Delay Not Your Conversion to the Lord
May 23, 2013
Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Of
forgiveness be not overconfident, adding sin upon sin. Say not: “Great is his mercy; my many sins he
will forgive.” For mercy and anger alike
are with him; upon the wicked alights his wrath. Delay not your conversion to the LORD, put it
not off from day to day. For suddenly
his wrath flames forth; at the time of vengeance you will be destroyed.” Sirach 6B-7
“Whoever
causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better
for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into
the sea. If your hand causes you to sin,
cut it off. It is better for you to
enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the
unquenchable fire.” Mark
9:42-43
Piety
I will sprinkle clean water over you to make you clean; from
all your impurities and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit
I will put within you. I will remove the
heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within
you so that you walk in my statutes, observe my ordinances, and keep them. You will live in the land I
gave to your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. (Ezekiel 36:25-28)
Study
We have financial advisors. We have work-life coaches. We have lawyers and accountants. We have advisors of all kinds. Yet, we must not heed their advice for life
over what we read in the Good News or what is revealed to us by the Holy
Spirit.
At every step and breath, there is a person or organization
trying to separate us from our money.
But beyond that, they are trying to separate us from our mission. The real challenge in life as we learn from
Sirach and St. Mark, is not to be swayed by their enticements. And also not to entice others into this same
path. “For mercy and anger alike are with him; upon the wicked alights his
wrath. Delay not your conversion to the
LORD, put it not off from day to day.”
The Lord is looking to take us away from the world. When we are removed from the world, we enter
a state of purity – conversion – to the mission the Lord has for us. Then we have the gifts we need to turn our
back on the temptations of the world.
Action
The other day in the elevator leaving work, another person
who works in the same office tower asked me if I knew a certain person and
worked for a certain business. I did
not. Then she offered that a friend and
colleague who worked at that company had just passed away suddenly and she was
trying to find out how to pay her respects.
Maybe we should concentrate on paying our respects every day
so these worries don’t cloud our days when the person we know moves, changes
jobs or passes away.
Who do you know that you should pay “respects” to today
while they are still with you? What
advice do you have for others based upon your piety, study and action that will
keep others from getting too absorbed by the magnetism of the power and lute of
the world?
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