“The Lord measures out perfection neither by the multitude nor the magnitude of our deeds, but by the manner in which we perform them.” ~ St. John of the Cross
Whenever I run across this quote from St. John of the Cross, I think to myself, “He must have written that down immediately after reflecting upon the Gospel story of the widow’s mite.” The quote reminds me of that beautiful story.
If you remember, Jesus commented, one day, about a widow who put in a very small coin at the temple. Jesus said that the widow put in more than all of the other people because, while they gave from their surplus, she gave from the little she had to survive. I am sure that the people who heard that story objected because they were used to giving from their surplus wealth in order to fulfill a requirement to donate. They were fulfilling something by the letter of the law but the widow was fulfilling from the spirit of the law by giving until it hurt.
Why do we do the things that we do during Lent? Do we give things up or add positive things because we are “required” to do so or do we do the things that we do to show the Lord how much we love him, how much we regret some of our decisions, how much we desire to change? If we simply do Lent by the books, we will give things up and do good for others but none of that will do any good for us. We need to do the things that we do for Lent according to the spirit of the law, because we truly desire to amend our lives and, thus, draw closer to God day by day.
Multitude or magnitude are not where it is at. The core of our heart is where it is at. Give your heart to God today.
FAITH ACTION: Let today’s words and deeds show the Lord that you care about your relationship with Him.
Do not forget that the Fridays of Lent are Days of Abstinence.