Sin no more

As the Lenten journey nears Holy Week, the walk becomes more deliberate. Each step deeply plants upon the path an impression of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Lent offers an opportunity to come to our senses, to sin no more. While we strive for firmer faith, deeper prayer and peace, we are called to repentance and reconciliation. 

Each liturgy for Sunday Mass during Weeks Four and Five of Lent offers two sets of readings: Year A and Year C. Although the Gospel readings vary, the themes are parallel: rejection, repentance, reconcilation and resurrection. 

Rejection

Sin is a rejection of God. Paragraph 1849 of The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “Sin is an offense against reason, truth and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as “an utterance, a deed or a desire contrary to the eternal law.” 

Deviant attachments lead to a path of self-destruction. The harder we grasp the vice, the farther we stray from God, unaware of the isolation growing in and around us. Rock bottom cannot come fast enough. Once hit, we grasp in the dark, musty cell of our selfishness. But then God sends his merciful light and we see dimly. Slowly the seeds of faith erupt, as tiny roots begin to anchor us in God’s infinite mercy. We pursue healing by way of self-examination or at times by way of accusers, who throw our sins in our face and for the world to see. “Look at him or her! How can they say they are a Christian?” 

We have heard this. We have murmured this. However the awakening takes place, the choice to repent from sin opens the door of our heart to God’s tender mercy. A door, once locked by our choice to sin is now flung open to “taste and see the goodness of the Lord” (Ps 34).

We reflect on the parable of the prodigal
son and his brother (Lk 15: 1-3; 11-32), along with the encounter of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery (Jn 8:1-11). The impact of their sins is revealed, one by self-examination, and the other by the community. Through a powerful encounter, both are called to repent, even the accusers. In a profound way they come to their senses. Their eyes are opened, first to the realization of where their sins have taken them and, second, to the mercy of God. Instead of living a life centered earthly pleasure resulting in loneliness, isolation and rejection, they awaken to the merciful gaze of God in the prodigal son’s father, and in Jesus.

Presented is an invitation to accountability, compassion, forgiveness, healing, restoration and holiness. Acceptance of God’s mercy is necessary for restoration and ultimately salvation.  Am I rejecting God? What do I need to detach from? What is holding me back from loving God and others? Pride, greed, lust, envy, sloth, gluttony, anger? Do I need to come to my senses?

Radical reorientation: Repentance and Reconcilation

We repent by the grace of God. He who gives us free will that can at times, when we make the choice, take us far from “home” is the same one who also never lets us out of his sight. We are always in God’s sight. When we choose to repent we say “yes” to be open to a radical transformation through reconciliation, an interior conversion. “Interior repentance is a radical reorientation 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. At the same time it entails the desire and resolution to change one’s life, with hope in God’s mercy and trust in the help of his grace (Catechism Para. #1431).

God does not force us to turn our heart to him. We make the choice. This is a radical choice, life giving and with eternal consequences. An interior change, a metanoia, occurs when we put down our self-affliction and pick up our cross of sacrifice. We open our hands to God’s hands, God’s will. We surrender. We decide to come home, do penance and “sin no more” (Jn 8:11).

How can I avoid sin in my life? What causes me to sin? How can I remain steadfast in my love of God and avoid the near occasion of sin? Coming to our senses can lead us to a greater awareness of what surrounds us. Look around. Who do I share my time with and how is that impacting my relationship with God? What am I feeding my mind with through social media, books, television, radio, internet? Does this strengthen my relationship with God?

“During his public life Jesus not only forgave sins, but also made plain the effect of this forgiveness: he reintegrated forgiven sinners into the community of the People of God from which sin had alienated or even excluded them” (Catechism Para. 1443). Hence, the effect of God’s forgiveness is a homecoming to him and to the faith community. We are reconciled with God and with the community since by our sins we damage our relationship with both. 

This healing comes through the sacrament of reconciliation. We come to our senses, pour out our sins, state our contrite hearts, ask for forgiveness, receive the absolution for restoration and partake in acts of penance to help repair the damage. Our ability to receive grace is restored and we joyfully receive our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist, in an intimate union with Jesus and his mystical body and to receive nourishment for the journey, strength from committing future sin and an increase in charity. 

Resurrection

Reconcilation restores us to life in Christ. The darkness in sin is overcome by Jesus, the light of the world, who by his passion “destroyed death and restored life.”  Do I place my hope in Jesus Christ? Am I in right relationship with Jesus? Is my life rooted in faith, hope, love, patience, wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord? Am I embracing the gifts of the Holy Spirit poured out by the mercy of God and the sacrifice of Jesus? Am I answering the call to holiness, the call to become a saint. to grow in virtue?

These final days

As we come to the end of Lent may we deeply recall the Passion of the Lord. May we follow the Way of the Cross more intently these coming weeks. May we prepare our hearts and meditate on the suffering of our Lord, drawing strength from what he did for us. May we allow his merciful love to wipe away our sins. May we be open to grace to ask for forgiveness.  May we ask for the courage to repent. May we ask for the light to see and the ability to come to our senses. May we ask for restoration. May we humbly receive the sacrament of reconcilation. May we remember no sin is greater than the love of God. May we come home.

Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion — inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to your holy will, which is love and mercy itself (Closing prayer, Chaplet of Divine Mercy).

Dow is the director of the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis for the Diocese of Baton Rouge.