JOIN ME for Day 3? We’re spending 9 days in the Upper Room of our hearts with both 💘 Saints & Sinners as we prepare to celebrate the true meaning behind Saint Valentine’s Day:
📖 READ SCRIPTURE:
“But David’s heart smote him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O LORD, I pray thee, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.” – 2 Samuel 24:10
💝 REFLECT:
King David’s life is clearly wrought with hard choices. Maybe it feels as though ours our too. What strikes me most about David’s confession here in 2 Samuel is that it is his heart which smote him. how often do we run full speed ahead doing the things we might believe are best, ignoring the warnings and wisdom of others, only to realize that after we have done a thing it is indeed truly the wrong thing?
If your answer is like King David’s then it doesn’t matter how frequently we make wrong choices but rather that when we do we have developed such a heart for the Father that we immediately realize our mistake and turn to Him for mercy.
“I confess to almighty God and to you my brothers and sisters that I have greatly sinned. In what I have done. And in what I have failed to do.” These are the words of our confession each time we begin the prayer of the Holy Mass before we partake in the communion of Christ’s body. We echo the heart of David, God’s Beloved, confessing with contrition that it is “through our fault, through our most grievous fault” that we have “sinned against You,” our Lord and Father.
And like David, we quickly seek what has already been given to us at our Baptism, “the forgiveness of all our sins.”
For we have sinned against you. Show us, O Lord, your mercy. And grant us your salvation. – Words of the Penitential Act of the Holy Mass
It doesn’t matter how often we “have done very foolishly.” Our Father’s Mercy has washed us clean by our Baptism in Christ. We can begin anew.
Like we learned yesterday, we need the power behind God’s Mercy to not only forgive ourselves of our sins, so that we too remember them no more, but also to be less hard on ourselves when we do “very foolishly” and may stumble frequently along the path of holiness.
🍎 Saint Wisdom:
The wisdom of the saints remind us:
“Without the burden of afflictions it is impossible to reach the height of grace. The gift of grace increases as the struggle increases.” St. Rose of Lima
“A humble soul does not trust itself, but places all its confidence in God.” St. Faustina
“Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again: for forgiveness has risen from the grave!” St. John Chrysostom
“The saints did not all begin well, but they ended well.” St. John Vianney
And my personal favorite,
“To be tempted is a sign that the soul is very pleasing to the Lord.” St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
🕊 LET US PRAY:
Father, I Thank You, for sending me your Beloved Son, Jesus, in whom I might bind my heart to you forever. Jesus, O’ Key of David, thank you for unlocking me from sin forever and allowing me to receive the mercy of Our Father to follow in your footsteps of obedience and holiness. Holy Spirit Come! Guide my heart in the way you guided Jesus to follow in the lineage of David. Strengthen me to be the Beloved of God, a man/woman after God’s heart of mercy.
Blessed Mother of Our Lord, Holy angels and saints of Heaven, especially Saint Valentine, pray for me, that I may not become overwhelmed by my faults but rather overcome them through the power of God’s Mercy and Grace. In the Holy name of Jesus, King of My Heart, Amen.
When’s the last time you made a thorough examination of your heart and a good confession to the Lord? Take our spiritual inventory here.
