There is nothing that I can take pride in myself. There is nothing that I have actually accomplished by myself. There is nothing I own, not at all. All I have is my sin. And I keep doing it everyday. I keep sinning. I keeping repeating all the things, both venial and otherwise. But I am not without any hope. Because God came for sinners, he came for me. In my life, I have screwed up badly. I am now far from the ideal which I have worked so hard to be. So much has changed. So much have happened in my journey. Yes, I have changed a lot. No one in my circle will ever believe that things that I have been doing. Too many times I walk in the streets with my head bowed down, fearing people will see me and talk to me about what has become of my life.
And yet I keep living. I keep on with my journey, because I know God doesn't give up on me. I know that doesn't change the way that he looks at me. He may be sad, damn, I know how much I have made him sad, broke his heart to pieces. But I know he likes me better clinging to him bruised and shamed, than running away over and over again. I am not running away anymore. Not ever again. He came for me, that I know and understand so much now. I am not some spoiled brat doing things that I do simply because I know God will always love me. I am a sinner, but a believer. I believe in him, the living one true God. And I believe in his mercy, in his healing hands, in his power to restore things. God be merciful to me, a sinner.
Daily Reading for Saturday, March 29th, 2014
Reading 1, Hosea 6:1-6
1 Come, let us return to Yahweh. He has rent us and he will heal us; he has struck us and he will bind up our wounds;
2 after two days he will revive us, on the third day he will raise us up and we shall live in his presence.
3 Let us know, let us strive to know Yahweh; that he will come is as certain as the dawn. He will come to us like a shower, like the rain of springtime to the earth.
4 What am I to do with you, Ephraim? What am I to do with you, Judah? For your love is like morning mist, like the dew that quickly disappears.
5 This is why I have hacked them to pieces by means of the prophets, why I have killed them with words from my mouth, why my sentence will blaze forth like the dawn-
6 for faithful love is what pleases me, not sacrifice; knowledge of God, not burnt offerings.
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 51:3-4, 18-19, 20-21
3 For I am well aware of my offences, my sin is constantly in mind.
4 Against you, you alone, I have sinned, I have done what you see to be wrong, that you may show your savingjustice when you pass sentence, and your victory may appear when you give judgement,
18 In your graciousness do good to Zion, rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in upright sacrifices,-burnt offerings and whole oblations -- and young bulls will be offered on your altar.
Gospel, Luke 18:9-14
9 He spoke the following parable to some people who prided themselves on being upright and despised everyone else,
10 'Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee stood there and said this prayer to himself, "I thank you, God, that I am not grasping, unjust, adulterous like everyone else, and particularly that I am not like this tax collector here.
13 The tax collector stood some distance away, not daring even to raise his eyes to heaven; but he beat his breast and said, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner."
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