March 30/Third Saturday of Lent
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. ~ Ps 51.18-19
To the modern sensibility, sacrifices and burnt offerings seem impossibly ancient and decidedly obsolete. Modern Christians do not bring the first fruits of their crops to the temple, or the firstling of their lambs to be slaughtered and offered to God. But the notion that underlies sacrifice—namely, that we can act in ways pleasing to God and therefore advance the likelihood of our salvation—is still operative. We might think of “sacrifice” as a subset of “works.” And the question of whether human beings are saved through their good works or their faith has preoccupied Christians since the time of the apostle Paul, and the tension persists to this day. Usually, the two modes are set in binary opposition, presented as irreconcilably different expressions of Christian life. I’ve been surprised by the number of friends who have asked me about faith vs. works (it is a question I consider myself wholly unqualified to answer). I’ve always wondered why faith and works are viewed as mutually exclusive, as they seem (as Cardinal Newman said in another context) “but one thing viewed differently.” To have faith and to do good works are both God-oriented; both originate in the heart; and both are, as Newman noted, consistent habits of trust and duty. If I truly worship and adore the living Lord, I am going to strive to keep his law of love, every day. God does not need our external acts of piety. Rather, he asks us to sacrifice our arrogance, our insistence on autonomy, our selfishness, our fickleness, all of our shortcomings, upon his altar. May we approach him with humble hearts and obedient spirits, ready to do his will, and our duty, in all things.
Almighty God, may I deepen my faith and increase my good works as I strive this day to do your will. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here.
