How Can I Repay the Lord for All the Good Done for Me?

February 18, 2009

Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

By Melanie Rigney

When the Lord smelled the sweet odor (coming from Noah’s offering after the floodwaters receded), he said to himself: “Never again will I doom the earth because of man since the desires of man’s heart are evil from the start; nor will I ever again strike down all living beings, as I have done.” (Genesis 6:21)

How can I repay the Lord for all the good done for me? (Psalms 116:12)

Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. (After the man’s sight was restored, Jesus) sent him home and said, “Do not even go into the village.” (Mark 8:23, 26)

Piety

I offer you, Lord, my thoughts: to be fixed on you; my words: to have you for their theme; my actions: to reflect my love for you; my sufferings: to be endured for your greater glory. I want to do what you ask of me: in the way you ask, for as long as you ask, because you ask it. I pray, Lord, that you enlighten my mind, inflame my will, purify my heart, and sanctify my soul. (Attributed to Pope Clement XI)

Study

Repaying God for all the good done for us is like shopping for a Christmas or birthday gift for a friend who has the means to buy or do anything he or she wants. A week at the shore? The friend already owns a house at the best beach in the world. A nice bottle of wine? The friend is a world-class vintner. Tickets to an exclusive concert? The friend already has access to the best music, 24/7.

Today’s readings show how our concept of God has evolved. The vengeful God of Genesis, which dates to perhaps 1600 B.C., seems almost remorseful for the havoc He has raised among His people, given that “the desires of man’s heart are evil from the start.” God sounds a bit like a bully who knows He’s let things get out of hand when He pledges that he will never again “strike down all living beings, as I have done.” The offerings of Noah are described as having a “sweet odor,” indicating that burnt offerings are desirable to this God.

About six hundred years later, the psalmist, who has been delivered from mortal danger and despair, offers to pay his debt by sharing his vows in the presence of all God’s people. The New American Bible notes on this reading also indicate that this God grieves the death of His faithful, and accepts their deaths as sacrificial offerings.

Then we see Jesus, God’s son, in Bethsaida with the blind man. Christ takes the blind man outside the village and twice puts hands on him. The man’s sight is restored. Rather than sacrificial offerings or the sharing of the miracle with others, the thanks Christ asks is that the man go home, adding, “Do not even go into the village.” Some say this is because Christ wanted the people to understand his spiritual message first, rather than to see him as a political messiah or as a magician.

This passage is important, in part because of what comes next in the Gospel. In the verses that follow today’s reading, Jesus asks who people say he is and his ministry begins in earnest. But here, in today’s readings, he asks for little in return for the gift of the man’s sight: “Do not even go into the village.”

Maybe there’s a lesson for us here too. Maybe not all of the miracles God provides in our lives are not meant to be shared with the village either. Maybe the greatest gift we can give Him on those occasions is the sacrificial offering of, to paraphrase Pope Clement XI, focusing our thoughts and actions on the Lord, with little complaint about our sufferings.

You can’t buy that type of devotion in the store. But it is the gift that keeps on giving—both to God and to His people.

Action

Ash Wednesday is just one week from today. What will you do during Lent to repay the Lord for all the good done for you?