Tuesday of Week 13 in Ordinary Time (Year I)
Genesis 19:15-29 | Psalm 25(26):2-3,9-12 | Matthew 8:23-27
‘Run for your life. Neither look behind you nor stop anywhere on the plain. Make for the hills if you would not be overwhelmed.’ (Genesis 19:17)
I’m no longer the secularly-focused man I was just a few years ago, but ever so often, I think of those dark days gone by, and instantly hear the siren call of temporal temptation.
The angels’ admonition to Lot applies just as well today: When we are working to shed the stain of sin in our lives, looking back on our mistakes can cause us to secretly long for the bad old days, and be seduced back into our old undesirable habits.
Our focus should be on the light of Christ ahead, illuminating the Way of Truth and Life. Behind us lie our shadows of sin and temptation, our past lives of transgression and hurt, fit only for letting go.
Lot’s wife couldn’t let go, and she paid a terrible price. We should take a big hint from her plight.
Lord, we are besieged every day by the temptation of earthly pleasures, to which our brethren regularly succumb in full measure. Help us see the death of spirit and love that follows this treacherous path, and give us the strength to forever focus our gaze on You, as You guide us to Your heavenly kingdom. Amen.