I CAN WILL WHAT IS RIGHT…

Romans 7:18-25

18 For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it.
19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.
20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me.21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.
22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self,23 but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members.
24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I of myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Luke 12:54-59

54 He also said to the multitudes, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it happens.55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens.
56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky; but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
57 “And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?
58 As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison.
59 I tell you, you will never get out till you have paid the very last copper.”

 MEDITATION

St PAUL WRESTLE with the question of how our human instincts may collide with our sense of reasoning that has the potential to either cause us to sin or to avoid the occasion to sin. Good versus evil, two apposing forces that are always operating in us, drive our cognitive faculties to discern what is right or wrong. 

To do what we ‘want’ or desire, generally leads to sin and makes as wretched self loathing individuals, meaning we hate ourselves for that which we have done! Whereas when we do what we ‘ought to do’, we find delight and joy because we serve the will of God instead of the will of the flesh! 

THE GOSPEL READING: Judging from the rituals, practices and the old covenant sacrificial offerings, the Hebrew people can be seen to be an agricultural people with a raised awareness of atmospheric conditions which affected their lively hood and existence. Jesus juxtapose the cognitive abilities of His hearers to forecast weather patterns, with their inability to adjudge the trajectory of their lives as far as it concerns their salvation! 

Our failure to act upon the voice of the promptings of the Holy Spirit to do what is right in the eyes of God shall cost us our salvation! Christ alludes to the apocalypse followed by the judgement of man to alert believers of the cause of action we aught to take in order to avoid eternal punishment. Whilst we may consider some types of sin to be ‘insignificant’, we are put on notice that no sin shall pass the eye of God! You and I have to seek forgiveness and reconciliation in this life, failing which we may suffer eternal death or be required to “pay the last penny” and be purged [purgatory] of our venial sins before we can attain heaven!

LET US PRAY:Psalms 119:66,68,76-77,93-94

66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in thy commandments.68 Thou art good and doest good; teach me thy statutes.
76 Let thy steadfast love be ready to comfort me according to thy promise to thy servant.
77 Let thy mercy come to me, that I may live; for thy law is my delight.93 I will never forget thy precepts; for by them thou hast given me life.94 I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts.

Author. Henry R SYLVESTER Note: The daily scripture readings are taken from the Roman Missal which the Catholic Church use in the daily Celebration of the Holy Eucharist throughout the world.Some weekly readings may differ because of the celebration of local feast days.