I may hurt some feelings today. My feelings were hurt when I read the gospel and thought of how guilty I am of sin. It was sin I chose to commit by what I have done or I have failed to do.
Some will be mad because they are Christians but they choose how they live by their personal standards of what is a sin.
It may hurt your feelings to know everyone is a sinner. A sinner is giving this homily.
My niece and her husband go to a large non-denominational church. It has free form preaching. The worship music is closer to pop music than traditional sacred music. People will go there just to be seen.
My niece sees someone unrepentant at Church and gives them the “stink” eye. Her husband says, don't do that, you're at Church.
Yes, we are all sinners, sometimes even at Church.
A while back, I read about a person who had returned to the Catholic Church after attending one of these non-denominational churches. At the non-dom church he attended a men’s group discussing adultery. But the problem was in that group each man chose his definition of the sin of adultery.
One said to look at another woman with lust was adultery.
One justified adultery through OT scripture pointing to the patriarchs with multiple wives and concubines. He was loyal to his wife and his mistress; he was not sinful.
Another felt that since he had been baptized and born again, he could commit adultery because he was forgiven.
Our hero tried to be heard but was not. He spoke to the group leader. He went to the pastor and asked it to stop these error filled teachings; but, the pastor said the Church had no confirmed doctrine on adultery.
If you choose not to follow God’s commandments and fail to hear God’s Word there is no doctrine. So, a lot of Churches fail to teach what is sin.
Then, I look at myself. I preach we are to love one another and to preach the gospel by the way we live our lives. I preach to be good and to be holy. Things good Catholic Christians should strive for in their life. But, sometimes preaching the gospel requires us to point out sin.
Our Lord God Creator gave us a list of sinful things. Ten Commandments that are God’s guide to how we are to live our lives. If you choose you can keep the commandments, they will save you; if you trust in God, you shall live. Trusting God is to love God with all your heart.
Today, Churches teach all kinds of things. They even break the commandments that are given for God alone: I am the Lord God, take no strange gods before me Do not take the Lord's name in vain. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
They do this by recognizing abortion, transgenderism, and gay marriage. They tweak truth, right, and justice to reveal a puppet god they control. Churches and ministers have made money, wealth, and possessions more important than anything else.
That is sin.
I heard the story this week of a elderly person in a nursing home who received a letter from a Church that said they were going to dismiss her membership because she was not keeping her pledge tithes.
That is sin.
Some Churches recognized gay marriage and allows it for their pastors.
That is sin.
Most say, we will never sin that way and then everyday, we forget the rest of the commandments. The world says it is normal. Our laws make it legal. The world says it is wrong to identify sin as sin.
Jesus goes on to say, Whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.
Remember, we preach the Gospel by the way we live our lives. The way we live our lives is that which is truly in our hearts. We cannot hide our true selves. For the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even the depths of God.
Friends, the Church is for sinners. It is our spiritual hospital. It is the place we come to realize what is wrong with us and to remedy that through a deeper loving relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and with each other.
Jesus tells us to love one another, even the sinner; but, Jesus tells the sinner to go and sin no more.
And when we fail to admonish sin, we allow it to creep into our world and even into our faith. We justify it by Jesus’s love. But, changing God’s truth is not from God. Jesus said I did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. None of these commandments will pass away.
Church should not be about changing Jesus’ words to suit the strange gods in this world today. The modern world frowns on religion. The world frowns on being told they are sinners by other sinners.
As we draw closer to Lent, realize how far our sins have allowed us to fall away from that relationship with Christ. Look at our lives over the past week or month or years see how many times we have forgotten God the Father by ignoring the commandments. As we realize we have not always been good and holy, repent, go to confession, and do penance.
Maybe I hurt your feelings. Mine was hurt when I realized how guilty I was of sin. Sin I chose to commit by what I had done and what I had failed to do.
Do not be afraid to say something when sin creeps into our world and into our faith. Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,' and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’
That is what it means to be good, and to be holy, and preaching the gospel by the way you live your life and love one another.
No comments:
Post a Comment