Daily Lenten Reflection – Saturday after Ash Wednesday (February 21, 2026)
“Thus says the Lord: If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday” (Isaiah 58:9–11). Lent confronts the tendency to reduce faith to private devotion while leaving daily behavior untouched. This passage makes it clear that repentance is not limited to what happens in prayer but must be visible in how people speak, judge, and treat others. God links spiritual renewal directly to moral action, especially toward the vulnerable. Words, attitudes, and choices matter because they reveal what the heart truly serves. Oppression, false accusation, and malicious speech are not minor faults. They destroy trust and dignity and quietly reshape communities. Scripture insists that turning away from these habits is part of returning to God. Faith that claims closeness to God while excusing cruelty or careless ...