SIN and REPENTANCE

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"
- Romans 3:23
INTRODUCTION
As we have learned, a Christian is a person who is united with
GOD (mans purpose). However, theres one thing that could
break or destroy this union and that is SIN. By this you can
already measure how bad or ugly sin is. Theres nothing in this
world that can break our union with Jesus except sin.
I.

SIN

DEFINITION of SIN
SIN Any thought, word, action or omission by which a
person rejects Christ (God) in him and substitutes Him with
something else.
Example:
You steal money from your neighbor. What did you do? You
rejected Christ in your life since you know that stealing isnt what
God wants and that is a sin against charity (love your neighbor)
and you replace Him with money. You dont have Jesus with you
anymore which mean you are now living in the state of sin.
Now, lets look at how the Catholic Church defines sin.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines SIN this way:
Sin is an offense against reason, truth and right
conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and
neighbor by a perverse attachment to certain goods. (CCC
1849 [portion])

Sin is an offense against GOD. Against you, you alone have I

sinned and do ne that which is evil in your sight. Sin sets itself
against Gods love for us and turns our hearts away from it. Like
the first sin, it is DISOBEDIENCE, a revolt against GOD
through the will to become like gods, knowing and
determining good and evil. Sin is thus love of oneself, even
contempt of God. In this proud self-exultation, sin is
diametrically opposed to the obedience of Jesus, which achieves
our salvation. (CCC 1850)
Also the CCC describes the manifestation of sin during Jesus
Passion where we received our salvation. During these times, we
see violence, unbelief, murderous hatred, shunning and mockery
(by leaders and people), Pilates cowardice and the cruelty of the
soldiers. Theres also Judas betrayal to Jesus, Peters denial and
the running away of the disciples. During this clear manifestation
of sin or the darkest hour, Jesus sacrifice becomes the source of
forgiveness of our sins. (CCC 1851)
The question is, where does sin start? Is it in our action? Of
course, its not. It all starts in the mind. Just thinking about
killing somebody is already serious enough that you should really
ask for forgiveness about it. Sin takes place in the mind long
before the act is done. The moment you decide to do evil, sin
occurs. The moment you reject Christ to satisfy your evil
intention, you have already committed sin. Since in God, theres
no time difference, theres no past, no future which means
everything is present; the moment you think about committing
sin is already a sin.
You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit
adultery. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a
woman with lust for her has already committed adultery
with her in his heart. Matthew 5: 27-28
KINDS of SIN

Sin can be MORTAL, that which is deadly for it takes away the life
of God in you. Or it can be VENIAL which means not deadly but
still damaging.
If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does
not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them
life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death.
There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you
should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is
sin that does not lead to death.
1 John 5: 16-17
From this point on and on the context of this talk, we will refer to
mortal sins as the sins that cause the loss of divine life in a person
making him dead. But first lets again look at how the Church
describes the two kinds of sins. With this, we can easily
differentiate and tell by ourselves that kind of sins we might have
committed.
In the CCC these types of sins are under the title GRAVITY of SIN:
MORTAL and VENIAL SIN
Mortal sin destroys charity in the heart of man by a grave
violation of God's law; it turns man away from God, who is his
ultimate end and his beatitude, by preferring an inferior good to
him. Venial sin allows charity to subsist, even though it offends
and wounds it. (CCC 1855)
In other words, you just have to remember this Mortal sin is
basically a SIN against CHARITY. For example, if your sin goes
against the LOVE of GOD (blasphemy or perjury) and LOVE of
NEIGHBOR (murder or adultery). However, if your sin doesnt
involve opposing the LOVE of GOD and LOVE of NEIGHBOR like
useless chatter or immoderate laughter, its considered VENIAL.
3 Conditions For A Sin To Be Mortal

1. The object is GRAVE MATTER the one which is specified

in the Ten Commandments and also corresponding to what
Jesus answered to the rich young man in the gospel (Do not
kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false
witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and your
mother).
2. FULL KNOWLEDGE Meaning, you know that doing this
particular act is a SIN and yet you do it.
3. COMPLETE CONSENT In a simple sense, you choose to do
it. You might have said no but you still did it.
Venial sin weakens charity; it manifests a disordered affection
for created goods; it impedes the soul's progress in the exercise
of the virtues and the practice of the moral good; it merits
temporal punishment. Deliberate and unrepented venial sin
disposes us little by little to commit mortal sin. However venial
sin does not break the covenant with God. With God's grace it is
humanly reparable. "Venial sin does not deprive the sinner of
sanctifying grace, friendship with God, charity, and consequently
eternal happiness."
THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS
Though not necessarily found in the bible, these deadly sins have
their antecedents in the Holy Scriptures beginning in the
proverbs, to the letter of Paul to the Galatians and are also found
in Revelations. Lets look at these sins and later on examine
ourselves if we have committed some or most of them. Lets
place them in the acronym PALEGAS for us to easily memorize
each.
P PRIDE (Superbia) exaltation of ones self making him think
that hes better than anyone else. Refuses to acknowledge that
he is weak and will not succumb to others.
A AVARICE (Avaritia) Excessive pursuit of material
possessions.

