comparatively speaking
"I assure you, it will go easier for Sodom than for you on the day of judgment." —Matthew 11:24
Yesterday, in the first eucharistic reading, the Lord called us "princes of Sodom" and "people of Gomorrah" (Is 1:10). Today, He says we are worse than Sodom, for if the miracles we have received would have taken place in Sodom, it would have repented (Mt 11:23-24). The Lord is telling us that we have not yet repented according to His standards.
We naturally tend to compare ourselves with others to make ourselves feel better or even superior. So, when the Lord compares us with some of the most wicked people ever and then says we are worse than they were, we tend to reject His words.
Why is Jesus being so rough on us? It's because He loves us (see Heb 12:6). He died on the cross to free us from sin; so He does not want us to die in our sins (see Jn 8:21, 24) but to repent.
Could it be that the Lord is not speaking to someone else but to each one of us? Jesus is looking at you right in the eye (Lk 22:61). Firmly, with love, He says: "Repent." Take His words to heart. Go to Confession today or, at the latest, tomorrow. His words "are spirit and life" (Jn 6:63). Repent.
Prayer: Father, through the intercession of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, may I repent on a very deep level.
Promise: "Unless your faith is firm you shall not be firm!" —Is 7:9
Praise: Mary, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, has made disciples of all nations (Mt 28:19). This is the meaning of the scapular.
Nihil Obstat: Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, November 29, 1995
Imprimatur: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, December 4, 1995