From Living Faith Daily Catholic Devotions (Jan/Feb/Mar 2026)

St. John Bosco

2 Samuel 12:1-7a, 10-17 + Psalm 51:12-17 + Mark 4:35-41

‘Radical Reorientation’

A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. Psalm 51:12

The psalm in today’s Mass invites us to consider the work of our interior repentance with God’s spiritual help in making our hearts new. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “repentance is a radical orientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed” (para. 1431).

Ongoing conversion is a gift: to begin again, renewed in God, is the path trod by saints before us. Facing our sins, confessing them and turning from them is a lifelong process or reorienting our moral compasses, reordering our prioritise to reflect God’s ways. When we make a sacramental confession and receive absolution, we are steps closer to heaven. (Many churches hold confession hours before the Vigil Mass on Saturday evenings. Today might be a great start to “a clean heart.)

□ Pat Gohn (Pat writes or curates a reflection for each Sunday. Sign up for this free email at LivingFaith.com).