In our readings we encountered two sons who were found be to dead and yet they were restored to life. These accounts serve as a foreshadowing of the effects of sin upon our soul. They show that despite the pull of sin that Christ can free us from its grasp and burden. Through the Lord’s Resurrection there is always hope for new life and thus the triumph over the tomb of sin that effects us.
In our Gospel the man was brought to his place of burial, but Christ reached out and touched the coffin and commanded him to arise. Christ is constantly reaching out and commanded us to do the same. He is giving each of us an invitation to receive his mercy and to be restored to proper health. Sometimes we do not embrace His mercy as quickly as we ought and thus our life begins to get out of control. We lose balance because Christ had been banished from our midst and left forgotten that we no longer know of Him and His healing mercy.
From 1 Kings we see that the boy’s death was brought about by a gradual process. He first grew sick, it then progressed, and then he finally died. This shows the effects of sin upon our soul. Falling into mortal sin can be a gradual process where we slowly erode away our moral boundaries until we no longer care about the outcome. Some will say that venial sins are not a big deal and thus should not be confessed.
From Pope Pius XII: “As you well know, venerable brethren, it is true that venial sins may be expiated in many ways that are to be highly commended. But to ensure more rapid progress day by day in the path of virtue, we will that the pious practice of frequent confession, which was introduced into the Church by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, should be earnestly advocated. By it genuine self-knowledge is increased, Christian humility grows, bad habits are corrected, spiritual neglect and tepidity are resisted, the conscience is purified, the will strengthened, a salutary self-control is attained, and grace is increased in virtue of the sacrament itself.”
The confession of venial sins is also strongly recommended according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 1458. It is strongly recommended for through confession we receive the grace that God pours out upon us. This sacrament of the Lord’s mercy goes hand in hand with our reception of the Eucharist for through the Eucharist we receive Christ Himself into our life. We cannot heal our life on our own because if we are to accomplish this task we must first trust in the assistance of God’s grace. No matter how small the sin it still hurts our relationship with God, but most of all we do not want it to develop into a mortal sin which robs the soul of sanctifying grace.
