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Sin - Some Brief Reflections

Fr Orsy, S.J., a leading theologian, divides sin into three categories:

1. Venial, an offense against God in a light matter.
2. Serious: a sin against God in a grave matter but not cutting yourself off from God, e.g. St. Peter in the triple denial, serious but he repented quickly.
3. Mortal: a long process of alienation or rejection of God e.g. Judas manifested a coolly executed plot, terminated by a treacherous kiss, never repented and hanged himself.

Glamorization of Sin: Pope Pius XII was so right when he said about fifty years ago "The greatest tragedy of our times is that the world has lost the sense of sin." How much truer today? Dostoevsky observed: "If there is no god, then everything is permitted." Today so many films and books "glamorize" greed, deception and sexual laxity, but these sins bring misery to so many. We must see sin for what it is. Drug addiction and Aids are obvious examples of human misery and disaster, so how true is the warning - if we break the commandments, they ultimately break us.

By sin, we ultimately and radically hurt ourselves, not God. St Thomas Aquinas, probably the greatest theologian, stresses this point: God is not offended by us except insofar as we act against our own proper good." All ten commandments are God's eternal wisdom and can only lead to our ultimate happiness. Our human nature, thrown off balance by original sin, needs constant discipline and fidelity to the sacraments. We can all be weak in various ways, our judgment can be clouded, inconsistent and frail. Aquinas warns us: "sin breeds sin" - hence one sin can lead to other sins, just as a serious disease of the body can lead to further diseases, e.g. drug addiction often leads to stealing, sexual laxity to prostitution for money etc.

Folly of Sin: Often we can end up with the worst of both worlds. We can ruin our souls and even wreck ourselves financially. How true then the warning of St Paul: "The wages of sin is death." Very obvious is sexual aberrations and drug addiction. And we must beware of leading others into sin as Christ warned: "Woe to him… it would be better for him to have a millstone tied round his neck and thrown into the sea."

Basically all sins are sins against love… if we really love others, we can't sin against them and hurt them. We must try to avoid the occasions of sin and especially scrutinize, purify and sublimate our love life. Hence the wisdom of St Augustine's dictum: "Love - and do what you will." If our love-life is true, then everything else falls into place and is right.

Sacrament of reconciliation: A most important sacrament that is much neglected and misunderstood today. It is not the priest - but Christ who absolves us from our sins and - most importantly - gives us the strength to overcome our sins. We all desperately need the grace of Christ to lead a Christian life in a pagan, permissive society. We don't fight the battle against sin alone. Christ made us a stunning promise which we must take literally: "I am with you all days even to the end of time." Sin is crippling and deadening but Christ wants us alive and happy: "I have come that you may have life and have it to the full." Communion is given to us as the food of the soul, to strengthen us in our weakness. And again, Christ made a stupendous claim which only He could substantiate: "I am the way, the truth and the life." Let us then cleave to Him and to His values. We get our reward even in this life and have the best of both worlds.


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