It is not that I have already attained perfect maturity, but I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it…
Philippians 3:12
Does this little story, a true one, remind you of anyone you know? A 4-year-old told his mother, “Mom, I decided I’m not going to sin any more. I’m not going to be like those bad guys Jesus was talking to. I’m going to be a good child of God.” “Mmm, that’s very nice Mom answered. “What made you decide that?” “Cause Jesus said if you don’t sin, you can throw the first stone’ I want to throw the first stone at the bad person.”
Maybe you never thought that way but has it raised your hackles because “nobody listens to me and I have the answer”? That’s when God’s wee small voice may seem to begin to sound exactly like your own. Or have you felt like “I forgave her once for that same thing and she’s doing it again!” You may have noticed that when you point your finger at “her,” there are three fingers on your hand pointing right back at you. Self-examination opens us to self-revelation. It sheds light on our shadow side and can bring into the spotlight the fact that we have the very same fault we are condemning in the other. Jesus reminds us: “Judge not, lest you be judged.”
Notice in today’s second reading Paul says: “it is not that I have already attained perfect maturity, but I continue my pursuit in hope that I may possess it.” Let us pray that same gift for each other. May I be mindful of Jesus’ way of not looking at the past. Instead he says: “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”
Today, I promise you, Jesus, with Your help, I will not hold any one’s past again them. May God strength me in my resolve.
Today’s Reflection is by:
Sister Roberta Bailey
Did you know...
Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB, is currently the prioress (president) of the Benedictine Sisters of Florida in Saint Leo. Sister serves on the diocesan Commission for Religious. She is the former principal of St. Anthony Catholic School in San Antonio, Florida, and Saint John Paul II Catholic School in Lecanto, Florida. Sister Roberta is celebrating her 61st year in religious life.
