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. We recognize these acts of mercy as the criteria for the Last Judgment in Jesus’ parable of the Sheep and the Goats. Politicians talk blithely about the Judeo-Christian values that they want to inject into society. Somehow the values that Isaiah and Jesus hold out about caring for those who are in need and hurting never make it into the political discourse! As we enter into Lent we must be cautious not to make the season only one of self-improvement. The season by its very nature calls us to “almsgiving” (as Jesus put it in the Sermon on the Mount), calls us to wrapping our arms around a hurting world.
MARCH72025
By Church Staff
