The first reading today from 1st Thessalonians is eye opening. As a mortal human we cannot hope to understand God. However, scripture gives us glimmers that are more than the do’s and don’ts of life. As any child to a parent will ask, we all want to know “why”? The first reading from Saint Paul says, This is the wlll of God, your holiness: that you refrain from immorality,” Again why?
So that is easy, we just follow the commandments. Right? …. Not so fast. My wife, Anna, will send me to the grocery store with a list which I dutifully put in my pocket. As I am walking out the door she will sometimes say, ” Oh, by the way could you also get such and such. ” If I do not write it down, I will sometimes forget the item. When I get home she will say did I get such and such and of course I had not. So I get back in the car to go back to the store to make the purchase and with a little frustration because I forgot.
I think we all know what is right and moral to be holy, but I sometimes think we forget to put it on our to do list or grocery list in my case. We are all made in God’s image and holiness is part of our DNA. Go back to the readings of Tuesday and Wednesday of this week from Matthew 23. We know the rules to be holy but do not follow the intent that makes us holy.
The Responsorial Psalm today says, “The Lord loves those who hate evil” The truth is that none of say we like evil, so why do we sin? We can’t say, like the comedian Flip Wilson that the Devil made me do it. We only have ourselves to blame. Sure we enjoy those sins for a moment but then that part of us that tries to be holy puts a damper on it.
Examination of Conscience is the key.
“Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.” Just like the Gospel we have our list but fail to check it or do not write the list in our hearts and minds.
Jesus tells us ” Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
If we are to stay holy as God wants we have to be on our guard against anything that does not make us holy. Sitting in a church doesn’t do it, no more than standing in a garage makes us a car. Keeping the list close to our hearts does.
God Bless you always
Bob Burford
