Tuesday

Answer me quickly, O Lord;
my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me,
or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.
Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,
for in you I put my trust.
Teach me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul. (from Psalm 143)

Not every day goes the way you plan it, particularly during Lent. "Oh I am going to be pious today," I tell myself, "virtuous!" And then I spend the day distracted, angry, mean, or even worse cold, cynical or distant.

God uses a day like this to remind me that grace isn't from me. And Lent isn't about me, either. I am not going to be pious or virtuous if I boast, even to myself. Jesus says it is the tax collector who says, "have mercy on me for I am a sinner" who is justified - humility is a more authentic piety than the ambition to be pious.

Give me the strength, O Lord, to spend my day reminded that this Lenten season is not for me, Lord. It is for everyone I must be a servant to. They have a right to my charity (in the original sense of the word, love and empathy, not a tax deductible donation.) And I have no right to boast should I offer it, for it is as you say, "We are only unworthy servants who have done only what you have asked!"