Wednesday of the Thirty-First Week in Ordinary Time, Year II (St. Charles Borromeo). Phil. 2:12-18; Lk. 14:25-23
I believe you’ve heard of concupiscence. Derived from the late Latin “concupiscentia”, from the verb concupiscere (“to desire ardently”). It is the ‘tendency’ to sin. It is defined as the human weakness, or impulse to prefer that which is sinful over that which is holy. When we look at our lives, we realise how difficult it has been to will the good at times. We see how we constantly have to struggle against sinful impulses. Yea, that’s concupiscence. But God’s grace overcomes this weakness in us.
Friends, in today’s first reading, St. Paul tells us through his letter to the Philippians that we must stay obedient to God who is always working to perfect our wills and our desires. To cooperate with God’s grace, we must deny ourselves, take up our crosses daily and follow Jesus. In the life of St. Charles Borromeo, we see one who denied himself and followed Jesus wholeheartedly. Though of noble birth and rich ancestry, he spent his energies feeding the poor. He set up a confraternity to teach Catechism to kids (which became Sunday School). Opposition to his reforms was so great that one rich and corrupt monk, disguised as a lay man, shot him on one occasion. Charles Borromeo died from a severe fever and physical exhaustion on November 3, 1584, at the age of 46. Can we live like he did?
God bless your day ahead.
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