Transcription
Thanks for tuning in to Everything Catholic again. And this is going to be a rather long video I'd like to share with you this time. And it's going to be on a very important subject, which is sin and grace. Listen to this.
Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience. It is a failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as an utterance, a deed or a desire contrary to the human law. And this quotation I just took comes from the definition of sin, Article 1845 of the Catholic catechism.
Sin is also an offense against God, against the person who commits it, against their neighbor. Why? Because we are all caught up in an eternal invisible spiritual symbiotic network where St. Paul says where one rejoices all rejoice. Where one weeps all weep. So what one does invariably impacts all others whether they know it or not. Because when God created Adam and Eve in his image and likeness in Eden, in their innocent state, he made them the head, the new Adam, the new Eve, Jesus, and Mary would become of the entire whole human race. Meaning, they're connected invariably with all their offspring. And those who seek to live in God's divine will are likewise connected to all creatures of all time, past, present, future.
Why? How? Because they recover the same primordial interior union of wills enjoyed by Adam and Eve before sin, enjoyed by the angels and saints today in the beatific vision. And how? Because the same one eternal will of the trinity that operated in Adam and Eve's intellect and memory and will operates in us. And that one eternal will that is timeless, transcendent, transtemporal and transpacious operates in us and through us in all others. This transpacious or transpatial will goes into the past, present, future by virtue of God's operation on ours. So sin is a sin against God, against ourselves, against our neighbors because in sinning we deprive them of the influx of grace that without us they will not receive.
Now certainly each and every individual is responsible for their own plight. We are not responsible for the choices of another person directly but we are indirectly responsible for their choices. How? We don't make their choices for them. They do. But we can add to or deprive them of additional grace through our prayers or lack thereof.
For example, the Little Flower. I've given this example before when I was uh a seminarian 40 plus years ago. I came across the letters of the Little Flower in the library. We had a book and very few people know these exist. Saint Thérèse of Lisieux had a book. Well, it wasn't her book. It was a series of letters that was later comprised and published in the form of a book. And her letters of correspondence are from her from her convent in France to her sisters who were there as well, Céline and others as well as her parents and her friends outside of the convent. And in it she talks about how she prayed for a murderer who was about to be put to death in the guillotine. By the way, the last western world to use the guillotine was France and I believe the year was 1939 and it was public guillotine execution. So she knowing from the newspaper that her convent received knew that this man was going to be beheaded in the next week. So what did she do? She garnered together all of her prayers and strength for Masses and communions and offered them up for the conversion of this man and asked God for a sign that her prayers had an impact on him. After his beheading, the newspaper reported in detail how it occurred, stating that moments before the blade beheaded him, he looked to the priest, which customarily the state had put there beside him to confess and to accompany him in the last moments of life. And he laid hold of the pectoral cross around the priest's neck, kissed it three times, and was beheaded. To the Little Flower, that was a sign of his conversion. And rightly so. How did this happen? By the prayers of the Little Flower, she converted this man. Without her prayers, he probably would have been lost.
So you see we can add to the grace that others acquire by their own free choice decisions. We cannot decide for them but we can dispose that to make the right decision. Sort of like that saying you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink. Nonetheless, you can salt the oats so that it wants to drink. Our prayers for others are salting the oats. We don't decide for them but we give them such a strength through God and Mary the Mediatrix of all grace, the correlate, that they will find it difficult to resist the influence that our prayers afford them.
So sin is an offense against God, against the person who commits it, and against their neighbor. Sin sets itself against God's love for us and turns our hearts away from it. Like the first sin of Adam and Eve, sin is an act of disobedience to the will of God. In the season of Lent, we are to focus upon sin and grace especially because sin is a revolt against God's will through the human will in superimposing itself, juxtaposing itself against God in order to be God, knowing and determining good and evil for itself. Sin is therefore in this sense love of oneself even to contempt of God. And in the person's proud self-exaltation, sin is diametrically opposed to the obedience of Jesus who did not come to do his will but the will of the Father in order to achieve our salvation.
Now Jesus could not sin in his human nature. No. Why? Because governing his human and divine natures was only one person, not two. He had two wills, but one divine person that is impeccable, that is perfect, that is complete, and that person is only divine. If the divine person of Jesus was able to commit sin, it would upset for all eternity the Trinity of persons, which it could not do because it could not sin. The divine person cannot and does not sin. We on the other hand, recipients of Jesus' grace acquired by his divine person that assumed a human nature like ours, participate in the divine nature by grace. Jesus participates in the human nature by nature and he participates in the divine nature by nature. Why not by grace? Because he is grace. It's his nature to give and to be grace.
Because of original sin, our human natures were impaired. Whereby we are all conceived with an impaired intellect and impaired memory and impaired will, free properties of our human nature, not our human person. Nature, intellect and memory are part of the divine nature in the Trinity of persons and human nature in our human person. And when Jesus took upon himself a human nature by virtue of his divine nature and divine person coming down in the form through the hypostatic union in the form of a human being as St. Paul relates in his letter to the Philippians, though he was in the form of God he did not deem equality with God etc. He imparted to our human natures his divine nature which we participate in by grace.
