Jul 22 Tue
When is it a good day to begin again?
Today is a good day to be converted anew.
“Those who have their hearts stained by pride act with pride, and usually behind their pride lies hidden a host of sins. They judge others badly, they criticize, they're incapable of speaking plainly. They don't understand that if they open their heart, they can be helped to amend their lives."
Also, we must reject human respects. Some people worry about 'what will others say?' And perhaps more so among those who should live with their sights set on God, overcoming human respects. What a sad thing it would be to prefer to 'look good' in men's eyes, and less good or even bad in God's! In his infinite mercy, and his infinite justice as well, our Lord lets himself be won over by sincere love, by Magdalene's love filled with sorrow, and he doesn't deny her his forgiveness.
“Let us go to Mary Magdalene, who teaches us to love our Lord ardently. Christ is the Good Shepherd who goes out in search of the lost sheep, and doesn't return until he finds it. But He admits no half-measures. Our Lord also spoke with the adulterous woman, but He told her, with charity and clarity, to amend her life and to sin no more."
“Learn from the Master's example. We aren't silly creatures who do strange things. We act with naturalness, but also with supernatural sense. We flee from the occasions of sin; this requires courage. We avoid inappropriate dealings that lead us to waste our time or can even separate us from God. Don't be reckless: we should never be in a place where it would be impossible for us to be with Jesus Christ."
“Today is a very good occasion for a deeper, more sincere conversion, a conversion that will lead us to decisively detach ourselves from all that can still bind us here below, to belong more to God. In a word, we need the clear determination to be more fully souls of prayer. To be a soul of prayer means to be very close to our Lord; it means love, dedication, a clean life, purity."
Mary Magdalene's love was so great, her conversion so deep and generous, that she deserved to be at Christ's side and form part of that group of holy women who followed him and provided for him out of their means.
We, by recognizing that we are poor sinners, come to understand her tears of contrition, and our soul too is filled with a sincere sorrow for the suffering we have caused our Lord. We have only to glance at our life, at the occasions when we voluntarily turned our back on God's will, for our hearts to be filled with a deep sorrow of love. But Christ has forgiven us and always forgives us when we approach him contritely in the sacrament of Penance. Today, we want to kneel at his feet and tell him with heartfelt sorrow that we never want to offend him again.