My Beloved, sin is most displeasing to You because it shuts us from the love and grace You desire to pour upon us. Sin, especially grave, deliberate, repeated sin leads to even more grave sins and the death of the soul. If we dare to make a mockery of You and act like all is well, if we make a pretence of having clean hands, holy hearts and a humble disposition when in fact the opposite is true,Your wrath will be so roused against us, that there will be no place to hide and take refuge from Your just and terrible anger.
But there is a way - there is always a way. If we are truly contrite and repentant we can make a new beginning, we can be raised from the dead. Our wounded spirit can be made whole again and the stench of our iniquity like the dreaded disease of leprosy can be restored to the skin of a baby in the holy Sacrament of Reconciliation. There we can wash our sins in Your Blood, we can bathe in the cleansing streams of water that pours from Your pierced side and we can make reparation and restitution for our sins. You will forgive us once more and restore to us in double measure all that we thought lost. Thank You.
Hypocrisy and lies and making an outward show of piety when we know perfectly well that all is not ok with our soul is what is truly hateful to You. Verse 23 gives us a glimpse of how we can please You again. The Holy Eucharist is our thanksgiving offering and if we offer this Sacrifice of Praise with a clean and contrite heart, it will never fail to please You and open to us once more the floodgates of Your mercy, compassion and love.
My Beloved, You are the Prince of Peace and yet You say You have come with a sword to cause division even among those with whom we enjoy a close and loving relationship. We know that it is the devil who sows division, dissension and discord, You don't, You unite. What then are You saying to me in these verses?
It means that those who truly wish to follow You and walk in Your ways of justice, love and true humility, filled with the Holy Spirit will always be ridiculed, mocked and rejected by the world because we stand firm, unmoved and unchanging in our obedience to Your commandment of Love towards God and neighbor. This attitude is a slap in the face of those in the world whose conscience will not be at peace as long as those who witness to You continue to show them up as sinners who would rather be seen as saints.
Those who are willing to walk in Your ways will image and reflect You and they can be certain that they will receive every blessing reserved for the sons and daughters of our Father God.
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