GOING BAD
Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
My dear encountered couples:
Apples are not responsible for going bad. It just happens. But with people it is different. We have free will to choose being good and to resist being bad. Eleven of the Apostles Jesus selected chose to be good, one chose the bad; he betrayed Christ.
Now we really can’t get down deep into Judas’s character. But we are told by the writers of the Gospels that Judas was a thief; he was dishonest. Maybe circumstances in life can tend certain people towards dishonesty and tend others towards being honest. But it doesn’t become deeply imbedded in our characters until we willingly choose dishonesty on many occasions and in numerous situations. Lying, stealing, cheating, using, and conning are all results of decisions that reject a life of honesty and integrity of character. Judas must have been aware of his dishonest actions long before he got to the point of betraying his best friend. But he must not have done much about it, certainly not enough. He not only continued but he progressed in badness and became a principle participant in the murder of Christ.
That’s the way it is when we don’t curb any bad tendencies we might find in ourselves. If we continue giving into them without serious concern for the welfare of our own characters, we are committing a form of suicide. We are driving Christ and God and all goodness out of our lives - forever. Apples are not responsible for going bad. It just happens. We can never say that about ourselves.
