Friday of the 1st Week of Lent
Ezekiel 18:21-28 | Psalm 129(130) | Matthew 5:20-26
If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt,
Lord, who would survive?
But with you is found forgiveness:
for this we revere you. (Psalm 129:3-4)
In my software development profession, one of the things that folks really dread is the code review, where your work product is put up for public critique…and you along with it. As you walk through your own code verbally, the general reaction of the other developers at the table goes something like this:
I trust “WTF” is universally understood.
Needless to say, it’s a very stressful process for the targeted individual, but the intended outcome is greatly desired: code that is more resilient to unexpected circumstances, has fewer bugs, and is usually easier to maintain over the long term.
✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is rather similar, save that it’s a private process between us and Christ, in the person of a priest. As the psalmist reminds us, if God were to find fault with us, we are surely damned.
However, if we find fault with ourselves, and make the effort to mend our ways, then God will look kindly upon us, and grant us the absolution and salvation that we long for.
We just have to be willing to do our own “code review”.
O Lord, I am sorry for my sins because I have offended you. I know I should love you above all things. Help me to do penance, to do better, and to avoid anything that might lead me to sin. Amen.