Luke 18:35-43
As Jesus approached Jericho a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging, and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening. They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." He shouted, "Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!" The people walking in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent, but he kept calling out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me!" Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?" He replied, "Lord, please let me see." Jesus told him, "Have sight; your faith has saved you." He immediately received his sight and followed him, giving glory to God. When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God.
Dawg's thought:
Today's prayer intention is for a special intention.
1857: For a sin to be mortal , three conditions must together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent."
1858: Grave matter is specified by the Ten Commandments, corresponding to the answer of Jesus to the rich young man: "Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and your mother." The gravity of sins is more or less great: murder is graver than theft. One must also take into account who is wronged: violence against parents is in itself graver than violence against a stranger.
1859: Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent . It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God's law. It also implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice. Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin.
1860: Unintentional ignorance can diminish or even remove the imputability of a grave offense. But no one is deemed to be ignorant of the principles of the moral law, which are written in the conscience of every man. The promptings of feelings and passions can also diminish the voluntary and free character of the offense, as can external pressures or pathological disorders. Sin committed through malice, by deliberate choice of evil, is the gravest.
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Metanoia. It is Greek and means "to turn." The word has been used in reference to turning back to Our Lord, as the man in today's reading did. It is through this man's faith in Christ that he was saved. He is able to see, and not only that, but Christ Himself proclaims to him that "he is saved."
Christ, in His mercy, wants to heal the blind. Christ, in His mercy, wants to heal your wounds. Christ, in His mercy, wants us all to live in His freedom. Today from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we hear about mortal sin and the three qualifications for a sin to be mortal. As I look at my own life, I have to think about those times when I denied mercy and chose to deliberately hurt someone else. It is in those times when we are called to turn back to Our Lord. We will sin, and to deny this leads to sin, and I know this... well, in fact. We will sin, but who do you turn to when you do?
"Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!"
Take care and God Bless.
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