A Hospital for Sinners


- "If I touch the holy water font, it'll melt."
- "I better not go to confession because, if I enter the church, it may burn down!"  
- "I'm just too 'dirty' to go before God right now...I need to clean up first."  

Whether they are an excuse to not go to church, or a genuine notion that someone actually has to 'get right with God' BEFORE they receive the Sacraments, these comments (paraphrased, but you are likely familiar with many variations of them) are wrong minded, backwards, and completely miss the purpose of the Sacraments.  

You may have read in any number places, in any number of ways, that "the church is not a museum for saints; rather it is a hospital for sinners".  And this is the truth of the matter.  

We need not be "clean" in order to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation (i.e., going to confession).  Reconciliation is given to us by Christ for exactly that purpose...to reconcile us to Him, because we are not strong enough to do that on our own.  This is the Sacrament for when we know we are weak, and have committed sin, and we need the Good Doctor to heal us and to cleanse us.  We don't need to heal or cleanse ourselves; we can't!  No one who is injured in an accident would say, "I'm too injured to see a doctor right now; I need to get well first, and then I'll go to the ER".  No, they go to the ER to be triaged, diagnosed, treated, and provided the medicine that can heal them.  In the same way, Reconciliation (and the preparation for it, such as an examination of conscience and a firm purpose to amend one's life) gives us a reconciled relationship with Christ and provides us the graces necessary to not only heal that relationship, but to help us stay well.

We don't need to be saintly in order to go to Mass.  We, sinners, become saintly over the course of our lives by going to Mass and exposing ourselves to the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.  And when we are properly disposed (e.g., in a state of grace (i.e., not in a state of mortal sin)), we actually receive Him in communion and are fed the Bread of Heaven.  We don't say, "I am really hungry, so I better make myself full before I eat".  On the contrary, our souls, hungry for Christ, go to Him to be fed, because only He can satisfy our hunger.  

The holy water font won't melt when you touch it.  It's there to remind you of your Baptism into Christ and help you remember to renew your commitment to Him, especially in times when you are failing. The church building won't burn down when you enter it, no matter how soiled or sinful you are.  It's there so you can unite with your fellow Christians, who are ALSO struggling with sin, and ALSO need Christ to give them the graces needed to get back on the right track.  You don't need to get clean before you go to confession to confess your uncleanliness.  That's what Confession is for...to reconcile you to Christ and give you the graces you need, and without which you are likely to never "get clean". 

The church was given to us by Christ as a means to bring sinners to Him, and as a means by which He gives us Himself, especially in the Sacrament of Holy Communion.  He didn't give it to us so that already-holy people could have a place to hang out and talk about how holy we are.  He gave it to us, a needy and wounded and ailing people, in order to give us a place to worship together, to heal together, and to provide us with the Sacraments that initiate us into His Family, heal us when we are wounded, and help us along our journey as we "run the race" (cf., 2Tim 4:7) and "work out our salvation" (cf., Phil 2:12).  

"Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance" (Lk 5:31-32; Mk 2:17).  Don't let your need for repentance be the barrier that keeps you from coming to church or going to confession and reconciling with Christ.  His church is a hospital for us sinners.  And the saints that adorn its halls became saints by recognizing their need for the hospital. 

Image:  Lawrence Lew, O.P., Detail from a window in Bath Abbey, originally posted in "Christ the Healer:  Jesus as the Physician of Souls", 7/23/2016 by Dominican Friars Health Care Ministry of New York, a ministry of the Province of St. Joseph centered at St. Catherine of Siena Priory in New York, NY.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why is there Temporal Punishment for Sin; Didn't Jesus Pay Our Debt?

Image
I was discussing Penance, purgatory, and indulgences (among many other topics) with a friend, and the topic of temporal punishment came up. Temporal punishment happens to be closely linked to indulgences, which happen to be linked to the effects of Sacramental Penance, so it was only natural that it be next in line for discussion. In case you aren't familiar with what I'm talking about: " An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven ..." ( CCC 1471 , emphasis mine). Anyone not familiar with that might respond with, " Whoa! Hold up there on the 'temporal punishment'! What's that all about? " I'll explain what it's all about, but you can also get a good idea by reading the very short Catechism paragraphs 1471-1473, especially in light of the three paragraphs immediately preceding those, and 1478-79. ( HERE's that link.) Anyway, my friend actually read ...
Read more

