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March 16, 2008
Realize the Sinner You Really Are
Becoming aware of our sins and sinful tendencies can be very difficult, but it is necessary if we want to grow in our relationship with God. Good practices towards this end are to examine your actions throughout the day and constantly pray for the grace to recognize the attractions of good and evil. Some might think that God would not want to be close to a soul once she becomes aware of how sinful she has been (the soul being feminine in her receptive relationship to God). Their feelings of unworthiness can be overwhelming. However, this should not be the case. Rather, God's revelation of our sins is enabling because it gives us the courage to pick ourselves up and reform our lives. We cannot reform our lives on our own. A good example of this is when St. Ignatius of Loyola tried this early on in his conversion and it resulted in awful scruples and temptation to commit suicide. It must be founded on God and an effective way to achieve it is through an acute awareness of our sins.
Especially now during Holy Week, we should meditate upon the consequences of sin and realize that the world does not function as God had intended it to. This should result in a deep understanding of the effect of sin and a deep shame for sinning. It might seem ironic, but this shame for sin leads to an increase in faith, hope, and love. Why? Because even though we have fallen so short in God's plan for the universe, he still loves us deeply, gives Jesus' life for us, and is ready to forgive us when we want to be forgiven. With this realization there can only be a joyous desire to return this love, to reform one's life, and to serve God to the best of his or her ability. Therefore, if we love God, we must reform our lives as much as possible and try to live according to His plan.
I wish everyone holy and fruitful Holy Week.
God bless,
Daniel
Posted by Daniel at March 16, 2008 9:51 PM
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