Word to the Wise
Friday, February 20, 2015 - Friday after Ash Wed.
[Isa 58:1-9a and Matt 9:14-15]This, rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own. [Isaiah]
Isaiah makes it very clear. Religious observance without justice is empty and to no avail. He attacks the "fasting" of the people as a mere sham because they are not helping the poor and the oppressed. Later on, the Gospel of Matthew will echo this message in the famous scene of the last judgment in chapter 25.
Lent has just begun and it is more than a matter of deciding what to give up. It is a time of conversion and reconciliation. Can we spend some time thinking about what we can do to "release those bound unjustly?" How can we share our bread with the hungry and clothe the naked.
Isaiah is shouting at us about these things. We dare not be deaf! AMEN