“He Cleans Up Our Mess”
Father Peter Fitzgibbons
February 14-15, 2026
Gospel: Matthew 5:17:37
A friend of mine told me this story, so I don’t take credit for it, but I thought it would be a good one to share at the beginning of Lent. One morning, my friend woke his young son and asked him, “Are you hungry? Do you want breakfast?” His son said, “Yay! I’m going to make my breakfast!” and he flew downstairs to the kitchen. My friend tried to catch up with him, but his son said, “I’m going to make it myself.” He grabbed a bowl and a box of cereal. As with any five or seven-year-old, some of the cereal made it into the bowl, but a lot of it fell on the floor. My friend asked his son if he wanted help with the milk. “No, I got this.” Famous last words. There was milk splashed all over the place. But his son was so happy with himself. “I made my breakfast! I’m going to show mommy what I did,” and he took the bowl and ran back upstairs. When his son came back downstairs, what did he find? Nothing. The kitchen was perfect because his dad had cleaned up the mess. Did his dad reprimand him? No. It was a teachable moment, but not in the way most people think. Dad cleaned the mess in the kitchen, and it was as if nothing ever happened, like Servpro. He never told his son about it. Perhaps years down the road, his son may realize what his dad did for him – that he cleaned up all the mess he had caused – and maybe one day he will do the same for his own children.
As we begin the Season of Lent, we meditate on our failures, sins, and lack of progress in our faith. We should think about our own lives, where our Good Lord has cleaned up our messes. All sin causes a mess. We can minimize it . . . some people minimize it a lot. “Oh, my sin wasn’t that bad.” Some people go in the opposite direction and think their sin caused the Titanic to sink. No. But realize the enormous debt God paid for us and how much of our messes He cleaned up.
God wants our hearts to turn to Him and to love Him. Think of what our God has done for us by cleaning up the damage we have done to our relationship with Him and the damage we have done to our relationship with others by our sins. He did not repay us according to our inequities, nor did He rub our face in it. “See what I did for you?” He does not do that. So, this Lent, let’s call to mind and meditate on the great act of forgiveness our Good Lord has done for us. What is the greatest experience of God’s love? It is the experience of His mercy and forgiveness.
How will you apply this message to your life? _________________________________________
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