The message of the Old Testament prophets offers a universal principle: to experience blessing, we must place God at the center of our lives.
A nation that ignores God and places its faith in substitutes for Him sows the seeds of destruction by ignoring God’s directions for life.
Today’s lectionary readings call us back to faithful devotion and obedience to God: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031425.cfm.
Reading I – Ezekiel 18:21-28
Ezekiel served God during a period of intense trauma in Israel’s history, marked by the Babylonian conquest, two separate exiles, and the eventual destruction of Jerusalem.
The people resisted true repentance, even though God offered hope to those who aligned their lives with His character.
“But if the wicked turn away from all their sins that they have committed and keep all my statutes and do what is lawful and right, they shall surely live; they shall not die.
None of the transgressions that they have committed shall be remembered against them, for the righteousness that they have done they shall live.
Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that they should turn from their ways and live?” (Ezekiel 18:21-23).
Ezekiel’s ministry began in 594 BC. His message, however, is timeless. He called for repentance: a return to God in faithfulness and obedience. This includes rejecting idols and the behaviors they encourage.
Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-7a, 7bc-8
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you,
so that you may be revered.
I wait for the Lord; my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning. (Psalm 130:3-6)
Everyone who stands before God’s judgment seat will plead guilty. God grants forgiveness to those who turn to Him with their whole heart.
The repentant “wait” on God, knowing that God is the Plan A of their lives and having no other plan than to trust His ways.
The problem with Ezekiel’s audience was that they claimed to trust God, but had other gods to rely on in case God didn’t give them what they wanted.
The kind of repentance that God calls for is one of “waiting” on Him as our only hope. We trust God and have no Plan B if He doesn’t respond the way we want Him to.
Verse before the Gospel – Ezekiel 18:31
A true return to God begins with the human heart and spirit. “Heart and spirit” refer to human thought and decision-making.
Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 18:31)
Ezekiel’s listeners experienced God’s judgment, not because they failed at external religious activity. They experienced exile in 587 BC because their inner life was devoted to idols and the oppression of the vulnerable.
Gospel – Matthew 5:20-26
For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20).
What kind of righteousness exceeds the religious leaders of Jesus’ day? The remainder of Matthew 5 is devoted to answering that question. Similar to the themes in today’s lectionary reading, Jesus emphasizes right living that reflects an inner devotion to God that is displayed in outward behavior.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed the plot to deceive Isaac with regard to the parental blessing in Genesis 27.
Real Voices 