Saint Paul writes about our earthly bodies in today’s first reading for mass today. The gospel reading seems to have a lot to do with our priests who are responsible for presiding at the masses and distributing Christ’s body to all of us, in addition to preaching the Word of God to the faithful. Jesus had a stern warning for these servants who are put in charge of serving him in this way. The servant who does not act in accordance with his will shall be severely beaten. Whereas, those who was ignorant of his master’s will but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly.
Knowledge and motivation are pretty much the measuring stick by how we determine if our actions serve the Lord, or serve ourselves. The laity does need to be reminded to use our physical bodies as weapons for righteousness though. It isn’t what we say so much as what we actually do that counts. Intent is everything. Sometimes we do something seriously wrong without realizing it is seriously wrong though. It is something we need to confess in confession, but it isn’t a mortal sin.
Three factors have to be present for a sin to be mortal (cc 1857):
1. It must be a grave, or serious sin.
2. We must have full knowledge that it is a serious sin.
3. We commit this sin of our own free will.
If our actions do not meet this criteria, it is a venial sin, not a mortal sin. However, Saint Paul warns all of us in today’s first reading for mass today that sins of the flesh are serious sins. In fact, most sins of the flesh are mortal sins. We don’t need to get into what they are because everyone pretty much knows that any sexual sin outside of marriage is a mortal sin.
Saint Paul tells us we do not battle these inclinations by ourselves though, because sin does not have power over us as long as we remain in a state of grace. He explains that we become slaves of what or who, we serve. We either serve ourselves and our earthly lives, or else we serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Most of us who are reading these words today seek to serve Jesus, by our words and our deeds. We are obedient to Christ because we came to love him. Our obedience isn’t forced upon us because we freely chose to love him. We continue to love Jesus every day of our lives, whether we actually have the warm feelings or not, if we obey his commandments. We are formed more and more into his likeness every day that we are obedient to the Lord. Our righteousness is only found in Jesus. He draws us to himself through grace and teaches us through the Holy Spirit, but most especially through the priests, bishops and our pope.
Speaking of which, Jesus says in today’s gospel, “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. Truly, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property.” And who does this remind you of? Our priests are Christ’s servants who distribute food from heaven at every mass.
Today, let us pray for our Holy Father Pope Francis, our bishops throughout the world and the holy priests who bring Jesus to us every week. We are truly blessed to have them in our lives and to bring us Christ’s sacraments. We can be assured they are reliable guides for our lives. Christ himself charged them with our care. They have no other motive but love for him, and love for all of us as well.
Daily Mass Readings:
