A Restoration of Innocence

February 27, 2025 // Optional Memorial of Saint Gregory of Narek, Abbot and Doctor of the Church

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s First Reading: Mark 9:41-50

Reflect on the Word //

I dropped the remote on the couch and sighed. There was nothing good to watch—especially since my standards of “good” had changed. I once thought that being strong in my faith meant I should be unaffected by the world’s crudeness—that sensitivity equaled naiveté. I waved away the crass language in my Army unit; I thought I could tolerate films and books with some smut. Yet the more I truly came to know the Lord in His purity and goodness, the more I realized that He desired the same purity and true goodness for me—right down to the content and conversations I consumed.

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better if [. . .] he were thrown into the sea” (Mark 9:42). 

We are the Lord’s little ones. He so values our dignity as a child of God that He invites us into a restoration of innocence—through all of our senses. 

“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.

[. . .] And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.

[. . .] And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out” (Mark 43-47).

Consider how the Lord has given you the gift of each of your bodily senses to help you know Him, love Him, and receive His love more deeply. Ponder how He tenderly created your body and soul not as a junkyard to collect the world’s vulgarity, but as a temple and treasure room to house His divine glory. 

A growing sensitivity and a pruning of what you consume can heal your human senses from this abuse of the world. It can reclaim your memory and imagination from the demeaning words and images forced upon it. 

Through the intensity of Christ’s hyperbole, allow yourself to feel His zeal for establishing healthy boundaries for your body, mind, and soul. He longs to rescue you from this degradation. He is waiting to fill your mind and memories with eternal goodness—preparing you for a life of pure love, pure freedom, and pure joy in Heaven. 

Relate to the Lord // What is He inviting you to prune? What boundaries might be healing for your body, heart, mind, and soul?