What to do if we loose the Life in Christ
Confession
SIN: The
Adulterous Woman We are
all sinners
When we are in Sin, we are Children of the Devil
The Solution of God to Sin: The Lamb of God!
What are the Worst Sins? What to do when we Sin?
Conditions for a good Confession of Sins
John chapter 8: The Adulterous Woman
- "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin
anymore" (8:11).
- "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but
will have the light of life" (8:12).
- "Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin" (8:34).
Chapter 8 of John shows how we can loose this great
wonder of living with the enthusiasm of a bride with the Lamb on earth, now!, and to lose
eternal life… and what to do about it.
It centers in Sin, mentioned 9 times. Presents the forgiven Adulterous
Woman, and mentions 19 times the Father and 63 times the "I am", Jesus…
because not to trust in God is the sin!… and to trust in God is the way to solve it.
Luke, also in chapter 8:2, talks about Mary
Magdalene, from whom seven demons had come out. And immediately before, in Lk.7:37-50,
presents the "sinful woman" who anointed the feet of Jesus, bath them with her
tears and dried them with her hair. And Jesus said, "her great love proves that
her many sins have been forgiven; where little has been forgiven, little love is shown…
Your faith has saved you; go in peace" (Lk.47,50)… love to God, expressed by
faith in Jesus, is the bases of all forgiveness... Thank you, Lord, you have forgiven me
so much! Fill me with your love, to help others to go to Heaven. Thank you, Jesus, I
praise you and I adore you. Amen.
In Jn.12, still another Mary, the sister of Lazarus, anointed Jesus'
feet with a pound of costly perfume, this time in preparation for his burial.
We are all sinners, Christians and non-Christians:
The Pope John Paul II goes to Confession daily, Mother
Therese of Calcutta weakly, the good Pope John XXIII used to go daily, as he says in his
dairy. We all Catholics ask daily, "pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our
death".
The Bible says, "the just, the righteous, the upright, falls
seven times an rises again" (Prov.24:16). "There is no one just… All
have gone stray; there is no one who does good, there is not even one… all have
sinned" (Rom.3:10,12,23). And St. Paul goes on, "I do not do the good I
want, but I do the evil I do not want" (Rom.7:19)… and still more talking
about himself, "I was given a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan… three
times I begged the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, "my
grace is all you need, for power is made perfect in weakness"… for when I am
weak I am strong" (2Cor.12:8-10). And St. John adds, "If we say we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1Jn.1:8)... Mother
Mary, pray for us sinners now.Thank you. I bless you, the most blessed among women. Amen.
When we are in Sin, we are "children of the Devil":
"Sin" is the greatest evil of a Christian…
and of a pagan. "Sin came to the world through one man and death came through sin,
and thus death spread through the whole human race, because all have sinned (Rom.5:12)…
all the deaths in the world have come because of sin… when you go to the hospital,
all the sickness you see are due to sin, and all the car accidents, and all the
earthquakes and hurricanes and murders and abortions…
"Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin", says Jesus
here in Jn.9:34. And John says still more: Everyone living on earth, you and I, are right
now either "children of God" or "children of the devil" (1Jn.3:10): If
we are in the grace of God, we are children of God, if we are in sin, we are children of
the devil… what do you think you are right now?.
The solution of God to Sin: The "Lamb of God":
The solution to sin is to go to God, to Jesus, and trust
in Him… in this chapter 8 of the Adulterous Woman, God the Father is mentioned 19
times, and Jesus 63 times (with the references of I, me, him, he, you…)
The solution of the Adulterous Women was to go to Jesus… or
rather, she was brought to Jesus!. And Jesus did not condemned her, he forgave her, he
cleansed her sins… only with an admonition, "from now on do not sin
anymore" (Jn.9:11)… as he did to the crippled man in Jn.5:14, "do
not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you".
The solution of God to sin is "the Lamb of God who takes away the
sin of the world" of John 1:29,36… it is the second treasure of
the Gospel of John. If Jesus could come again today to save us of all our problems in the
third millenium, he would not come with a great social or economic or political plan of
action, he would come to "take away the sin of the world". And he would use
exactly the same method, by just being "the Lamb of God"… And that's what
he just did 2000 years ago!… it is done!… it is the solution for our sins, the
solution for our entire lives, the solution of all the problems we may have of sickness,
money, depressions, housing, jobs, family difficulties… the solution of it all!.
