I. We are moving quickly toward Holy Week, which begins on Palm Sunday, March 28.  Already there is a sense of urgency in our reading and reflections as we follow Jesus and his disciples on the road to Jerusalem. This urgency is a way of reminding us that these last weeks of Lent are meant to lead us to a state of mind that helps us face the pain of our own transgressions: an urgent mindfulness.

II. The two petitions for today take us back to the very first petition, that we love the Lord our God and love our neighbors as ourselves. As we have reflected on some of the other petitions, it becomes clear that all the petitions in the Litany of Penitence flow out of and into these two great commandments. What our mindfulness requires is the full realization that our transgressions—and the Litany of Penitence identifies many of them for us, self-indulgence; negligence; blindness; hypocrisy; injustice; prejudice; indifference; cruelty; bigotry and racism; harassment and sexual misconduct; infidelity; deceit and dissembling—come at a great cost. With our transgressions, we break our bond with God. God knows us and how we live our lives, and God knows these failures. And yet, with our repentance, comes God’s forgiveness and healing love.

III. “Rabbi,” the disciples said, “why do you teach that God is closer to sinners than to the perfect ones?” “Well,” the old Rabbi explained, “every time we sin, we break the thread that ties us to God. Every time we repent, God ties it up again. And every knot shortens the thread.” (from Joan Chittister, “The Monastic Way,” March, 2021)

IV. The closer we come to Holy Week, the closer we come to God, and this means we can experience God’s presence and the Light of grace. Our petitions are pleas for forgiveness, pleas that God hears. With God’s forgiveness comes God’s Peace, the knot that “shortens the thread,” just in time for the Resurrection.

Amen

— Father Peter Kountz

About Lenten Reflections

Throughout Lent, Father Peter and Suzanne Glover Lindsay will reflect on some of the petitions of confession, repentance, and resolve from the Litany of Penitence, available to download below.