God, The Author of All Goodness: Third Sunday of Lent

O God, author of every mercy and of all goodness,
who in fasting, prayer and almsgiving
have shown us a remedy for sin,
look graciously on this confession of our lowliness,
that we, who are bowed down by our conscience,
may always be lifted up by your mercy.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

– Collect, Third Sunday of Lent –

The third week of Lent can be a trying time, when the 40 days of Lent start to feel extraordinarily long. The fervor with which we set out on Ash Wednesday has perhaps faded, leaving us glum and discouraged. If you’ve found yourself guiltily sneaking a piece of chocolate, hitting the snooze button you swore not to touch, or otherwise fudging on your Lenten resolutions, this week’s Sunday collect offers an opportunity to reset! The collect for the 3rd Sunday of Lent reminds us of the three pillars of Lent (fasting, prayer, and almsgiving) and their ultimate purpose during this season: the redirection of our attention to our benevolent, merciful Father.

The opening phrase of this collect refers to God as “author of every mercy and of all goodness.” As a lover of literature, this phrase caught my eye. The title of “author” suggests forethought and care: every piece of writing worth its salt is the product of love and attention on the part of its writer. Think of the exquisite detail and careful planning that make up a good novel. With how much more love and care must God have ‘written’ his creation, especially us, His sons and daughters? The good things that happen to us are not coincidence or good luck— “all good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” (James 1:17)

With that supreme benevolence in mind, the idea of sin should fill us with disgust. As the collect says, we are (or ought to be) “bowed down by our conscience” at the idea of rejecting this goodness. Unlike characters written by a human author, we creatures of the Divine Author are fully capable of rebelling against the “storyline” He has set out for us. However, doing so will never lead to our ultimate happiness; it is only our clouded, limited human judgement that tells us so. Coming to the realization that we have sinned and gone against God’s plan for us is never a comfortable experience, but it is necessary in order to fully experience His mercy.

And so we come to the request made in this week’s collect: “look graciously on this confession of our lowliness, that we… may always be lifted up by your mercy.” Our Lenten penances of fasting, almsgiving, and prayer are meant to remind us of how completely we depend on God for everything: for food, for our material goods, even for the very gift of our faith! That can be a very humbling thought… but then again, as Jesus promises us in the Gospel (Mt 23:12, Lk 18:14), only those who are humble can then be exalted by him.

With that in mind, let us take up our Lenten penances with renewed fervor in this third week of Lent, looking humbly to God as the source of all goodness, as we look forward in faith to Our Lord’s Passion and Resurrection.