WE, of course, have to be realistic, but that should not
prevent us
from being idealistic also. To be realistic means, among many other
things, that we are all sinners. We don’t seem able to avoid it. But
to be idealistic means that we are meant to be sinless. We have to
find a way to put the two situations together. And there’s always a
way.
The celebration of the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the
Blessed Virgin Mary reminds us that, like Mary, we were and we are
meant originally and ultimately to be immaculate, sinless. That was
how our first parents were created, and how Mary, by a very special
privilege, was conceived and born.
Thus, in the Eucharistic preface of the Marian solemnity, we pray:
“Full of grace, she was to be a worthy mother of your Son, your sign
of favour to the Church at its beginning, and the promise of its
perfection as the bride of Christ, radiant in beauty.”
What Mary is as our Mother, and what Jesus is as our Savior and
Perfecter of our humanity is also what we ought to be. That is God’s
will for us which has to be corresponded to in this lifelong drama we
have in this world where we cannot avoid sin.
Yet, in spite of that, we are told that where sin has abounded, God’s
grace, his mercy has abounded even more. We have to drink heavily of
this wonderful and fundamental truth. Our problem is that we see
things in quite a reduced and partial way. We often forget this happy
and saving truth.
And so the way to bridge the gap between our sinfulness and our call
to be sinless is the spirit of penance, of continuing renewal and
conversion. St. John the Baptist called for it. And Jesus led the way,
living it himself by taking up the cross and offering his life for our
sins.
In the gospel of the second Sunday of Advent, we are told of how St.
John the Baptist proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins, so that “every valley shall be filled and every
mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made
straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the
salvation of God.” (Lk 3,1-6)
These are very beautiful and heart-warming words that are not meant
only to be so. They are true and they can apply to us if we do our
part. This is the challenge that we have.
It’s good that we look closely at Christ since he is the one who
shows us how to make up for our sins, and how to convert death due to
sin into life everlasting due to God’s grace and mercy.
This spirit of penance shown to us by Christ starts with an all-out
effort to avoid sin. We should try our best not to get used to sin, to
our weaknesses and to the temptation.
That, of course, is easier said than done, because in our present
condition, with all the sin and temptations around, we sometimes fail
to distinguish what is sinful and what is not, what is temptation and
what is not.
Our conscience, though not totally destroyed, is many times damaged
and can miss to make the right judgments. So we cannot help but
suffer, which is the natural consequence of our sins and our
weaknesses.
We need to look at Christ who shows us how to suffer—quietly, and
confident that what he was and continues to go through is part of his
Father’s will that only reflects our wounded condition. Only victory
can be expected from this suffering, the sting of death removed with
Christ’s death in obedience to his Father’s will and his glorious
resurrection.
An integral part of this spirit of penance is the practice of daily
examination of conscience so that we at least would have a running
account of how our spiritual life goes. In spite of our failures, with
the examination of conscience we have the chance to end our day
reconciled with God just by making an act of contrition.
Obviously, the most important part of this spirit of penance is the
frequent recourse of the sacrament of God’s eternal mercy, which is
confession. We need to develop our love for it, always finding strong
reasons for why we need it.
This is how we can reconcile the realistic state of our sinfulness to
the ideal calling we have to be sinless.
from being idealistic also. To be realistic means, among many other
things, that we are all sinners. We don’t seem able to avoid it. But
to be idealistic means that we are meant to be sinless. We have to
find a way to put the two situations together. And there’s always a
way.
The celebration of the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the
Blessed Virgin Mary reminds us that, like Mary, we were and we are
meant originally and ultimately to be immaculate, sinless. That was
how our first parents were created, and how Mary, by a very special
privilege, was conceived and born.
Thus, in the Eucharistic preface of the Marian solemnity, we pray:
“Full of grace, she was to be a worthy mother of your Son, your sign
of favour to the Church at its beginning, and the promise of its
perfection as the bride of Christ, radiant in beauty.”
What Mary is as our Mother, and what Jesus is as our Savior and
Perfecter of our humanity is also what we ought to be. That is God’s
will for us which has to be corresponded to in this lifelong drama we
have in this world where we cannot avoid sin.
Yet, in spite of that, we are told that where sin has abounded, God’s
grace, his mercy has abounded even more. We have to drink heavily of
this wonderful and fundamental truth. Our problem is that we see
things in quite a reduced and partial way. We often forget this happy
and saving truth.
And so the way to bridge the gap between our sinfulness and our call
to be sinless is the spirit of penance, of continuing renewal and
conversion. St. John the Baptist called for it. And Jesus led the way,
living it himself by taking up the cross and offering his life for our
sins.
In the gospel of the second Sunday of Advent, we are told of how St.
John the Baptist proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins, so that “every valley shall be filled and every
mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall be made
straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the
salvation of God.” (Lk 3,1-6)
These are very beautiful and heart-warming words that are not meant
only to be so. They are true and they can apply to us if we do our
part. This is the challenge that we have.
It’s good that we look closely at Christ since he is the one who
shows us how to make up for our sins, and how to convert death due to
sin into life everlasting due to God’s grace and mercy.
This spirit of penance shown to us by Christ starts with an all-out
effort to avoid sin. We should try our best not to get used to sin, to
our weaknesses and to the temptation.
That, of course, is easier said than done, because in our present
condition, with all the sin and temptations around, we sometimes fail
to distinguish what is sinful and what is not, what is temptation and
what is not.
Our conscience, though not totally destroyed, is many times damaged
and can miss to make the right judgments. So we cannot help but
suffer, which is the natural consequence of our sins and our
weaknesses.
We need to look at Christ who shows us how to suffer—quietly, and
confident that what he was and continues to go through is part of his
Father’s will that only reflects our wounded condition. Only victory
can be expected from this suffering, the sting of death removed with
Christ’s death in obedience to his Father’s will and his glorious
resurrection.
An integral part of this spirit of penance is the practice of daily
examination of conscience so that we at least would have a running
account of how our spiritual life goes. In spite of our failures, with
the examination of conscience we have the chance to end our day
reconciled with God just by making an act of contrition.
Obviously, the most important part of this spirit of penance is the
frequent recourse of the sacrament of God’s eternal mercy, which is
confession. We need to develop our love for it, always finding strong
reasons for why we need it.
This is how we can reconcile the realistic state of our sinfulness to
the ideal calling we have to be sinless.
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