This morning’s readings have an important lesson about sin and an equally important teaching about grace. David’s sin reminds us that sin impacts not only the sinner but inevitably affects others in typically negative ways. On the other hand, Jesus’ ability to cure some of the sick in his hometown—despite the majority’s disbelief and rejection of him, reassures that God’s grace can still effect change even in the midst of sin. Therefore, the negative consequences of our sins on others should motivate us to expedite our ongoing conversion, while God’s grace effective even in the midst of sin should enliven our hope of extricating ourselves from its deadly grasp. Saint Agatha bears witness to both: Her violent death was a deadly consequence of the sins of her executioners, while her exemplary holiness manifests the power of God’s grace sanctifying and transforming the sinner. May her example and intercession sustain us in our own struggle towards that holiness that draws others to God and helps undermine sin’s destructive stranglehold on our suffering world.