Humility and Conversion

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to assess the attitudes and prejudices that have distorted our understanding of our brothers and sisters as precious people who share Jesus' love and care.

Peace or Power

The Reading from the Prophet Hosea examines Insincere Conversion.

j. [5:15] Jer 29:13; Ps 78:34.

* [6:2] After two days; on the third day: presumptuous Israel expects that soon God will renew them (cf. Ez 37). (Hosea, Chapter 5 | USCCB, n.d.)

* [6:5] The word of God proclaimed by the prophets is effective, it accomplished what it promised: punishment. (Hosea, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 51 prays for the removal of the personal and social disorders that sin has brought.

* [Psalm 51] A lament, the most famous of the seven Penitential Psalms, prays for the removal of the personal and social disorders that sin has brought. The poem has two parts of approximately equal length: Ps 51:3–10 and Ps 51:11–19, and a conclusion in Ps 51:20–21. The two parts interlock by repetition of “blot out” in the first verse of each section (Ps 51:3, 11), of “wash (away)” just after the first verse of each section (Ps 51:4) and just before the last verse (Ps 51:9) of the first section, and of “heart,” “God,” and “spirit” in Ps 51:12, 19. The first part (Ps 51:3–10) asks deliverance from sin, not just a past act but its emotional, physical, and social consequences. The second part (Ps 51:11–19) seeks something more profound than wiping the slate clean: nearness to God, living by the spirit of God (Ps 51:12–13), like the relation between God and people described in Jer 31:33–34. Nearness to God brings joy and the authority to teach sinners (Ps 51:15–16). Such proclamation is better than offering sacrifice (Ps 51:17–19). The last two verses express the hope that God’s good will toward those who are cleansed and contrite will prompt him to look favorably on the acts of worship offered in the Jerusalem Temple (Ps 51:19 [20–21]). (Psalms, PSALM 51 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus presents The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

* [18:1–14] The particularly Lucan material in the travel narrative concludes with two parables on prayer. The first (Lk 18:1–8) teaches the disciples the need of persistent prayer so that they not fall victims to apostasy (Lk 18:8). The second (Lk 18:9–14) condemns the self-righteous, critical attitude of the Pharisee and teaches that the fundamental attitude of the Christian disciple must be the recognition of sinfulness and complete dependence on God’s graciousness. The second parable recalls the story of the pardoning of the sinful woman (Lk 7:36–50) where a similar contrast is presented between the critical attitude of the Pharisee Simon and the love shown by the pardoned sinner. (Luke, CHAPTER 18 | USCCB, n.d.)

Angela Maynard (2021) recalls that someone pointed out that we, as Christians, are quick to judge.  This is contrary to the teachings of the gospels.  Jesus associated with anybody and everybody—particularly those to whom the Pharisee refers.

Jesus uses one of the seven deadly sins, pride in contrast with the heavenly virtue of humility, to teach us the importance of attitude when we pray.  It’s easy to get caught up in the how to pray and where to pray.  Let us take the opportunities of the Lenten season to perform some self-examination around the manner in which we pray.

“Our strength is prayer, and the prayer of a humble person is the weakness of God.  The Lord is weak only in this one sense:  He is weak before the prayers of his people.” -- Pope Francis (Maynard, n.d.)

 Don Schwager quotes “God's mercy is our only hope,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"Driven out of paradise by You and exiled in a distant land, I cannot return by myself unless You, O Lord, come to meet me in my wandering. My return is based on hope in your mercy during all of my earthly life. My only hope, the only source of confidence, and the only solid promise is your mercy." (excerpt from Commentary on Psalm 24,5) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler was not available at publication time.

 The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 18:9-14 comments that this parable reminds us that God wants our obedience to flow from our love for him. No amount of sacrifice or good deeds can justify us before him; only God can do that. The things we do are important to God, but on their own, they can never make us right with him.

