Monday of the First Week of Lent
February 27, 2023
Daily Reading from the USCCB: Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18
This reading from Leviticus tells us what God expects of us. “Be like me,” God says.
Don’t steal. Don’t be dishonest or take advantages of another’s weakness. Be fair to everybody. Be impartial in judging. Don’t slander anybody. Look out for your neighbor. Don’t hold a grudge against people. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Why all this? “Because I am the Lord,” God says, “and I want you to be like me.”
Being like the Lord is not something we can achieve or earn. The only way we can be like the Lord is if the Lord makes us so. One of the basics of Christian spirituality is our willingness to accept the holiness God offers us–our willingness to be like him.
Well, Jesus was a simple person. So, if we want to be like Him, then we too have to strive to live simple lives. I don’t think a person necessarily needs God to live a simple life. But as far possessing any sort of holiness, well, that has to come from God, of course. Whether it is having a pure heart, as compared to merely a clean heart, or any other type of God given gift that holy people possess. If I notice someone has a particular God given gift, I may comment on it or I may not. But I do have eyes to see just like anyone else and I do notice things.