“A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks” (Lk 6:45).

We can experience hardships, trials, and suffering. We may have experienced traumas, and even come face to face with evil. Yet, we are not evil ourselves because of what happens to us, how we are tempted, nor are we defined by any trauma, suffering, or abuse. We have been created good by a loving God.

Negativity, sin, hate, and evil, can be seductive, can lure us to rationalize and come to make a decision for what we may think of as a good in the moment, yet it is just an apparent good. To encounter or experience a word or act of unkindness, negativity, or even violence, we may feel justified in retaliation, yet if we speak or act in this way we become the negativity or evil we seek to stand up against. In The Strength to Love,  a collection of Dr. Martin Luther King’s sermons he wrote:

“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.”

We need to be aware from the moment we have a thought in our mind as to what we will do with that thought. Not all thoughts come from ourselves, many do, but others come externally from our experiences, our observations, our concupiscence – our tendency to sin, and yes demonic influences. What do we listen to, read, and watch on a regular basis? We need to discipline ourselves so as not to entertain every thought or influence that comes our way, we need to be discerning otherwise once we allow ourselves to meditate on negative ideas, support our fears and anxieties, we will soon begin to speak and act on those ruminations. We who have been created good can be weakened and corrupted by choice and not only act with evil intent, but ourselves become evil.

As followers of Jesus Christ we need to meditate on the things of above (cf. Colossians 3:1) and aspire in our lives to bear the fruits of the Spirit of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). May this list be a barometer for us to utilize to discern the life that we are living. We need to prune any way in which we are bearing the opposite, such as being impatient instead of patient. May we be humble enough to confess our sin and seek God’s strength and support to build up that area of weakness. Let us commit to meeting the darkness we encounter today with light, to meeting hatred with love, and from the fullness of our heart may we only look, speak, and act in ways that convict, heal, understand, empower, and love. Let us be the good God created us to be!

Link for today’s Mass reading:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/091617.cfm

Photo: With Fr. Jean Boulin who is certainly practicing the good he has been created to be here at St Peter Catholic Church!