If you want to know the freedom of God’s forgiveness, then put aside your list of good deeds—and failures—and come to the Lord with a humble heart. Put your faith in his mercy and the salvation Jesus has won for you. Offer him your love and sorrow for your sins. He will surely forgive, for “the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14).

“Thank you for your mercy, Lord!” (Meditation on Luke 18:9-14, n.d.) 

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Laurie Brock who witnesses how God gathers together the “scraps” of our lives, reweaving them into a unified and beautiful whole. We aren’t all that adept at piecing and reforming. For that, we need God’s quilting prowess. We need God to remind us that no part of our selves and souls is beyond redemption, beyond being useful in another way.

 

Mistakes are pieced together with threads of God’s compassion. Personas we wore when we were younger but no longer fit can be altered. God’s love provides the framework to sew all these parts and pieces into something renewed, refashioned, and redeemed.

God treasures the things we throw away or stop caring about. God adores these scraps of our selves. God longs for us to sit in the holy space long enough to see the quilt that God creates from what we thought were worthless scraps. God touches those scraps like women over centuries. God fingers them, noting the beauty of small patterns. God reshapes our scraps into new things, useful things, even extraordinarily beautiful things. (Rohr, n.d.)

We invoke the Spirit to guide our contemplation of our relationships and inspire our action to restore the love and compassion that we may have neglected to offer the people in our environment.

References

Hosea, Chapter 5 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved March 14, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/hos/5?15#36005015 

Hosea, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 14, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/hosea/6?1 

Luke, CHAPTER 18 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 14, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/18?9 

Maynard, A. (n.d.). Daily Reflections. Online Ministries. Retrieved March 14, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-march-14-2026 

Meditation on Luke 18:9-14. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved March 14, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/03/14/1518661/ 

Psalms, PSALM 51 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved March 14, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/51?3 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. CAC.org. Retrieved March 14, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/what-do-we-do-with-sin-weekly-summary/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). God, Be Merciful to Me a Sinner! Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved March 14, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Blessing and Blame

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to reject our human attitudes of entitlement and victim blaming as we serve broken people with care and compassion.

Blessing without Blame

The Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah proclaims Authentic Sabbath Observance That Leads to Blessing.

* [58:6–12] Fasting is not genuine without reforming one’s way of life. A true social morality will ensure prosperity.

* [58:13–14] Sabbath observance becomes a cornerstone of postexilic piety; cf. 56:2, 4, 6. (Isaiah, CHAPTER 58 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 86 presents an individual lament desiring God’s protection.

* [Psalm 86] An individual lament. The psalmist, “poor and oppressed” (Ps 86:1), “devoted” (Ps 86:2), “your servant” (Ps 86:2, 4, 16), “rescued from the depths of Sheol” (Ps 86:13), attacked by the ruthless (Ps 86:14), desires only God’s protection (Ps 86:1–7, 11–17). (Psalms, PSALM 86 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Gospel of Luke proclaims The Call of Levi.

* [5:17–6:11] From his Marcan source, Luke now introduces a series of controversies with Pharisees: controversy over Jesus’ power to forgive sins (Lk 5:17–26); controversy over his eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners (Lk 5:27–32); controversy over not fasting (Lk 5:33–36); and finally two episodes narrating controversies over observance of the sabbath (Lk 6:1–11). (Luke, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB, n.d.)

Vivian Amu reminds us that Jesus' purpose is to meet us in our brokenness: “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Mercy is placed above judgment, just as God proclaimed through Isaiah. 

So, who are the Levis in our lives? Where does suspicion or self-righteousness still keep us from extending God’s love?

