I have a confession to make…I am a sinner.
Now that should come as no surprise to anyone. And it is not some big revelation. At least it shouldn’t be to anyone who knows me. Now this is not because those that know me, know me to be an awful human being. Nope. It is for a more basic reason. And we all know it.
We are all sinners. Every last one of us. But for me, the sin that I am most guilty of is highlighted in today’s Gospel reading from Luke. The calling of Levi. It is found in the conversation between the Pharisees and Jesus when they clearly see (from their perspective) that Jesus is not a man of God because of the company He keeps. After all, we become like those we associate with, don’t we? No, the Pharisees put themselves out there as being clean from sin. Of not being like the sinners, the tax collectors, that Levi invited to the banquet with Jesus. No, the Pharisees were not like them. Just like how the Pharisee in the temple “prayed” to God about how glad he was that God did not make him a sinner like the tax collector.
And there is my sin. I must confess, that I often don’t confess. I haven’t killed anyone, haven’t stolen anything, I tend not to take God’s name in vain. Or covet anything that I know if. Though I saw a guy on a REALLY nice BMW Adventure Motorcycle that I would have loved to have…But I digress.
Seriously, I keep the sabbath holy by going to mass every week. I follow fasting observances as the Church asks. I read scripture daily and am involved in various study groups.
In short, I am like the rich, young man who asks Jesus what he needs for eternal life and is proud to proclaim that he has kept the commandments all his life. Overall, I do OK…or do I?
In today’s first reading from Isaiah, we read about the prophet berating the people of Israel for the type of fast that they observe. The people earlier in the chapter ask God why he does not listen to them when they fast and make petitions. And God, through Isaiah, tells them that ritualistic fasting and ceremony is not what He is asking for. The Israelites have just returned from captivity in Babylon and they are trying to restore Israel and the Temple to its previous glory. But they are having problems. Many are hungry, homeless, and lack clothing. The leadership is more concerned about whether they should associate with people outside their community (risking ritual impurity) than addressing the immediate needs of their people. They ask for, and fail to receive, God’s help in rebuilding.
The fast God is looking for is not to focus on the ritual but to turn to those in need and provide for those needs. For them to see what is actually broken and attend to their repair. To be the “Repairer of the breach”. Brick by brick.
Now that we are in the midst of Lent, do we focus just on the ceremony of the season? Do we fast from coffee and chocolate? Do we get our ashes? Do we attend Stations of the Cross? These are not bad things. But are they what God most wants from us? Yes, we should learn to deny ourselves from the world but that is so we can turn to the things of the Lord. And what are those things?
If you bestow your bread on the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
Then light shall rise for you in the darkness,
and the gloom shall become for you like midday
And there is the rub. That is where I personally fail. All these external observances of our faith make one appear righteous. But without looking for the broken among us, and attending to their needs, brick by brick, are we really observing the kind of fast God asks of us? I know I don’t. It is comforting to observe our Catholic traditions. And they are good. But without backing them up by actually helping others, are they not hollow?
So that is the real challenge of Lent, isn’t it. As Pope Francis has said. We need to acquire the smell of the sheep. To not just stand on the sidelines and watch the ceremony of our faith unfold. Find what is broken in your world. In your neighborhood. And begin putting the damage back together. One brick at a time. And isn’t that what God does with each one of us? He associates with, and we are sinners. He attends to us all of our lives. Slowly, but methodically, putting us back together. Jesus describes himself as a Physician, healing the sick. But he can also be seen as the Brick Layer. Filling in the holes that develop in us.
So I challenge you, and myself. Find that broken wall in your home, in your family, in your neighborhood. And see what is needed to repair the breach. Use the talents that God has uniquely given to all of us, to put that wall back together again. Brick by brick.
