Counterbalance Against the Dark Side

I wrote this post last year about the difference between feeling convicted and feeling accused. I try to keep this in mind, but truth is, when I examine myself, I find a considerable focus on the negative.

I want to be honest with myself, so I really think about where I may have gone wrong or tripped up or whatever. That's okay I guess, but where the problem lies is in that I often find myself over-analyzing or seeing negative "patterns" in my life. Maybe not so bad either if that leads to identifying areas in my life that I need to take to God in prayer or to cooperate with His Grace in overcoming certain obstacles. But I realize it's more than that. It's often "the accuser" at work.

I am trying to learn to counterbalance the honest examination of faults with the honest examination of goodness.

Even Darth Vader still had some good in him.

Seriously though, not only is it not spiritually healthy for me to fail to recognize the good I do, but it denies that God is at work in my life; that He has changed me and is changing me.

Well, He is very much at work in my life. I see the evidence of it all around me every day. I thank God for the opportunities He gives me so often to allow me to cooperate with Him in what He is doing not only in my life, but in the lives of others.

After all, I'm not saying that it's my light shining in the darkness. No, any good that I do is but a reflection of God's light in and on my life.

The Pharisees failed to recognize the Kingdom of God in their midst. Although the light of the world was with them, they remained in darkness. Pilate failed to see the Truth standing before Him.

I do not want to make those same mistakes. I want to see the Truth. I want to see the truth clearly in my life, both that which leads me to conviction and correction and that which leads me to thankfulness and rejoicing in God's goodness.

This little light is not mine. It's God's. It belongs to Him. I will not allow it to be extinguished.

Why does the Catholic Church focus so much on sin?

This is my second year preparing second grade children to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I have been sending follow-up e-mails to their parents each week, explaining what we just learned.

This past lesson was on making good choices. We discussed contrition, the difference between mistakes and accidents and sin, the different kinds of sins, and making a good examination of conscience. These are very young children, but they have a pretty good grasp of this information believe it or not.

While composing the e-mail to the parents, I really felt compelled to say something to them about sin and the Catholic Church's motivation for helping us to think about our sins. Here it is, unmodified for this blog posting.

Many times we can wonder why the Catholic Church seems to want us to focus so much on sin. This may be the most important note I can ever pass on to you and to the children: The Church does not want us to beat ourselves up about sin. The Church does not want us to think about our sins so that we feel like we are bad people. The reason that we should think about our sins (examination of conscience) is to find the areas of our life we need to fix in order to heal our relationship with God and to be with Him for eternity; to learn to do better. A good examination of Conscience is a positive thing. It is looking at the way God wants me to live, to compare that to the way I have been living, so that I recognize where I have gotten off track and need to refocus on particular areas of my life, striving to do better with His Grace. And even more, going to God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation is real healing; God's forgiveness and Mercy understood in this way is real power. Like a good parent, the Church wants only the very best for us, what is most important. There is nothing more important than the salvation of souls. This is the mission of the Church., and it is precisely out of love that we are called to this great Sacrament.