Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

I declare and testify in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds; that is not how you learned Christ, assuming that you have heard of him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus, that you should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God's way in righteousness and holiness of truth.

Every now and then, we need to reevaluate our lives and examine our conscience. We need to look at what we’ve done and failed to do. We need to ask ourselves what bad habits need to be replaced with good ones. We need to know what areas of our lives we need to improve. We need to root out those things that lead us to temptation and sin. We need to put away our old selves and their deceitful desires and instead put on Christ. We need to renew our hearts, minds, spirits, and bodies. We need to recreate ourselves in the holy image of God and the Way, Truth, and Life of Jesus.

What deceitful desires and sins do we need to get rid of? What holy yearnings and virtues do we need to put in their place? How can we be transformed more perfectly into Jesus Christ?

O Lord, help us to cast aside our old selves and put on you.

Amen.