Thursday - November 03, 2022
'We truly love God and keep His commandments if we restrain ourselves from our pleasures. For he who still abandons himself to unlawful desires certainly does not love God, since he contradicts Him in his own intentions. . . Therefore, he loves God truly, whose mind is not conquered by consent to evil delight. For the more one takes pleasure in lower things, the more he is separated from heavenly love.'
-- Pope St. Gregory the Great
TODAY'S READINGS
Thursday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 488
Reading I
Brothers and sisters:
We are the circumcision,
we who worship through the Spirit of God,
who boast in Christ Jesus and do not put our confidence in flesh,
although I myself have grounds for confidence even in the flesh.
If anyone else thinks he can be confident in flesh, all the more can I.
Circumcised on the eighth day,
of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin,
a Hebrew of Hebrew parentage,
in observance of the law a Pharisee,
in zeal I persecuted the Church,
in righteousness based on the law I was blameless.
But whatever gains I had,
these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ.
More than that, I even consider everything as a loss
because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (3b) Let hearts rejoice who search for the Lord.
Sing to him, sing his praise,
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.
Glory in his holy name;
rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!
R. Let hearts rejoice who search for the Lord.
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought,
his portents, and the judgments he has uttered.
R. Let hearts rejoice who search for the Lord.
You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.
R. Let hearts rejoice who search for the Lord.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia
Gospel
The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
So Jesus addressed this parable to them.
“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them
would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert
and go after the lost one until he finds it?
And when he does find it,
he sets it on his shoulders with great joy
and, upon his arrival home,
he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them,
‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’
I tell you, in just the same way
there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous people
who have no need of repentance.
“Or what woman having ten coins and losing one
would not light a lamp and sweep the house,
searching carefully until she finds it?
And when she does find it,
she calls together her friends and neighbors
and says to them,
‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’
In just the same way, I tell you,
there will be rejoicing among the angels of God
over one sinner who repents.”
******************************
OVERCOMING THE SHAME OF OUR SINS
Why do we have such a hard time admitting our own personal sins to others? Why is it so hard to apologize? Why do we resist going to Confession, even when we know it will provide us with grace to resist that sin in the future? Why aren’t we sharing with others our story of overcoming a personal sin as a testimony of Christian growth?
It’s because we feel too ashamed to face the reaction of others. We’re in this condition because we’ve been judged unfairly by others, and we’ve judged ourselves unforgivingly, and this has made us afraid to face our sins, let alone speak openly about them. We need mercy but we feel condemned.
Worse, we ourselves have been judgmental toward others, and unconsciously we assume that whatever we have done to others will be done unto us. We know that if we’re capable of doing it, so is the next guy. Therefore, we choose to keep this side of our spiritual lives private.
And yet, by opening up and talking honestly about how we have sinned (appropriately of course), adding why we regret it and how Jesus has helped us overcome it, we become an aid in the spiritual growth of those who listen. Others gain courage to face their own sinfulness, because we’ve given them hope: The mercy they long for really does exist; repenting and changing really is possible.
This is far more important than the disapproval of those who condemn us. It’s not their opinions that matter anyway. It’s God’s, and only God’s! The trouble is, we’ve been hurt by the judgmentalism of humans, and so we expect God to be judgmental, too. We forget about the mercy that becomes available in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. And we judge the priest in the confessional as unmerciful (or perhaps we judge him for his own unrepented sins), and thus we deny ourselves the opportunity to meet Christ in that priest.
Look at what today’s Gospel reading says about this. The angels rejoice when a sinner repents! There’s no shame in repenting. The only real shame is rationalizing our sins to call them good, refusing to examine ourselves to see if we need to change.
When we realize that we’ve been excusing a sin as okay or necessary or better than what the Church teaches, we can be like the woman who lost the coin. Upon finding the precious treasure of forgiveness, we can call together our friends and neighbors and say, “Rejoice with me! Let’s party!” For now we are becoming more like Christ.
Today's Prayer
Lord Jesus, I ask You for the grace of always searching for the riches hidden in other people and to be aware that You always want to rescue us due to Your mercy. Amen.
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