Loss of the notion of sin, the greatest sin today
To know Jesus crucified is to know God’s horror of sin, whose guilt could only be washed away in the Precious Blood of the Only-begotten Son of God made Man. Perhaps the greatest sin in the world today is the fact that people have begun to lose the notion of sin. They stifle it, they dampen it – it can hardly be completely eliminated from the heart of man – they do not let it be awakened by any glimpse of the God-Man dying on the Cross of Golgotha to pay the penalty for sin.
Excerpt from: PIUS XII.
Radio Message, 26/10/1946
Trends that favour the decline of the sense of sin
Even in the field of the thought and life of the Church, certain trends inevitably favour the decline of the sense of sin.
For example, some are inclined to replace exaggerated attitudes of the past with other exaggerations: From seeing sin everywhere they pass to not recognizing it anywhere; from too much emphasis on the fear of eternal punishment they pass to preaching a love of God that excludes any punishment deserved by sin; from severity in trying to correct erroneous consciences they pass to a kind of respect for conscience which excludes the duty of telling the truth.
And should it not be added that the confusion caused in the consciences of many of the faithful by differences of opinions and teachings in theology, preaching, catechesis and spiritual direction on serious and delicate questions of Christian morals ends by diminishing the true sense of sin almost to the point of eliminating it altogether?
Excerpt from: ST. JOHN PAUL II.
Reconciliatio et pænitentia, 2/12/1984
False interpretations of sin
The denial of God or the loss of a living sense of His presence has led many of our contemporaries, at times, to give sin sociological, psychological, existentialist or evolutionist interpretations, all of which have in common the characteristic of emptying sin of its tragic seriousness.
This is not the case with Revelation, which instead presents sin as a terrible reality, in the face of which any other temporal evil is always of secondary importance.
Excerpt from: ST. PAUL VI.
Homily, 8/2/1978
Sin is not a simple human error, but an offence against God
An essential characteristic of sin is that it is an offence against God. It is a major occurrence, which includes the perverse act of the creature who consciously and voluntarily opposes the will of his Creator and Lord, violating the law of good and placing himself, by free choice, under the yoke of evil.
It is an act against God’s majesty, and St. Thomas Aquinas has no hesitation in saying that “the sin committed against God has a certain infinitude because of the infinitude of God’s majesty.” It must be said that it is also an act against divine charity, in that it violates the law of friendship and covenant that God has established with His people and with each human being through the Blood of Christ. It is therefore an act of unfaithfulness and, in practice, a rejection of His love.
Sin, therefore, is not simply a human error and not only harms man: it is an offence against God, since the sinner violates His law as Creator and Lord, and wounds His love as Father. Sin cannot be considered exclusively from the point of view of its psychological consequences: sin acquires its meaning in terms of man’s relationship with God.
Excerpt from: ST. JOHN PAUL II.
General Audience, 15/4/1992
To sin is to eliminate God from one’s daily life
If sin is the breaking off of one’s filial relationship to God in order to situate one’s life outside of obedience to Him, then to sin is not merely to deny God. To sin is also to live as if He did not exist, to eliminate Him from one’s daily life.
Excerpt from: ST. JOHN PAUL II.
Reconciliatio et pænitentia, 2/12/1984
More than just a psychological and social matter, a betrayal of God
Sin is not just a psychological and social matter, but an event that corrodes the relationship with God, violating His Law, refusing His plan in history and overturning His set of values, putting darkness for light and light for darkness; in other words, calling evil good and good evil (cf. Is 5:20).
Before finally injuring man, sin is first and foremost a betrayal of God. The words the prodigal son says to his father, whose love is so abundant, capture it well: “Father, I have sinned against Heaven (that is, against God) and before you” (Lk 15:21).
Excerpt from: ST. JOHN PAUL II.
Audience, 8/5/2002
God does not tolerate sin
[Sin] is the profound cause of all evil. However, this affirmation is far from being taken for granted and the very word “sin” is not accepted by many because it implies a religious vision of the world and of the human being. […]
In the face of moral evil, God’s attitude is to oppose sin and to save the sinner. God does not tolerate evil because He is Love, Justice and Fidelity; and for this very reason He does not desire the death of the sinner but wants the sinner to convert and to live. […] God is determined to deliver His children from slavery in order to lead them to freedom. And the most serious and profound slavery is precisely that of sin.
Excerpts from: BENEDICT XVI.
Angelus, 13/3/2011
The error of those who are not troubled by their own sins
The Psalmist confesses his sin candidly, without hesitation: “I know my transgressions…. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done that which is evil in Your sight” (Ps 51:5-6). […] Unfortunately, many do not make this step, as Origen warns: “There are some who after sinning are absolutely at peace and give no further thought to their sin; nor are they troubled by the knowledge of the evil they have committed, but live as though nothing had happened.”
Excerpts from: ST. JOHN PAUL II.
Audience, 8/5/2002
Illusion of “sinlessness”
Deceived by the loss of the sense of sin and at times tempted by an illusion of sinlessness which is not at all Christian, the people of today, too, need to listen again to St. John’s admonition, as addressed to each one of them personally: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 Jn 1:8).
Excerpt from: ST. JOHN PAUL II.
Reconciliatio et pænitentia, 2/12/1984
The need to rediscover the value of Confession
The sins that we commit distance us from God and, if we do not humbly confess them, trusting in divine mercy, they will finally bring about the death of the soul. […]
Let us invoke the Virgin Mary, whom God preserved from every stain of sin so that She may help us to avoid sin and to have frequent recourse to the Sacrament of Confession, the Sacrament of forgiveness, whose value and importance for our Christian life must be rediscovered today.
Excerpts from: BENEDICT XVI.
Angelus, 15/2/2009
