Friday of the First Week of Lent

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As I spent some time with today’s readings, what jumped out for me is the invitation to an examination of consciousness. Beyond the external check or consideration of what is right or what is wrong, I thought about whether I am able to reflect on my attitude and response towards issues of social justice or people in my life? If discourtesy or transgressions are evident then maybe I have found myself in Gehenna (the location outside Jerusalem that was essentially a garbage dump in which the fires were kept burning to keep down the smell). If I am able to “exceed the holiness of the scribes and the Pharisees” I am on a good path…albeit one from which I admittedly take frequent detours. In today’s Gospel, Jesus builds on the reading from Ezekiel and invites us to give some thought to a deeper understanding of human dignity and the gift of free will.

Do I respect myself, do I respect others enough to emulate Jesus? Today, I will sit for a few moments and pray, contemplating the questions from an Examination of Conscience in light of Catholic Social Teaching:

· Do I respect the life and dignity of every human person from conception through natural death?

· Do I recognize the face of Christ reflected in all others around me whatever their race, class, age, or abilities?

· Do I work to protect the dignity of others when it is being threatened?

· Am I committed to both protecting human life and to ensuring that every human being is able to live in dignity?

May our time of prayer lead us to….

Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, says the LORD, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.

Anonymous