In the Gospel reading today from Luke 6, we see that Jesus spent the night in prayer. The next day, He called His disciples and told them that He had chosen Twelve, whom He also named Apostles. In the first reading from 1 Corinthians 6, St. Paul talks about judgement, and Christians treating one another unjustly.
St. Paul says, “Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor boy prostitutes nor sodomites nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the Kingdom of God. That is what some of you used to be.” Isn’t it interesting that Paul makes no delineation between these sins. He doesn’t say that one is any worse than another. All of these grave sins separate us from God.
As I look at St. Paul’s laundry list, it pains me to think that I used to engage in more than a few of those behaviors. But St. Paul also reminds his readers that those are things of the past. That is what you used to be. Unfortunately, old habits die hard. The lure of the old self often sings its siren song. Come on! Once more for old time’s sake! We must resist those temptations, strong though they may be. And the only way we can do that is by relying on the strength supplied by Christ.
Father, you know how easily we can be drawn back into our old ways. Help us to keep our minds fixed on Jesus, as we move toward Him with steely determination. Amen.
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