Happy Friday everyone and welcome to the weekend!
Today’s readings remind us of the gravity of sin. From the first reading in Baruch, through the Psalm, to the Gospel, we encounter a sobering theme: the lamentation over sins committed. When we sin, we are not merely breaking a rule—we are rejecting God Himself. Jesus declares, “Whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me” (Luke 10:16). Each time we choose sin, we turn away from God. Framing sin in this way reveals its profound seriousness. In my own experience, it’s easy to forget that our sins are a direct rejection of God. Most of us would never think to reject God outright with our words, yet our actions in sin do precisely that.
The Gospel, however, offers hope: where there is sin, there is also grace. St. Peter Julian Eymard beautifully reminds us, “At the beginning of each day, God has the necessary grace for the day ready for us. He knows exactly what opportunities we shall have to sin and will give us everything we need if we ask Him then.” In every moment of temptation, God provides the grace to turn away from sin and toward Him. He desires all people to come to salvation. Sin is not a trap set by God to catch us; rather, it is like drowning in an ocean while God extends His hand to pull us out.
The message of today’s readings is simple yet one we wrestle with daily: God does not want us to remain in sin. He calls us to repent and turn to Him, answering His offer of grace. Jesus laments, “If the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented” (Luke 10:13). God has worked mighty deeds in all our lives—most profoundly through Jesus’ death on the cross, His resurrection, and His reconciliation of humanity to God. These acts should lead us to repentance. If Tyre and Sidon had witnessed such wonders, surely they would have turned to God. How much more, then, should we, who know these truths, repent and embrace His grace?