Catecismo da Igreja Católica
§ 545 Jesus invites sinners to the table of the Kingdom: “I came not to call the righteous, ut sinners” (Mk 2:17). He invites them to that conversion without which one cannot enter the Kingdom, but shows them in word and deed His Father’s boundless mercy for them and the vast “joy in Heaven over one sinner who repents” (Lk 15:7). The supreme proof of His love will be the sacrifice of His own life “for the forgiveness of sins” (Mt 26:28).
The call made by Our Lord in the passage from St. Mark recalled by the Catechism seems to us to be addressed to people who live outside the Catholic Church, in the habitual practice of the most diverse sins, and who therefore need to be converted from their evil deeds.
But as for those who have received the cleansing waters of Baptism, practise the Commandments of God and the Church, frequent the Sacraments, pray, receive Communion… have they not ceased to be sinners? They have already passed from paganism to the Faith, from perversity to virtue, and it would seem they no longer need conversion. Is that really the case?
The Beloved Disciple cautions us: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn 1:8-9).
And the great St. Paul says: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I am the foremost of sinners” (1 Tm 1:15).
There are deeds of unrighteousness, such as those mentioned by the Apostle (cf. 1 Cor 6:9-10) and many others that are equally deserving of hell; these are mortal sins.1 But there are also faults of lesser gravity that still offend God, called venial sins,2 which every man conceived in original sin commits daily, many times without fully realizing it… And there are also deeds less in keeping with God’s will for a given person in a given circumstance, and these are called imperfections.
Solomon reminds us that “a righteous man falls seven times” a day, “and rises again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity” (Prv 24:16). What most distinguishes hardened sinners from those who try to practise virtue is the latter’s constant desire to get back on their feet, to grow in love for God, to become holy.
Those who wish to practise the Divine Law must, therefore, not only strive to eliminate venial sins but also imperfections, and thus to keep the temple of their heart holier than the Temple of Jerusalem. Indeed, the soul of the righteous shines not with the lustre of gold or silver, but with the grace of the Holy Spirit; and instead of an Ark with its Cherubim, it is inhabited by Christ, His Father and the Paraclete.3 ◊
Notes
1 Cf. CCC 1854-1861.
2 Cf. CCC 1862-1863.
3 Cf. ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. Première exhortation a Théodore après sa chute. In: Œuvres Complètes. Paris: Louis Vivès, 1865, t.I, p.22.
