" The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. "(1 Cor 2:14) People today enjoy evil rather than good because they lack grace, they lack grace because they no longer look to God for their salvation. Their sins are multiplied because they no longer fear the devil or the consequences of their immoral behaviour. Thankfully, God does not love us because we are good - but because He is good.

"And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." (Gal 5:24) If we wish to know joy in this life and feel at peace within our hearts, then we must live by virtue in this world and not by appetite. We must desire the "Fruits of the Spirit" rather than the pleasures of this world. Our conscience must be formed by the guidance of the Holy Spirit rather than by the sensuality of our nature, only then will we know true peace. Our happiness must consist in loving and serving God. A soul that possesses love, possesses the only thing of value in this life, because it is the only thing that will survive this world and return to the Creator. Love comes from God and is used by Him to bring forth children. These children are not called to love the world but to love God.

God has placed us upon this earth for a reason; we all have a purpose in life. Holy Scripture tells us that our purpose in this world is to grow in knowledge and understanding of God, and to love Him. Scripture also tells us that we cannot do this by following the world or the desires of our fallen nature, but that we must overcome ourselves, and be victorious over the world as Christ was victorious - we also, must one day say "I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) For this we have the Sacraments of Confession, that we may keep ourselves in a state of grace by confessing our sins and receive forgiveness from God, and the Eucharist that we might feed our souls and receive further grace from God to help us overcome sin.

"And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; you know Him, for He dwells with you, and will be in you." (John 14:16&17) As Christians we are not left alone in this world to fight our spiritual battles, we have the comforter, the Holy Spirit. Through Him we receive grace and power that we may grow in virtue, through Him we are given the love to overcome our lower nature until we can say "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." (Gal 2:20) Then we become partakers of that divine nature, we become living temples of the Holy Spirit, we become children of the living God.

Our world needs to know about the nature of sin and its consequences, but it needs to know even more about the infinite love and mercy of God. A God who left the glory of heaven, became a man, and took upon Himself the guilt and punishment of all our sins. Let us pray together:

Most Holy and loving Father, we believe in You, and we trust in Your infinite mercy. We ask pardon for sinners. We beg of you this day, by the light of Your divine grace, the conversion of a soul in darkness. We offer to You the merits of Your Son's Holy Passion, His suffering and death upon the cross, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. Amen