This expression "Lamb of God" is mentioned only twice in the
Gospels, those mentioned above, but 28 times in the Book of Revelation, the preferred
title of Jesus in that Book... Thank you, my dearest Lamb of God, my sweet Jesus, that
with your Blood redeemed the whole world, including myself. Y adore you, and I love you,
and I praise your name. Fill me with your love and joy, for the glory of the Father and
for the good of your Church, and for all the world. Amen.
Theological and Moral:
There are two main kind of sins: Theological and moral: The theological
sin, is to do something bad against God himself. The moral sin, is to do something bad
against a creature of God... Is is like hurting you: If I slap your own face, that wold be
a theological sin. If I hit your car, or stain your dress, that will be a moral sin.
1- Theological sin, is to do something bad directly
against God himself. They are the sins against the first Commandment of God, "You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all
your mind, and with all your strength" (Mr.12:30). They are the most serious
sins, much worse than murder or abortion or steeling or adultery or lies, that are only
moral sins, against the creatures of God… and, ironically, they are the sins we never
confess, and that's why we are often in trouble, living in sin, while thinking we are
saints!… have you ever heard, I am good because I don't lie, I don't steel, I don't
kill?… well, those are secondary sins!.
The Bible calls the theological sin "prostitution against
God", it is to trust not in God, but to trust in other "gods" like bad
spirits, superstition, witchcraft, astrology, horoscope, zodiac, psychics, crystals, magic…
or simply to trust in money, or the power of men, or the power of a nation, or to trust it
all in our abilities or strength or intelligence… we make a "god" out of
drugs or sports or soap operas… or even out of our work or profession.
... It is "prostitution against God", because it is like a
wife who trusts and delivers herself into the hands of another man , and it is the main
reason of the troubles of the People of God all along the Bible (Hosea 1, Is.1:21,
Jer.2:20, Ex.34:15, Lv.17:7, Dt.31:16).
In fact, the message of every page of the Bible is "trust in
God", or "faith in Christ", "trust in Jesus"… St. Paul says
"whatever does not proceed from faith is sin" (Rom.14:23)... because the
only way to have "Love" is to have God in the heart, and the way to have God in
the heart is "by Faith". Sin is understood in the Gospel of John primarily as
unbelief (Jn.16:9, 3:36).
Our attitude in life should be to do the very best in any circumstance,
and then trust in God, always trust in God!… "trust" is the first step to
love God, and the first fruit… "Pray, hope, and don't worry", used to say
Father Pio.
"Blaspheme" against God, is also a theological sin
(Mt.12:31-32), as well as "Sacrilege", because it is to do or to say
something bad to something or to someone who is intimate to God, consecrated to Him,
sacred to God: Against a temple, against priests, nuns, pastors, bishops, Saints, the
Mother of Jesus, the Angels, the Church, the Pope, the Bible…
2- Moral sin: It is to do something against a creature of God, specially something against a man or a woman, or against oneself. It is against the Second Commandment of God: "The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Mr.12:31): To kill, to steal, to lie, adultery, abortion, suicide, drugs, alcohol, smoke, homosexual activity, racism, slander, gossip, pornography, masturbation, pride, cheat, disobedient, cruel, thieves, prostitution, depraved, greedy, miser, boastful, conceited, traitor…
Mortal and Venial:
John says there are two kind of sins: Mortal and Venial, "If you see
your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal sin, you should pray to God and he
will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin that is
mortal; I do not say that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is
sin that is not mortal" (1n.5:16-17).
Venial sin may be someone who steals $1; Mortal sin the one who steals
$1000, for example, or may be just $1 to a mother who only has $1 to feed her children.
Mortal, is the sin of apostasy referred in the Letter to the Hebrews, "for it is
impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, and have
tasted the heavenly gift, and shared in the Holy Spirit… and have fallen away, since
on their own are crucifying again the Son of God" (Heb.6:4-8). Mortal sin, of
course, is the "sin against the Holy Spirit" of Mt.12:31-32, the sin of
desperation and obstinacy of Judas, who repented, but he did not trust in the infinite
mercy of Jesus, in the love and infinite care of the Holy Spirit.
