“Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”
We are creatures, created by God. We are sinners, limited human beings, in constant need of redemption. As Pope Benedict put it: “We are limited creatures, sinners in constant need of penance and conversion. How important it is, in our own time, to listen to and accept this call!” (Italics mine.)
The Obstacle is Pride
As we look at the condition of our modern world, it is clear that most people have declared their autonomy from God. Pope Benedict again: “When he proclaims his complete autonomy from God, modern man becomes self-enslaved, and often finds himself tormented and alone. Can real happiness exist without God?”
The Call to Conversion
God must be the priority of our lives. How do we demonstrate that He is the priority of our lives? We demonstrate it by concrete acts that destroy pride and replace it with the virtue of humility.
1. Obedience to His holy will — do His will and not our own — this is humility. When we consider Jesus in the garden and seek to make His prayer our own, “Let Thy will, not mine, be done.”
2. Life of prayer -– “God help me” –- to seek His help is an act of humilty. People who are self-sufficient and independent do not feel a need for God in their lives. They are also profoundly out of touch with the stark reality of their great need.
3. Make good use of the sacrament of confession — “Bless me Father for I have sinned” — this, too is an act of humily.
Pope Benedict: “The call to conversion is, then, an encouragement to return to the arms of God the tender and merciful Father, to trust in him, and to entrust ourselves to him as adoptive children regenerated by his love”.
Please, return to God this Lent.
