In the first reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans, Saint Paul talks about human sins, weaknesses and failings in the same sentence as he talks about our salvation through Jesus Christ.
He does this twice, “If by that one person’s transgression the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many.”
The second time, “For just as through the disobedience of the one man many were made sinners, so, through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous.”
Since Saint Paul repeated himself, it must be pretty important that we pay attention to these words. Adam (& Eve) caused original sin to be brought into the world when they disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit. They became the first sinners and were banished from the garden of Eden. However, Christ obeyed God and brought salvation to the world. Jesus Christ alone makes us righteous. It is through no effort of our own that we become righteous.
The last part of the first reading today is pretty awesome when it continues by saying, “Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more.” Sometimes we come to a realization that we really messed up. A little lie pops out of our mouth unexpectedly without thinking about it ahead of time and you feel so ashamed. Or maybe you overslept because your alarm didn’t go off and you arrive to work late, fully expecting to be reprimanded by your boss. Imagine your relief when your boss knows all about your being late and simply tells you that it’s ok, just try not to do it again. Jesus Christ is a little like a forgiving boss.
However, Christ isn’t so forgiving in today’s gospel. He tells his disciples to, “Gird your loins and light your lamps be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, be ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.”
We may be caught off guard from time to time when we are busy with all the details of our daily lives, but Jesus warns us not to do this in our relationship with him. We are not to “over sleep” and miss Christ’s coming. Death could take any one of us by surprise. If it should come unexpectedly though, we should be prepared to greet our Lord. Hopefully, we are already living a life of regular prayer and frequenting the sacraments. Christ will be no stranger to us, and we will be no stranger to him. We will simply open the door at the end of our lives to greet the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the bridegroom of the church and his grace overflows to us all.
The grace we receive through the sacrament of confession heals the wounds that sin causes. We should never be ashamed to confess our sins to the priest, because Christ’s forgiveness and his mercy is always stronger than any sin we can ever commit. Jesus loves us in spite of our sins. We are not our sins. We are made in the image and likeness of God and sin defiles who we really are as human beings, but whatever we did is not set in stone. It is truly a wonderful thing, the healing grace that Christ offers us in the sacrament of reconciliation. We are forgiven and reconciled with God and his church, but hopefully we feel healed and reconciled within ourselves as well. Where sin increased grace overflows.
Whatever traces of temporal sins that remain will be purified through our time in purgatory, where we will be made perfect, as we were originally created to be. It is such a beautiful thing, the way Christ has provided the means for us to regain the purity of soul that we had when we were first baptized. Why do we put off going to confession? It’s a healing thing and it is good for us. Being on the computer, shopping, watching television, or going out with friends bring a little satisfaction or enjoyment into our lives, but it can not compare with the deep and abiding sense of peace and healing that only the sacrament of confession can give to us.
Daily Mass Readings:
Rom 5: 12, 15, 17-19, 20-21 / Ps 40: 7-10, 17 / Lk 12: 35-38
