Recognizing and Coming to Terms with Sin

These anonymous quotes and the one from Cardinal Sin are meant to help us ease into a topic we might prefer to avoid: our own sinfulness.

Recognizing and being ready to come to terms with our sin can be difficult. Sometimes we truly don’t see the sin. Sometimes we do see it but are afraid to address it. Or we may simply be indifferent, not understanding the implications of our sin both in this world and the next.

To be clear, the Catechism of the Catholic Church describes sin this way:

“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.” CCC 1849

There is much more in the catechism about sin – including information about the types and gravity of sins. Naming what we are struggling with, or maybe ought to be struggling with, can be an important beginning.

It is also vital to understand God’s view of following his commandments, teachings and instructions said Dr. Chris Burgwald, a theologian and director of adult discipleship and evangelization for the Diocese of Sioux Falls.

“But in my experience, we too often see these commands, these teachings as arbitrary, rather than as what they really are: the ‘recipe’ to living the good life, a life of joy and fulfillment, which is ultimately life in Jesus Christ,” said Burgwald.

“Here's an analogy that might help: we too often see God's teachings for how we are to live like the speed limit: we understand its purpose, but there's nothing inherently wrong about going a mile over that limit, there's nothing 'magical' about 55 mph versus 54 or 56 mph... the speed limit is a bit arbitrary.

“And so we often see sin as 'breaking the speed limit': it's violating a rule which is ultimately arbitrary. But the truth is, God's commands are less like speed limits and more like car manuals. For instance, we all recognize that the car maker's 'command' to put gasoline in our vehicles instead of coffee isn't arbitrary at all: we need to obey that 'teaching' if we want the car to work,” he said.

“That's what God's commands about the moral life are like: they are literally the manufacturer's manual to being human. So when we violate those commands, we don't 'work' well. Every sin, then, is a little bit self-destructive: it weakens our relationship with God, with others, and even with ourselves,” said Burgwald.

“We all have some spiritual blindness,” said Msgr. Richard Mahowald, a priest of the Diocese of Sioux Falls with significant experience as a pastor and retreat director.

“One of the great needs is for people to take time for reflection in this busy world,” he said. “Taking time helps people come to a growth in knowledge.”

Fr. Ed Pierce is another priest of the diocese, veteran pastor and spiritual director who suggests a couple of ideas on how to come to terms with sin in our lives.

“Regular confession along with asking ourselves a key question. Ask what is the one big thing keeping me separated from God and family members?” he said. “Then be accountable to a prayer partner or spiritual director.”

“One big difficulty is not forgiving ourselves,” said Fr. Pierce. “Often we put ourselves down. We need to claim the Word of God and speak truth to ourselves. I am made to receive God’s love, return God’s love and live in love for others and self,” he said.

Msgr. Mahowald suggests the story of the Samaritan woman at the well, found in John’s Gospel as helpful in recognizing our own story.

“Jesus guides her through her resistance, resentment and confusion which gives way to conversion, joy and release,” he said.

Of course sin has been with us since shortly after creation. But how sin is viewed, understood or even denied is somewhat different in today’s world.

St. John Paul II wrote prophetically of the loss of the sense of sin but also of the hope of reconciliation in an apostolic exhortation which followed a 1983 synod on Reconciliation and Penance.

In the month of November we tend to think about end things – we commemorate All Saints and All Souls, the liturgical year is coming to a conclusion and regardless of our age, we consider the eternal and our place in it. Coming to terms with our sin should be part of what we are considering.

“I think of the axiom that we should try to see all things in the light of the eternal,” said Msgr. Mahowald.

“We need to separate life’s shallow wants from our deeper desire for God that are the fruits of faith, love and conversion,” he said, referencing the Ignation spiritual exercises and again suggesting the need for time apart, reflection, and perhaps retreat.

“We need time to reflect on our lived experiences and seek the remedies for wholeness and holiness,” he said.

Msrg. Mahowald also cites St. Thomas Aquinas’ principle “whatever is received into something is received according to the condition of the receiver” as the reason why the Church stresses the need for a well formed conscience as we look at our own sinfulness.

“Formation is critical – our heart and our conscience need it,” he said.

One way to assist our formation is regular evaluation of our spiritual life.

“We are either growing or dying,” said Fr. Pierce. “Businesses each month take inventories – this strategy is working and this one isn’t, and they make corrections. It’s the same with our spiritual lives,” he said.

Burgwald states it this way: “Here's the cold, hard truth: sin deadens. It kills. It weakens my ability to love God, my neighbor and myself, even though those are the things that complete me.

“If we choose to live a life of complete selfishness -- that's another way of understanding the nature of sin -- then God will respect our choice. The Church teaches that really, God doesn't send anyone to hell: those who are in hell are there by their own choice, because they do not want to be with God.

“Fortunately, He never stops seeking us, never stops calling to us, never stops offering His mercy to us, right up to the moment of our death. But we do need to accept Him and His mercy,” said Burgwald.

In responses to questions for this article, both priests used the well-known phrase “we are as sick as our secrets.” It’s a phrase used often in 12 step programs and offers good human insight into the need for the sacrament of reconciliation.

“When I was a chaplain at the penitentiary a young man approached me who didn’t come to church. He said ‘I don’t know how this works (Confession) but I want to tell God that I am sorry,’” said Fr. Pierce.

“This proves the need to get it out in order for healing to take place,” he said.

All the while we wrestle with sin in our lives and how to come to terms with it, God’s grace and mercy are readily available to us. The sacraments and the scripture are invaluable helps and recourse though prayer is essential.

“Our biggest sin is self-reliance,” said Fr. Pierce.

“Ask for God’s help. Listen and put it into practice. He wants us to do what we can but to ask him for what we can’t and he will effect that we can,” he said.

The catechism tells us that the Gospel is the revelation in Jesus Christ of God’s mercy to sinners. It goes on to help explain how grace, mercy and sin are connected, especially in light of the eternal.

“As St. Paul affirms: ‘where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.’ But to do its work grace must uncover sin so as to convert our hears and bestow on us ‘righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Like a physician who probes the wound before treating it, God, by his Spirit, casts a living light on sin:

“Conversion requires convincing of sin; it includes the interior judgement of conscience, and this, being proof of the action of the Spirit of truth in man’s inmost being, becomes at the same time the start of a new grant of grace and love: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.” Thus in this ‘convincing concerning sin’ we discover a double gift: the gift of the truth of conscience and the gift of the certainty of redemption. The Spirit of truth is the consoler.” CCC 1848

Msgr. Mahowald recalls the closing words of the well-loved novel by George Bernanos, The Diary of the Country Priest, and a fitting close for recognizing and coming to terms with our sins.

“Grace is everywhere.”