Daily Thought For October 13, 2014

To Begin Again 

Subjecting my brothers and sisters to criticism for shortcomings while failing to raise a finger to help them shows how afraid I am of compromising myself and soiling my hands. 

If I truly loved my brothers and sisters, and truly sought only God's glory, 

I would recognize my responsibility toward them, I would collaborate with them and offer 

to help them. 

I would roll up my sleeves and begin to work and to fight- 

and not just once! 

To vanquish the enemy, 

one must begin again often. 

Begin again with perseverance 

to do better than the time before, to rebuild and reorganize. 

This is a principle of historical 

and apostolic reality. 

God created human beings in a marvelous way, but when humanity fell, despite our sin, 

God restored us in an even more marvelous way. 

Peter, Paul, and the Christians of the early Church never stopped pursuing the goal. When necessary they began again, trusting in God's power and in the good will and strength of the human person. 

In the Gospel, we read the many setbacks people experienced in their lives, but Jesus commands them to begin again right away: 

"Go and sin no more. " 

"Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor ... then follow me. " 

After having put my hand to the plow I will not look back, I will look up at the horizon.