Dear Friends!I would like to present to you the notes used in LHJ (Life Healing Journey) - a retreat package prepared and administred by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC), United States Province, as part of our preparation for the coming of the Messiah. These are not my notes and i did not write it. I would like to split the notes into two for better understanding.
Sin limits capacity to love and be loved
“I don’t go to confession any more”, is a frequent comment. There isn’t much guilt or regret attached to the statement. It’s a fact. However, we are missing a healing opportunity. In order to receive the full benefit of the healing aspect of this sacrament, we must expand our view of sin and how it impacts us. This sacrament is an experience of healing. It does more than forgive sin; it heals the effects of all sin on us and strengthens us with virtue.
Sin is not to be identified by feeling of guilt. Guilt is not a feeling; it is the acceptance of our responsibility for the evil effects of our actions. At the same time, personal moral sin is more than a behavior. Little children are taught what is right and wrong by learning the Ten Commandments. As adults we must look deeper. Jesus told us that a person’s heart is the real issue. We must look at why we are doing what we are doing. Conversion is not behavior modification; it is a CHAGE OF HEART. “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” (Mk 1:15)
The Church’s traditional teaching on the Capital Sins will help us discover the root causes of our sins. They are Pride, Resentment, Jealousy, Intolerance, Lust, Gluttony, and Sloth. Removing these Capital Sins is not enough; they must be replaced by God’s gift of virtue. These virtues are Adoration, Love, Gratitude, Union, Sacrifice, Petition and Compassion.
Before looking at the individual capital sins and the corresponding virtues, we first confront the forces of sin that are constantly affecting us. Original sin caused our basic disharmony. The result of original sin is an inherited inclination, tendency, attraction to destructiveness. All of us struggle with the conflict between good and evil. St. Paul said, “The things I want to do are the things I don’t do; the things I don’t want to do, I do.”
We are influenced by the sinful dimensions of society; we choose sin in the midst of a society where sin is prevalent. The sinful and selfish dimension of society enter our lives in ordinary ways. In the marketplace of society, values are advertised and sold. When these values are not in harmony with gospel values, we feel helpless to change can influence our way of thinking and acting. We are being challenged by the Church to rethink our values about Justice, Peace, Economics and the poor.
The hurts inflicted on us by others can effect the forces of sin us. When we feel rejected, we are tempted to punish. Personal sin is self destructive even when not willful. Even our unrecognized selfishness will limit our capacity to love. Worst of all, when we refuse to accept God’s authority and choose for ourselves what is right and wrong, we have chosen a life of slavery, blinded by the illusion of self-sufficiency.
Sin is anything that breaks or weakens our relationship to God, self and others. It limits our capacity to love and be loved. It limits our freedom. Reconciliation is the healing sacrament that changes and heals our heart, where the cause of sin resides. The Church’s traditional teaching on the capital sin help us discover the root causes of our sins. But removing these capital sins is not enough; the must be replaced by God’s gift of virtue. Virtue frees us to love and be loved.
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