First Reading: 1 Corinthians 6:1-11
Brothers and sisters:
How can any one of you with a case against another
dare to bring it to the unjust for judgment
instead of to the holy ones?
Do you not know that the holy ones will judge the world?
If the world is to be judged by you,
are you unqualified for the lowest law courts?
Do you not know that we will judge angels?
Then why not everyday matters?
If, therefore, you have courts for everyday matters,
do you seat as judges people of no standing in the Church?
I say this to shame you.
Can it be that there is not one among you wise enough
to be able to settle a case between brothers?
But rather brother goes to court against brother,
and that before unbelievers?
Now indeed then it is, in any case,
a failure on your part that you have lawsuits against one another.
Why not rather put up with injustice?
Why not rather let yourselves be cheated?
Instead, you inflict injustice and cheat, and this to brothers.
Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the Kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived;
neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers
nor boy prostitutes nor sodomites nor thieves
nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers
will inherit the Kingdom of God.
That is what some of you used to be;
but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified,
you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
and in the Spirit of our God.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 149:1B-2, 3-4, 5-6A AND 9B
R. (see 4) The Lord takes delight in his people.
Sing to the LORD a new song
of praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel be glad in their maker,
let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
Let them praise his name in the festive dance,
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
For the LORD loves his people,
and he adorns the lowly with victory.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy upon their couches;
Let the high praises of God be in their throats.
This is the glory of all his faithful. Alleluia.
R. The Lord takes delight in his people.
Gospel: Luke 6:12-19
Jesus departed to the mountain to pray,
and he spent the night in prayer to God.
When day came, he called his disciples to himself,
and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles:
Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew,
James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Simon who was called a Zealot,
and Judas the son of James,
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground.
A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people
from all Judea and Jerusalem
and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon
came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases;
and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured.
Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him
because power came forth from him and healed them all.
NAB
In today's First Reading Saint Paul reminds the Corinthians of what they were but no longer are, calling them by their sins: fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, thieves, greedy, drunkards, slanderers, and more. He then tells us that as followers of Christ we were washed, sanctified, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are no longer to be known by our sins. It's interesting, then, that Saint Luke calls the Apostles by their names yet one is still named with his sin: Judas the traitor.
It is important to be saved, to turn from sin, and to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. But this is not a one-time event, done and done forever. While it begins with our acceptance of God's grace at Baptism, we must every day in the face of every temptation and sin commit and recommit ourselves to Christ through a daily acceptance of God's grace. While our acceptance of God's salvation is a personal act, it cannot be done without the promptings of grace and cannot continue without grace.
As Catholics we do not believe in "once saved, always saved." Instead we believe that we were saved when Christ died for us on the cross, "by his stripes we are healed." (Is 53:5.) We believe that we are being saved as every day brings a new opportunity to know, serve, and love God with our whole hearts, minds, and bodies. We confess and repent when necessary and repeatedly making the choice to turn towards God or away from Him. And we will be saved at the final judgement when Jesus will separate the saved and the damned. (Mt 25:31-46.)
Salvation, mercy, and forgiveness are always available to us but we still must make the actual choice to follow God. We have the choice to be known by our sin or to be washed clean, sanctified, and justified by the Lord Jesus Christ. We have been saved. We are being saved. We will be saved. Live your life so that Jesus will call your name and not your sin.
Are you making a conscious effort to be closer to God and live a more holy life as best you can daily? How can what you choose today bring you closer to God?
Bonnie Engstrom is a writer, baker, speaker and homemaker. She lives with her husband and five children in central Illinois. You can find out more about her here.
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