In today’s first reading from Romans 5, St. Paul talks about sin and grace. More on that in a moment. In the Gospel reading from Luke 12, Jesus tells his disciples to be “ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.” The word that strikes me the most in this is “immediately.” Are we ready to fling open the door of our heart IMMEDIATELY when Jesus calls? Or do we continually put Him off, thinking we’ll respond later?
Have you ever felt that you just can’t stop a particular sin in your life? Sometimes, like an addiction, a pattern of sin can seem to overtake us. And we cry out to God, “Lord, where are you?! Why won’t you help me with this?” Our two readings today I think really address this. St. Paul writes, “Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more…” Then we think of Jesus talking about being “ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.”
You see, God’s grace is constantly overflowing to us. His grace is like Niagara Falls, constantly pouring out more than we could ever imagine. The question is, are we accepting it? Are we ready to allow that overflowing grace into our hearts to help us defeat sin? It’s always there for us. We find it in many places, especially in the Sacraments. Let’s pray that today, we will be more cognizant of God’s overflowing grace.
Father, we thank your for your grace in our lives; always there, always overflowing. Help us to recognize your grace, and accept it into our hearts immediately. Amen.
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