March 2, Tuesday Lenten Weekday

To the upright I will show the saving power of God.-- Psalm 50:23

Mass readings: Isaiah 1:10,16-20 / Matthew 23:1-12

The Color of Forgiveness

God paints south central Kansas using an unusual color palette. Following midsummer's wheat harvest, the fields take on a lush gold, spiked with green, against a backdrop of blue sky streaked with gray and silver clouds. In early March, we may witness bright green shoots of winter wheat poking up through white snow, beneath the blaze of a red and purple sunset.

According to the prophet Isaiah, God suggests a color palette for sin and forgiveness, as well. Sin is scarlet or crimson red. Sin that has been forgiven is transformed and made white as snow or wool (Is 1:18). I sometimes gaze on the fields following a snowfall, and try to visualize my own soul being that white. It takes more than imagination. It requires true repentance!

Prayer: We thank You, merciful God, for revealing Your forgiveness in colors we can see!