Peter and Judas... the Two Thieves at the Cross:
Both sinned gravely against Jesus in person. Both had an encounter with
Him personally…
… Peter was forgiven as God does, forgives and forgets!: Peter,
and Peter alone, received afterwards from Jesus, in Jn.21:15-17, the Keys of the Kingdom
offered in Mt.16:19, and became the first head of his Church, being the one who always
spoke in the name of all, with 6 sermons in the first chapters of the Book of Acts.
… Judas hanged himself in desperation!… He repented, he
confessed he had sinned by betraying innocent blood, he even returned the 30 pieces of
silver (Mt.27:3-5)… but the great difference was that Judas did not trust in the
mercy of Jesus!… Judas could never conceive that Jesus wanted to forgive him
completely, and forget his sin, and make a great apostle out of a sinner!… Judas had
the sin against the Holy Spirit (Mt.12:31), the sin of not trusting in the infinite mercy
of God, the sin of trusting only in himself, in his nothingness, but not in God… the
biggest sin of Judas was that he wanted Jesus to trust in him, but not he to trust in
Jesus... Lord, help me to be like Peter, to weep for my sins, and to trust always in You.
Thank You, my Lord and My God. Amen
At the side of the Cross in Calvary there were two sinners: One of them
was forgiven, and offered nothing less than Paradise, today!, with Jesus himself. The
other one just made mockery of Jesus (Lk.23:39-43).
It is easy: To have an encounter with the Lamb of God… but Jesus in not in person anymore on earth, as he was at the time of the Adulterous Woman. At that time you had to go where Jesus physically was. Now it is easier, he left us His Church, and now we can find Jesus all over, exactly the same Jesus of the Adulterous Woman…
Sin can not be erased by good works of charity... all the wood works and all the evangelization of all Christians put together can not erase one single mortal sin!... but now it is easy, just believe in Jesus, and if you believe, you do what he orders to do, just as you do what the Doctor orders if you believe in him.
In the criminal courts of the world, if you declare yourself guilty, you go to jail... in the Court of Jesus, in his Church, if you declare yourself guilty, your are pardoned totally and completely, praise the Lord!.
… In the first apparition to his disciples, he specifically gave them the power to forgive sins, or not to forgive them!. The power that only God had before, it was a blasphemy to forgive sins by anyone else than God! (Mk.2:7). But Jesus tells now to his disciples, "receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven tem; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (Jn.21:23). The ministers of the Church of Jesus now can forgive sins, or retain them!. That's why the penitent has to confess to the minister what are his or her sins, so the minister can decide either to forgive them or to retain them. If the sinner tells the minister he has stolen $1,000, may be the minister would say to him that to forgive this sin he has first to return the $1.000. Or if the sinner confesses he is living in adultery, the minister may ask him to stop the live of adultery, or a serious promise to do so, before forgiving his sin….
Jesus left us a divine Church, but a very human one on earth. If in your church there are no ministers of Christ with the power to forgive sins, it is a church without power, it is not the Church of Christ!. In the Church of Christ there are ministers of the Lord with the great power to forgive sins, or to retain them!.
Of course, God can still forgive sins directly!. But the usual plan of God, is to go to him through a minister of his Church. However in any case of emergency, when there is not available a minister of the Church, the sins can be forgiven by an act of contrition and trust in the Mercy of God, with the purpose of doing a normal Confession to a minister of the Church as soon as possible.
St. John makes a general statement in his First Letter: "If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1Jn.1:9). Here does not say "to whom" we must confess our sins: To God?, to a minister of his Church?, to a wall?… of course it is to God, but the usual way it is through a minister of his very divine and very human Church. However Catholics are taught to make an act of contrition at least every night before retiring, to ask God to forgive them the sins of that day, and to repeat this same prayer of contrition if they commit a serious sin (a "mortal sin"), and to go to Confession as soon as humanly possible... Forgive me, Lord, by the Blood of Jesus, cleanse me of all my faults, make me pure and immaculate like My Mother. Help me to amend my life, and fill me with your love and joy to help others to go to Heave. Thank you Lord. Amen.
Conditions for a good Confession of Sins: