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Saturday, March 9, 2019
“Everyone who is tempted is attracted and seduced by his [or her] own wrong desire. Then the desire conceives and gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown it too has a child, and the child is death.”
James 1:14-15
The problem with sin is that is feels good and it fulfills one or more desires we believe we need to feel comfortable, be happy, or give us the power, fame, or fortune we believe we deserve in life. As we begin Lent, it would be a good thing to take an inventory of our life and look at the things that we believe we need to be happy and then identify whether we think having them is really bringing us closer to God or taking us away from God. We can begin to combat our sin only when we place ourselves more fully in the Mind of Christ by knowing our sinful tendencies and coming to know what our near occasions of sin are. We have to choose to avoid sin by running from it. But we also have to realize that our resistance of the temptations we face in daily life happen only through God’s grace. Now we don’t want to dwell on the negative, nor do we want to keep our thoughts in a dualistic mode, such as focusing for instance on good and evil as opposites. What we do want to do is to open our hearts to the grace of God so that the Divine Presence that is at the very core of our being will reveal to us our wrong desires and then move us away from them so that we may avoid the death that comes to us through our sinfulness. Spend some time in silent prayer asking God to reveal something in your life that is a wrong desire giving birth to sin in your life. Work today to develop ideas for how you can avoid such sinful tendencies and more fully experience God’s freedom from whatever sinful wrong desire God encouraged you to work on.
Lenten Action
If you are a regular practitioner of Contemplative prayer spend your normal time in such prayer.
If you are new to spending time in silent prayer, find a comfortable place where you can sit in silence and get yourself into a comfortable sitting position. Say a brief prayer telling God you want to be with Him and asking Him to help you silence your thoughts. Then direct the focus of your attention on your breathing. Feel the rising and falling of your chest. Feel your lungs as you breath in and out. Rest in the rhythm of your breathing. When random thoughts intrude, notice them and then let them go and refocus your attention of the rhythm of your breathing. Try to extend your time in silent prayer if you were only doing 5 minutes. Don’t be upset if you don’t actually get to a place where your mind is silent. This is natural because your mind is made to think. Don’t judge your success in silent prayer by whether you were able to banish your thoughts and have a silent mind. Worldly measures here have no real value. Do not attempt to drive your thoughts away. This will only disturb your ability to sit in silence. Simply notice them and let them go.
Today is not a Fast day, but if you have a mind to abstain from a favorite food or drink, please do so as a means of strengthening your will power. Remember not to watch TV, or use your computer or your phone to access social media, computer games, or other unnecessary apps.