THERE IS NO CONDEMNATION FOR THOSE IN CHRIST JESUS

 Meditation for Saturday the 29^th Week in Ordinary Time, Year B
(Rm 8:1-11; Lk 13:1-9)

Since we cannot even win the internal battle by ourselves unless by the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, St Paul declares, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death.” The grace of Jesus Christ, flowing from the Cross, assures of victory over evil, sin and death; it is always alive and active. Thus, this grace is our assured victory against the law of sin. God sent His own son in the likeness of sinful man; He condemned sin in His flesh, thereby fulfilling the law, in order that those who live by His grace in the Holy Spirit will, not only fulfil the law, but achieve what the law could not achieve, i.e. justification and eternal  life.

“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on things of the Spirit.” St Paul explains that the mind that is set on the flesh is death; such a mind is full of fear, hostility, lawlessness, etc. “And those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” But those who soar on the wings of grace in the Holy Spirit are alive and at peace with themselves, with others, and with God! “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

In the Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the fig tree to show how God has manured us with the rich grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And made this grace available and accessible through the sacraments. We constantly need to repent and walk deeper in His grace, bearing fruits of righteousness for eternal life.

St John of Capistrano, pray for us. Amen.

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church
Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.
Saturday October 23rd, 2021.
www.soundofsilence.ng
www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

THE INTERNAL BATTLE

 Meditation for Friday the 29^th Week in Ordinary Time, Year B
(Rm 7:18-25; Lk 12:54-59)

The human will is powerful and visionary. But it is a mystery how it can become powerless in the face of temptation. We always will and desire what we perceive to be good. To do good, and persevere to do good, takes more than mere desire or human will, for the best of our resolutions may be absent on the day of action! However, unless we will and desire it, we cannot persevere in good deed. The question St Paul raises today is: how come we will and desire what we know to be good, but end up acting directly the opposite, thus contradicting ourselves and betraying our will. This is like a self-inflicted injury, but it happens; we regret and feel bad, still we repeat the same thing. “I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.”

St Paul argues that the reason we act contrary to our will is because sin has found a voice within us; it has mingled with us, lying hidden within, but ready to prop up its head and demand expression at the moment of action. So, sin and evil, with their voice of temptation, constitute their own law but lay it closely hidden to the human conscience. “For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members.”

How can a man with such constant internal war rely on his good deeds for justification? It is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that grants him victory in the face of alluring evil, since his good will stands helpless at the moment of action. But the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is active, and when mingled with the human will, brings about our will and desire to reality. This is how the battle is won!

St John Paul II, pray for us. Amen.

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church

Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.

Friday October 22nd, 2021.

www.soundofsilence.ng

www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com