Friday of the First Week of Lent

Today's Readings

"Do I not rather rejoice when he turns from his evil way that he may live?" - Ezekiel 8:23 

"Jesus said to his disciples: 'I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.'" - Matthew 5:20

Many times, Scripture seems to contain a fundamental contradiction. A message of abounding love, hope, and grace, comes accompanied by seemingly impossible demands for perfection and subsequent curses. Both Testaments contain these pairings, and even more, the Church calls us to a season of Lent, in a way, to celebrate it. This season that comes after the Great Epiphany and before we celebrate the Resurrection calls us to celebrate all the ways we fail to realize the greatness of God. During Lent, we acknowledge all of the ways we have not seen or embraced the great realization of the incarnation, and we prepare and repent, all to begin anew, again, come to the end of these forty days. 

[W]e share with all those...who brought forth the words
and blessings of God through feeble, human hands.

Lent is a call to remember our failures, but it can also serve us that we are not expected to be any better, brighter, or more perfect than those who came before. We read the commands and curses like those of Ezekiel today and remember that we share with all those who came in ancient times who brought forth the words and blessings of God through feeble, human hands. We read the Gospel today, and at once, seek to find ways to resolve anger in our lives and relationships, but also know that even the Apostles who walked adjacent to Jesus did so with arguments about who amongst them was the greatest. Scripture remembered both their greatness and their failing, at least in part, to show how their greatest failings can also reveal the greatness of God. 

We are called to do the same every day, but during the season of Lent, we are intentional and reminded that we all share in it - from the beginning to the present day. This is a season where we celebrate that we were not given a call to be perfect, but instead, receive the greatest blessings from the open acknowledgment of our failures. Those same things that can destroy us are transformed into blessings if we face them, own them, and strive to turn toward good. 

The message of Scripture comes with curses and blessings adjacent and seemingly in contradiction, at least in part, because life does as well. This can be something to shy away from, but Lent forces us to not only acknowledge that reality but also celebrate it. We are called to proclaim our shortcomings alone and gathered with others. We are called to remember the ancient wrongs, the systematic wrongs, and our place in the whole mess of it, because, through that, we can join with the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and saints who did the same. We can transform the curses into the opposite, and we too, can become the Good News.

Mary Julia Jett, PhD

Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies