I used to pray at an abortion clinic in the Chicago suburbs. I don’t really do it much anymore since I moved to Pennsylvania. There are no abortion centers in my area so I have focused more on volunteering at a local pregnancy care center in helping to teach parenting skills to Fathers or expectant Fathers. A little bit of a different dynamic than being directly at the clinic where abortions are performed. In this situation you get to see and hear from people in various stages of stress over being in a crisis pregnancy. Some men and women are distraught, some are combative and others will listen to what we have to say.
One person in particular I can recall is a man who drove a woman to the clinic for an abortion. I am not sure if he was the Father or was acting merely as transportation to facilitate the procedure. A few of us established a dialogue with the gentleman. Along with educating him about what goes on during an abortion, we also made him aware of him being complicit in the abortion by taking her to the clinic. His response? Well, Catholics believe that you can just go to a priest and be forgiven for sin so he just can continue to perform this behavior and then receive forgiveness at confession. What he did not realize was that he was engaging in a different sin. That being the sin of presumption. Of presuming God’s forgiveness. Regardless of the state of your heart and continued intention on committing the same sin. It shows a lack of repentance and humility.
The reason I raise this example is based on today’s first reading from 1 John. Specifically 1 John 3:9. It reads:
No one who is begotten by God commits sin,
because God’s seed remains in him;
Now this seems pretty absolute. If you sin, then you are not in a relationship with God. So if you commit a sin, you are done. It shows that you do not have God in you. Is this true? If so, then pretty much all of us are damned. Also, doesn’t it say in Romans 3:23 – “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard”
So, what is the deal? How can these verses be reconciled? It appears at least part of the answer lies in translation. The readings in USSCB come from the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE). But other translations of the Bible read differently in verse 9. For example, in the English Standard Version, verse 9 says “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning,” And in the New American Standard Version, “No one who has been born of God practices sin“
The issue appears to be how the Greek word for sinning, hamartia, is interpreted. Some use it in the absolute sense that any sin that is committed. In other interpretations, it refers to unrepentant sin. One who continues to sin without remorse. Even if they confess their sins, they do so in a less than sincere manner. Almost like they are getting their car washed but have every intention of driving purposefully back through the mud puddle that necessitated the wash in the first place. In addition, a truly repentant individual is humble. Like the tax collector in the temple who cries out to God that he is a sinner and begs for forgiveness, not allowing himself to even look to the heavens but with his head bowed. As compared to the Pharisee who declares himself to be a righteous man.
So when John tells us that we should not commit sin if we are in fact a child of God, I believe what he is telling us is that we need to feel truly sorry for having sinned, offended God and having placed an obstacle between us and God. And be committed to not making it a practice to flippantly commit the same offense against God. We all know that we are all sinners. Only Jesus and Mary were sinless. So John cannot be telling us here that we cannot ever falter and commit sin or we are forever separated from God. It would also discount God’s mercy. And why would God have revealed the aspects of His Divine Mercy to Saint Faustina?
One of the commentaries I read on this topic said that there are three ways that we can show that we are in God and He is in us. That we are righteous (the act of living justly, honestly, and faithfully according to God’s instructions. Being right with God) in God’s sight.
- Know the Gospel and believe in its teachings
- Does your life reflect that you belong to Christ? Are you a reflection of the Father?
- Do you show love for others as brothers and sisters in Christ?
My older brother Joseph and I are clearly sons of our Father. No one would mistake who our Father is when they look at us. And in some ways, they also can identify us as “Joe’s Kids” by how we act. I always strive to have the same sense of loyalty and responsibility that my Father had. And the same applies to how we reflect our eternal Father. Can others see you, observe you, and know that you are a child of God? And that includes being sorry and repentant when we fail in what God expects of us. And what does loving your brother and sister look like? I think the words from the hymn, Return to God by Marty Haugen give us a clue:
If you break the chains of oppression,
If you set the pris’ner free;
If you share your bread with the hungry,
Give protection to the lost;
Give shelter to the homeless,
Clothe the naked in your midst,
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn.
Happy New Year.
