Friday 19th February, 2010
Day of penance. Isaiah 58:1-9. A broken, humbled heart, O God, you will not scorn—Ps 50(51):3-6, 18-19. Matthew 9:14-15.

  
Meditation: mp3 | podcast
Readings: Text | mp3 | podcast

‘When the bridegroom is taken away from them, then they will fast!’

During this time of Lent, we can perhaps litter our renewal with a string of devotions and fasts, yet ignore the festering hurts and blockages of the past. Giving up cigarettes may help me to forgive the lout who slighted me in the pub two years ago, but a straight-out effort to forgive is a more direct getting to the heart of the matter.

‘But’, someone may protest, ‘I have been too hurt by life! I cannot heal those hurts! Besides, why is it I who always have to begin the process?’ Perhaps it is because God asks you to act this way, is looking for a heart that listens.