Despite our best intentions as children of God, many of us have an unconscious tendency towards selective compassion. Often, we divide the world into categories: “us” and “them,” “righteous” and “sinner,” “deserving” and “undeserving.” We might not name these divisions out loud, but our actions often speak for us —through whom we help, whom we welcome, or whom we avoid. It is comforting to believe that the table of God’s love is wide, and that all we need to do is come hungry, recognizing that it is not just the “other” who needs this radical inclusivity—we need it too. (Amu, 2026)

Don Schwager quotes Our All-powerful Physician, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 AD

"Our wound is serious, but the Physician is all-powerful. Does it seem to you so small a mercy that, while you were living in evil and sinning, he did not take away your life, but brought you to belief and forgave your sins? What I suffer is serious, but I trust the Almighty. I would despair of my mortal wound if I had not found so great a Physician." (excerpt from Sermon 352, 3) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that in Third Isaiah the people are complaining that they have not seen the restoration promised in Second Isaiah. They faced hardships and they performed religious deeds but only superficially. The text exhorts them to reach out and keep the Sabbath as a holy day. “I get to go to Mass because I want to” We sometimes say Mass is portrayed as an obligation, but Mass is a privilege. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus reaches out to the anawim and in this case to the tax collector, Levi, working for Rome, thought to be a collaborator and the taxation method was an incentive for dishonesty. The Pharisees were concerned their sinfulness was a contagion but Jesus sees their brokenness and Jesus chooses to help and even if “they brought it upon themselves”. Friar Jude reminds us that “bringing it upon themselves” does not exclude them from Jesus' love or from our mission to address their brokenness.

The Word Among Us Meditation on Isaiah 58:9-14 comments that the biblical word for this kind of contract is “covenant,” and it is much more than a business agreement. At the heart of a covenant is a relationship between the Lord and his people. The two “parties” are not looking at production levels or profit margins. They are looking at each other and offering themselves to each other in a sacred bond.

Consider what God is calling you to in today’s reading: remove oppression, refrain from false accusation, feed the hungry, keep the Sabbath. He is giving you concrete ways to live out your covenant with him. When you treat the Sabbath as a time to rest in his presence rather than filling it with “your own pursuits” (Isaiah 58:3), you are loving the Lord. When you treat your neighbors with honor and dignity—especially those who are struggling—you are honoring God. When you look at anyone through the lens of his love, you are returning the “covenant gaze” with which the Lord is looking at you.

As you respond to God’s call in this way, you’ll experience his love for you more deeply—both in prayer and through the people around you. Reread today’s reading and savor God’s desire to love you. Let him show you the way that will lead you to “delight” in him (Isaiah 58:14).

“O God, teach me to love you and delight in you.” (Meditation on Isaiah 58:9-14, n.d.)

Fr Richard Rohr, OFM, comments Spiritual teacher and writer Christine Valters Paintner invites us to imitate the desert monks in their commitment to spiritual practices as a path to freedom and transformation:

They went to seek this kind of radical communion with the sacred presence, which teaches us that it is not the cell itself that brings inner peace…. Their wisdom reminds us that we can bring presence and focus in the midst of a crowd, and we can also sit in a silent place and be overwhelmed by thoughts and distractions….

Allow a few moments to center and breathe deeply, drawing your awareness back to yourself. Rest in the presence of the Beloved who dwells in the cave of your heart, that interior cell where you are called to simply be. Invite in the presence of some of the desert mothers and fathers to be with you. Notice how they appear to you. Notice if one or two of them approach you, and invite them to sit with you for a while. Share with them where you are in this season of your life and what the questions of your heart are right now. Listen for their response. (Rohr, 2025)

We exhort the Spirit to illuminate the “brokenness” in our environment and inspire our movement to help with Jesus' compassion and care and rejection of blame and transactional agendas.

References

Amu, V. (2026, February 21). Daily Reflection February 21, 2026 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved February 21, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-february-21-2026 

Isaiah, CHAPTER 58 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 21, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/58? 

Luke, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 21, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/5?27 

Meditation on Isaiah 58:9-14. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved February 21, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/02/21/1506356/ 

Psalms, PSALM 86 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved February 21, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/86?1 

Rohr, R. (2025, March 13). The Desert and Transformation: Weekly Summary. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 21, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-desert-and-transformation-weekly-summary/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Jesus Calls Sinners to Follow Him. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 21, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/