Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
(Romans 7:18-25a; Luke 12:54-59)
In Gethsemane Jesus’ disciples sleep while he is
praying. He asked them to pray with him,
but their bodies gave way to the natural tendency to doze off at night. Jesus makes an excuse for their failure. “The
spirit is willing,” he says, “but the flesh is week.” St. Paul says something similar in today’s
first reading.
Paul tries to explain why it seems that he never does the
good that is in his heart. In its place
he does the evil for which his flesh yearns.
Paul does not specify any sin; perhaps, from what he says of himself in
other letters, it may be ones of anger or pride. People today may relate to what Paul is
saying in dealing with lust or lying.
They do not want to look at pornography but somehow their fingers cannot
resist clicking its button. They may
have resolved to always tell the truth, but they seem to enjoy deceiving
others.
The passage suggests to us that Christ can lead us from these
traps. He will ask the Father to send the
Holy Spirit to strengthen our resolve against evil desires. We find Jesus in the sacraments and should
not tire of going there for assistance.
