Homily: Sixth Tuesday of Ordinary Time

Sixth Tuesday of Ordinary Time (James 1:12-18) “Taking Responsibility”

Who tempts us to make the wrong choices? This has been a religious debate since the beginning. Some would blame God. How often we hear others say that God is tempting me.

Others would blame Satan. We could think of the church lady on Saturday night live who asks the rhetorical question, “Could it be Satan?” Or we might think of Flip Wilson who said in a lot of his skits, “The devil made me do it.”

We human beings tend to blame others for our sins. We hear Adam blame Eve for eating the forbidden fruit. Eve then blames the serpent. Whenever a politician is caught in a scandal, they seem to blame a member of their staff. Somebody “takes the fall” so a political career might be saved.

God gave each individual free will. We must take our share of the blame when we choose to commit a sin. The sin does not start with the choice that we make but it starts with the desires we choose to entertain.

When we have a good desire, we can nourish that desire, or we can push it away. When we have an evil desire, we can entertain that temptation. We can ruminate about it. We can imagine what it would feel like to act on it. If we do this, we are quite likely to choose the wrong thing. We are free to choose how we will react to temptation.

When we think about Lent, we realize it is a time to strengthen ourselves against evil inclinations. We spend our time fasting, praying and doing works of charity. When we are engaged in doing these things, we don’t have time for evil pursuits.

As Fulton Sheen would say, we crowd out the evil desires. We only have so much time in our day. If we spend as much time as possible in virtuous pursuits, we will gain strength to resist sin.

Reflection Questions:

1.    Do I waste time? How do I do this?

2.   What could I do during Lent that would give me less time to be tempted? Have I planned for Lent yet?

Dear Parishioner,

          Tonight, we will be having a Fat Tuesday celebration at Culemans Hall at 5:30. Come and spend some time with other parishioners. Eat some food. Play some games. Everything will be free.

          Remember Masses for Ash Wednesday will be at 6:30, 8 and 10:15 a.m. There will also be a Mass at 5:45 p.m. We hope everyone will be able to come and start the Lenten season off right.

          May Our Lady of Peace pray for us,

          Fr. Mark