Thursday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
We all have probably experienced procrastination. For me, the desire to procrastinate was likely to hit right as I sat down to write a paper for a class in college. It was amazing how much I could get done when I had a paper to write. I’d talk to my parents on the phone, clean my whole dorm room, do my laundry, check my email countless times, and of course chat with my roommate. I did always get the paper done. But there are other areas of our lives where procrastination really can be crippling, making our task so much more difficult than if we were just to do it immediately as we should. If we think of cleaning a bathroom, for example, it is much easier and quicker to do it regularly than only annually. Soap scum comes off…but when it’s an inch thick it becomes no easy task.
Sin is a bit like soap scum on a tub. If we are attentive to our weaknesses and failings, identifying them immediately and trying to get rid of them as soon as we can, we will find that, though our tub does not stay spotless, it is much less maintenance to keep a shiny and clean appearance. Our first reading from the book of Sirach in fact reminds us of the danger of waiting too long to address our sins or being too optimistic that God will have mercy on us. Yes, our God is a merciful and loving God… but that should be further motivation to convert immediately, not an incentive to test his patience and try our luck. Hence Sirach says, “Delay not your conversion to the LORD, put it not off from day to day,” (5:8).
The gospel passage from Mark echoes this theme when Jesus suggests that it is better to cut off a hand, a foot, or an eye if it causes you to sin. It is better to enter the Kingdom of God maimed than it is to go to Gehenna (Hell) with all your body parts intact. Wow! There may be a bit of exaggeration here, but the point is clear: sin is serious and needs to be dealt with immediately.
In our culture today, we have largely bought into the lie that there is no such thing as sin (just preferences and opinions) and that everyone goes to heaven. But that is not the teaching of our Church, nor the faith of the tradition that stretches back even before Jesus. When it comes to the sins we see around us – whether the sins of politicians, friends, family, or even Church leaders – we ought to hope in conversion for them and pray for God’s mercy in the end. But when it comes to our own sins… we have to stop procrastinating and start scrubbing immediately.
God has not told us that everyone will get to heaven no matter how bad they are. But God has promised to reward those who seek to grow closer to Him in faith, hope, and love through becoming virtuous and holy, fighting off sin. The thought of scrubbing down our sins may still seem a bit unappealing, or, at the very least, some hard work. The good news, then, is that even in the cleaning process we are given the grace of God to assist us. We’re not scrubbing the tub alone!
Practically speaking, one of the best ways that we can frequently rid ourselves of sin is to make frequent use of the sacrament of confession (John Paul II, as well as many saints ascribed to weekly confession). Absolution not only takes away our sins, but it also revitalizes us, strengthening us for the future. Also related is the traditional daily examination of conscience (typically at bedtime) where we review our day and try to identify moments where we sinned in thought, word, or deed, followed by an Act of Contrition. One day at a time, if we make small steps, we will find ourselves struggling less with sin and becoming holier people. Let today be the first of many days where we examine our consciences and seek to remove the soap scum before it becomes too thick.
- Maria Morrow