The Remedy for Sin
ONE
Sin brought evil into the world in the beginning and it continues to this moment. With every sin we turn away to some degree from God and His grace and evil grows. It begins in the heart of each one of us and that is where the battle must be fought. This morning as I went to Mass I was thinking of my sin and I was not at peace. I kept thinking how can I get rid of my sin – I’ve got to get rid of my sin – how can I get rid of my sin?
Then right before communion I began to say as I have done 1000s of times
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.
And it hit me right there – I can’t get rid of my sin – but Jesus, the Lamb of God can take away my sins.
Then the Priest held the Eucharist aloft and proclaimed
Behold the Lamb of God,
behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.
And I said - Lord, I am not worthy
that you should enter under my roof,
but only say the word
and my soul shall be healed.
CCC 1436 The Eucharist “is a remedy to free us from our daily faults and to preserve us from mortal sins."
About 10% of all baptized Catholics go to Sunday Mass regularly and way less to daily Mass – why do think so few people go to Sunday or Daily Mass?
TWO
The second way Jesus gave us to get rid of the sin that weighs us down is Confession. Have you ever wondered why on the very day that Jesus rose from the dead, conquering all sin, he gave us the Sacrament of Reconciliation?
John 20:19-23
On the evening of the Resurrection Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."…As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
On the night of the Resurrection Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Reconciliation, giving the power to absolve sins to the Apostles and their successors, the Bishops and priests because Jesus knew we would sin and need a remedy that we could go back to over and over again. What prevents you from allowing Jesus to remove your sin in Confession?
THREE
There is a true story of an Exorcism that took place in Earling, Iowa in 1928 that reinforced for me the power of the Confession.
After all the psychological and psychiatric testing was completed, it was determined there was indeed a case of demonic possession and an Exorcist was called in.
Men of the parish were asked to assist
· b/c when the exorcism began
· The possessed person became very violent
· and had to be restrained.
However, the devil took a new strategy and fought back in a very surprising way
· By revealing the deepest darkest sins of those present, making them so embarrassed they fled for shame
After many instances of this, one person blurted out to the demon:
· Why do you say nothing of the Priest?
The devil responded:
· What has been confessed, I do not know
Scripture calls the devil the Accuser “Who accuses us day and night before the throne of God.”
Apparently, Satan only knows the sins we have not confessed. What has been confessed is out of the devil’s reach and he cannot use against us. The Exorcist made a practice of Regular Confession, therefore the devil had nothing to use against him. But when we don’t go to confession, the guilt piles up and the devil uses it against us.
The devil Accuses to Discourage us
· He uses discouragement to drive us away from God
Confession dispels the dark cloud of discouragement
· It removes the Sin and Guilt
· It gives us a clean start
· It brings the light, grace and healing of Christ
FOUR
If we desire to obtain reconciliation with God and with the Church, we must confess to a priest all the unconfessed grave sins he remembers after having carefully examined his conscience. If you would like to understand better mortal, grave and venial sins please see paragraphs 1854-1862 of the CCC
Jesus does not want us to carry unnecessarily the weight of guilt of unconfessed sins and he does not want Satan to have ammunition to use against us to cause us undue shame that drives us away from God. Therefore, Our Lady at Medjugorje has encouraged us to go to confession every month. What prevents you from allowing Jesus to remove all your guilt?
FIVE
Now, what prevents me from experiencing the mercy of God in Confession on a regular basis is Amnesia – I can’t remember my sins because I am lazy about my daily examination of conscience.
Here is a simple examination called 3-2-1:
a. Begin by finding 3 ways your day went well. These should include ways you resisted temptation. Thank God for his blessings and graces of the day.
b. Next, review 2 problematic ways you could have done better that day. If you have failed to complete any resolutions, wasted too much time entertaining yourself, done something you shouldn’t have, failed to do something you should. The point is not to beat yourself up, but to find what weaknesses the enemy is exploiting in you.
c. Finally make 1 resolution for the following day that will help to counteract weaknesses by practicing the opposite virtue.