Mental Prayer for October 20-Sin-The Death of the Soul

Mental Prayer Meditation Helps

Presence of God

Grace I Ask: O God, impress this truth on my mind that mortal sin is my death.

Mental Picture: Mortuary... corpse laid out in a coffin... a friend of mine... his skin is dried and sickly white... his hands feel icy and stiff... he was the son of a wealthy father and would have inherited a lot of money... but now all of that ~ lost... he is dead.

My Personal Application: The day I commit a mortal sin - that day - I die.

Do I realize this?

Do I really understand that mortal sin kills the life of sanctifying grace in my soul?

If I am in the state of mortal sin, I am a spiritual corpse. I am no longer a son of God; I am no longer an heir to heaven. These things which my heavenly Father would have given me, I have lost. The Three Persons of God no longer dwell in my soul as in a temple, for mortal sin has driven them out. Instead, my soul is cold, shriveled, lifeless. Spir­itually I am dead.

I Speak to God: My God, I fear the death of my body, and rightly so. But help me to fear more the death of my soul. Let me realize that mortal sin is by far the worse death. Let me look at mortal sin and see, not the pleasure in it, but the loss of you, the loss of heaven. Sin is death, and I want to live, to live with you in heaven for all eternity.

Thought for Today: My God, never let me be, through mortal sin, a spiritual corpse.
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Adapted from Mental Prayer, Challenge to the Lay Apostle
by The Queen's Work,(© 1958)