THROW IT AWAY (02-13-13)

ASH WEDNESDAY

Matthew 5:29

If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.  It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna.

I have been guilty as charged.  As a teenager, I would go through those graphic, girly magazines.  And as they would say, and as I would believe – that because I am in the “coming of age”, this is normal.  And so, the act after this, the act of satisfying one’s self, is also normal.

As I have thought… as many of us have thought.

But this would go on… like an addiction.  The internet revolution would provide these images faster – at a touch of a button.  And those things that you would do before seldom, you can now do it almost at a whim for the temptation has multiplied itself a thousand times.

I tried to control the urge… the desire.  But it cannot be done alone.  I have to seek the help of a supreme being.  I have to seek the help of God.  For God will not only “tear out your eye”, but He can also forgive You for all things you have done.

You can stop all of these.  You can put all the controls in your computer.  Or you can even stop using it altogether.  But, if you do not give them up to God, your sins will not be forgiven.

Cast them out.  Take them out.  Throw them out away, all those things that can make you lose sight of heaven.  Remember, the devil will not manifest itself to us like a beast, but looking like a playboy centerfold or a 1,000-peso bill on the floor.  Resist temptation and you will be able to keep your hands and eyes for good. 

And begin to pray each day, speaking with Jesus as you would with a friend.

Let us pray +

Almighty Father, I give my body to your care.  Let me never sin against the Spirit by any impure actions against the virtue of purity.  Amen +

Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!