1 TM 1:12-14

Beloved:
I am grateful to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord,
because he considered me trustworthy
in appointing me to the ministry.
I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and arrogant,
but I have been mercifully treated
because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief.
Indeed, the grace of our Lord has been abundant,
along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Paul was once a bad dude named Saul. He persecuted Christians and did all manner of terrible things against the followers of Jesus. Until one day, God saw fit to knock him off his high horse, blinded him temporarily, and changed his name to Paul. He became a great leader of the Church and most of the New Testament is written by him. A lot of great saints started off this way. The greatest sinners usually end up (through the mercy and grace of God), being some of the greatest saints!

I was listening to mother Angelica in my car the other day and she was recounting how both Peter and Judas let Jesus down. Peter denied Jesus and Judas betrayed him. Both terrible hurts to Our Lord. The difference rested in how they handled their failures afterwards. Judas did not allow God to bestow mercy and love on him. Rather than ask the Lord for forgiveness, Judas cut off the mercy of God and ended his own life, thus rejecting what could have been a truly amazing story of redemption! Peter, on the other hand, chose to accept God’s mercy and begged his forgiveness. Today, we see the great things God has done through Peter’s story for our Church.

How can we allow the Lord to make an amazing story out of your lives? In what ways are we not letting him in for fear that our failures are too great? Nothing will ever outdo his mercy!