Friday after Ash Wednesday

Reflection

In today’s reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah, we hear God telling His people the fasting that He desires. What stands out about God’s vision of a true fast is that He does not separate our interior act of repentance from the concern we hold for our brothers and sisters. Fasting and prayer are how we surrender to God the gifts He has given us so that He can convert and better dispose us to cooperation with His will. 

God speaks of feeding the hungry, sheltering the stranger, and clothing the naked. We hear Our Lord say in Matthew 25:40, “As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” In His call for mercy and almsgiving toward our neighbors in today’s reading, God prepares the Jewish people for when He will become Man, sharing in our hunger, need for shelter, and nakedness. At no moment is this truer than at His Passion on Good Friday.

The Church follows Christ’s call to mercy in her tradition, giving us the corporal works of mercy. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2447 states these as “feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and burying the dead.” This lent, let us reflect on how God is calling us to witness to Christ’s mercy for our brothers and sisters in these powerful ways.

Prayer

Lord, I come to you this day thankful that You have fully revealed the source of love and mercy to us, Your Son and our Lord Jesus Christ. May my prayers, works, and sufferings this lent proclaim your mercy to the whole world, particularly those souls You have entrusted to my care. Amen.

Trevor Johnson
Class of 2024

Scripture
First Reading: Isaiah 58:1-9a
Psalm 51:3-6b, 18-19
Gospel: Matthew 9:14-15

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website