R. (12a) Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners shall return to you.
R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.
Lent is an intense liturgical season. It invites the faithful soul to do some introspection, to detect potential or real weaknesses, and to fix them. The current practice of ‘giving up something for Lent’ is the genuine expression of the spiritual reality of the soul in search of depth in seeking Christ. Traditionally Mother Church reminds us of the need of prayer, fasting and almsgiving as spiritual remedies to overcome sinful inclinations.
As we get closer to the celebration of the Passion of the Lord and then his Resurrection, it would not be a bad idea to reflect one more time on the reality of sin and mercy from the perspective of the psalm 51, the Miserere. In a series of catechesis between 2001 and 2003, John Paul II referred to this inspiring text as “the most intense and commonly used penitential psalm, the hymn of sin and pardon, a profound meditation on guilt and grace”.[1]
It is beautiful to see that the holy Pope speaks of the two horizons of the divine text: “the dark region of sin (cf. vv. 3-11),” which is followed by the second spiritual part of the psalm, “the luminous realm of grace (cf. vv. 12-19).” Such treatment of the inspired text gives us a clue on how to deal with sin, that is, never without making a due reference to the mercy of God who in his goodness wipes out our offenses and creates in us a new heart.
The Hebrew terms which refer to the reality of sin highlight three aspects: a) Sin means “falling short of the target” … an aberration which leads us far from God”, b) “a tortuous deviation from the straight path; it is an inversion, a distortion, deformation of good and of evil”, and c) “rebellion of the subject toward his sovereign”. However, and here lies the beauty of the contrast, if we confess our sins “the saving justice of God is ready to purify [us] radically.”
We know that God “does not just act negatively, eliminating sin, but recreates sinful humanity by means of his life-giving Spirit: he places in the human person a new and pure “heart”, namely, a renewed conscience and opens for us “the possibility of a limpid faith and worship” which are pleasing to him.
Repeatedly the psalmist prays: “Renew in me a steadfast spirit…. Do not deprive me of your holy spirit…. Sustain in me a generous spirit” (vv. 12.13.14). The Holy Father says that the “triple invocation of the Spirit who, as in creation hovered over the waters (cf. Gn 1,2), now penetrates the soul of the faithful, infusing it with new life and raising it from the kingdom of sin to the heaven of grace”, and calls it an “epiclesis”, that is, the Spirit of God descends upon us to create in us a new heart.
Let us live these last few days of Lent in the conscience of having passed -through prayer, fasting and charity- from the dark region of sin to the light of grace in anticipation of the light of Christ’s Resurrection. God bless you all.
[Readings: Jer 31:31-34; Heb 5:7-9; Jn 12:20-33]
[1] The Pope’s Wednesday Audiences can be found at http://www.vatican.va
