Sin and love?

One of the things I have noticed while doing the Sacrament of Reconciliation, is how unaware most people are of what exactly their sins are. There are some who have a keen awareness of their spiritual poverty and many who have a real problem articulating more than a couple of items. In truth, if we really knew how often a day we really sin, it would be a jaw-dropping realization for us.

We have the Ten Commandments, our sins of omission, and our social sin that I would like to focus on the next 12 weeks. We really cannot fathom the unbelievable mystery of God's mercy and forgiveness without understanding how sinful we truly are. It is good to understand the passage of Luke 7:36-50 where Jesus tells the Pharisee those who are forgiven more also love more and those who are forgiven little, love less. It sounds like Jesus is telling us that the realization of how much we sin can bring an increase in our love for God.

Guilt, and especially Catholic guilt many seem to suffer from, can consume us but Jesus is not interested in burdening us with guilt; just the unbelievable offer of mercy and forgiveness. Guilt is a byproduct and judgement for sin, but when confessed should no longer hinder us. Guilt after confessing to God our sin is really and indicator that we lack trust that God really forgives us in the first place. Jesus' last words in this passage are "your faith has saved you; go in peace." We need to take these words to heart and accept that God has forgiven us in Christ and if we faithfully confess, God faithfully forgives.