L LUST (Luxuria) - intense longing. Commonly describes sexual

desire which results to abuses like rape, adultery, fornication, etc.
However, it can also be used for other things like lust for money,
power and more.
E ENVY (Invidia) It is also characterized by an insatiable
desire. It can be described as a sad or resentful covetousness
towards the traits or possessions of someone else.
G GLUTTONY (Gula) - the overindulgence and overconsumption
of anything to the point of waste.
A ANGER or WRATH (Ira) - Uncontrolled feelings of anger,
rage, and even hatred, often revealing itself in the wish to seek
vengeance.
S SLOTH (acedia) - Absence or lack of interest or habitual
disinclination to exertion.
EFFECTS OF SIN
A. Separation From Christ
Because you reject Christ, you become separated from God. Its
like replacing a precious treasure with a filthy object.
B. Loss of Divine Life
Because of this separation, you lose the divine life and therefore
you are dead. Its like a branch that will be pulled off from the
tree. No longer will you be nourished which eventually lead to
your death.
For the wages of sin is death
- Romans 6:23
C. The Person Becomes An Agent Of The Devil

Because you are now dead, you become an empty vessel which
makes you vulnerable to become an agent of the devil.
The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because
the devil has been sinning from the beginning. 1 John 3:
8
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to
carry out your fathers desires. He was a murderer from
the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no
truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language,
for he is a liar and the father of lies.
John 8: 44
You give up the Fatherhood of God and you replace it with the
Fatherhood of the devil that is very much stupid. The act of sin
is an act of stupidity.
II.

REPENTANCE

Thank God, theres Jesus for in every problem theres always a

solution. True, through sin we can be separated from Gods love
but it doesnt end there. A spiritually dead person can become
alive again through and by the power of REPENTANCE.
DEFINITION of REPENTANCE
It is the antidote for sin. It is the sinners decision to reject
sin and re-accept Jesus back into his life once again. You
have to reject sin and re-accept Jesus back for they cannot be
together. You have to give one up.
The good news is this; Jesus knows that after baptism, after being
unified with him, we are still capable of committing sins. Thats
why He instituted an authoritative church which He gave power to
forgive sins. Before He went back to the Father, He made sure to

build a church to which we can go to and ask for forgiveness. We

enjoy this now as the sacrament of reconciliation or penance.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines the sacrament of
penance as a whole consisting three actions of the penitent
and the priest's absolution. The penitent's acts are
repentance, confession or disclosure of sins to the priest,
and the intention to make reparation and do works of
reparation. (CCC 1491)
Repentance (also called contrition) must be inspired by
motives that arise from faith. If repentance arises from
love of charity for God, it is called "perfect" contrition; if it
is founded on other motives, it is called "imperfect." (CCC
1492)
REPARATION of DAMAGE
Every time a person commits sin, two things happen, guilt and
damage. The moment the sinner repent, the guilt is erased and
he is reconciled back to God. But the damage is still there.
Therefore, aside from rejecting sin and re-accepting Jesus, the
repentant sinner should also have the duty to repair the damage
he has done. In our Church, this is done through acts of penance
and other works of charity.
THE PROCESS of REPENTANCE
Just going to confession isnt the answer to it all. It doesnt mean
that you are already reconciled for we can still be complacent
about it. To repent means to try to change. The sacrament of
confession is a gift readily given but its not something you should
get when you feel like it or you continue to commit sin since its
always there.
True, Jesus can forgive you through the church but your job is to
struggle to change and not do the same sin over and over again.
Remember that God is a God of MERCY but at the same time, He

is a God of JUSTICE. You must also have the desire to go to

confession. You should have the desire to grab this opportunity
the first chance you get. Thats why you shouldnt delay your
repentance and get the Lords forgiveness.
Why confess to a priest?
Why cant we ask forgiveness directly from God?
First of all, theres no one stopping you from asking forgiveness
directly from God. However, you must remember that its clear in
the Scripture itself that Jesus, before leaving earth instituted a
church and not just a church, an authoritative Church where He is
the head.
He gave this authority to forgive sins to the apostles and these
apostles gave this authority to bishops and to all the priests that
we have today. Plus, what do you have to lose when confessing to
a priest? He will not make gossips about it for it has grave
consequences on their part. Even the Pope goes to confession.
Besides, what holds you back in confessing to a priest? I think its
PRIDE and you what it is? Yes, its one of the deadly sins.
So, its essential to go to confession and avail the healing
sacrament that Jesus offered for us.
SACRAMENTAL PENANCE
After confession, depending on the gravity of your sins, certain
temporal punishment might remain unpaid. And these are
compensated through our sufferings, prayers and good works or
through the purifying pain in the Purgatory in the afterlife. To help
us make this expiation or atonement for our sins, the minister of
the sacrament imposes a penance which can be fulfilled through
prayers or good works.
As a supplement to reduce whatever temporal punishment that
still remains for our sins and to help others in their works of

atonement, adding a work of atonement is ideal and its done

through devotions especially attending the Holy Mass, charity,
mortification (fasting and abstinence).
CONCLUSION (THE PRODIGAL SON)
Theres nothing more worthy of describing the tremendous and
forgiving love of God to us than the parable of the Prodigal Son.
Do you know the story?
Narrate the story of the prodigal son.
Make reflections.
Robe symbolizes dignity
Ring symbolizes authority
Sandals symbolizes status (you are not a slave but a son)
How do you usually introduce your name?
Normally we would answer I AM.
But wait, do you know who I AM is?
God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall
say to the sons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" Exodus
3:14
Gods name precedes your name. Thats how special you are to
Him and its fittingly equal that you make Him special in your life
as well. Dont replace this treasure with something dirty and
worthless, ask Him to bring back the treasure in your hands and
never replace Him again.
Sing The Prodigal Son
Say a personal prayer.
End.