Sin

I used to do a church crawl in London finding for a place where I could worship. I noticed that many priests were afraid to talk about sin, the devil, hell, punishment and Fr Alan never had any problems talking about these topics.

I found Ogle Street in the early 1990's with a number of my friends and we used to drive in a convoy from West London to Central London each Sunday to listen to Fr Alan preaching the most wonderful sermons, calling us to turn to Jesus and to lead a Christian life.

We all loved his sermons and how he used to make the readings from the Bible alive for all of us.

So what did Fr Alan say about sin?

Fr Alan talked about private, public, habitual sins. 

So if I were to sit there thinking of someone leaving half his food on his plate and how he has robbed the starving by wasting food, then I have committed a private sin, judging this person with my heart, and other people who not have known about this. 

If I were to cause a sandal by stealing someone's husband, than that sin would be public and everybody would know about it.

As for private sin, nobody would know about it and I could have sinned, and rot away like Lazarus who had died, buried and was rotten when Jesus called him out of his grave. In another word, I could have sinned privately, rotten to the core and nobody would know about it, until Jesus calls me to repent. 

However, both private and public sins have consequences and these sins damage us, the sinner, and other people around us.

Fr Alan also talked habitual sins, which were sins which we could not get rid of - such as gambling, taking drugs, watching ponography, masterbating and some of these sins could be private sins, where nobody would know that one has committed such sins, but nevertheless these sins would cause self damage and also to those around us. 

Allan Wing reminded me that Fr Alan said, "Some people finds it difficult to cut with their sins because the sins are pleasurable [as in enjoyable]."  I believe only God can call us out of this type of pleasurable sin by doing something big in our lives and giving us a huge shock. This could be in a form of "punishment".

Fr Alan used to say, "You will be punished!"  What does punishment mean? God punishes us by calling us to order because he loves us. God is trying to redeem us from our bad ways of hurting other people or ourselves, and God puts something shocking in our lives so we can change and make a cut with our sins. God does this completely out of love. God our Father is a good parent, and like good parents, God disciplines us, so we can grow closer towards him and love him more and stop sinning.

Fr Alan also said, "Some people think sexual sins are the worst sins." Fr Alan said, "The worst sins are those pertaining to money."  

Fr Alan used to tell us about how families would split up because of a Will. Family members would fight over money and how money could drive some people to do very strange things. This is why avarice is one of the seven deadly sins. 

However, do remember of God's mercy and God is always merciful and all of these sins could be forgiven. 

So, go to confession and ask for forgivenss and even before you walk into the box, God has already forgiven your sin. 

What I like about going to Fr Alan for confession was that he could tell me my sins, and he would also explain to me why I have committed these sins and how I could avoid committing these sins. I suppose Fr Alan knew me very well.

I remembered on one Holy Saturday morning when a group of us had just finished cleaning the church to get ready for the great feast of Easter. Fr Alan came to me and told me to stop eating junk food. How did know I had been eating convenience food and eating out frequently?  I felt Fr Alan could see through me. I never told Fr Alan about my eating habits. With that remark from Fr Alan, I could walk away from destroying my body and began eating healthy. 

Only grace from God can help all of us not to sin again. Do not be afraid of our sinful nature. God loves us with all our sins. Just ask from God the grace not to sin again.

I am going to give you the advice which Fr Alan gave to me when I used to go to confession with him.  Fr Alan would say to me, "Be kind to yourself. Throw yourself onto the Throne of Mercy." 

So throw yourself onto the Throne of Mercy and be kind and gentle to yourself. Remember God is love and mercy. 

And finally, there is nothing to be ashamed of that we are all sinners. I think it is very cool to pray for the Word of God to act as a mirror to show us our sins. 

Almighty and ever living God, thank you for your love and mercy, always forgiving me. Please give me the grace not to sin again. Amen.