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Lent - Week Two 2010
By Pat Lee | March 5, 2010
Friday : March 5th, 2010
Readings : Isaiah 1:10, 16-20; Matthew 23:1-12
Scripture Verse: “Make justice your aim; redress the wronged, hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow.” Isaiah 1:17
Reflection : Mother Teresa used to say that we should help those who suffer because it is Jesus who we discover in the midst of the suffering. Mother Teresa was a humble, very determined, woman who did not place herself above the sick and dying but considered them her equals.
The first step in recognising the Christ in others (see baptismal covenant page 159 Book of Alternative Services) is to see ourselves as their peers. In the gospel Jesus says it this way: “Whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.” (23:12). Jesus condemns the Pharisees because they are so puffed up with their own clothing, position and language that they cannot see beyond themselves. In the first reading, Isaiah denounces the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah because they have ceased to care for the wronged, the orphaned and the widowed.
Lent invites us to look beyond ourselves. Perhaps we might know of someone who has been wronged or is poor, orphaned or widowed, sick or lonely etc. We might keep them in our thoughts and prayers today and reach out to them as our equals. The psalmist writes “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you…” Psalm 50:15
Topics: Lent |