February 24/Friday after Ash Wednesday
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.
For I acknowledge my offense, and my sin is before me always.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit. ~ Ps 51.4, 5, 19
Early in the quarantine phase of the pandemic, when we were cooped up in unaccustomed and unrelenting proximity to loved ones, the New York Times published a piece on apology. “After combing through the research,” declared the writer authoritatively, “I’ve learned that a good apology has three components.” The first step, he had discovered, was to “show regret about the impact of your past behavior.” Next, “take responsibility in the present” and third, “describe how you plan to improve in the future.” The writer could have saved himself time and effort by opening his Bible to Psalm 51, where King David – having shown himself to be lustful, deceitful, and literally murderous in the affair with Bathsheba and the arranged killing of her husband, Uriah – had gotten there several millennia before him, sounding the three-fold beat of regret, responsibility, and reform in these verses. Acknowledging the ways we’ve gone wrong is central to the life of prayer – it’s no accident that one of the first utterances in the Catholic Mass, and in many Protestant liturgies, is the confession of sin. So it should be in the privacy of our individual prayer, too: we should be regularly undertaking an unflinching examination of the external and internal events of our lives in the presence of a merciful Lord. It is not easy to face our own failings, much less to acknowledge them to those whom we’ve hurt (starting with God). David himself was initially reluctant to confess his wrongdoing, until moved to recognize and acknowledge it when the prophet Nathan confronted him in 2 Samuel 7. Regret, responsibility, reform: without these, there can be no reconciliation. But to those who approach him with a contrite spirit, the mercy of God will be granted abundantly.
Merciful Lord, Give me the courage to admit my wrongdoing and to seek reconciliation with you and will all those I’ve wounded. Amen.
To hear The Sixteen perform George Frideric Handel’s “Wash Me Throughly,” Chandos Anthem #3, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDC4A4p-kCg
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022423.cfm
