“We are shamefaced, like our kings, our princes, and our fathers,
for having sinned against you.
But yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness!
Yet we rebelled against you.”
The question for us this morning is simple: Are we any different from the people of Daniel’s time?
Daniel speaks on behalf of his people. He does not blame others. He does not point fingers. He includes himself: “We have sinned.” He acknowledges both God’s mercy and human stubbornness. God is compassionate and forgiving—yet we are often stiff-necked and rebellious.
Is that not still true today?
We know what is right, yet we fail to do it. We know God’s commandments, yet we sometimes choose our own way. We desire mercy, yet we struggle to show mercy to others. Like the people in Daniel’s time, we too can be unfaithful. But unlike a hopeless people, we are a people who know that God never withdraws His compassion.
Daniel’s prayer teaches us humility. Lent is a time not for pretending we are perfect, but for honestly acknowledging our need for God. True repentance begins when we stop excusing ourselves and start examining our hearts.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us to be merciful as our heavenly Father is merciful. The mercy we beg from God must become the mercy we extend to others. We cannot ask God for forgiveness while holding resentment in our hearts.
This Lent, may we not be stubborn or stiff-necked, but humble and open. May we cry out like Daniel, trusting not in our goodness, but in God’s compassion. And may His mercy transform our hearts so that we become instruments of that same mercy in the world.
Amen.
