Twenty-Ninth Wednesday of Ordinary Time

Sin must not reign over your mortal bodies so that you obey their desires. And do not present the parts of your bodies to sin as weapons for wickedness, but present yourselves to God as raised from the dead to life and the parts of your bodies to God as weapons for righteousness. For sin is not to have any power over you, since you are not under the law but under grace.

Every day we are tempted to obey our desires over what we know is right. Some days we have the willpower to resist. Other days we fall into temptation and sin. Thankfully, although we fall, we are also given a way to rise up again. Through the life, death, passion, and resurrection of Jesus, we were all given a chance at eternal life and use our bodies as weapons for righteousness. We have only to choose to obey God’s Will above our own and allow Him to lead us where we need to be. We might not follow in Jesus’ footsteps perfectly, but as long as we are contrite for our sins and genuinely wish to amend our lives, then God will find us and lead us back to the right path.

What desires do we obey before God? How can we put God before these wants? What can we do to sharpen our consciences and transform ourselves into weapons of righteousness?

O Lord, we present our bodies to you. Do with them what you will.

Amen.