a daily meditation

This is from Minute Meditations for Each Day, a book of brief meditations for each day (amazing when the title tells you something…). Frankly, I seldom look at it; perhaps once a month. The piece of meditation today is one that I think we all know; however, we all fail to follow.

It is a manifest contradiction and indeed impossible to wish to belong to the innocent Christ and, at the same time, still live in sin.
A life of union with Christ demands a daily crucifixion of the flesh, absolute denial of everything that separates us from Him.

This is most difficult indeed for all of us. Our “lower nature”, as St. Francis calls it, sees what is not holy and calls it attractive. Despite our weaknesses, we must persist in looking past what merely looks attractive and seek what truly is attractive. It is difficult, at times, to discern between those two things and in many more cases, it seems impossible under our human judgement. Few times in our lives do things fall strickly in opposition to Christ and thus should be avoided. We are called to holiness and by that calling, we are called to go above avoiding what is in direct opposition to Christ. We are called to seek what will help join us to Christ and thus to our salvation.

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This weekend, there are a couple of retreats in the Diocese of Austin of which I’m aware. Keep all those on retreat this weekend in your prayers that they may find Christ there and bring him back to their daily lives.