REPENTANCE IS SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS. (Homily for January 30, 2016. Saturday of the 3rd Week in Ordinary Time.)


Bible Study:  2 Samuel 12, 1 to 7 and 10 to 17. And Mark 4, 35 to 41.


To live in sin is to be blind, deaf and dumb. A blind man’s eyes may be open just like that of everyone but the difference is that all he sees is darkness, he is able to make sense of objects and images that reflect upon his eyes. When David got involved with another man’s wife, he was acting in blindness. It took the power of Nathan’s storytelling skill to open his eyes to his crime.

Hear how David reacted to the character of story: “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die; and he shall restore the lamb fourfold because he did this thing and because he had no pity.” Unknown to David, he was simply passing a judgement on himself. Come to think of it, if the prophet Nathan had not come to see him, David would have quietly congratulated himself for his smartness in taking another man’s wife and stylishly killing her husband.

From the above, it is clear that it is possible for us to be blind without knowing it. It is also possible to be dumb, unable to speak the truth like Nathan did. It takes a truly spiritual person to be bold enough to confront one in such a highly placed position with the truth. Growth in in the Spirit comes with a certain degree of fearlessness and a commitment to what is right regardless of power, wealth or position.

Of all the sins, we humans tend to struggle with, there is none is pervasive as the sin of sexual immorality. It seems like the major sin of both the old the young, it is the one sin that pulls down kingdoms and brings mighty men and women to their kneels. This is because of all other sins, it is one that affects the whole of the human body and to overcome it, we must be conscious that we are more than mere flesh.

St. Paul admonishes us in 1st Corinthians 6, 18 to 20 saying: “Shun immorality. Every other sin which a man commits is outside the body; but the immoral man sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” Furthermore, Proverbs 5, 15 to 20 contains good advice for us. “Drink water from your own cistern…” You may read it the rest on your own.

Inability so see ourselves as Spirit beings, temples of the Holy Spirit amounts to blindness. Repentance opens our eyes and makes us see the truth clearly and live it out. The whole world may call it blue but only those whose eyes are really open will call it by its real colour. Just as the whole disciples of Jesus had course for panicking because of the “storms” they saw, Jesus alone woke up and saw “opportunity.” He simply commanded the wind and it obeyed. He asked them: “Why are you afraid?” In the same way, Jesus is asking us today, “Why are you blind?” “Can’t you see your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit?”

As we come to the end of our reflections this week, it is my prayer that God may grant us the grace to be truly repentant and to say permanent good-byes to any sin in our life just as St. Paul did when God arrested him on the road to Damascus. We began our week with St. Paul’s conversion and we are ending with David’s realization of sin. Both St. Paul and David become our reference points for total conversion and repentance.

Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus, thank you for opening my eyes today once blinded like St. Paul on his way to persecute Christians. Help me to reject sin and to live entirely for you alone. Amen.

God bless you. Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy Weekend


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