Monday in the Eighteenth Week after Pentecost Penance is a disposition of the soul, an interior attitude, intimately connected with Christianity. Christ in his first sermon said, Repent, the kingdom of God is at hand. St Matthew 4.17 Repentance is a change of outlook, fresh orientation of thought, combat and deed. It means putting off the old Adam, with his purely human values and appreciations, and a putting-on of Christ with his values, his ambitions. Penance is not an affair of any given moment, of any one day; it is an attitude to be maintained all through life. The weekly … Continue reading The Sacrament of Penance

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost James J. Tissot 1836-1902, The Palsied Man Let Down Through the Roof, Brooklyn Museum Lord, in today’s Gospel, what power you manifest! If you heal the body, you first, by a greater miracle, heal the soul. You begin by what for us is the most important: peace of mind. Our hearts desire peace and happiness, which none but you can give. Purify our souls of sin and the tendency to sin — the two great obstacles to interior peace. Help us to be faithful to your commandments and to our vows, that so we may attain … Continue reading thy sins are forgiven