Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time (October 27, 2017): Overcoming our wretchedness

Earlier in his letter to the Romans, Saint Paul said that sin no longer has power over us due to the grace of God. In today’s reading from Romans, we see the inner struggle he had — and which we all have — to remain in that grace.

Although we were made good, in the image of God himself, the Original Sin of ignoring God’s laws has affected our nature. We live by the Law of Entropy. In science, “entropy” is the natural deterioration of everything. In the spiritual world, it’s our holiness that naturally decays.

As baptized Christians, we have the Holy Spirit. We are holy, but it takes effort to be what we are, living out that holiness and growing in holiness. If we don’t put forth that effort, we fall back into sin. We do what we don’t want to do. And we keep doing it again and again! Plus, we often don’t do the good things that our consciences recommend. As Paul and many other saints have said, “What a wretch I am!”

Being made in God’s image, we experience the greatest satisfaction, the most joy, the fullest peace when we handle daily situations the way Jesus would, i.e., when we are patient, kind, forgiving, etc. For proof of this, think about how you feel when you’re impatient, mean, or angrily holding a grudge, in other words, when your flesh-nature is controlling your mood. That’s not a pleasant feeling, huh?

Oh sure, there IS a good feeling behind each sinful action we take, or else we wouldn’t do it. But that “good” feeling is like drinking water that’s full of toxic waste. Smelling the stink of it and tasting the bad flavor doesn’t stop us when our flesh says, “I’m thirsty! Must drink!” We gulp it down for quick satisfaction.

And then we get sick.

Utilizing the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the penitential prayers of reconciliation during Mass is like going to the doctor. We tell him: “When I drink this water, I don’t feel so good.” His prescription: “Stop drinking that water. Other water is available.” Duh! We knew that, but the bad water was easier to get.

What wretches we are!

Who can free us from this? “All praise to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Since we’re so easily ruled by our flesh-nature and the Law of Entropy, we need the help of someone who successfully overcame that problem. The doctor’s prescription for enjoying who we are as creatures made in God’s image is the prayer: “Lord Jesus, BE my patience” or “BE my kindness toward that person who’s driving me nuts” or “BE my ability to forgive when I feel angry.”

Then, Jesus substitutes himself for us, in us, until our Godliness becomes second-nature.