Jesus once again reminds us, in powerful terms, of the need for repentance in our lives. Lent is the perfect opportunity to hand over to God our worst fears and sins which keep us prisoners of the heart. When we are burdened in this manner we turn inward, and that beauty which is part of who we are begins to fade like a candle going out and the darkness taking over.
In the gospel, Jesus says, “If you do not repent, you will all perish”. While we may not physically perish, the very best parts of ourselves can begin to slip away. How often have we had such moments in our lives when people we love have noticed that we were distant, unresponsive or angry and short tempered and we weren’t even fully aware that we had become that way?
It often happens gradually with the heart, mind and soul darkening and can go unnoticed until finally someone, usually someone who loves us, lets us know that we have changed. I’m sure each of us has gone through such a long dark night of the soul at some time or another.
Lent offers us an opportunity to strengthen ourselves against such wrong turns in our lives. It is God’s desire that we place the cross of salvation directly in front of us so that His unconditional love will uplift and guide us through Lent to the glory of Easter. The cross represents the completed act of God’s saving love, but for us in the present it is the place where we may leave our anger and our sinfulness and be reborn as God’s beloved children.
May all of our Lenten journeys lead us to this sacred place so as to rise in Easter glory with His Beloved Son.
Jesus tells us, “From the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.” I often reflect that the human heart is the receptacle of all we are and hope to be. So, faith, hope and love should be the primary occupants in all our hearts. St. Paul lectured us extensively on those three gifts a few weeks ago.
Jesus puts it in stark terms—you can nurture evil in the human heart and be a force for destruction in the world or you can store up goodness and build the Kingdom of God by being a disciple of Christ in the vineyard of life. Jesus uses the anthology of a good tree that bears good fruit reminding us that the fruit we bear in the world is a tell-tale sign of the goodness we bear in our hearts. In his many parables and teachings, Jesus highlights many of the evils in the world and the story which begins our Gospel today highlights one of the evils that he hates most hypocrisy. It is a subtle destructive evil that we are all capable of. We judge and condemn others without first looking within ourselves. Jesus even uses the word with great and pointed affirmation, “you hypocrite!”. How many of us would he say that to? I would hope as few as possible, but the brief gospel teaching before us reminds us how easy it is to fall into the trap of being a hypocrite.
Let us all reflect and pray, in these remaining days before Lent, that we rise above judgment and condemnation and rather look into our own hearts and continue to build up the store of goodness by which we would most liked to be known and remembered.