Friday of First Week of Lent, March 2, 2007

:Ezekiel 18:21-28. Psalm 130. Matthew 5:20-26, Lectionary #229 God's love, like human love, demands a "Yes" response from us. Sometimes we take love for granted and do not respond with a Yes. But God's love is there everyday and it is so magnanimous that we are almost obliged to respond with our Yes each day and say "I love you." This yes to God's love is our way of continuing on the journey toward holiness which seems to be the theme for today's readings. And I am always reminded that the Second Vatican Council 1962-1965 calls all of us to be holy people. The call to holiness is universal and not reserved to those who feel called to vowed religious life. We all are familiar with God's great love in the following verse of Scriptue from St. John's Gospel: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." (John 3:16). In the first reading from Ezekiel we take some of the first steps toward being holy persons. We must make the right moral decisions and live out the commandments of God as well as the precepts. We are thereby forming a correct conscience and are on the way toward holiness, but we can stray from that inner voice and follow our sinful inclinations; then we have to start all over with a complete turning to God again--the Teshuvah and the Metanoia that we saw int he readings a few days ago has to be part of our call to holiness when we fail. A well informed conscience corrects what we think is right but have not sufficiently reflected upon the consequences of our moral decisions. It is not easy for we all are inclined to rationalize our way through decisions, moral decisions. We may think we are really great but we always are awared that we can fall from that greatness in the call to respond to God's love. Psalm 130 helps us get the right perspective and see the bigger picture in this road to holiness. It is one of the great penitential psalms that has us crying out to God for help from the depths (It is called the De Profundis). In this Psalm we hear or sing, "If you, O Lord, mark our iniquities who can stand?" If you laid bare our guilt who could endure?" We then are told that the Lord is kind and merciful and plentious in redemption and that God will help us turn again to him and God will deliver us from our sins. Jesus teaches us to observe the commandments and to fulfill the law and the prophets by love for our neighbor and even our enemies. That is what the beautiful saying means in today's Gospel with its message of reconciliation: "So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sisters and then come and offer your gift." (Matthew 5:23-24). Despite the call to such holiness for all of us, we realize that it not an easy task! Amen.