This Lent stuff is useless!

"Why do we fast, and you do not see it?
afflict ourselves, and you take no note of it?"

(On this, the third day of Lent, many of us may have slipped somewhat in our enthusiasm, broken our resolutions, or otherwise hit a brick wall in our efforts at spiritual renewal. Today's first reading, from Isaiah 58, may therefore strike an especially strong chord: both in the people's complaint above and the Lord's response that follows...)

Lo, on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits,
and drive all your laborers.
Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting,
striking with wicked claw.

Would that today you might fast
so as to make your voice heard on high!

Is this the manner of fasting I wish,
of keeping a day of penance:
That a man bow his head like a reed,
and lie in sackcloth and ashes?

Do you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?

This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking every yoke;
Sharing your bread with the hungry,
sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own.

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
Your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.

Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say:
Here I am!

During this season of Lent and beyond, we need to pray for perseverance, for the grace to do it all, to be totally reshaped in the image and the will and the love of the Lord.