So the hypostatic union of Christ saved the human race because by virtue of that hypostatic union, Christ became fully human though being fully divine in order to through his passion, death, and resurrection and sending forth of the Spirit ransom us from Satan's rightful claim upon all mankind. And that rightful claim condemned all of us. They were all destined for death. As St. Paul says, as one man sinned, all inherited death. So through one man, we all inherit eternal life, namely Jesus Christ who conquered death and Satan and freed us, opening the gates of heaven.
So it is precisely in the passion of Christ when the mercy of Christ is about to vanquish it that sin most clearly manifests its violence and its many forms through Satan who brought sin into creation. The catechism 1851 states, unbelief, murderous hatred, shunning, mockery by the leaders and the people. Pilate's cowardice and the cruelty of the soldiers. Judas' betrayal so bitter to Jesus. Peter's denial and the disciples' flight. All of these manifestations of violence and its many forms, the many forms of sin were conquered by Jesus' passion and through his mercy. However, at the very hour of darkness, the hour of the prince of this world, the sacrifice of Christ secretly becomes the source from which the forgiveness of our sins will pour forth inexhaustibly.
So, I mentioned sin here, what sin was, how Lazarus represented all mankind steeped in sin. Not that he was sin, but he represented it. And despite this putrefaction, he came back to a state of immaculate, as it were. By virtue of the power of the divine will in Christ's divine word that called him back to life.
Now grace, the antithesis to sin, is at work in each and every one of us. But before I go on to the power of grace that overcomes sin, let me remind you of how grace is at work, overcoming sin in all of God's children, not just Catholics, not just, let's say, those who receive the sacraments, including the Orthodox, but also in all the baptized by sacrament, desire, or blood. All humans with or without the sacraments can be saved. Certainly those who receive the sacraments have more grace that comes through the sacraments known as sacramental grace. They don't have that. But they can still be saved as the Vatican Council articulates in its work in *Gaudium et Spes*, Article 60.
Let us take for example the sacrament of confession, which is the ordinary means for the forgiveness of grave sin. Although there are other means of forgiveness of venial sin. The Code of Canon Law in the Catholic Church, Article 960, for example, states, "Individual and integral confession and absolution constitute the only ordinary means by which a member of the faithful conscious of grave sin is reconciled with God and the Church." So here it's stating that confession and absolution constitute the only ordinary means by which we are reconciled with God in the Church from grave sin. It adds, "Only physical or moral impossibility excuses from confession of this type."
So if a person, for example, is born due to no fault of their own, but by virtue of the love of their parents in another religion, a member of the Ten Commandments, "Honor your father and mother." If you're born in a family in an indigenous area or even non-indigenous, but that is not receiving the sacraments, that is not your fault as a child. You honor your parents. You honor the religion they worship. They use something they follow and you are not responsible for that religion if it does not honor true honor to Jesus Christ. You are exercising a virtue by virtue of the commandment to honor your parents. God sees that. We don't. So if you are born in a religion that does not offer true honor to Jesus Christ or that does not receive the sacraments as a child, that's not your fault. You're guiltless. So this is a physical and moral impossibility to receive the sacraments. So here canon law states, "Only physical and moral impossibility excuses from sacramental confession." In such a case, reconciliation can be obtained by other means. Something that we don't often hear about. We often hear these brimstone doom and gloom preachers saying, "If you don't sacramentally confess for grave sin, you go to hell," which is true on the surface. But what they don't add, and maybe it's not necessary to add this when speaking to a group of Catholics obviously, but when speaking in an ecumenical gathering, it should be added that those, however, due to no fault of their own, do not have access to the sacraments, meaning they're not properly catechized to receive them worthily due to no fault of their own, can obtain reconciliation by other means.
But we priests in the Catholic Church, as well as the Orthodox, both of which have the sacraments, have a moral obligation to not refuse anyone God's forgiveness, even if they're not Catholic, but are properly baptized. And yet, I know of individuals, priests who have refused baptized individuals from confession. And this is a travesty. They forgot their canon 844. They forgot their canon 844. I think it's 844. Speaking it off the cuff, which states that all the baptized have a right, provided they are properly disposed, to receive the sacraments of confession, communion, and anointing of the sick. And I put out an article explaining exactly what properly disposed means. And that article is entitled, "Can a Non-Catholic Receive the Sacraments of the Church?" And I cite this canon 960 that I just shared with you in part. I cite canon 914, 52. I cite canon 844. Yes, I'm correct. Canon 844, Article 4 states, "If the danger of death is present or, and this is the key punctuation, or if in the judgment of the diocesan bishop or conference of bishops some other grave necessity urges it," and there I explain what "some other grave necessity" means. It doesn't mean death. Catholic ministers administer the sacraments of confession, communion, anointing of the sick, licitly, meaning in good standing, also to other Christians not having full communion with the Catholic Church who cannot approach a minister of their own community because obviously they don't have the sacraments and who seeks such of their own accord, meaning a minister who has the sacraments, provided that they manifest Catholic faith in respect to these sacraments and are properly disposed. Meaning, if they want to receive the sacrament, they believe that they're truly absolved of grave sin by virtue of the sacrament which communicates Christ's saving passion, death, resurrection and blood which contain the sacraments to us. And if they receive the Eucharist, that it is truly the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ, not just a symbol.