God's Effect on My Life: A Personal Testimony

Image
I always considered myself a good Catholic Christian, but I didn’t live it. Although I have been described as a “good guy”, “nice”, “kind and quiet”, I gave myself over to sin in one form or another, especially in pride. My friends from school tell me that they thought of me as a good Christian, so I must have masked my sinfulness pretty well, or it just got covered up in my shyness and insecurity, or I just blended in with the rest of a culture that doesn’t really see many sins as being sinful. I look back and see an arrogant narcissist, pre-occupied with my own wants at anyone’s expense, yet too insecure to let it make me into a snob, and only able to really hurt those who were closest to me, or who trusted me with their emotions. I can honestly say I did not hurt all the people in my life, but there those that I did, and making amends has been a process that has spanned years, and will probably never end. My friends in school were few, but the friendships were strong, and the...
Read more

More than Ever, The World Needs the Luminous Mysteries

Image
Using pebbles or beads as tangible prayer minders was nothing new by the 9th century, when Monks had begun making a daily or weekly recitation of all 150 Psalms.  It made perfect sense, then, when the lay faithful, who wanted a way to participate in this pious practice, yet had difficulty learning the Psalms due to various reasons (e.g., widespread illiteracy), instead recited 150 prayers daily or weekly and kept track of them by means of pebbles or beads.  Eventually this practice evolved into beads being strung together on a cord.  The daily prayers would typically be the "Pater Noster" (the Lord's Prayer, found in Lk 11:2-4 or Mt 6:9-13) or the "Ave [Gratia Plena]" (the "Hail, Full of Grace" found in Lk 1:28, 41-42).  Gradually, the second half of what we know today as the "Hail Mary" was added, reflecting Lk 1:43 and passages regarding praying for one another (e.g., James 5:16).  This recitation of prayers on beads would eventually evolve...
Read more

Coronavirus and an Opportunity for Greatness

Image
Before this pandemic hit our nation, I considered myself a good Christian. I give to the Church; I help others when I can; I give an honest day's work to provide for my family; I raise my children in the faith handed down to us by our Lord. But this pandemic has opened my eyes in the past couple weeks. My wife and I quickly realized that the burden that would hit us, as our state went on "lock-down", would impact other people as well...and probably hit them harder. After all, I have a job that allows me to work from home, so I won't lose a paycheck (yet). And despite the initial mob that emptied our local grocery store, we have a place nearby to buy the essentials and we are both capable of going shopping. ("Both capable of going shopping" is something I didn't realize I was taking for granted until recently.) And while it meant having six children at home, like wild rabbits being chased by a cage, we are more adjusted to that than most becaus...
Read more

Right to Life Being Preached by a Sinner?

Image
My brother shared a video of the first sitting President to attend a March for Life event giving a speech at said event.  The speech was wonderfully supportive of babies' right to life and I think it's historic and precedent-setting that a President has made this pro-life move, regardless of his motives.  Yet, there was one gentleman who kept trying to dismiss the pro-life message and draw focus away from it by trying to refocus on the person of the President.  It led to some interesting dialog but gave me an opportunity to dive back into a question to which I have yet, after years of asking, to receive an actual answer or any focused discussion.  You can decide whether this ended differently. Ray's words will appear in plain text, mine in blue. Ray: It's called pandering and it doesn't mean he is a good and moral man. Trump once declared in a 1999 interview that “I am pro-choice in every respect.” ( Nevermind that people can change. As another person in t...
Read more

Just Do it the Way He Says

Too many times, man receives a nudge from the Spirit to do something, only to decide to "do it my own way" and completely mess it up for himself, and usually for everyone else around him.  What would happen if we would just do what God says, and follow exactly the way He says to do it? I felt a nudge from the Lord to tell my wife something...something I KNEW would become an argument, because it did the last 3 times I brought up the topic. It's a topic regarding a particular family devotion that has been a point of contention which, in the past, had left us both with hurt feelings.  The nudge was to reintroduce the topic, and to state it in a very specific way:  " I want us to start doing [this particular devotion]". I prayed about it and reminded the Lord ( because hey, who doesn't think that the Lord needs us to remind Him of things?? ) that this was a very contentious topic, and I was not up for having the argument, because it's not something obliga...
Read more

Drive-Thru Christianity

Image
I noticed it this past Ash Wednesday, as the local news channel was covering "drive-thru ashes" for Christians who wanted to get their Wednesday ashes but didn't have time to stop into a formal service or Mass. Various denominations had set up stops in various places for people to stop by for a quick dusting upon their foreheads, grab a donut and coffee, and then go about their busy day. I'm sure the intention was genuine: meet people where they are in their lives and attempt to bring bits of the faith to them. It's a good sentiment. But that's about all it is, and I believe it delivers a message that completely contradicts the whole point of "Ash Wednesday" from the very start. Here's the message: "We know you are busy and don't have time to 'make time' for things of the faith, so we'll make it more convenient for you so that your faith life doesn't get in the way of your 'other' life". But isn...
Read more