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TODAY’S WORD…

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This is what love is:

it is not that we have loved God,

but that He loved us

and sent His Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven.

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– 1 John 4:10 (GNT)

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REFLECTION…

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The sins of men have been the cause of the death of Jesus Christ.

Every sin bears an intimate and mysterious relationship to the Passion of Jesus.

We will recognise the evil of sin

only if we know how to relate it to the mystery of Redemption.

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The conversion which Our Lord insistently asks for,

and in a special way during this period of Lent as we approach Holy Week,

ought to start with a firm rejection of all sin

and with the determination to avoid every occasion that could out us in danger of offending God.

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Moral renewal, which this world so much needs, begins with this profound conviction:

On earth there is but one evil,

which you must fear and avoid with the Grace of God,

and that evil is SIN.

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On the other hand,

there seems to be a loss of the sense of sin,

which is nothing but another form or consequence of the denial of God;

not only in the form of atheism,

but also in the form of out and out secularism.

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If sin is the breaking off of one’s filial relationship to God

in order to place and live one’s life outside obedience to Him,

then to sin is not merely to deny God.

To sin is also to live as if He did not exist,

to eliminate Him from one’s daily life. (St. Josemaria Escriva)

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We do not wish to eliminate Our lord from our lives,

but rather to recognise and be more and more aware of His presence with each passing day.

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Through God’s mercy and the help of His grace, we will not leave Him,

and we will try to bring to Him many who are separated from Him.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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O my God, I am sorry and beg pardon for my sins,

and detest them above all things

because they offend Your infinite goodness,

and I firmly resolve with the help of Your grace,

never to offend You again

and to carefully avoid the occasion of sin.

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… … … … … … … … … … … …… …

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Note: The main source of today’s REFLECTION is the seven-volume work

“In Conversation with God” by Padre Francisco Fernández Carvajal.