It is 18th August 2018. The readings are from Ezekiel 18:1-10, 13, 30-32; and the Gospel from Matthew 19:13-15. To deal with the community, God deals with us personally. We need to stop the blame game when it comes to our personal sin. We cannot blame the parents or the peers for our wrong doings. We need to hold responsibility for all the choices we make and we must know that we will be brought to God’s presence as an individual to examine the way we have conducted ourselves on earth. No one can force sin on us unless we yield to them. We can no longer point finger on our ancestors, the society we live for the sins in us. We are the ones who allowed and tolerated sins in our souls. No one has the key to our souls except us and God. God never allows or tolerates sins in our souls. Sin is not powerful than a person. We give in to sin most of the times. It is we who plan, execute and enjoy sins. Once sins have entered into ourselves, it enjoys the precarious power of spreading all around our being. Sin begs for a tiny space in us to enter. Upon entering, it finds its ways, means and measure to contaminate every space of our being. Sin is the sickness of the soul indeed. When a human soul is not resistant against the perennial and persistent attacks of the sin, it gradually gives in. None of us become a horrifying sinner overnight. We give in to sin gradually and wilfully; and sin requires our permission and cooperation to enter and exist in ourselves. None of us suffer for the sins of the other including our parents. God clarifies in the first reading through the prophet Ezekiel that God does not punish the whole nation for the sin of an individual and vice versa. Each one of us will be punished or rewarded personally and individually. God is not interested in punishing and killing us but rather looking forward for a sincere repentance. God wants every sinful soul to stop sinning and start living a new life in the Lord. “So, in future, House of Israel, I shall judge each of you by what that person does — declares the Lord. Repent, renounce all your crimes, avoid all occasions of sins. Shake off all the crimes you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!” (Ez. 18:30,31). Let us take responsibility for all that we have done and return to the Lord swiftly. Let us stop blaming someone for our situation in life. Whatever we are going through in our lives now, either it is the impact of sin or the showers of grace and pure living. The responsorial Psalm intercedes, “A pure heart create for me, O God.” (Ps.50:12). In the Gospel, Jesus assures His healing and comforting touch on all of us however insignificant we could be in the family or in the community. Children had no say and stand in the community Jesus lived yet He wanted them to be touched, loved, and recognised. Whatever the sin and sinful conditions we have in our souls and however small and unimportant we could feel in our lives due to the burden of sin, we are all the children of God. Jesus wants to touch us and heal us. Jesus wants to bear the pain however excruciating and unhealable it could be. Just one touch of Jesus will change our lives. Whatever is our chronological age today, we are still His children. We have someone whom we can place all our trust and faith that is Jesus. “Then He laid His hands on them and went on his way.” (Mt.19:15). May God bless you and have a good day.