TODAY’S WORD…

If we say we have no sin in us, we are deceiving ourselves and refusing to admit the truth; but if we acknowledge our sins, then God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and purify us from everything that is wrong.

– 1 John 1:8-9

REFLECTION…

Loss of the sense of sin is a danger that has always threatened man…which makes these two verses, this a warning from St. John, so particularly relevant in our own time.

St Pope John Paul II teaches: “Deceived by the loss of the sense of sin, and at times by an illusion of sinlessness – which is not at all Christian – the people of today also need to listen again to St John’s admonition, as addressed to each one of them personally: ‘If we say we have no sin in us, we are deceiving ourselves and refusing to admit the truth […] Every individual therefore is invited by the voice of divine truth to examine realistically his or her conscience, and to confess that he or she was born a sinner, as we say in the “Miserere” Psalm (cf. Ps 51:5)“

QUOTE…

“If you confess yourself to be a sinner, the truth is in you: the truth is light. Your life does not yet shine as brightly as it might, because there are sins in you; but now you are beginning to be enlightened, because you confess your iniquities”   –  St. Augustine

PRAYER…from the “Miserere” Psalm 51 (vs 1.2.9-12)…

Have mercy on me, O God,

because of Your unfailing love.

Because of Your great compassion,

blot out the stain of my sins.

Wash me clean from my guilt.

Purify me from my sin.

Remove the stain of my guilt.

Create in me a clean heart, O God.

Renew a loyal spirit within me.

Do not banish me from Your presence,

and don’t take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,

and make me willing to obey You.

Amen