In the first reading today we see three men who have been thrown into a furnace for their faith. Azariah bursts out into a vocal prayer that begs God to forgive them from His generous mercy. At this point, they have nothing left to give God, no sacrifice to be made. They are in no position to go out and put on sackcloth and ashes or to do any of the other things prescribed by their religion to show their contrition. All they have is themselves, their humble and contrite hearts.
As we travel through the fires of life it can often seem like we too are burning. As Christians, we also realize that we really have nothing to give back to God that He did not give us in the first place. We humbly offer bread and wine, the work of human hands made from the grain and fruit that God provided. What do we truly have to offer God? Nothing. In His mercy though, He provided us the most effective sacrifice possible, Jesus Christ. In the Eucharist, we offer back to Father the one thing He has given us that matters, Jesus.
As Catholics, we have what is called a closed communion. That means that only Catholics should be receiving the Eucharist. Why? If that is truly Jesus, shouldn’t we want everyone to receive Him? Yes. There is a caveat though. If that is truly Jesus, and I believe it is, then what Saint Paul says should give us a moment of pause: “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 11:27 RSVCE). When a Catholic approaches the Minister of Communion, they elevate the Host and say “The body of Christ.” When we say Amen we are saying “I believe.” Not just that the Host has been transubstantiated into Jesus Christ body, soul and divinity, but also everything that the Church teaches.
That Amen is dangerous, especially after we have prayed those words in the Our Father just moments before: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Jesus in the Gospel reminds us of this with the parable of the forgiven servant, who then refuses to forgive another person. We should realize that we did not earn our forgiveness. God forgave us through His mercy. It is pure grace! We then, who are made in the image of God, should be looking to forgive others in the same way. That’s not easy. It’s hard enough to forgive once, but twice? Three times? Every day?
I think the key to being able to forgive is found in the last stanza of the Responsorial Psalm:
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way.
Humility. That doesn’t mean feeling worthless. It also doesn’t mean having a false humility. It means knowing ourselves. Our weakness and our strengths. Then knowing that God forgave us anyway. That’s heavy stuff. If you haven’t made it to confession this Lent, please consider visiting Jesus in that Sacrament. He’s waiting to lead us out of the furnace.
A reflection on the readings for Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent, Year 1: March 26, 2019