The readings of the day:
Ezekiel 18:21-28
Matthew 5:20-26
God’s desire for man is that he be saved. His intention for him is that his situation be ameliorated. But he however wants him to make the first step in response to his salvation project. He wants him to come to him!
This is why he invites us in this time of lent to return to him. Through the prophets like Ezekiel etc. he promised to blot out our offenses if and only if we return to him. He has even agreed to set us free if we confess our sins. The sacrament of reconciliation is one of those means by which he purifies us. There he waits for us to bring him all our iniquities.
For this reason and other occasions he has granted us, he reminds us in the Gospel that to whom more is giving, more is demanded. That’s what Jesus mean by “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and pharisees you will not enter into the kingdom of God”.
