Third Thursday in Lent.
THE NATURE OF SIN.
(Continued.)
1. We have seen how that we can sin against God’s Commandments, by thought, and by word. We can also sin against Him by act, and by omission. We daily say, “We have offended against Thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done.”
We will therefore now consider sins ofcommissionand sins ofomission.
2. We commit sins of the first sort, that is, we are guilty ofsins of commission, when we do anything, when we adopt any course of conduct, knowing it to be forbidden by God. It seems hardly necessary to say much about such sins, as they are obvious to all. It is perhaps only necessary to say that we are guilty of sins of commission, when we transgress any of the Commandments of Godin the spirit, as well as in the letter. Our Lord shews us that the Commandments are expanded under the Gospel to include much more than appears on the surface. Consequently any little act of unkindness, any trifling with sensuality, any over-indulgence ineating or drinking, any disrespectful treatment of those who are in authority, are sins of commission, though they are not against the written words of the law. It is therefore right for us to consider what is implied by the written law, and to measure our conduct and weigh our acts by the spirit of charity, by first principles of justice, and then it will be found that we have allowed ourselves many things which are contrary to the spirit of the Gospel. “Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.” (Rom. xiv. 22.)
3. We use much less circumspection aboutsins of omission. It is therefore advisable to consider them more carefully.
We sin by omission when we omit to do those things which
(a) We are commanded by the Law of God.
(b) Our Consciences advise.
(c) We are commanded to do by those set in authority over us.
(d) We are required to do by the State, or social law.
(a) Now it must never be forgotten that our duties as Christians are not merelynegative, to abstain from this and not to do that, but arepositive, to advance the Kingdom of God, and work out our own salvation. Our Lord, in the parable of the unprofitable servant who hid his treasure, shews us this. We must try to discover what active work in His Kingdom He has ordained for us to accomplish, and then do it with all our might. No man has any right to live in idleness. He must do something either for God, or for his fellow men.
(b) We must obey the promptings of our Conscience. If Conscience urges, and we neglect to obey it, we are neglecting the voice of God.
(c) We are bound to obey and execute the commands of those set over us, parents, guardians, masters. If in authority, and they require us to do something, then we cannot omit doing what is ordered without incurring sin; for all authority devolves from God, and we are responsible to God for the way in which we fulfil our duties under those set over us. We must obeyreadily,cheerfully, andexactly.
(d) We are members of the State, and to the laws of the State we are morally bound to give obedience; all organizations, the family, society, the State, are divine in origin, and we cannot revolt against any one of these without lesion of the Spirit of Unity which makes all society possible, and that is the Divine Spirit. It is only when a social or a State law is clearly contrary to revealed Divine law, that disobedience is permissible.
Simple Maltese Cross