Inner Work

Lent is a season for us to do some honest inner work. I know that most of us thoughtfully pray about the things from which we will fast and/or the spiritual practices we will add into our daily lives. We want to “do” Lent well. I admitted to a friend the other day that I skipped “doing” Lent the past two years because I felt like it had become just another “religious” thing that I did and not a true act of faith, or purification, or prayer, or getting closer to Jesus, or choosing the better portion. Perhaps I had become one of the hypocrites that Jesus advises us about in today’s gospel. I recently heard a talk from a well-known pastor and he said that every time he receives public praise or notice (he pastors a church of literally thousands), he reminds himself that he better do ten things for the Lord in secret that no one knows about so that his repayment will be greater from the Father than from people.  As a pretty visible worship leader, I fear being the “hypocrite that loves to stand and pray in the church and on street corners so that others may see them.” If I am not standing in worship in private with just my God, if I am not raising my hands in prayer for only Jesus to see, if I am not dancing before the Lord in secret, then how can I truly do it in public without it being a “show”? Today, I am reminded that I need to make sure that my private practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving need to outweigh my public ones. Why? Honest inner work. I need to work out my own identity in Christ before I can represent Christ in the world. This begins with intimacy. Intimacy is familiarity that only comes from one on one time, and lots of it. The more time in “secret” we spend with the One who gives us our identity, the more we be identified as one who knows the One. We won’t have to announce it or shout it or advertise it, because it will just be who we are and what we do.  

God is seeking intimacy with us and Lent is a perfect opportunity to remember how and why we fell in love in the first place. We “do” a lot of things to break bad habits, to offer penance, to discipline ourselves, to pray, to give to the poor, and to practice being a Christian. These are all good and holy things to do, but the “goodest” (I know it’s not a word!) and “holiest” thing we can do is perform for an audience of One. Public praise and affection feels so good and I know that I personally thrive on it, so I really need to guard against getting caught in the trap of seeking people’s approval over God’s. To truly do this, my time with Jesus in secret, my almsgiving in secret, my worship in secret, my fasting in secret, and my performing in secret, MUST outweigh my doing these things in public. Whenever the Bible mentions something three times it means we really really really need to pay attention and this sentence is mentioned three times today: “And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.” Everything thing we do in secret will be repaid to us by the Father. Now that is a beautiful, loving, and merciful incentive to not be concerned with looking good or holy for others to see, but to know that our Good Good Father wants us to be concerned with knowing and reflecting Him. They will see Him through our actions, hear Him through our words, and feel Him through our love. It starts with honest inner work. Let’s let Lent return us back to the One. It is well with my soul. 

Reading 1 JL 2:12-18

Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.
Perhaps he will again relent
and leave behind him a blessing,
Offerings and libations
for the LORD, your God.

Blow the trumpet in Zion!
proclaim a fast,
call an assembly;
Gather the people,
notify the congregation;
Assemble the elders,
gather the children
and the infants at the breast;
Let the bridegroom quit his room
and the bride her chamber.
Between the porch and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,
And say, "Spare, O LORD, your people,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
with the nations ruling over them!
Why should they say among the peoples,
'Where is their God?'"

Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land
and took pity on his people.

Responsorial Psalm PS 51:3-4, 5-6AB, 12-13, 14 AND 17

R. (see 3a)  Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
"Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight."
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.

Reading 2 2 COR 5:20—6:2

Brothers and sisters:
We are ambassadors for Christ,
as if God were appealing through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, 
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Working together, then,
we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
For he says:

In an acceptable time I heard you,
and on the day of salvation I helped you.

Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.

Verse Before The GospelSEE PS 95:8

If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.

Gospel MT 6:1-6, 16-18

Jesus said to his disciples:
"Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms,
do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

"When you pray,
do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you pray, go to your inner room,
close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

"When you fast,
do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance,
so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast,
anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to be fasting,
except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you."