Our sinfulness can occasion great love for God

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

THIS is the lesson we can draw from that gospel episode where sinful woman just barged into a party where Christ was and started to offer him a special homage which Christ valued more than what the judgmental host did for him. (cfr. Lk 7,36-50)

Let’s listen to the reasoning of Christ to his host:

“When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment,” Christ reproached his host.

Then came the clincher: “So, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.”

The lesson to learn here is that no matter how many and how grave our sins are, as long as we show signs of repentance, we will always be assured of forgiveness, and that very special favor we received from God can stir in us a love that matches the quantity and gravity of our sins. That is, the more sins we commit and the graver they are, the greater the love for God can come as a consequence.

In other words, though we should try our best to avoid sinning, we cannot deny that one way or another, sooner or later, we all fall into sin. As St. John in his First Letter would put it, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 Jn 1,8)

And yet, in spite of that condition, we are assured of God’s ever-ready and abundant mercy. Thus, it is actually senseless to think that we cannot be forgiven. In fact, we can take advantage of our sinfulness by imitating the example of that sinful woman cited above who due to her sinfulness generated a love greater than that of those who may not be as sinful and may feel less driven to love God.

St. Paul puts it this way in his Letter to the Romans: “Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 5,20-21)

The point to make here is that we should not waste time rotting in feelings of guilt and alienation from God and others since God is eager to forgive us and our sinfulness can occasion a very special kind of love, stronger and deeper this time.

We should not over-react to our sinfulness which is unavoidable in our life. What we should immediately do is to go to God, asking for forgiveness, promising some amendment and reparation for our sins, and when able, to go to confession. Instead, we should make our sinfulness and the mercy accorded to us a stronger motive to love God and others in return.

Let’s never forget that God is always a father to us. He will always understand us and do everything to help us. Before him, we are like little children who cannot avoid making a mess around. Let’s remember that we have to contend not only with our own weaknesses, but also with powerful evil spiritual enemies.

And like God, let us learn how to draw good from evil.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com