Day Thirty-Six
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5;9
God wills you all to be holy. He wants you to keep away from sexual immorality, and each one of you to know how to control his body in a way that is holy and honourable,, not giving way to selfish lust like the nations who do not acknowledge God . . . As for brotherly love, there is no need to write to you about that, since you have yourselves learnt from God to love one another . . .
Reflection
Holiness and sexual immorality cannot exist at the same time: we are called, by virtue of our baptism and also by virtue of our call to be instruments of God's merciful love, to holiness in thought, word and deed. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and need to be treated as such. The sin of pornography and all other forms of sexual impurity, seriously erode our union with Christ; in fact, they totally destroy our union of love with Jesus until we repent and confess our sins and return to the love of God.
The world we live in glorifies sin, it sells sin, promotes sin, exalts sin, worships sin, especially sexual sin, which, in the world's blinded eyes, is not a sin at all. The world does not acknowledge God, so it will not acknowledge God's commandments, especially the commandment to be pure and holy. As Missionaries of Merciful Love, our lives should totally reflect purity. There is no place for crude language, suggestive talk, obscene jokes, immodest dress, foul language, etc. No, every aspect of our lives should radiate Christ and His life.
Prayer
O Jesus, burn up all impurity in my heart, that I might reflect your purity to those around me in my words and actions. Mary, mother of purity, pray for me.
Amen.
