Romans 7: 18-25a
Brothers and sisters:
For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
The Battle Within
Within my second year as a priest serving among the Lakota on the Pine Ridge Reservation, I faced an existential crisis. It seemed that nothing I was doing in ministry truly helped or brought about the change I longed to see among such oppression, even though I was faithfully fulfilling all my priestly duties and obligations.
By God’s grace, however, I came to see something new within myself, something unsettling yet profoundly revealing. I discovered a “war within,” the same struggle Paul describes in his letter to the Romans—a conflict not only within me but within all humanity. Though I believed I was doing good, serving as a Jesuit priest in all the ways I had been formed and taught, I often realized I was doing more harm than good. My intentions were sincere, yet evil still found its way through me and my actions. As Paul writes in today’s reading:
“[For although I am willing] I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want… So, then, I discover the principle at war with the law of my mind.”
The good news—though it runs counter to the logic of our individualistic, success-driven culture—is that the power of doing harm and our sinfulness is not overcome by our own willpower or good intentions. No! Harm, sin and evil are conquered only when we humble ourselves, surrender, and enter into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. Only he can fight—and win—the battle between good and evil within us, which in turn, is the for the salvation of all people.
—Fr. Phil Cooke, SJ, is a member of the Midwest Jesuits and is Pastor at St. Isaac Jogue’s Parish in Rapid City, SD
Prayer
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your kind spirit guide me on ground that is level.
Amen.
—Psalm 143:10
Pray with the Pope
Pray with the monthly prayer intentions of the pope.