Saturday after Ash Wednesday 2023
Thus says the LORD:
If you remove from your midst oppression,
false accusation and malicious speech;
If you bestow your bread on the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
Then light shall rise for you in the darkness,
and the gloom shall become for you like midday…
The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake,
and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up;
"Repairer of the breach," they shall call you,
"Restorer of ruined homesteads."
-Isaiah 58:9-10, 12
“Le repas chez Mathieu” by James Tissot (d. 1902)
One of the tendencies that people often have when reading the Bible is we try to find ourselves in the text or we try to recognize what “word” the Holy Spirit might be offering us in a particular passage. I wholeheartedly support this practice, most especially in our personal lectio divina or study. However, when we encounter the scriptures within the context of liturgy (including the Readings assigned for this Saturday after Ash Wednesday), our first inclination shouldn’t be to look at our own life, but to ask what is being revealed about Christ in the sacred texts.
One of the gifts offered by the Lectionary during the seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Lent is that the Readings proclaimed at Mass each day come together as a unit, helping to present to us a theological truth or vision (this is also true for the Readings on Sundays during the Easter Season and the First Reading, Responsorial Psalm and Gospel on the Sundays of Ordinary Time). This “liturgical reading” of words of Scripture as they’re proclaimed in the liturgy are a treasury that too few of us take the time to explore and savor.
The First Reading for the Saturday after Ash Wednesday presents a promise made by God to the person who dedicates themselves to the work of reconciliation and restoration: they will be celebrated as the “Repairer or the breach” and “Restorer of ruined homesteads.” It might be simple enough to stop there and say to ourselves, “This is what God is asking of me and this is what God promises.” And that wouldn’t be wrong, but this isn’t where the liturgy allows us to stay.
The Responsorial Psalm moves us forward, placing on our lips a appeal to God and an acknowledgement of our need for mercy. How can we reconcile these two seemingly contrary movements?
"Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners."—Luke 5:31-32
The Gospel assigned for this day offers us the answer as we hear of Jesus’ transforming encounter with Levi and his table fellowship with “tax collectors and sinners.” It is Jesus, the Divine Physician, who is the “Repairer of the breach” and “Restorer of ruined homesteads.” It is Jesus, the “Face of the Father’s Mercy”, who offers renewal and reconciliation to those who are willing to acknowledge our need for forgiveness and mercy. As Cardinal Basil Hume (d. 1999) reflected, “True sorrow for sin always includes with it confidence in God, confidence in his forgiveness, reminding us always that one of the loveliest qualities of God’s love is his great desire to forgive. And so it is healthy to say, ‘Yes, I am a sinner’ and to recognize that this should lead us to turn to God full of confidence in his love and mercy” (from Turning to God).
On this Saturday after Ash Wednesday pray for the gift of humility—the virtue of honesty—and the courage to name the need for mercy in your life: “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth” (Psalm 86)
Almighty ever-living God,
look with compassion on our weakness
and ensure us your protection
by stretching forth the right hand of your majesty.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-Collect for the Saturday after Ash Wednesday
