In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. Heb12:4
We give in too cheaply in pursuit of our own personal desires and wants. We let down our guard against sin. We have to hold to our heart the words of absolution we receive in the sacrament of reconciliation. It is Jesus who tells us, “Son, daughter, your sins are forgiven you,” and keep it rooted in our hearts when sin presents itself again.
And it will present itself again because the evil one does not want us to remain in the intimate relationship we have with the Lord, our God.
It is a daily struggle to renounce the works of the enemy, but we can triumph because Jesus has already won for us the freedom to live life to the full in Him.
All we need to do is to call out to the Holy Spirit to help us overcome the enemy. Amen.
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First reading
Galatians 4:22-24,26-27,31-5:1
Christ freed us: do not submit again to slavery
The Law says, if you remember, that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave-girl, and one by his free-born wife. The child of the slave-girl was born in the ordinary way; the child of the free woman was born as the result of a promise. This can be regarded as an allegory: the women stand for the two covenants. The first who comes from Mount Sinai, and whose children are slaves, is Hagar. The Jerusalem above, however, is free and is our mother, since scripture says: Shout for joy, you barren women who bore no children! Break into shouts of joy and gladness, you who were never in labour. For there are more sons of the forsaken one than sons of the wedded wife. So, my brothers, we are the children, not of the slave-girl, but of the free-born wife.
When Christ freed us, he meant us to remain free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.
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Gospel
Luke 11:29-32
As Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be a sign
The crowds got even bigger, and Jesus addressed them:
‘This is a wicked generation; it is asking for a sign. The only sign it will be given is the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. On Judgement day the Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here. On Judgement day the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation and condemn it, because when Jonah preached they repented; and there is something greater than Jonah here.’
