HOMILY WEEK 05 03
The Reality of Sin
(Gen 2:4-17; Ps 104; Mk 7:14-23)
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A French preacher told his congregation that he was going to preach about hell – what the hell it is, where the hell it is, and how the hell to get there!
Understanding sin helps us avoid sin.
The first reading speaks about original sin as the decision to decide for our selves what is right and wrong. It is described biblically as “eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” That was the sin of our first parents in the Garden of Eden, a sin that has affected the whole universe since then. In fact, perhaps more blatantly than ever, the secular world today is sinking precisely into practicing that sin – deciding for itself what is right or wrong, what is politically correct or not – legalizing euthanasia, terminating pregnancies, deciding one’s gender, what is true or not, etc.
In the gospel, Jesus speaks both of sin and sinfulness. Real sin is the things that come from out of our hearts and make us unclean, not what is outside of us like food. The religious leaders thought that eating pork was a sin, yet thought nothing of cheating their parents out of care by declaring funds as dedicated to God, as in yesterday’s gospel. What is more sinful after all? Jesus mentions both sinful actions, or sins, and painful emotions and negative attitudes that make us sin, or sinfulness.
Ray Dlugos, former director of Southdown, spoke at a conference for bishops and major religious superiors, of two kinds of sin only – to try to be more than human or to be less than human. To try to avoid all pain, fear our emotions and to think ourselves better than others, to live in fear and filled with false pride, is the sin of trying to be more than human.
To let our selves go into dissolute living, to not care, to sink into lives of sloth and drunkenness, is the sin of trying to be less than human. These are the temptations that Jesus faced in the desert – to turn rocks into bread is to be greedy for possessions and to let our selves go into all sorts of sinful pleasure, to be less than human, while the other temptations, to jump off the temple and to have all the power in the world, is the sin of trying to be more than human. Jesus chose not to use his divine power in a selfish way, by choosing to simply be fully human, a model for us.
The Eucharist is our best assurance against any kind of sin. So let us avoid both sin and sinfulness, as we respond to original sin by faith in Jesus, receiving his forgiveness for sin, and healing for our sinfulness.
To avoid all sins and occasions to sins is to trust and follow God that he will help us whenever we are in trouble. Once we are baptized and become children’s of God ; our original sins is cleans as we accept God to enter our lives. We also receive God as the Holy Spirit telling us to receive forgiveness when we sins. When we committed any sins and being sinfulness ; we should realize this our fault to hurt other people and hurt God . We should learn to go through reconcilation by confessing our sins to the priest which he represents God. He will forgive us for all sins and bless us. He will tell us what prayers to say or our penance . He also heals us for any sinfulness and any attempt to sins. We are to repent by doing good things and changing our attitude to be closer to God. So, we are to believe in God and trusting him dearly to avoid all sins. Amen. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanks for the following homily and readings about sins and sinfulness. We need to hear this everyday since this world is full of crimes and tragedies. Gracias! DesColoures! Bishop Sylvain Lavoie.