16/02/2024

Father, Son and Holy Spirit speaking through Isaiah and the Psalmist warns us today that "Fasting" i.e. any religious observance has to be sincere and total. If we are genuinely coming face to face with the Father it is useless to have any reservations for God knows everything.

Even though we put on "sackcloth and ashes"  it is our deeds that are the reality of our beings known to God. We may wear the trappings of ritual but God is not influenced by anything except the truth of our response to his Love of the World. It is the sincerity of our deeds that reveal our belief in the life, death and Resurrection of his only begotten son and not public observances.

The question that Jesus answers today is not another example of the casuistry of the Pharisees. The disciples of John have been trying to find holiness in this life. They have had Jesus pointed out to them as "the Lamb of God", the person whose sandal their Rabbi was not fit to fasten and with sincerity of heart they pose a question that could have been asked by the double dealers who usually tried to outsmart Jesus.

Jesus' answer is seemingly straightforward for us who have been born 2000 years after the events of his life but that is the benefit of hindsight. I wonder what the disciples made of it.

Dear Lord help me to know that hypocrisy is not only a sin but also total stupidity. You are vast beyond my imagining but loving enough to look at each one of us. Let my being be open and my soul purged of pride and self. May I repeat the "yes" with which Mary accepted your will for her and may she continue to lead the heavenly chorus in their cry for your Mercy to overcome all resistance to your Love.