Today’s Reading made me aware of two sins committed in fifteen minutes.
~
Question 1: “What two sins did you commit in fifteen minutes that Today’s Reading showed you?”
Answer: “Yesterday was a cold, snowy day. The man plowing the lot at our small grocery store did not have a hat. I complimented him on being strong, and did not realize that he could not afford to buy a hat. I could have driven two blocks and brought him an extra hat from my closet.
Then, at checkout in the store, the person in front of me had his card declined and I did not pay his $12.00 bill. He had to use another credit card that he probably had to pay 20% interest on.”
~
Question 2: “How did Today’s Reading make you aware of your sin?”
Answer: “Hebrews 4:1-5, 11 tells us: ‘Let us be on our guard while the promise of entering into His rest remains that none of you seem to have failed.’
I had ‘failed’ twice to help two needy neighbors in fifteen minutes.”
~
Question 3: Did Today’s Psalm,78:2-8, worsen your anguish?”
Answer: “The Psalm began: ‘Do not forget the works of The Lord!’. ‘The Lord’ told me I had ‘forgotten’ to ‘Love God and my neighbor as myself.’ I let some self-righteousness keep me from paying the poor neighbor’s $12.00 bill and kept me from taking a hat back to the poor man whose head was freezing while removing snow.”
~
Question 4: “Did Today’s Gospel make things better?”
Answer: “Mark 2:1-12 let me understand. Jesus was ‘preaching the word’ from inside a house. The friends of a paralyzed man opened up the roof and lowered him to be in front of Jesus, Who ‘forgave his sins’. That offended ‘scribes’ from the old religion. Jesus said: ‘So that you may know that The Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth, He said to the paralytic, ‘I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home.’Curing the paralyzed man ‘astounded all’.”
~
Question 5: “What did you learn from that?”
Answer: “Hopefully, I may be ‘cured’ of the sins that kept me too ‘paralyzed’ to help two neighbors in need in fifteen minutes while ‘time remains’.”
~
Today’s Simple Rhyme: “May every Catholic daily plead: / ‘God, let me help neighbors in need.'”
~
