Free Yourself from Evil
Homily on the scripture readings for April 26th, 2026
Today’s world is overrun by evil of every kind; war, hatred, lies, thieves, murderers, criminals of all sorts, traitors and fornicators , deceivers and adulterers. Just as it was back in the days of Jesus.
So our scripture readings today starts out in full force with Peter telling the crowd:
“Save Yourselves from this corrupt generation”
Peter’s corrupt and evil generation versus our own modern corrupt and evil generation, I’m not sure which is worse. Their generation killed Jesus. Our generation kills tens of millions of people annually around the world with all its various means of delivering torture and death.1
Regardless of which is worse, the escape from our evil today is the same as it was then: Choosing for ourselves that Jesus is our Lord, our Christ, Savior and Redeemer.
Peter continues:
"Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Peter begins this sentence with the word “repent” and ends it with the the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is not accidental. The two are linked, like bookends, for living your life free from evil in this evil age. Let’s take a closer look.
“Repent” is a quaint old word that’s not used much anymore. Peter, and John the Baptist before him, used this word to challenge people to walk away from their sins — to be sorry for them and make a deliberate choice not to do them in the future. So the village thief, the serial adulterer, the fraudulent businessman and the extorting government officials were all invited to change their lives, admit that they offended others and offended God, and begin a new life without committing those sins, thus freeing themselves from evil.
Some of the worst evil today is the silence in naming and calling out grave sins, sins that were considered totally unacceptable in the times of Jesus and Peter. Today we rarely call these out as “sins”; actions like cohabitation, fornication, adultery, homosexuality, usery, gluttony, laziness, avarice, abortion, and euthanasia.
So keep in mind that “repent” means turning away from all of these sins too.
Peter also called the people to be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit! Opening our hearts to the Holy Spirit and receiving Him into our hearts strengthens us in our resolve not to sin again and again. The Holy Spirit fills our hearts with consolation - God’s love and forgiveness for our past sins. The Holy Spirit then stays with us, lives in us, and gives us the guidance in our lives to live a life in God’s will. But we need to quiet our minds and hearts to hear the Holy Spirit. To feel His presence.
Have you ever decided that you were going to do something and a “little voice” inside your head warned you not to? That is the Holy Spirit. Did you ever think that you should stop to visit someone or buy something for someone as an unexpected gift? That’s the Holy Spirit prompting you to do an unexpected good deed for someone — loving your neighbor.
Today’s scripture readings continue with Jesus explaining to the crowd that He is the “Good Shepherd”. The metaphor of a shepherd is one who cares for, tends, and protects his sheep. This, Jesus says, is what He is for us. Our caretaker, provider, and protector against all the evil in the world. Jesus says:
"Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers […] I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly."
So here we have Jesus, like Peter, offering people the choice. Choose Jesus as our Lord and Gatekeeper, and the Holy Spirit as our divine helper, or choose evil — the thief who comes to steal and slaughter and destroy.
The world makes the thief and all the evil in the world alluring to us, attractive to us. We are promised a world of happiness of doing whatever we want to, whenever we want to. But we soon find out that it’s all at a price that we didn’t know about. It steals our reputation, our inner peace, our joy for ourselves and our lives; for the happiness and lives of those around us. We become agents of corruption in a modern system of lies, extortion, selfishness and greed. Hallucinogenic drugs are “legal” but they still rob us of our own minds, our own dignity, our own self worth. They are not what Jesus, our Good Shepherd, wants for us.
Today’s psalm is the beautiful and famous Psalm of the Good Shepherd. This is what we are promised by repenting from our sins and following Jesus. This is the freedom from the evil, the beauty and peace that surrounds us when we make Jesus our Shepherd and our Lord; and when we open our hearts to the Holy Spirit and receive His peace, love, guidance and consolation into our hearts.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. In verdant pastures he gives me repose; beside restful waters he leads me; he refreshes my soul.
He guides me in right paths for his name's sake. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side. With your rod and your staff that give me courage.
You spread the table before me in the sight of my foes; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Only goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for years to come.
Praise be to God!
All scripture readings for today can be found here.
https://olwparish.org/2026/01/20/abortion-leading-cause-of-death-worldwide-in-2025/
There’s a real urgency in this reflection that comes through immediately, especially in how you frame the readings as a direct confrontation with the moral condition of the world. The insistence that “repent” is not just an abstract idea but a turning away from concrete patterns of life gives the passage a seriousness that’s hard to ignore, even if someone might wrestle with how broadly the list of sins is drawn out. It doesn’t feel like you are trying to soften the language of the text, and that clarity brings it out well.