O God, giver of all that is good, by Your holy inspiration grant that we may think those things that are right and by Your merciful guiding accomplish them; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
In the dark and corrupt days of the Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos in the Philippines, the Roman Catholic Archbishop had the unlikely last name of Sin. He was Bishop Sin. I am sure this occasioned a little teasing when he got together with the other bishops. He thought it was funny too. When he entertained guests, he often was heard welcoming them to the “house of Sin.” Bishop Sin, however, was a wise man. He realized that his nation was soul sick. Poverty, corruption, and violence were the symptoms of a deeper problem, a faith problem.
Once he realized this, Bishop Sin spent the next several years crisscrossing the over seven thousand islands of the Philippines, preaching repentance. It is not a stretch to see that the 1986 popular uprising which ousted the corrupt Marcos regime flowed out of that preaching. Bishop Sin spoke of each person’s need to repent. Once people heard and believed his message, the old ways of greed, corruption, and self-interest no longer sat so well with them. The people rose in a revolt against the Marcos regime.
This prayer asks that God’s inspiration leads us to right thoughts and that then, guided by God, we accomplish them. A right thought which never finds action is fruitless. And an action which is not born of right thought and motive will always go astray. Both right thoughts and right deeds are necessary. Pray with the church today. Repent of your sins, listen to God’s guidance, and do what He says.