Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB
In our first reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans,
Paul is talking about the challenges of attempting to live a life as a follower
of Jesus Christ. He acknowledges all the temptations that come about because of
just being human.
We all know the commandments of love of God and love of
neighbor. Further we know we need to avoid looking lustfully at other people we
may find attractive. All these things take us away from living a God centered
life.
These are all struggles we face daily. For instance, it is
good and right to love all people in our lives, but what about those people
that get on our nerves? Do we love them as we should? Or do we harbor hatred or
resentment towards them? That goes back to what Paul is saying, “For I do not
do the good I want but I do the evil I do not want.”
Paul is pointing out the ongoing struggle we have is teaching
us that, in all humility, we need to rely on the presence of Christ in our
lives to help us to respond to these temptations that take us away from Him.
While the struggle with sin will continue until we are fully
free in heaven, we are not left alone to fight alone. The same Holy Spirit that
resurrected Jesus can give our mortal bodies new life, empowering us to choose
the good and overcome in.
During these struggles it’s important to turn to the Lord in
prayer to ask for strength to respond to temptation in a way pleasing God. Further,
through the sacrament of Confession, we can receive the gift of forgiveness for
the times we fall short and receive strength through the sacrament to pick
ourselves up and to attempt to live a life pleasing to God.
Through the intercession of St. Paul, and our guardian
angels, let us pray for the strength to always live a life of love of God and
love of neighbor. Let us not despair during times we may fail but be grateful
for the gift of forgiveness God gives us each time we repent and turn back to
him.
From Arlene B. Muller
ReplyDeleteVery good homily.
Although you always refer to the Two Great Commandments of loving GOD with all that is in us & loving our neighbor as ourselves, which are the most important & the basis of every other commandment or law, I think it is also important at times to make reference to the Ten Commandments, which in many respects show us the way to live our love of GOD (no other gods, no idols, not taking His Name in vain, keeping Holy the Sabbath that was Saturday for the Jewish people but is Sunday for Catholics & most other Christians because of the Resurrection & that is practiced by Catholics by participating at Mass according to the commandment of the Church) and our love of neighbor (honoring & respecting our parents, relatives, authorities, not killing or harming other people but being kind, not committing adultery, fornication or any other sexual sin, not stealing & not defrauding or cheating anyone, not lying or gossiping, not coveting someone else's spouse, not coveting someone else's property or being jealous or envious).
In Catholic grammar school, partly during the years before, in the midst of, & after Vatican II, a good part of our religious education using the Baltimore Catechism was focused on the Ten Commandments & on mortal sin vs venial sin & the consequences of unconfessed, unrepentant mortal sin.
Although I would not make the Baltimore Catechism the only focus of Catholic education and I prefer a more positive approach, I think that nowadays the Ten Commandments seem to be ignored or considered more like the "Ten Suggestions". We see this in sparse Mass attendance & taking our obligation to attend Sunday (or Saturday evening) Liturgy very casually, in the way people act in church when there is First Communion or Confirmation where parents seem more concerned with socializing, taking pictures & the party than the Mass & the Sacrament their children are about to receive, & with sexual immorality & cohabitation being treated almost like the norm or a "given", which is contrary to the laws of GOD & of the Church. We need to avoid both the extremes of legalism & the extreme of taking GOD'S Commandments too casually.
I would not advocate "fire & brimstone".We need to be focused on CHRIST, His love & grace, the GOSPEL & the rest of Sacred Scripture.
But from time to time we need to ensure that the Ten Commandments & the laws of the Church are taught to our children & teens & that we adults receive necessary reminders. When the Church made many positive changes since Vatican II, the basics have not changed. So many people are being influenced by the ways of "the world" instead of by the ways of GOD & the Church. They shrug it off by saying "Times have changed", but my response is that GOD has not changed
There was nothing wrong with your homily. It was very good. I just think that an occasional reference to the Ten Commandments as an important part of the way we live out the Two Greatest Commandments would be helpful.
Thanks for the comments, Arlene. I always mention the 2 great commandments because if people follow these two commandments, all else falls into place. Of course, we should always follow the 10 commandments, but I think if we focus on love of God and love of neighbor, following the commandments will fall into place.
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