Honesty about our sinfulness

Good News Reflection
Thursday of the 24th Week of Ordinary Time
September 16, 2010

Today's Saints: Cornelius & Cyprian
Pray for friends and mutual support:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Cyprian.htm

Today's Readings:
1 Cor 15:1-11
Ps 118:1-2,16ab-17,28
Luke 7:36-50
http://www.usccb.org/nab/091610.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_09_16.mp3

Honesty about our sinfulness

In today's Gospel reading, Jesus says, "The one who's forgiven little, loves little." In other words, those who don't ask for forgiveness very often have little genuine love for others.

We're all blind, to some degree, to the sins we commit. We don't want to see them. We're afraid that admitting our sins will prove that we don't deserve to be loved or that God will punish us by making us miserable. So, without thinking about it (for that would open us to the truth), we focus on other people's sins. We rationalize away our own sinfulness. We defend our actions. We justify ourselves, forgetting that Jesus already justified us on the cross.

We're controlled by the unconscious idea: "If I don't know what my sins are, then God doesn't either." We're still the little kid who stole candy from Daddy's room just before dinner and ate it in a dark closet to avoid getting caught, little realizing that the wrappers dropped on the floor will expose our secret. Well guess what, our all-knowing heavenly Daddy loves us just as much as he would if he never found the wrappers.

God's not interested in punishing us. What he wants is to set us free from our sins, so that we're free to enjoy his company and we're free to love. Consider who enjoyed the presence of Jesus more: Simon the Pharisee or the sinful woman? When we're like Simon, caught in the self-deception of believing that we're better than people whose sins are plainly visible, we're really trying to protect ourselves from getting punished. This self-focus interferes with our love for others.

But when we dare to be totally honest with ourselves, like the sinful woman in this scripture passage, we discover a greater love, a fuller love. We discover the depth to which God cares about us. We appreciate what Christ did for us on the cross. We enjoy his presence oh so much more than we do when we're pretending that everything's okay.

Mass has a built-in opportunity to seek forgiveness so that we can receive all the love that's available to us in the Word and in the Eucharist. Early in the liturgy there's aPenitential Rite in which the priest gives us absolution from the venial sins we recall. However, this happens too quickly for a good examination of conscience on the spot. We need to prepare for it by getting honest with ourselves before Mass.

And when we can't think of any new sins, we can tell God: "Forgive me for being blind – and for wanting to be blind – to my sins." It's a good start for bathing the tired feet of Jesus with our tears.

© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
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