Monday March 3, 2025

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With God, change is very possible — and joyful!

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Good News Reflection for:

Monday of the 8th week in Ordinary Time
March 3, 2025

Today’s Prayer:

Lord, with your Spirit fill all of my being. May the Holy Spirit guide my feelings, my thoughts and my life. Make me a disciple who’s courageous in love for the good works You have prepared for me since eternity. Amen.

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Today’s Readings:

Sirach 17:20-24
Ps 32:1-2, 5-7 (with 11a)
Mark 10:17-27
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030325.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/daily-mass-reading-podcast-march-3-2025

Unwilling to change? Let God do it!

Have you noticed that when you’ve made great progress on your spiritual journey, Jesus smiles at you and says, “Ahhh, this is good, very good! The Father and I are very pleased with you.” But then he adds: “There’s something else I want you to do.” He knocks you off your chair of cozy self-contentment and invites you to more purification.

I get so tired of that!

That’s what happened to the poor lad (or should I say, the rich young man) who gleefully ran up to Jesus in today’s Gospel passage. He’d been dutifully obeying all of God’s commandments. With such commendable holiness credentials, he thought he had earned an open door to heaven. But Jesus knew that in the man’s heart he was self-satisfied while doing only the minimum and living a mediocre faith.

So Jesus invited him to see the commandments differently. Notice that he did not condemn the man. Neither does Jesus condemn us when we need purification. He knows that we truly desire to be holy. With tremendous love, he brings to our attention the shortcomings of our obedience and teaches us the greatest commandment: the Law of Love.

But we frown as that young man did. Our flesh nature does not enjoy giving up its self-satisfied limitations that we impose on God’s commandments. This is why Jesus emphasizes: “For you, it IS impossible, but not for God!”

Trusting God to do in me what I cannot do for myself has proven to be an excellent strategy. For example, several years ago I found myself staring silently at a priest during confession. I was angry toward someone who “deserved” my anger. I could say I forgave him, but I did not want to stop being angry, because if I became nicey-nice, this guy would not get the point that I’d been trying to make and which he so obviously needed to learn.

The priest asked me if I was willing to let God change my attitude, even though I wasn’t willing to change it myself. I could not get my mouth to say yes, but I did manage to force my head to nod. That was all Jesus needed! Through the priest, Jesus absolved me of my sins and empowered me with a supernatural grace from his Holy Spirit. When I walked out of the room, a new peace flooded me. Not of my own accord, but thanks be to God, I was truly a new creation!

What sin are you unwilling to quit? What change have you been avoiding? What disobedience makes logical sense? (By the way, reading these Good News Reflections is very dangerous, because when the Holy Spirit reveals a sin through them, you’re accountable for it — no excuses, you have to either repent or walk away sad.)

Tell Jesus that you don’t want to stop justifying your sin, but give him permission to re-create you according to his loving kindness. With God, change is very possible — and joyful!

For more information about the Sacrament of Confession, see:

• Why must we go to confession if God’s love is unconditional?
  wordbytes.org/faqs/why-confession
• Why go to a priest for Confession?
  https://wordbytes.org/faqs/why-priest-confession/

© by Terry A. Modica, Good News Ministries

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