Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
In our opening reading today, St. Paul reminds us of our basic human condition: “I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh…I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want” (Rom 7:18-19). Each of us can attest to that reality in our lives. We have the best of intentions to do what we know is right, but we utterly fail at times when put to the test. We know God’s law—and may even take delight in His commands (as we hear so frequently in Psalm 119)—but self-will takes charge and we fall into sin.
How are we to be saved from this seemingly hopeless state of human weakness? St. Paul gives us great hope: “Who will deliver me from this mortal body? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 7:25). It is Christ’s triumph over sin and death that gives us confidence. Christ assumed our human flesh—with all its weakness—in order to redeem it, to transform it into His own glorified Body. Jesus endured temptation in order to defeat the powers of darkness and that indeed gives us great hope. If we stay close to Jesus, if we have a personal relationship with him through prayer, we will gradually take on his mind and love with his heart. Paul so beautifully described this process in his letter to the Ephesians: “…you should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth” (Eph 4:22-24).
Let us not be discouraged by our weakness but put our hope in Jesus, who alone can save us from our fallen human nature and raise us up with him in glory to the heights of heaven.
Reflection by Br. Michael Marcotte, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections