Lent is principally concerned with repentance for and conversion from sin. What is sin, anyway? And

how do we repent and convert?

The Catholic Encyclopedia says, “Sin is nothing else than a morally bad act, an act not in accord with

and our acts must conform with these dictates, otherwise we sin (Romans 14:23).”

In plain English, we sin when we freely choose to do something we know to be opposed to God’s purpose

for ourselves or others. This misuse of our free will brings disorder to God’s creation, and it disturbs (or

destroys) grace, the life of the Trinity within us. Our sin can be internal or external, it can be of

commission or omission, and it can be of grave or simple matter.

Let’s look at sin by using the Confiteor, which we say together at the beginning of Mass. We say, “I

confess to Almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters, that . . .”

“…I have sinned through my own fault…” Our sins are always acts of our free will and thus our own

fault. If we truly have no choice, if it is an accident, or if our free will is somehow limited by external

circumstances, then there is no real sin, regardless of the consequences. However, when we look at an

action to determine whether it was sinful, we have to be careful not to minimize our culpability by

rationalizing a diminished freedom to act. The first step in being sorry for our sins is acknowledging our

own responsibility for them.

“…in my thoughts and in my words…” Most of us can grasp how our external speech and actions can

be sinful, but we also have to acknowledge that our thoughts can be sinful also. We know that the Ten

Commandments tell us, for example, not to covet – an action that is entirely internal. While all of us

experience temptations and thoughts that appear as if out of nowhere (and are not, in themselves, sinful),

when we take pleasure in or entertain thoughts that are inconsistent with God’s will and His plan for

salvation we act sinfully.

“…in what I have done and in what I have failed to do…” Not only are we called to avoid

wrongdoing, but we are called to positive action in furtherance of God’s plan. So we can sin not only by

doing something we know is wrong (stealing, for example) but also by failing to do something we know

we ought to do (for example, passing on our faith to the next generation). When we go to confession, it’s

likely that we devote much attention to our sins of commission, but we often neglect the (many) sins of

omission that are part of all our lives.

to pray for me to the Lord our God.” Think about this part of the text: I ask the Blessed Mother, the

whole host of Heaven, and the whole Church on earth to pray to God for my sins. The sins of one person

are that serious, that disturbing to the whole of Creation, that damaging to God’s plan, that they require the

prayerful intercession of the rest of Creation to undo the damage they’ve done! We need to understand

just how negative a force our sins are in this world – if we truly understood this, we’d never sin again!

For the next installment, we’ll explore the distinctions between mortal and venial sin, and we’ll look at

penance, reparation and Divine Justice.

May the Lord bless you with His Wisdom this Lent, that you may know His Will and put it into place in

your life.

Fr. Jim