March 9, 2025

Suggested Readings:

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16

Romans 10:8b-13

Luke 4:1-13

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“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Although Lent is correctly associated with sacrifice, fasting, and spiritual discipline, there is also a space in Lent for celebration. The 40 days of Lent do not include Sundays. Sunday is the day of resurrection and therefore one joyously celebrates new life in Christ on the first day of the week.

Paul reminds the church at Rome, and us, that when we call on the name of the Lord we will be saved. This is good news. This is the news Peter proclaimed on the day of Pentecost.

“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.” (Acts 2:38-39)

Repent means to change one’s way of thinking and reprioritize one’s life. When we reflect on God’s gift of salvation, we quickly realize our own need to change the direction of our lives. Ash Wednesday’s reading from Isaiah 58 provides us with a list of things that God requires from those who profess God’s name. It is a daunting list and few of us ever fulfill that call.

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, (Isaiah 58:6-7, 9b-10 emphasis added)

Reflection: what have I done to prove the presence of God in my life?

Repentance: I repent of the times I have walked on the other side of the road to avoid the poor, the homeless, the broken God has laced in front of me.

Reconciliation: reconciliation follows repentance. I declare that I am saved. Reconciliation with God means that I live out my salvation in the way I treat others.

Sisters and brothers, the redeemed of the Lord put these requirements into practice.

Renewal: my life is renewed each moment I treat my sisters and brothers with the love and compassion with which God would treat them.