Spiritus Sanctus

Saturday of the 1st Week of Lent
Deuteronomy 26:16-19 | Psalm 118(119):1-2,4-5,7-8 | Matthew 5:43-48

For if you love those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax collectors do as much, do they not? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do as much, do they not? (Matthew 5:46-47)

“Aiyoh, he’s such an a**hole! When he comes over, I’ll leave this parish!”

Harsh words about our parish priest-to-be, from someone who hadn’t had personal contact with him, but was relying on third-party reports and rumors.

I don’t know how my own interactions with him will go, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt ahead of time.

Perhaps we’ll end up clashing irreconcilably, or perhaps we’ll both give and take.

Or perhaps his “demands” will make me reevaluate long-standing choir practices that only have tradition and personal tastes behind them, without any firm liturgical justification.

Who knows? Only God.

I’ll find out for myself after Easter.

Heavenly Father, help me keep an open heart towards those I’ve yet to meet, and an open mind to everything You’ll teach me through them. For You know what I need most, and You’ve always been there even when I wasn’t paying attention. I ask for love and enlightenment in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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.

Thursday of the 1st Week of Lent
Esther 4:17 | Psalm 137(138):1-3,7-8 | Matthew 7:7-12

Queen Esther took refuge with the Lord in the mortal peril which had overtaken her. (Esther 4:17)

The Book of Esther rarely features in the Liturgy of the Word, but it chronicles a desperate time in ancient Jewish history, a time when the Jews in Persia were threatened with annihilation, despite having a queen (Esther) who shared their faith.

We may never experience such a desperate time in our lives, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need to seek God in our daily living. As Psalm 62 reminds us:

In God alone there is rest for my soul, from him comes my safety;
with him alone for my rock, my safety, my fortress, I can never fall. (Psalm 62:1-2)

Let us call to Him in praise every day, seeking His counsel, asking for His help to remain on the path of salvation, for:

On the day I called, you answered;
you increased the strength of my soul. (Psalm 137:3)

Amen.

Tuesday of the 1st week of Lent
Isaiah 55:10-11 | Psalm 33(34):4-7,16-19 | Matthew 6:7-15

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘In your prayers do not babble as the pagans do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard.’ (Matthew 6:7)

Oh. Er. I guess I do babble sometimes in prayer.

And by sometimes I mean often.

It’s as good a time as any to refresh my memory on the four key components of Catholic prayer, known as the ACTS:

• Adoration: O Lord, you are Almighty and ever-loving!
• Contrition: We are weak, Lord, and we have sinned against you.
• Thanksgiving: We thank you, Lord, for loving us despite our sin, and supporting us in our earthly trials and tribulations.
• Supplication: Heal us, O Lord, and help us turn to you all day, every day.

For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, now and forever.

Fiat voluntas tua – Thy will be done. Amen.