OVERCOMING THE WORLD

Who have overcome the world, together with death and sin? Those who have Jesus and live by His commandments; those who have truly and genuinely embraced eternal life which they have receive from Christ in their baptism; those who truly participate and live the Paschal mystery of Christ.

Sin prevents us from living the life Christ offers to us. Like leprosy, sin covers us with sores of every kind making us unworthy to receive this gift of eternal life. Furthermore, sin disables us in seeing ourselves as fit for eternal life. Thus we move further and further from Jesus, from the Church, from the sacraments. Because of shame brought about by our sinfulness, we distance ourselves from God, from the Church and from the sacraments. Christ sees our situation differently. Our unworthiness and shame make us qualified, in fact necessitate us, to go to Jesus that we may be made clean. For Christ came into the world not only for the righteous but all the more for the undeserving.

Christ made Himself available for those who desire to be healed from the maladies and leprosy of sin. We can be made clean every time we are soiled by our sinfulness. Christ can restore our dignity as children of God. How? This is possible by approaching Jesus tirelessly; to go to Jesus and stretch our hands and beg Him for forgiveness. In the gospel (Luke 5:12-16), Jesus healed a leper who expressed his desire to be healed. And the Lord conveyed likewise His desire to heal him. The Lord desires that we overcome this world (materialism, sinfulness, and death). This is possible if only we approach Jesus and cooperate in His divine plan (to be with Him in Paradise).

The greatest temptation of Satan to man is to drill in his heart pride: that he can be a god himself; that he can save himself. We can never save ourselves by our own merits but only through Jesus. The good news is, Jesus provides ways through which we can be saved: the Church and the sacraments, especially the sacrament of the Eucharist and reconciliation. Through the Eucharist we are nourished by the heavenly food that can strengthen us to continue struggling and living the eternal life Christ granted to us. Through reconciliation, we are constantly made clean by the absolution of sin granted by God to us.

Conquering this world and living the eternal life Christ gifted us with is possible if only we believe in Jesus; if only we approach Jesus and express our desire to be healed. We will be surprised that all this time, Jesus was only waiting for you to express the same desire of His heart: "Yes, I want to. Be clean."