Daily Retreat 09/28/08
2008 Sep 28 SUN: TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Ez 18: 25-28/ Ps 24(25): 4-5. 6-7. 8-9 (6a)/ Phil 2: 1-11/ Mt 21: 28-32
From today’s readings: “Is it My way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair?... Remember Your mercies, O Lord.... Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus.... Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you....”
On my way...
How do you get to Heaven? How does one enter the Kingdom of God? Is it enough just to live a “better than average” life, you know, to not pollute your mind or body with even an ounce of sleaze, the way those prostitutes do, to not dirty your hands with even a gram of greed, like those corrupt tax collectors? Ha! How comforting it is, isn’t it, to read in every morning’s paper about cold-blooded killers and diabolic drug pushers, to see daily on television devious dictators dealing death and celebrity demigods divorced four times, to say nothing of the uncountable, unspeakable affairs - to contemplate such utter moral riffraff on one hand, then compare that to the beauty, the crystal purity, the refined virtue, the polished moral perfection of our own life (at least in comparison). But does that get you to Heaven?
Hell must be full of people with one thing in common: they all decided they had no need of repentance, after all, their sins weren’t half as bad, or half as many, as someone else’s; their fledgling virtue was at least twice as good as someone else’s. In contrast, the hallmark of every single soul who ranks among the saints, is that personal reply to the call to repentance, that individual embrace of God’s arms of Mercy, that humble confession that “I am a sinner, I stand in need of Divine forgiveness and the Grace of God.”
How many times have you and I proudly said, like that second son, “Yes Sir! I am on my way, Lord! I’m on my way to straightening out my life. I’m on my way to kicking my bad habits, my vices. I’m on my way to doing Your will in my daily life!” We’re on our way...but you and I never get too far. What steps have you or I taken to deepen our Christian commitment in the past week, month, or even year? “Well, I haven’t really done that much lately, but I’m on my way!” What concretely have you or I done with prayers, personal contact, and political involvement in the past year to rid our country of the ever-worsening scourge of abortion? “Um, I’m on my way!” What’s changed since the last time the Sunday Sacred Scriptures rang with the call to repentance - have you had the courage and humility to embrace the Lord’s mercy in the sacrament of Confession? “Uh, no, but I’m thinking about it - I’m on my way.”
Dear friends, if our Lord’s words today have helped you, as they’ve helped me, to recognize that, in word and deed, you and I have all too often echoed that first son in saying in reply to the Lord’s call, “No, Lord, I will not. I will not do Your will in my life, I will not recognize my need for repentance, I will not welcome Your saving presence in my life,” - remember, this day God gives you and me the chance to change our lives, to repent! This day God shows you and me how to get to Heaven - by following His Son, Who humbled Himself, obediently accepting the will of the Father. His Son, Jesus Christ the Lord, Who alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Ez 18: 25-28/ Ps 24(25): 4-5. 6-7. 8-9 (6a)/ Phil 2: 1-11/ Mt 21: 28-32
From today’s readings: “Is it My way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair?... Remember Your mercies, O Lord.... Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus.... Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you....”
On my way...
How do you get to Heaven? How does one enter the Kingdom of God? Is it enough just to live a “better than average” life, you know, to not pollute your mind or body with even an ounce of sleaze, the way those prostitutes do, to not dirty your hands with even a gram of greed, like those corrupt tax collectors? Ha! How comforting it is, isn’t it, to read in every morning’s paper about cold-blooded killers and diabolic drug pushers, to see daily on television devious dictators dealing death and celebrity demigods divorced four times, to say nothing of the uncountable, unspeakable affairs - to contemplate such utter moral riffraff on one hand, then compare that to the beauty, the crystal purity, the refined virtue, the polished moral perfection of our own life (at least in comparison). But does that get you to Heaven?
Hell must be full of people with one thing in common: they all decided they had no need of repentance, after all, their sins weren’t half as bad, or half as many, as someone else’s; their fledgling virtue was at least twice as good as someone else’s. In contrast, the hallmark of every single soul who ranks among the saints, is that personal reply to the call to repentance, that individual embrace of God’s arms of Mercy, that humble confession that “I am a sinner, I stand in need of Divine forgiveness and the Grace of God.”
How many times have you and I proudly said, like that second son, “Yes Sir! I am on my way, Lord! I’m on my way to straightening out my life. I’m on my way to kicking my bad habits, my vices. I’m on my way to doing Your will in my daily life!” We’re on our way...but you and I never get too far. What steps have you or I taken to deepen our Christian commitment in the past week, month, or even year? “Well, I haven’t really done that much lately, but I’m on my way!” What concretely have you or I done with prayers, personal contact, and political involvement in the past year to rid our country of the ever-worsening scourge of abortion? “Um, I’m on my way!” What’s changed since the last time the Sunday Sacred Scriptures rang with the call to repentance - have you had the courage and humility to embrace the Lord’s mercy in the sacrament of Confession? “Uh, no, but I’m thinking about it - I’m on my way.”
Dear friends, if our Lord’s words today have helped you, as they’ve helped me, to recognize that, in word and deed, you and I have all too often echoed that first son in saying in reply to the Lord’s call, “No, Lord, I will not. I will not do Your will in my life, I will not recognize my need for repentance, I will not welcome Your saving presence in my life,” - remember, this day God gives you and me the chance to change our lives, to repent! This day God shows you and me how to get to Heaven - by following His Son, Who humbled Himself, obediently accepting the will of the Father. His Son, Jesus Christ the Lord, Who alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
posted by FrPitstick | 9/26/2008
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