SATURDAY OF THE THIRD WEEK OF LENT MARCH 13, 2021

MASS READINGS:

Gospel

Lk 18:9-14

Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

REFLECTION: ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’

Arianism was a heresy strongly present during today’s saint’s lifetime. Saint Leander of Seville lived and fought against the teaching that Jesus Christ was not divine, only created by God the Father. Arianism stated Jesus was subordinate to the Father and there was no Trinitarian God. This teaching began over 200 years before Leander lived and yet surrounded him as he grew up to be a devout Catholic. As a young man, he entered the seminary and studied for three years. After this, he was made a Bishop of Seville in Spain.

He used his position in the Church to promote the Nicene Creed to be recited during mass. He understood the importance of declaring the faith as it was written in Nicaea during the First Council in the year 325. The Creed dispels Arianism and other erroneous teachings so the faithful can humbly come before God to declare the truth.

The Gospel message today should make us think of how we attend mass. Does attending mass make you feel better about staying on the right track to holiness? Or, does attending mass give you the opportunity to bring you to your knees as a sinner? Jesus Christ, true God and true man, has given us an avenue to walk toward holiness as a sinner. The next time you declare the Nicene Creed, think of saying it like the tax collector, no matter how you see yourself.

Let us thank God for using Saint Leander to promote the Creed as part of Sunday mass, so that we can remain faithful to the truth. And if we humble ourselves, we can be justified under the watchful eyes of God.