This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.
St. Paul provides an eloquent name for the effect of original sin within us in the first reading when he says that we were “by nature children of wrath.” Original sin twisted our nature itself, the nature we were born into.
But he also provides a window into one of the most exciting things about Christianity: That in saving us, Jesus does not simply ignore that spoiling of our nature, but actually restores it and recreates it for good: “For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works that God has prepared in advance.”
The reality of Paul’s words may not be self-evident as we suffer, frustrated, the temptations and inclinations of our fallen nature, which seem no less potent than they are for the unbaptized.
The reality is that, because of His respect for human freedom, Jesus does not transform and recreate our nature from one moment to the next, when He enters our souls with His grace at baptism. Rather, He undertakes this work of re-creation in the ambit in which we dwell–the ambit of time–in a gradual manner that respects our limited capacities.
Hence the importance of collaborating with Him joyfully, actively, daily, consistently, through a committed life of prayer and the sacraments, and through a following of His ascetic teachings in the Gospel–including today’s teaching on avoiding the temptation to obsess over our material security and welfare to the point that it is a disproportionate priority in our lives.
Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to help you trust that He is the protagonist of your transformation, and that He has a plan for it that He will execute as long as you give your heart to Him in a real and practical way each day.
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