Fifth Saturday of Ordinary Time

The LORD God called to Adam and asked him, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? You have eaten, then, from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!” The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.” The LORD God then asked the woman, “Why did you do such a thing?” The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.”

After we sin, we have a tendency to blame others for our actions or make up excuses. However, God sees past our attempts to pass the buck or explain the reason for our misdeeds. And when we stand before Him at the Last Judgment, He will strip away all the pretexts and show us the truth. We are responsible for our own actions. We choose to do right or wrong. No one else chooses for us. Yes, people can lead us into situations that can tempt us to sin or put pressure on us to do wrong, but in the end we have the ability to reject these temptations. It might cost us greatly to do the right thing. It might require us to suffer persecution or sacrifice a friendship or possessions, but these are nothings compared to the eternal life we will receive when we do God’s Will over our own.

Do we make excuses or blame others when we sin? Or do we take responsibility for our actions and make amends for what we have done? Are we willing to sacrifice everything we have to do God’s Will?

O Lord, we are sorry for our sins. Give us the grace to avoid repeating them.

Amen.