IS IT TRUE
THAT SAINTS SIN SEVEN TIMES A DAY? *** May I quote the Bible: “There is no virtuous man on earth who, doing good, is ever free of sin” (Qo 7: 20); “There is no man who does not sin” (I K 8: 46); “Both Jew and pagan sinned”, wrote Saint Paul (Rm 3: 23); they are purified by Jesus Christ’s redemptive grace. We may say to the Lord: “No one is virtuous by your standard” (Ps 143: 2). Jesus was like us, except that he was without sin (Heb 4: 15) and Mary, full of grace, was immaculate by the preventive action of Jesus, her Son, the Redeemer. We are all weak and limited and not without imperfections, when we compare ourselves to God’s holiness. “... The virtuous man falls seven times...” (Pr 24 : 16). If the just man sins seven times, that is frequently, then how often must we ourselves do so? Those who claim they are without sin are often far away from God, from the brightness of his light. In their darkness or half-light, they can’t see the dust that every day is settling on their souls, the dust of their more or less deliberate sins. The more the saints made progress on the road to holiness, the more they realized and confessed that they were sinners before God. God, the Sun of our lives, helps us discover that we are sinners, focusing on ourselves, proud and careless in our love, prone to passions, sinful by omission as well as by our actions. “If we say we have no sin in us, we are deceiving ourselves and refusing to admit the truth” (I Jn 1: 8). A Christian, who is anxious to please God, will never become withdrawn and will never be disheartened. He or she will not become scrupulous, but will focus his or her gaze on the Lord and will live joyfully as God’s child. Like the Little Flower, he or she will exclaim: “I rejoice for being imperfect...”, not to make peace with spiritual weakness, but to humbly confess that holiness comes from God alone. |