January 30, 2026 // Friday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Psalm: Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6a, 6bcd-7, 10-11
Reflect on the Word //
Growing up, I judged harshly Edmund Pevensie from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.
In the 1950 classic, Edmund gave the impression of someone who would never be a hero. Making fun of his youngest sister, lying often, and eventually abandoning his family and betraying the Christ figure, Aslan the lion, Edmund had almost sealed his fate. Yet Edmund finally chooses meekness, asks for forgiveness, and finds himself a hero.
But he almost got everyone hurt and denounced Aslan in front of everyone! These were my arguments throughout my childhood. Did he really deserve to change the narrative?
Of course he didn’t deserve it. But as an adult now I see it differently. The Lord gives us, too—undeserving yet so loved by Him—the chance to change our stories, if we want to take it. Edmund personally asks Aslan for mercy and to rewrite his fate; his plea is like Psalm 51, “Turn away your face from my sins, and blot out all my guilt” (Psalm 51:11). And he is accepted with open arms, and able to act heroically afterwards.
Today’s Psalm is an image of the conversation God wants us to have with Him. Psalm 51 shows how asking for mercy requires meekness and courage, however sinful and undeserving we may feel: “For I acknowledge my offense and my sin is before me always” (Psalm 51:5). The Psalmist beseeches forgiveness without denying what they had done, and shows us that acknowledging our own wrongdoing leads to the Lord’s mercy— and with His help, rewrites your soul’s narrative for the better.
Sister, you are not your sins or your failures. Meek humility and courage before the Lord—alongside His accompanied mercy—can change our stories for the best even if we never truly feel like we deserve it. Let us all trust in God’s forgiveness and use our fallenness as an opportunity to begin anew and heroically choose Him each day.
Relate to the Lord // Make a plan to receive the Sacrament of Confession. His mercy is waiting for you.
Liz Homick works at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. as the loudest and most talkative librarian in the building. Since backpacking Europe for six weeks after graduating with her Master’s in Library Science, Liz is a huge advocate of solo travel and attending Mass in every language imaginable. She believes in unconditional kindness and existing brightly despite life’s storms.
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