March 18/Fourth Wednesday of Lent
The LORD is good to all and compassionate toward all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. ~ Ps 145.9, 18
Among the untold riches of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, you may come across Salvator Mundi, an unfinished painting of Christ by the German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer. Dürer evidently started the work before he left for Italy but completed only the drapery, leaving a substantial portion of Christ’s face sketched but uncompleted. Unfinished – but captivating, because one can glimpse the intent of the artist and his vision of the whole, unrealized as it was. Isn’t it that way with our lives, too? We embark on a new decade or a new year or a new Lent with a vision of what we hope to be – the relationships we intend to strengthen or repair, the goodness and compassion we wish to show, our desire to be present to those we love. We never quite get there, our grand designs and good intentions left half-done because we become distracted, or busy, or just because we are flawed human beings. All of us live, and will die, with unfinished business. Over against our human incompleteness stands the wholeness of God, whose perfection the psalmist celebrates today. God does not proceed by half-measures, but with an outpouring of love. Or as the psalmist tells it, the Lord is faithful in all his words, just in all his ways and holy in all his works, near to all who call upon him. We, meanwhile, spend our days offering God and others only partial kindnesses, hedged generosities, and measured love. We hold back, but God gives all. Our human lives are destined to be sketches, imperfectly realized and half-drawn, but what awaits us beyond our human life is the glory of the fullness of God.
Perfect and complete Lord, Bestow on me the desire to strive daily for your fullness, even as I acknowledge that I will fully attain it only in the glory of eternal life. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031826.cfm
To hear The Sixteen Choir and Orchestra perform George Frideric Handel’s “The Lord is righteous in all his ways,” from Chandos Anthem #5, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=727SLMs7V0w&list=RD727SLMs7V0w&start_radio=1
