“So many times people say that they feel there are some Commandments they do not sin against, that their sins are pretty much of the same nature all the time. They categorize their sins only into the activities they are involved with, the people they live with, and/or their personal weaknesses.
Some people say the only sins they commit are sins of anger, impatience, mistrust, because of their association with a particular person or persons. Some people say that they go to Mass on Sunday, they have few friends, and little time for anything, so their interpretation of sin is many times put into a ‘blind spot’, and they sincerely do not see how many times they offend God, or the degree of offense.
Many times people forget that neglecting their responsibilities, their acts of charity, their good example, can be sinful. Sometimes people sin constantly, through lies, impatience, cunningness, indifference, defiance, and with each of these, they feel it stems from the fact that they must stick up for themselves and fight in the only way they know how; of course, for reasons they determine are justifiable.
Sins wear many disguises, and sins radiate many colors. Sins touch many people’s lives when they are committed in any way, for any reason. Sins have the distinctness of being the result of an individual’s will.
A harsh word said in an unjust way can cause more than hurt to one’s relationship or feelings. A harsh word can trigger many sinful actions. The receiver of the harsh word can feel the necessity to retaliate violently, vehemently, in protection of his or her own ego, pride, or in protection of the event, situation or purpose that triggered this harsh word; not that he or she is right, but is definitely wrong in carrying on in such a manner.
This type of chain reaction can encourage sinful thinking, speech, action, and who knows how many people can become infected by the one harsh word. Sin is not just minor when it affects so much and so many.
Confessing a sin in the confessional many times is done so ‘hit and miss’ that the real sin, the degree of it, the reason for it, is never touched on. Men have a way of ‘icing’ what they do not want to reveal, and using the ‘icing’ to slide across the ‘real meat’ of the subject, creating a ‘tangled web of deception’, never really facing the sin so they can correct it for the good of their Soul.
Such an unhappy situation stems from a lack of self-control and a lack of self-discipline. These two ingredients of our dealing with others are the stabilizing force of our justice and injustice with other people.”
