will take notice and work on fixing them in ourselves. And we don't like it.
Sometimes we blast them, hurting them while we believe we are completely justified because our intentions are sincere, at least consciencely. That's when it's time to humble myself, admit I've inflicted pain and suffering on another, ask for forgiveness and work on changing those characteristics in myself that I find undesirable in others.
"Sin leaves us empty, broken, wasted; feeling abused and used and utterly worthless. “Turn back to me”, says the Lord. He invites us to turn back and reconcile with your brother and yourself before doing anything else. You cannot move forward if broken, the pain will only get worse."
As I meditated on the gospel this morning, I was actually thinking about this reconciliation thing.
I can only think of one person that I am at unrest with and reconciliation seems impossible. I believe I've forgiven, then sometimes I wonder if I have. I know I have in my head, but I'm not sure if I have in my heart. I don't seem to have control over that. I'm not sure because sometimes I am absolutely sure and at other times a memory triggers an emotional response that reminds me of the pain. Maybe that's it, I have made an act of the will, I desire it and I sincerely want good things for them. The emotions will come and go, they are very tricky, often lying. Wonder where that comes from? So maybe I just answered my own question.
I think reconciliation is another story. I believe it requires healing. Maybe healing on both sides.
So I will keep praying and when the Lord thinks the necessary amount of healing has occurred, He will initiate reconciliation if that is His holy will.
Anonymous
ReplyDelete"Sometimes we blast them, hurting them while we believe we are completely justified because our intentions are sincere, at least consciencely. That's when it's time to humble myself, admit I've inflicted pain and suffering on another, ask for forgiveness and work on changing those characteristics in myself that I find undesirable in others."
What you said here is exactly what I have done on more than one occasion. I've done it to my daughter and to a friend. My daughter is good at reminding me and sometimes she'll even get a mirror and hold it up to me. Then I get the message.
But my friend was really hurt when I accused her of being a certain way. I don't even remember what it was anymore, but I'm sure she does. When she had recovered from the initial shock, she tried to defent herself and I wouldn't listen. I was self righteous and had too much pride to admit I might be wrong or that I had even hurt her. I thought she needed to have tougher skin. Our relationship was really awkward for months, maybe close to a year before I humbled myself and apologized and pointed out my own faults.
It was so healing. I had confessed it several times through the months, but I still felt the need to heal the wound that I caused and maybe reconcile. It made all the difference to her. I had made her feel really bad about herself and she quit trusting me for a long time, but actually I think it did more for me than her. Now we re able to laugh about it and our relationship is deeper and more intimate than ever before.
Humility can be a hard pill to swallow, but even if you don't get the results you hope for, you know you've done the right thing by God. And that's all that really matters.
And I think Lent is the best time to humble ourselves.
"What does it mean to surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees? It means to recognize my own sins!"
ReplyDeleteThank you, Father, for answering this question that has puzzled me for years!