The unforgivable sin

GOD is so full mercy he always forgives our sins. There’s

just one sin that is unforgivable. It is called the blasphemy against

the Holy Spirit. Christ said so: “All sins and all blasphemies that

people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the

Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an

everlasting sin.” (Mk 3,28-29)

  

            Christ spoke these words when after performing a miracle,

those who witnessed it mocked him instead of believing in him. They

went to the extent of saying a contradiction—that Christ managed to

heal on a Sabbath a man with shriveled hand by the power of Beelzebul,

the prince of evil. “By the prince of demons, he casts out demons,”

they said. (Mk 3,20)

  

            This unforgivable sin is precisely the sin of the demons

themselves who refuse to believe in God in spite of everything God

would do to help them. In other words, one who commits this

unforgivable sin, that is, who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, is

like the demon himself.

  

            Let us always remember that God always likes to forgive.

Remember Christ asking for forgiveness for those who crucified him

just moments before his death: “Forgive them, Father, for they know

not what they do.” (Lk 23,24)

  

            In this case, those who crucified him did not really know

what they were doing. And, in fact, they were converted when after

Christ died, they confessed that he was truly the Son of God. (cfr Mt

27,54; Mk 15,39) But in the case of those who saw the miracle on the

Sabbath, they persisted in their disbelief.

  

            We have to see to it that we avoid falling into committing

this unforgivable sin. We may not understand everything in our life

and that is why we commit sins, but let us not directly, formally and

openly reject God in the face of the many good things and blessings

that we also enjoy.

  

            Let us make our sins an occasion to get closer to God, to

understand better his will and ways, and even to attain sanctity. Sin,

of course, does not cause sanctity. But if handled well, it can

occasion the way to holiness. It can trigger a strong impulse toward

developing a greater love for God and for others, which is what

holiness is all about.

   

            It’s really a matter of how we react to our sinfulness. If

we are sorry for our sins and try to make up for them, then sanctity

would be at our reach. God, always a loving father to us, will never

deny his mercy. Neither will he deny his grace to make us as we ought

to be—true image and likeness of his, and a good child of his.

  

            In fact, if we go by the reasoning of St. Paul, God seems

to have the habit of choosing the foolish things of the world, the

weak, the lowly and the despised, in order to confound and shame the

wise, the strong and the proud of this world. (cfr 1 Cor 1,27-28)

Along this line, He can also choose a sinner to confound those who

pride themselves in a worldly way as saints.

  

            Let’s be quick to ask forgiveness the moment we realize we

fall into sin. And when faced with a mystery that is hard, if not

impossible, to understand or to cope despite all our efforts, let’s be

humble enough to abandon ourselves in God’s hands, in God’s

providence.

  

            Instead of hardening in our disbelief in God because of

our failure to understand things, let’s deepen our humility so that we

rely more on God’s gift of faith than on our reason and on our other

human powers.