One of the hardest things for us to do is to admit we are wrong. It has implications and consequences that make us uncomfortable. In all honesty, we fear those implications and consequences and try to avoid them. In reality, though, that only makes things worse, both within our own consciences and in the real world. The forty days of Lent give us a special time and opportunity to confront this reality within ourselves; to let go of those sinful behaviors that have become most deeply woven into the fabric of our lives by turning back to God’s mercy and forgiveness.
Daniel, inspired by the Holy Spirit, tells us: “We have sinned, been wicked and done evil; we have rebelled and departed from your commandments and your laws” (Dn 9: 5). When we read words like this, we are to recognize that they are meant for us, not just for the people of Daniel’s time. In the wisdom of our faith, we all know that God is not the problem. He is not the cause of our guilt or the source of our sufferings; we are. He is always and everywhere faithful to his covenant with us. It is we who are unfaithful; it is we who rebel from his just commands.
It is said that the dogma of Original Sin is the one dogma that needs no explanation, for the evidence, the proof of its existence, is known and experienced everywhere, in every age. Our personal and corporate rebellions against God’s commandments are the cause of all of the unjust suffering experienced in the world from the Fall of Adam and Eve to this present moment. None of us is unmarked by it. All of us have suffered harm from the sinful choices and deeds of others, and all of us have caused harm and suffering to others through our own sinful choices and actions. Yet, we have reason to hope, as Daniel tells us, “But yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness” (Dn. 9:9).
Every day, we have the opportunity to confront our own sinfulness and to turn back to God, to ask for his forgiveness with all sincerity and hope. And we can believe that when we do this with humble sincerity, his forgiveness is swift and complete. He will also give us the necessary graces and strengths to enable us to do the hard work of reconciliation and conversion that will be needed as well. But to those who refuse to admit to their sins, those who boast in their unjust actions, the Lord says, “To the boastful I say: ‘Do not boast,’ to the wicked: ‘Do not flaunt your strength, do not flaunt your strength on high. Do not speak with insolent pride.’” For God himself is the judge; one he humbles, another he exalts “ (Ps. 75: 5,6,8).
Fear and pride are the drivers behind all sin. Jesus came into the world, into the midst of our human suffering, to relieve us of our fears. Though we have rebelled, God’s love for us has never diminished. Indeed, it was expressed in the most meaningful and profound way in Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross. The Cross is the great paradox of God’s love. It is at once the ultimate consequence of our sins, and at the same time, the final solution, the final liberating act of total forgiveness and healing. Jesus died for all sin, and in doing so, he conquered sin and death once and for all, forever. We have reason, then, to believe Jesus when he tells us, “Do not be afraid.”
During these forty days of Lent, carve out some time in your busy days to be with God in silence and solitude and to be present to your own need for forgiveness. Ask God to grant you the wisdom, courage, and humility to face your sins, and to beseech him for his forgiveness. God tells us in Ezekiel, “Do I indeed derive any pleasure from the death of the wicked? says the Lord God. Do I not rather rejoice when he turns from his evil ways that he may live” (Ez. 18: 23)? We can take joy in the fact that God’s love for us is immeasurable and more generous than we can imagine. Let our Lenten ‘sacrifice’ be to turn back to him with humble and contrite hearts. And let us have ears to hear him when he says to us, as he did to the adulterous woman, “Go and sin no more” (Jn. 8:11).
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