Inbox Inspiration: March 18, 2020: Sin

Sin – 1

Dear Friends, 
During this Season of Lent, I have decided to share some reflections about sin.
Especially in my younger years, our Church put a lot of emphasis on sin.
We were regularly reminded in sermons of our sinfulness.
We were told to make an examination of conscience and an act of contrition every day and to go to confession frequently.
As I look back, I think that this emphasis had several effects.
On the one hand, it made us aware of our human weakness and sinfulness.
That awareness was and is a good thing.
It can lead us to spiritual and personal growth.
On the other hand, that heavy emphasis on sin had some negative effects.
It was connected with an image of God as the divine judge and punisher.
There was little sense of God’s love and mercy.
This heavy emphasis on sin also led us to unnecessary and even unhealthy guilt.
We were led to feel unworthy in the eyes of God.
Those feelings got coupled with a fear of God – being afraid of God and being preoccupied with eternal punishment if we sinned or did not repent.
And those feelings in turn often led to a poor self-image and low self-esteem.
Let me be clear: I am not denying sin or personal responsibility for our behavior.
I am pointing out the deficiencies of the exaggerated emphasis on sin in the past.
For more reflections on Sin, see the Inbox Inspirations for the next three weeks, March 25, April 1 and 8.    

“Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as ‘an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law.’” 
From Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1849.

May God’s love for us move us to a greater love for God. Amen.
Father Michael Schleupner