February 18, 2024 • First Sunday of Lent
Growing up, every Saturday we had to deep clean the house. For example, cleaning the living room meant: dusting and polishing all the wood furniture; vacuuming all the furniture; moving all the furniture and vacuuming under it; dusting and washing all the knickknacks; moving all the plants and cleaning the bookcase they were on; polishing the exposed wood floor; and making sure that the nap of the rug was going in the right direction. As a child I did not understand why we had to do this every Saturday. It did not make any sense to me at all. It really seemed like overkill, but my mom was insistent. As an adult I now understand why it was so important to my mom. Our family consisted of five children, foster children, other people who lived with us, a dog, and three cats (sometimes more), and we were the neighborhood household. My mom wanted to ensure that our home was always clean, and with the number of people and pets going through the house, that would not have been possible if we did not stay on top of it.
What was true of my house growing up is true of our spiritual home—our soul. Our souls, in a sense, can get covered in dirt, muck and grime, or what we call sin. Sin is an objective reality that comes about by human choice. For the biblical authors, sin entered into the world as a decision by human beings to act contrary to God’s will. The psalmist acknowledges this as he says, “For I acknowledge my offense, and my sin is before me always: Against you only have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight.” (Ps. 51:5-6) Thus, all sin at its root is an action against God, and it takes an action of God to rectify the situation. Therefore, God, throughout human history, has worked to undo humanity’s sinful inclination and destructive decisions, and lead them back to the road of salvation. Its fulfillment is found in the actions of Jesus. The New Testament builds upon this understanding of sin but develops it further in light of the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Hence, we must recognize that in all of our choices we are either choosing to do God’s will or we are not, and every choice against God is a sin. Furthermore, every choice we make is like taking a rock and throwing it into a still pond. It creates ripples either for good or evil. Therefore, sin can be understood as effecting more than—and existing beyond—the life of a particular individual. While the sin remains, its consequences continue to impact the community. Moreover, the consequences of our actions do not always end even after we recognize that we have acted sinfully and turn away from such actions. Every choice we make impacts our community, Church or humanity as a whole.
And so we recognize that sin comes about only through human choice, whether it is a choice of commission or omission. Sins of commission occur through our actively engaging in some action. A sin of omission is choosing not to act when we know that God’s will calls us to act, such as choosing not to feed the hungry or clothe the naked. Many times, sins of omission can be more damaging to our relationship with God than sins of commission. Simply read the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25. Our choices either lead us to salvation or damnation—there is no third option.
We must realize that at the heart of our understanding of sin is something the Church calls Natural Law. I will attempt to give a simple explanation of this teaching. It essentially is built upon a simple truth that we learn from the creation stories. God has created all things that exist and imbued them with particular meaning. In other words, God has created all things that exist and has given them their own purpose and end. As human beings we must discern God’s purpose or meaning of his creation and use it accordingly. Whenever we act in contravention of God’s plan, we create an idol of his creation. We no longer are using it in accord with God’s plan and, therefore, we cannot use it in a way that leads us to give praise and thanksgiving to God. We are acting as Adam and Eve did and are making it about ourselves. It becomes an act of self-centeredness and is no longer about the other.
The severity of our sin can be understood in two ways: either venial or mortal sin. Venial sin is not sin in its proper sense, since it does not break our relationship with God. But venial sins, if left unattended, can lead to that break with the Lord. Venial sins are less serious in nature but can impede our progress in growing in relationship with Christ, for they still wound and offend. They need to be rejected because they are going to harm and lead us astray. Mortal sin, on the other hand, is a grave action that can break our relationship with God. For a person to commit a mortal sin, three things are necessary: 1) it is a grave act, 2) the person knows it is wrong, and 3) he or she chooses to act anyway. There are mitigating conditions that can take away culpability for the action and not make something a mortal sin (but that does not change the fact that the act remains wrong). Say a person is truly addicted to alcohol and gets drunk. Getting drunk is a grave act for the harm it does to the body and the inhibitions it removes. The person may know it is wrong and still get drunk. But the addiction removes some of the culpability and therefore takes away the mortality of the action.
When we realize that we want to reject sin, we must understand that this change could only come about as a divine action of justification. In other words, only through God’s direct intervention can one be renewed or recreated into a life free of that sin. Psalm 51, the Miserere, addresses this as the psalmist calls on the Lord, “Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me… A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew in me… Give me back the joy of your salvation and a willing spirit sustain in me.” (Ps. 51:4,12,14) For the psalmist, it is only the Lord who can cleanse and make one whole again. Sin is part of his very being: “Indeed, in guilt was I born, and in sin my mother conceived me.” (Ps. 51:7) Hence, it is necessary for God to remove the stain of sin. The psalmist cannot do it on his own.
This is what the great gift of the Sacrament of Penance is about, and we will look at it again next week.
If you have any questions about anything, please do not hesitate to ask me directly, email me (link above) or call me at (978) 254-0560.
Fr. Brian 2024 Weekly Articles
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January 28, 2024
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Fr. Brian 2023 Weekly Articles
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December 17, 2023 - Third Sunday of Advent
December 10, 2023 - Second Sunday of Advent
December 3, 2023 - First Sunday of Advent
November 26, 2023 - Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
November 19, 2023 - 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
November 12, 2023 - 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
November 5, 2023 - 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 29, 2023 - 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time
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August 27, 2023 -21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 20, 2023 - 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 13, 2023 - 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
August 6, 2023 - Transfiguration of The Lord
July 30, 2023 - 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 23, 2023 - 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
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July 2, 2023 - 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time
June 25, 2023 - 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time
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June 11, 2023 - Corpus Christi
June 4, 2023 - Most Holy Trinity
May 28, 2023 - Pentecost
May 21, 2023 - 7th Sunday of Easter
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April 30, 2023 - 4th Sunday of Easter
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March 26, 2023 - 5th Sunday of Lent
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February 26, 2023 - 1st Sunday of Lent
February 19, 2023 - 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time
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January 29, 2023 - 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 22, 2023 - 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 15, 202 - 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
January 8, 2023 - The Epiphany of Our Lord
January 1, 2023 - Solemnity of Mary, Holy Mother of God
Fr. Brian 2022 Weekly Articles
December 25, 2025
December 18, 2022
December 11, 2022
December 4, 2022
November 27, 2022
November 20, 2022
November 13, 2022
November 6, 2022
October 30, 2022
October 23, 2022
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July 31 - September 25: Ten Commandment Articles (to left)
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July 17, 2022
July 10, 2022
July 3, 2022
June 26, 2022
June 19, 2022
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February 13, 2022
February 6, 2022
January 30, 2022
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Ten Commandment Article Series
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8th Commandment Conclusion
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Fr. Brian Teaching on The Mass
From October 18 - November 15, 2021, Fr Brian presented a 5-week Teaching on The Mass. Below you can find a link to both his videos as well as the coinciding articles that appeared in the previous Sunday's bulletin.
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Fr. Brian 2021 Weekly Articles
December 26, 2021
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November 28, 2021
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October 31, 2021
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April 11, 2021
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February 28, 2021
Februry 21, 2021
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