March 15/Second Tuesday of Lent
“Why do you recite my statutes, and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline and cast my words behind you?
To him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.” ~ Ps 50.16-17, 23
The other day while I was chatting with a friend, her husband heard me commenting about someone in less than charitable terms. He said pointedly, “Are you going to put that into your Lenten reflections?” Even as I laughed, I ruefully recognized an all-too-familiar gap between what I say and what I do — or as one biblical commentator put it, the “disparity between confession and conduct.” Like the ancient Israelites whom God takes to task in an absolutely excoriating indictment today, I had failed, as I often do, to “go the right way.” Hypocrisy is endemic to the human condition. We may be able to recite the Ten Commandments perfectly — but do we live them? Do we “honor the Sabbath” by attending church, then spend the rest of the day attending to work, errands, and chores? Do we smile sweetly at a neighbor before “killing” her behind her back with a judgmental tongue? Do we congratulate a colleague on a job well done while secretly “coveting” his success? We put on a show of goodness, hoping to convince others that we are well-intentioned and morally admirable. But “beneath the clean outer garment,” the great 20th-century Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner wrote, “could be hiding a heart that lacks God and true love.” In the face of our failure to practice what we preach, God is patient. He invites us to offer him sincere hearts and devout spirits, to follow the path he lays out for us. God does not need flowery words or empty promises. God needs our faithfulness, our energy, and our genuine commitment to practice the Gospel, not merely to preach it. That is the right way, the way that leads to the salvation of God.
Lord Jesus Christ, Grant that I may preach your word and share your message through my actions, not merely my words. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031522.cfm
To hear VOCES8 sing “Estro poetico-armonico (The Lord Jehovah, Even the Most Mighty God, Hath Spoken),” by Benedetto Marcello (arr. Charles Avison), click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4wfvXl7xbA
