Mar
6
Are not your ways unfair? First Friday of Lent
Ezekiel 18:21–28; Matthew 5:21–26
Today’s readings center on justice, mercy, repentance, and the true aim of the external practice of these virtues and actions. We get two very different perspectives in the two readings, and each gives us a different angle on justice and mercy.
Ezekiel notes the importance of repentance in the life of those who were once wicked. God’s desire from them is not their destruction but their salvation. “Do I derive any pleasure from the death of the wicked? […] Do I not rather rejoice when he turns from his evil way that he may live?” The prophet contrasts such a person with one who has turned from virtue to vice.
Today’s readings center on justice, mercy, repentance, and the true aim of the external practice of these virtues and actions. We get two very different perspectives in the two readings, and each gives us a different angle on justice and mercy.
Ezekiel notes the importance of repentance in the life of those who were once wicked. God’s desire from them is not their destruction but their salvation. “Do I derive any pleasure from the death of the wicked? […] Do I not rather rejoice when he turns from his evil way that he may live?” The prophet contrasts such a person with one who has turned from virtue to vice.