Now the question is, what is "other grave necessity"? Well, this was answered. The Diocese of Rockville Center, the diocese in which I was born in New York, put out a work entitled "Special Circumstances for the Admission of Other Christians to Communion at Catholic Celebrations of the Eucharist in the Diocese of Rockville Center." And this work, formally approved by the Most Reverend Bishop John McGann in 1999, states, "Grave necessity, which is mentioned in canon, the Code of Canon Law, canon 844, which is required for non-Catholics to receive one of these sacraments or all three, grave necessity is understood to mean a condition in which being deprived of the Eucharist would, in the judgment of a reasonable person, cause someone to experience a significant sense of deprivation." That's what grave necessity means. Most people uninformed think that means the point of death. It does not. And Pope John Paul II also spoke about this and he added that all the baptized have a right to these three sacraments provided they are properly disposed, meaning believe in these sacraments as Catholics do and are meeting the condition of grave necessity, which does not mean the point of death, but means a condition in which being deprived of the Eucharist would cause someone to experience a significant sense of deprivation.
Now, this obviously means more than casually wanting to receive the Eucharist like a piece of bread. No, of course not. It's manifesting Catholic faith in the sacrament and desiring it. And a Catholic priest should not refuse a baptized person that has met this criterion or these two criteria from receiving it. Okay? Now, certainly they must approach a minister of their own accord. They must manifest belief in these sacraments as Catholics do and be properly disposed.
So sin, as this catechism, sorry, this canon law article 916 states, may be given a sacra- this, sorry, this absolution may be given by other means if the person cannot go to sacramental confession. Sacramental confession is the ordinary means by which a member of the faithful is free from conscious grave sin. But if physical or moral impossibility excuses a person because they're not raised in the Catholic faith from this type of sacramental confession, it can be obtained by other means. Canon 960 states. What are these other means? Apart from the sacrament of confession. Let's take for example canon 960 that I already quoted in part to you. I quoted canon 916, canon 960. I mentioned 1452 and then canon 844.
Now the Church's Code of Canon Law adds that if a person, including a Catholic, a baptized individual, is conscious of a grave sin and there's no way to go to a priest, if they make a perfect act of contrition, they may receive communion provided that they intend to go to a priest as soon as they can. Okay? Now, the Church does not specify all the circumstances in which a person wishes to go to communion in a state of grace or feels that they have to. But several moral theologians have given circumstances, and these moral theologians' opinions are in works on moral theology approved by the Church, and I mentioned a few in the past. But to limit myself to the point I wish to convey here, I wish to state that if a person, including a Catholic, is in a state of grave sin and they are to go to receive communion and they don't have the opportunity to confess to a priest, they may do so provided that they make a perfect act of contrition that confers actual grace upon the recipient, not sacramental grace, which takes away that grave sin on the condition that that individual intends to sacramentally confess as soon as possible.
So here is an occasion where God will give even to a Catholic in an extraordinary circumstance absolution without sacramental confession for a grave sin. This is approved by the Church. So what is this grace that this person receives without the sacrament that absolves them from grave sin with the intention of them confessing to a priest as soon as they can? It's actual grace, not sacramental grace, which suggests that actual grace is, in certain circumstances, on certain occasions, an efficacious means for the forgiveness of grave sin when sacramental grace is not available.
Now with respect to sacramental confession that confers sacramental grace and non-sacramental confession that confers actual grace, both derive from the sanctifying grace one receives at baptism. And that is why baptism is a prerequisite for being forgiven of grave sin. Baptism of sacrament, baptism of desire, baptism of blood. Article 1999 of the Catholic Catechism states, "Sanctifying grace, which we receive at baptism, is a permanent disposition, meaning a habitus in Latin, habit, that heals the soul of original and personal sin and sanctifies it. It is distinguished from actual grace, which refers to God's interventions, whether at the beginning of conversion or in the course of the work of sanctification, and from sacramental grace, which refers to an efficacious effect upon the soul." Although with an act of perfect contrition, one is forgiven of grave sin, let me repeat that. Although with an act of perfect contrition, one is forgiven of grave sin, the sacramental grace that derives from the sacrament of confession has primacy over the actual grace received without the sacrament. For in the sacrament, Christ himself is at work, who acts in the sacrament, which acts *ex opere operato*. And the sacrament is not wrought by the righteousness of the recipient, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, who establishes in the recipient a living union with Jesus Christ. You can find references to what I'm summarizing here in the Catholic Catechism, Articles 1127, 1128, 1129, and these canons I articulated. And remember, each sacrament imparts a distinctive sacramental grace based on its particular purpose in the supernatural life of the soul. Whether it's a sacrament of confession, communion, or anointing of the sick, to which all the baptized have a right, provided they are properly disposed, there's no possibility of receiving it otherwise from their own ministers, and that without it they would experience a significant sense of deprivation.
Well, I guess that is all for the video this time. Again, thanks so much for your time spent here with us and hopefully all of you have learned a lot from this one. Much love to all of you and may God bless you.