Friday of the twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
(Romans 7:18-25a; Luke 12:54-59)
In today’s first reading St. Paul writes as if he just heard
the confessions of hundreds of contemporary men. He might as well have in mind Internet porn
as any compulsive sin of his day. Too
many men today are tormented by the temptation to look at lascivious pictures. At the same time they feel both attracted and
repulsed by the images.
The resolution of this dilemma, as Paul suggests, is “Jesus
Christ our Lord.” Not only was he a man who
knew temptations like all humans so that men today might emulate his
sinlessness. More importantly, he won
for us the grace to overcome selfish desires.
His grace keeps many people walking without stumbling. And if they fall, he is there to pick them up
– a million times if necessary. He will
stay with them, in Penance and especially in the Eucharist, so that they overcome
their weakness.
We need Jesus to live upright lives. We find him in the sacraments, in Scripture,
in one another, and in prayer. We should
recognize him as Lord -- not one to trifle with – and follow the counsel he conveys
in our conscience.
