Word to the Wise
Friday, March 2, 2012 - 1st Week of Lent - Fri
[Ezek 18:21-28 and Matt 5:20-26]Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything aginst you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
There is an intimate connection between life inside the temple and life outside the temple! Worship cannot be divorced from social interaction. The person who is unjust outisde the temple cannot offer honest worship inside the temple. This message is a constant refrain in the Old Testament prophets, especially in Isaiah. Jesus makes the message clear in the words quoted above from today's gospel scripture. Reconciliation must take place before true worship can occur. He is not referring only to the much later sacrament of penance. Reconciliation is a much broader reality and would include anything from a personal grudge or bias to participation in groups that foster violence or alienation or legislation that encourages violence and alienation. Jesus points out the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees who manipulated the external laws of everyday living to their own benefit. Christian "righteousness" had to do much better.
Lent offers a great opportunity to ask ourselves how we approach the Lord in the temple. Do we come in a state of alienation from our neighbor? Jesus makes it clear in Matthew 25 that our actions or failures to act in regard to our neighbor are directed toward him! The process of coming to terms with ourselves and our neighbor before coming to offer our gift can be a difficult one but I think it accomplishes more than giving up some favorite consumer item for 40 days. AMEN
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