Daily Retreat 12/16/08
2008 Dec 16 Tue: Advent Weekday
Zep 3: 1-2. 9-13/ Ps 34: 2-3. 6-7. 17-18. 19 and 23/ Mt 21: 28-32
From today’s readings: “Woe to the city, rebellious and polluted, to the tyrannical city!... The Lord hears the cry of the poor.... Which of the two sons did his father’s will?”
What Really Matters
“Everyone makes mistakes,” as the secular saying goes, or to express the same insight in the language of faith, “We’re all sinners in need of a Savior.” So our past sins are not what define our lives (because everyone is scarred with sin), but what you and I do about those sins determines our destiny.
We can choose self-righteously to ignore or dismiss our sins, to be like Zephaniah’s tyrannical city - “She hears no voice, accepts no correction; she has not trusted in the Lord, she has not drawn near to her God.” This is also choosing to be like the chief priests and elders admonished by Jesus because they excused their own sins with the false comfort that others were worse sinners than they were themselves.
OR, we can choose to be like the first son in the Gospel parable, who had clearly in the past said “No!” to his father, but repented, and said “Yes!” with his actions. To get to that point though, we need to personally tune in to scripture’s insistent call to repentance, and snap out of the hypnotic illusion that the “big sins” of others eclipse our own “little sins.” We’re preparing to celebrate the birth of our Savior - is He your Savior too (because you recognize your sins and need for a Savior), or do you imagine that He came just for tax collectors and prostitutes and all those who need a Savior more than you do?
Zep 3: 1-2. 9-13/ Ps 34: 2-3. 6-7. 17-18. 19 and 23/ Mt 21: 28-32
From today’s readings: “Woe to the city, rebellious and polluted, to the tyrannical city!... The Lord hears the cry of the poor.... Which of the two sons did his father’s will?”
What Really Matters
“Everyone makes mistakes,” as the secular saying goes, or to express the same insight in the language of faith, “We’re all sinners in need of a Savior.” So our past sins are not what define our lives (because everyone is scarred with sin), but what you and I do about those sins determines our destiny.
We can choose self-righteously to ignore or dismiss our sins, to be like Zephaniah’s tyrannical city - “She hears no voice, accepts no correction; she has not trusted in the Lord, she has not drawn near to her God.” This is also choosing to be like the chief priests and elders admonished by Jesus because they excused their own sins with the false comfort that others were worse sinners than they were themselves.
OR, we can choose to be like the first son in the Gospel parable, who had clearly in the past said “No!” to his father, but repented, and said “Yes!” with his actions. To get to that point though, we need to personally tune in to scripture’s insistent call to repentance, and snap out of the hypnotic illusion that the “big sins” of others eclipse our own “little sins.” We’re preparing to celebrate the birth of our Savior - is He your Savior too (because you recognize your sins and need for a Savior), or do you imagine that He came just for tax collectors and prostitutes and all those who need a Savior more than you do?
posted by FrPitstick | 12/15/2008
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