Friday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
One of the greatest weaknesses of the average Christian is that we do not take sin seriously enough. This is not to say that we must beat ourselves up, scrupulously analyze every thought, word, deed, and inaction, but it is to say that we must treat sin as seriously as we would any other illness, poison, or threat to our well-being.
Even more so. For no disease, no poison, nor any outside threat can do us more long-term harm than sin. No disease, poison, or outside threat can kill our soul; only our bodies, which will rise again. But even a single mortal sin, should we not repent of it, can lead to eternal death. Therefore if there is a sin against which we struggle, why do we simply tolerate it when we ought to do all we can to cut it out of our lives? If we are willing to go on extreme diets, undergo surgical procedures, and so forth for the sake of our bodies, why are we so lax when it comes to the care of our eternal souls?
Let us renew our effort, then, to resist sin, and when we do get sick with it, when we drink its poison, when it does cause us harm, let us make haste to the Physician, the Medicine, the Healer in the Confessional. We need not live in our illness; we can be healthy and strong if we let Him be our strength. Let us strive to hate sin at least as much as we strive to love God!