Bishop Michael W. Warfel
A young man was once confessing his sins to a priest. He had been having an affair with a young woman. She had become pregnant. Marriage had never been a consideration for either the young man or the young woman. They were just friends “with benefits.” Both had plans to finish college and hopefully obtain a good job before actually looking for someone to settle down with and raise a family. A child would be a significant disruption in both of their lives.
He realized, as did the young woman, that an abortion would be killing a child and would only compound the sin. For him to support an abortion was out of the question. He expressed to the priest how utterly irresponsible and selfish he had been, that he had sinned and now did not know how to get out of the situation. At one point during the confession he blurted out, “There’s no way I’ll ever live normally again. Even God can’t unscramble an egg!”
Though an illicit sexual affair out of marriage is sinful, having a baby is not. And though there were consequences to the affair that both the woman and the man would have to face up to, there were a number of quite viable and moral solutions available.
For many of us, there is some sin of the past, some situation that has occurred in our lives, that has seemed to have placed us in a box-canyon with no way out. There are definitely negative consequences that come with sin. If we stick a bobby pin into an electrical socket, we are going to receive an unpleasant shock. Some of our sins are venial in nature and can be addressed through prayer and penance and then we move on.
When there is a serious sin involved, we may not be able to see a way out due to the consequences of the sin. There is often an inability of the person who sinned truly to allow God to forgive them. It is but another way that the evil one tries to tempt people from trusting in God. The lie is that we can’t move on or that there is no way out. It is crucial to remember that an all merciful and loving God can unscramble eggs if we but allow God to so.
Some people hold on to a big sin of the past that they can’t quite seem to let go of. They may have confessed the sin (often more than once), received sacramental absolution and have heard over and again the Scriptures that affirm healing, forgiveness and reconciliation. There just seem to be those “eggs” that somehow got “scrambled” and that we mistakenly think that God can’t deal with or forgive: a broken marriage, an abortion, a failed religious commitment, a pregnancy outside of marriage, an adulterous affair, a physical abuse committed against someone, embezzlement from an employer. There are many sins that can lead us to lose hope if we do not recall that God is greater than our worst sins.
These kinds of struggles happen in the lives of many. They can exercise control over us for years. We certainly do have to bear the consequences of our actions and take responsibility for our lives, but brokenness can be overcome through the redemption of the cross of Christ. Christian faith does not include the notion of “one strike and you’re out” or even “three strikes and you’re out.” It is more like 70 times 7 times forgiveness. And even then, there is yet another chance.
It is true that some actions may preclude certain options for us in life. For example, if a person abuses a child, that person simply should not be allowed to be around children. They may even have to go to prison for the safety of society. They can, however, receive forgiveness for their sin. The utter graciousness of God and God’s unfathomable mercy through the passion and death of Christ is really beyond our full comprehension. Too often all a person can do is look at their sin (which is a kind of selfishness) rather than the immensity of God’s offer of forgiveness. Our invitation is to look to Christ on the cross, be healed of our sin and live truly as daughters and son of God.
We are not going to be healed of sin solely by looking at our sin. It is essential to honest about sin in our lives, to concretely name our sins and admit that we have committed them. Even more important and essential, however, is to look to God who is rich in mercy. St. Paul once wrote: “By grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God.”
There is a passage in the third chapter of John’s Gospel (3:14) in which Jesus refers back to an incident from the Book of Numbers. He recalls how seraph serpents were sent into the camp of Israel as a punishment for infidelity. When the poisonous snakes struck the people, many died. Moses was instructed by God to make an image of a serpent and mount it on a pole. Anyone bitten by a serpent who then looked at the pole was healed. The agent of death became an instrument of healing, but only by looking at it, not turning away from it. The cross of Christ is our agent of healing from sin. As St. John says in the passage, “so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” It is not God’s desire that anyone should be separated from him, but that everyone know life.
As members of the Catholic Church of eastern Montana, we have a wonderful opportunity to reflect upon God’s mercy in the Season of Lent and to grow in our relationship with the Lord. It truly is a penitential season whereby we are urged to pray a bit extra, fast by offering up something we may normally do (e.g., Friday’s in Lent are days of abstinence from meat) and look for opportunities to be more charitable. It is important to remember is that our penitential practices are not intended to place a focus on ourselves, but to place a greater focus on the Lord who offers us salvation.
Please help us continue
