5th Week in Ordinary Time 2025 - Wednesday - Achieving inner integrity

 There appears to be a bit of a contradiction in our readings today. In the first reading, for eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, God say, the consequence is death: “the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die”.

On the other hand, the Lord Jesus, speaking to a crowd says that “nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person”. Nothing you eat can corrupt your soul.

How do we reconcile what God says in the first reading and what he says in the Gospel? Well, in the first reading, it was not the fruit itself that was somehow spiritually poisonous. It was not as if this was some mystical fruit that had the power to corrupt man’s nature. What was spiritually deadly, wasn’t the fruit, rather, what was spiritually deadly was the decision to disobey God. And that decision is made in the soul, from within.

As the Lord explains in the Gospel, “from within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile.”

Our decisions--—our deliberate actions—matter. Our use of our free will has spiritual consequences. When we use our free will to act in accordance with the divine will of God, we grow in virtue—we habituate ourselves to what is good—to goodness itself.  The Catechism says, “The virtuous person tends toward the good with all his sensory and spiritual powers; he pursues the good and chooses it in concrete actions. The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God…The virtuous man is he who freely practices the good. The moral virtues are acquired by human effort. They are the fruit and seed of morally good acts; they dispose all the powers of the human being for communion with divine love.(CCC 1803-1804)”

On the other hand, when we misuse our freewill to act in discord with the divine will, contrary to the purpose for which we were made, our souls are corrupted—we are habituated toward what is harmful to our minds, bodies, heart and soul. Choosing evil allows the powers of death to continue to pervert our natures meant for divine life. 

Even with the help of grace, the example of the saints, the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, our life is a constant battle. One of the great lines out of Vatican II reminds us, “Finding himself in the midst of the battlefield man has to struggle to do what is right, and it is at great cost to himself, and aided by God’s grace, that he succeeds in achieving his own inner integrity.”

But inner integrity and sanctity can be achieved through effort, through faithfulness, through love. May we allow the victory of Christ to achieve victory in us today, in our decisions, our deliberate actions, in our struggle to do what is right, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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With confidence in God’s grace and a desire to grow in virtue, we bring our prayers before the Lord.

For the Church: That she may faithfully teach and inspire all people to choose good over evil, and to live in accord with God’s divine will.

For those in positions of leadership—civil, religious, and community leaders:

That they may govern and guide with integrity, promoting what is just and right, and resisting the corruption of selfish or sinful motives.

For all who struggle with temptation or with persistent sins: That they may be strengthened by God’s grace and the support of the Christian community, and find the courage to choose the path of virtue.

For those who have been hurt by their own or others’ misuse of free will: That God’s healing mercy will restore them, renew their hope, and guide them toward forgiveness and reconciliation.

For those who suffer in body, mind, or spirit: That the Lord will bring them comfort, and that our loving actions may be a sign of God’s care and compassion in their lives.

For our beloved dead: That they may be granted eternal rest and behold the face of God in the heavenly kingdom.

Merciful Father, you have given us the freedom to choose good and the grace to follow your will. Hear the prayers we offer you this day and help us to grow in holiness. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

4th Week of OT 2018 - Tuesday - Loving your enemies

King David’s behavior, his grief is somewhat confusing. Absalom was a usurper. He killed his brother Amnon. He had stolen the loyalty of David’s army and countrymen. You would think that David would rejoice at the news of Absalom’s death, that he would heap praise upon the soldiers who killed this anti-king.

And yet, we see David cry out with grief, “My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you.”

Intimations of Christ-like forgiveness are found in this story—Christ who chose to die for us when we were worthy of death.

We are Absalom, guilty of usurpation, seizing what did not belong to us; we are Adam and Eve grasping at the forbidden fruit, as if divinity could be gained through disobedience.  We are Cain, jealous of our brothers favor. We are Israel worshiping false idols even after it is clear that God had intervened in our history.

We made ourselves into the enemies of God by virtue of sin. How absolutely mind-blowing, ego-shattering to consider that God chose to become man to die, not for his friends, but for his enemies. Paul write to Rome, “Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”

So when, Our Lord teaches us that we must not hate, but love our enemies, he’s not just saying that we are simply to refrain from killing them, but that perhaps we would be willing to die for them, like David desired to die for his son Absalom, like Jesus desired to die for us.

This sort of Christ-like love for our enemies makes most of us quite unsettled. And it should, because most of us have a lot of converting still to do. But no doubt, true joy is found in the conversion of our hearts from hardness to Christ-like love.

We do well to ask the Lord to teach us the meaning of love, to give us the desire to love, not simply our friends, but our enemies, for the stranger, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
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That all members of the Church may live out their baptismal call with greater conviction and faithfulness, and turn to the Lord in their sins with sincere contrition.

During this Catholic Schools Week, we continue to pray for all students, for their openness to knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, and for their teachers ability to educate.

For parents, the first teachers of their children, and for a strengthening of all families in faith.  We pray to the Lord.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, immigrants and refugees, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For all who have died, and for all the poor souls in purgatory, and for X. for whom this Mass is offered.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord