Homily for Wednesday
29th Week of Ordinary Time
Oct. 25, 2023
Rom 6: 12-18
Salesian Missions, New
Rochelle, N.Y.
“Present yourselves to God
as raised from the dead to life and the parts of your bodies to God as weapons
for righteousness” (Rom 6: 13).
You’ve probably heard
people say that they can do whatever they want with their bodies. St. Paul teaches us otherwise. If we belong to Christ, we’re meant for
resurrection—“raised from the dead to life”—because we’re part of his
body. When we receive Holy Communion,
our bodies become part of his body.
The Seven Deadly Sins (Bosch)
On the other hand, when we commit sin, Paul says, sin rules us, makes us slaves of the Devil (6:16). We might think that sinning with our bodies—“obeying the desires of our mortal bodies” and making them “weapons for wickedness (6:12-13)—means, 1st, sexual sins. While that’s included, that’s not all. We sin with our bodies in countless ways. We use our tongues to lie, be rude to people, speak ill of others, take the Lord’s name in vain. We use our ears to listen to gossip. We use our taste to overeat or drink too much. We might use our hands to take something that’s not ours. If we drive recklessly, we’re using our hands and feet to do so. Our eyes might lead us toward envy of the possessions of others or to lustful thoughts.
Instead, St. Paul urges us to serve God with our bodies, using them “as weapons for righteousness” (6:13). We can use our tongues to praise God or thank him, to speak kind or encouraging words to others; use our hands to help people or embrace them in welcome or comfort; use our eyes to appreciate God’s glorious creation; use our ears to listen to what others have to say—even preachers! If we’re married, we use our bodies to embrace our spouse in love, as Christ loves us, his people. Thus we use our bodies for righteousness, as Paul urges, i.e., we put them to holy use for God’s glory and for the benefit of God’s children.
Seven Works of Mercy
(Caravaggio)
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