I’m certainly not encouraging us to be obligatory about this and feel that “if we’re going to sin anyway, we might as well make it a good one (see: presumption),” but even if we don’t see ourselves — and probably aren’t — as bad as some of the most evil people who may or may not be in the bad place, we’re still sinners who sin.
Even if we’re bright shining lights for all six out of seven days, that remaining day could be the difference in what happens to us when we die.
Tag: sin
Only Jesus can show us how to carry our crosses
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“Look!” my husband said proudly one evening. “I fixed it for you!”
He held up my favorite handheld kitchen tool, the stainless-steel pastry cutter, and pulled on it to illustrate that he had fixed its broken handle.
To his dismay, the handle pulled apart in his hand.
The second movement of the kerygma
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What a difference a year makes! Who could have imagined last Advent the place we would find ourselves in at this moment?
The COVID pandemic, the presidential election, and the ongoing violence in our cities have completely changed and challenged us in unimaginable ways. The entire human race is hurting. We can see the power of sin and death all around us.
This Advent, I have never felt the need for prayer more profoundly or heard the longings of the Old Testament prophets more keenly.
We seek liberation. We desire a savior. We need Jesus Christ and all that He has to give us.Love an enemy this Lent
The three classical spiritual practices that the Church urges us to embrace during Lent are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.
A season to receive Sacrament of Reconciliation
An unemployed man unsuccessfully tried to find work. His wife nagged him for his failure. He explained that he was trying his best and he needed the understanding and support she promised to give him in their marriage vows.
Bishop asks for prayers to defeat evil in world
Dear Friends,
I pray that you and yours enjoyed a very happy Thanksgiving this past week.
Further, I hope that you are able to enter into a very blessed season of Advent. Please God, it will be an excellent time of preparation for the glorious celebration of Christmas.
Last week, I sent a letter to your priests with regard to an addition to the Prayers of the Faithful and a particular prayer of heavenly intercession I am asking to be included during (at least) every Sunday Mass, at parishes within the Diocese of Madison.
The cross of Jesus: God’s awful work of love
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I would like to continue reflecting on Fleming Rutledge’s extraordinary book The Crucifixion, which I consider one of the most insightful theological books of the decade.
In a previous article, I drew attention to Rutledge’s bracing insistence on the awfulness and shame of the crucifixion. In the ancient world, there was no punishment more painful, terrifying, and de-humanizing than the cross.
It is not simply that Jesus died or even that he was put to death by corrupt people; it was that he endured the death reserved only for the lowest and most despised.
In the light of the resurrection, the first Christians looked back on this horrific event and saw in it something commensurate with the weight of sin. Somehow, on that instrument of torture and humiliation, the Son of God was addressing what could not be adequately addressed in any other way; he was paying the requisite price.
How strange is the cross
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Fleming Rutledge’s The Crucifixion is one of the most stimulating and thought-provoking books of theology that I have read in the past 10 years.
Both an academic and a well-regarded preacher in the Episcopal tradition, Rutledge has an extraordinary knack of cutting to the heart of the matter. Her book on the central reality of the Christian faith is supremely illuminating, a delight for the inquiring mind — and man, will it ever preach.
Easter invites us to share our faith with joy
Greta Weissman, a […]
Preaching about sin can be loving and kind
To the editor:
Every so often the Catholic Herald has a letter to the editor which suggests priests preach on sin and what sin is. In my parish I can recall MANY such homilies!
The beautiful sermon on how loving God fills one with love and joy. I am sure there were people listening who wondered “how do I get that?” An invitation to a deeper study of one’s faith.