First Reading: Hosea 6:1-6
What I want is love, not sacrifice.
“Come, let us return to the Lord,
it is he who has rent, but he will heal us;
he has struck us, but he will bind our wounds.
He will revive us after two days;
on the third day he will raise us up,
to live in his presence.
Let us know, let us strive to know the Lord;
as certain as the dawn is his coming,
and his judgment shines forth like the light of day!
He will come to us like the rain,
like spring rain that waters the earth.”
What can I do with you, Ephraim?
What can I do with you, Judah?
Your piety is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that early passes away.
For this reason I smote them through the prophets,
I slew them by the words of my mouth;
For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice,
and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 51:3-4, 18-19, 20-21ab
R./ It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.
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./ It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.
For you are not pleased with sacrifices;
should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.
R./ It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.
Be bountiful, O Lord, to Zion in your kindness
by rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem;
Then shall you be pleased with due sacrifices,
burnt offerings and holocausts.
R./ It is mercy I desire, and not sacrifice.
Gospel Reading: Luke 18:9-14
The tax collector went home justified, not the Pharisee
Jesus addressed this parable
to those who were convinced of their own righteousness
and despised everyone else.
“Two people went up to the temple area to pray;
one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector.
The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself,
‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity –
greedy, dishonest, adulterous – or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week,
and I pay tithes on my whole income.’
But the tax collector stood off at a distance
and would not even raise his eyes to heaven
but beat his breast and prayed,
‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’
I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former;
for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,
and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Returning Home Justified
Today’s readings give us two promises: healing and justification. But there are also demands and challenges. It’s about shedding the cloak of piety that only hides pride and self-exaltation and going deep, to the heart. Superficial piety is like a morning cloud that passes. It’s useless. The deep piety of the heart receives from God the healing of wounds. He will bandage them; He will heal them. On this Lenten journey, this announcement of healing and bandaging of wounds already points to Good Friday: His wounds have healed us. But we never heal ourselves. Our task is simply to go deep and recognize the truth.
“I do not ask for sacrifice, but for love,” says the Lord. Love asks, from the depths, for mercy and healing. Superficial, appearance-based sacrifice seeks external recognition and personal satisfaction. It tries to buy God’s favor. And God’s favor cannot be bought if there isn’t something deeper and truer. That kind of sacrifice goes nowhere. But what is deep, the truth of the heart, like that of the tax collector who sits at the back of the Temple, is what catches God’s attention and receives justification. Scripture says it over and over: a contrite and humbled heart You do not despise, says Psalm 51. Because what we can do on our own, without the powerful hand of God, achieves nothing. It is the recognition of God’s grace and mercy that requires and calls for the sacrifice of the heart. It’s not that God doesn’t want sacrifices; it’s that He wants the one that springs from the heart, which is truth and love for God, not for oneself.
The tax collector had sinned, certainly. The Pharisee had fulfilled all the laws, but his heart was in himself and not in God. The difference was, nothing more and nothing less, than the truth of the heart. Goodness cannot reside in oneself but in the grace and favor of God. The tax collector recognizes this: “I am a sinner.” The Pharisee claims to be good. But only God is good. The Pharisee cannot return home healed, with the promise of Hosea fulfilled, because his piety is like morning mist. The tax collector returns home justified, with the light of truth, the plea for grace from the depths of his heart; his wound will be bandaged.
Carmen AguinacoIntroduction
We cannot save ourselves by rites and practices. Sin is forgiven and lasting happiness found in an encounter of love with God. If we recognize that we are sinners, people who have failed at times and who could do better, we recognize that our love is still very limited, and then, there is room for growth. God bandages our wounds and raises us to life. He saves us from our failures. He makes us grow in the life of Christ.
Opening Prayer
Lord, our God,
you yourself remind us through your holy people
that all our religious practices,
even this Eucharistic sacrifice,
are not worth anything
if we use them to bend you our way.
God, may we come to you
in humility and repentance,
ready to encounter you in love
and to turn your way.
Accept us as your sons and daughters,
together with Jesus Christ,
your Son and our Lord for ever.
General Intercessions
– That we may acknowledge before the Lord that we are still wounded people in need of healing, we pray:
– That we may not be concerned about outward appearances, but that our life and actions may be sincere and transparent, we pray:
– That we may not boast to the Lord what we have done for him but acknowledge what he has done for us, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord, our God,
we have not come together here
to justify ourselves before you
or to boast of our merits.
We simply ask of you, Lord,
to accept us as we are
with our goodwill, our lame efforts
and our half-hearted conversions.
Accept us with the sacrifice of your Son,
who stays with us and lives with you for ever.
Prayer after Communion
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
we have celebrated with your Son
the memorial of his sacrifice.
Give us the strength now
to make our everyday life
into a living proof,
that we are one with him
and that we follow him
on the way through death to life.
Let him stay with us,
now and for ever.
Blessing
To love God with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself is much more important than any ritual sacrifices. It is true worship! May God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
