Ordinary Time: Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Old Testament Lesson

Genesis 9:18-29

One of the things that's hard for us to do sometimes is to learn a lesson. We see here in the stories of Noah and his family right after the flood that they didn't fully learn a lesson. The Lord has just washed everything away through a flood, caused by the wickedness of humanity, and yet still, this soon after, Noah, and one of his son, fall into the trap of sin. Noah, into drunkenness, his son into disrespecting his father.

Lessons were not entirely learned. May we not make the same mistake. May we learn from the lessons of our lives, may we learn from the falls we endure, may we learn from the mistakes that we make. Today, and each day, may we learn.

New Testament Lesson

Hebrews 6:1-12

The author of Hebrews encourages us to keep on going, not to fall back or backslide away from the truth. In life, we will all fall down. We will all make mistakes. We will all fail. We will all sin. You will. I will. It is just part of our human condition. We will all fall down.

What do we do then? When we fall, what do we do? When we make a mistake, what do we do? Do we get up and keep going? Do we dust ourselves, up, and, by the power of God's grace, keep walking? That is what God calls us to to do. When we fall, God still loves us. And after we make a mistake, may we get up and keep going. That is what we are called to do.

Gospel Lesson

John 3:22-36

John says today that He must increase and I must decrease. In our lives, we must allow Christ's light to shine through us more and more and more. When we live for ourselves, we don't fully know the power of Christ and His life. But, when we decrease, when He shines through, we find there is life beyond us. Today, may we decrease and may He increase in our lives.