Holy Saturday

If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him. As to his death, he died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God. Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as being dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.

To become better followers of Christ, we must do two things. We must die to sin and live for God. The former requires us to be able to resist temptation and sin no more. If we do sin, then we need to reconcile with God through the sacrament of confession. We need to bring ourselves before our Savior, seek his forgiveness with contrite hearts, and do penance for what we have done and failed to do. The second part of the equation requires us to know, love, and serve God and His children with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths. To do this we need to imitate Christ in all things and become living sacrifices, pouring ourselves out in acts of charity and mercy just as Jesus did in his most holy life. Once we do both these things we will discover that our thoughts, words, and works bear good fruit and death loses its power over us, becoming instead a doorway to an abundant afterlife with God.

Have we died to our sins? Are we living for God? How can we become more Christ-like in everything we think, say, and do?

O Lord, we want to die to sin so that we might live for and with you forever.

Amen.