Daily Reflections Feb 11, 2018

Leviticus 13: 1 - 2, 44 - 46; Mark 1: 40 - 45; 1 Corinthians 10: 31 - 11: 1

“There is none like you oh Lord! Only you could look upon me and my sin with pity and compassion. Only you could still love me in my uncleanness. I am but a wretched soul, staggering in my pride and my materialistic life. My spirit is willing, but my flesh is entwined in this-worldliness. Have mercy upon me and cleanse me of my sin, wash me with Thy Holy Blood and make me sparkling once again. Grant me forgiveness, give me peace in my heart and change my life so that my heart follows only Thee”.

The Lord is ever loving, compassionate and merciful. It is God’s desire to save us all from sinfulness, but he wants the decision to follow His lead to be our own. He wants us to voluntarily forfeit the vanity and sinfulness of the world and build our treasures in His Heavenly Kingdom. He will instill love into our hearts, He will instill the truth into our lives and He will give us the option of seeking His wisdom at our own pace. But he will never destroy our hope even if we falter repeatedly and are willing to pick ourselves up and try again. And even if we become stubborn as rocks in our sinfulness, he will step aside and watch us stagger, until we realise that the sin we continuously chase is only tearing us apart and it is only the Lord’s mercy that can make us whole again.

God will never let the devil tempt and test us more than we are capable of enduring. The Lord will always provide us with a window of opportunity to change our hearts and mend our ways. He is like a mother holding our hand as we choose our path and He patiently teaches us to find the narrow path that leads to the narrow gate of Life. God never stops reprimanding us about walking the broad highway that leads to destruction. And if we stubbornly choose to walk that evil highway because the temptations are too much to overcome, He will send stumbling blocks to remind us that our bodies are Temples of His Holy Spirit, that His Holy Spirit still abides in us and that we were once sanctified unto him.

As we realise that the habitual frailties of the flesh are pulling us towards the destruction of our bodies and our life, we realise ourselves to be comparable to the person described in the book of Leviticus 13: 1 - 2. God reminds us then, that we are in deep sin and our present lifestyle is in defiance to His Holy Commands, His Ordinances and His Decrees. It is in mercy that God decides to pull us up by our collars and reprimand us for our sinfulness. If any of us ever really knew and understood what eternity really is, we would never commit a sin and we would be fearful of losing our state of sanctity before the Lord of Hosts. It is in that sinful moment that we must approach a priest ordained by the Lord according to the dogma of the Church.As in Leviticus 13: 44 - 46 we must allow this priest to examine our conscience through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Through this Sacrament, the priest helps us come to terms with our sinfulness for the reality of the sin still abides in us. In this process, we must sincerely repent for all our evil deeds and seek forgiveness from the Lord. Until we sincerely repent and earnestly seek forgiveness, we are continuing to live in darkness. This spiritual darkness is due to the cloud of our sinfulness.This spiritual darkness keeps us cut off from God’slight of righteousness that would otherwise enable our earnest prayers to bring healing to our illness and physically heal us.

Our Almighty God sent that message of His unfathomable mercy through our Lord Jesus Christ who is ever ready to forgive a repentant sinner. Through sincere repentance and the sacrament of Reconciliation, we earn forgiveness and spiritual healing from Jesus Christ; as the leper was cleansed in the Gospel of Mark 1: 40 - 45. This is why Jesus died on the cross; to provide us with mercy and forgiveness of our sins. He washes our spirit in His Divine Blood and cleanses us of all our evil. It is important that we partake in the sacraments in goodwill and with sincere holy intentions.The priest warns us not to dwell in sin anymore and he advices us to undergo some penance that would help strengthen our conviction to remain in this spiritually sanctified state. Then, through partaking in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, we are spiritually healed. Our renewed sanctity reunites us in peace with The Lord of Hosts.

All this process of absolution of our sins through the sacraments must be done in secret so that the Lord who sees what we do in secret blesses us. We must not let conceit take over our hearts and destroy the holiness that God gifts us. Conceitedness makes us proud and boastful. That would expose us to the devil and his evil comrades would not delay in leading us into spiritual darkness once again.Whatever we do, we must be inspired by the Gospels to live our lives in holiness and for God; to be forbearers of His message and workers in His plan. St. Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians teaches us that there is no need to mock those who haven’t yet been introduced to the faith we share. We must be compassionate like Jesus is and serve in humility to win their unbelieving hearts through our actions as servants of the Lord. Thus, we must imitate Jesus Christ just as the holy Saints did and win our place in Heaven for Eternity.

-by bro Maryo.