Daily Retreat 09/12/09
2009 Sep 12 Sat:Ordinary Weekday/ BVM/ Holy Name of Mary
1 Tm 1:15-17/ Ps 112(113):1b-2. 3-4. 5a and 6-7/ Lk 6:43-49
From today’s readings:“This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.... Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.... Why do you call me, `Lord, Lord,' but not do what I command? ”
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners
Why did Jesus, truly divine, eternal Word of the Father, humble Himself to take on human flesh, and offer Himself on the cross? In an emphatically blunt manner, Paul insists the answer can be summed up: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners!
Jesus Himself asserted this clearly (cf. Mark 2:17), so we shouldn’t forget it. Why does Paul so forcefully emphasize this point? Because there’s always been a temptation to think of Jesus merely as the champion of our favorite cause, as a political, socio-economic, intellectual, emotional, or psychological “savior,” but that misses the point. True Christianity insists that 1) Sin enslaves and 2) Christ liberates.
Many modern “empty, seductive philosophies” (cf. Col 2:8) owe their popular appeal to the denial or mitigation of the seriousness of sin, claiming, in effect, that sin does not really enslave. Paul, however, realized the reality and gravity of his own sinfulness, and so he could appreciate fully the patient mercy of God revealed in Christ Jesus.
For those of us who have fallen like Paul but now have discovered God’s mercy, there is a personal experience that sin REALLY enslaves, and Christ REALLY liberates. Even if, thanks to the mercy of God, you have not fallen as seriously as Paul, still, all are nonetheless in need of God’s mercy, and everyone can look to Paul as an example of the abundance of that mercy.
1 Tm 1:15-17/ Ps 112(113):1b-2. 3-4. 5a and 6-7/ Lk 6:43-49
From today’s readings:“This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.... Blessed be the name of the Lord for ever.... Why do you call me, `Lord, Lord,' but not do what I command? ”
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners
Why did Jesus, truly divine, eternal Word of the Father, humble Himself to take on human flesh, and offer Himself on the cross? In an emphatically blunt manner, Paul insists the answer can be summed up: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners!
Jesus Himself asserted this clearly (cf. Mark 2:17), so we shouldn’t forget it. Why does Paul so forcefully emphasize this point? Because there’s always been a temptation to think of Jesus merely as the champion of our favorite cause, as a political, socio-economic, intellectual, emotional, or psychological “savior,” but that misses the point. True Christianity insists that 1) Sin enslaves and 2) Christ liberates.
Many modern “empty, seductive philosophies” (cf. Col 2:8) owe their popular appeal to the denial or mitigation of the seriousness of sin, claiming, in effect, that sin does not really enslave. Paul, however, realized the reality and gravity of his own sinfulness, and so he could appreciate fully the patient mercy of God revealed in Christ Jesus.
For those of us who have fallen like Paul but now have discovered God’s mercy, there is a personal experience that sin REALLY enslaves, and Christ REALLY liberates. Even if, thanks to the mercy of God, you have not fallen as seriously as Paul, still, all are nonetheless in need of God’s mercy, and everyone can look to Paul as an example of the abundance of that mercy.
posted by FrPitstick | 9/10/2009
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