Deleting Sin

To elicit our response to his mercy more effectively, the Lord may present himself in many postures – for instance, as the Good Shepherd who seeks out and rescues his beloved lamb that has strayed into the brambles of sin. We can at any time bleat out our cry for help to our Good Shepherd and allow him to disentangle us from whatever thornbush into which we have plodded. Or we may see him and draw near to him as the Master who adroitly saved the adulteress from death by stoning. And ultimately, we see the dying Christ extending mercy to the criminals on either side of him, as well as forgiveness in those who are executing him.

When we encounter the Lord in any of his postures of mercy, he is ready to hear our humble petition uttered in the spirit of the psalmist: “Hide your face from my sins, and blot our all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me: (Psalm 51:9-10). Immediately if or repentance is authentic by virtue of our firm purpose of amendment,” we are made “pure of heart” – that is, soul-cleansed and assured that we are blessed: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). Among other reasons, we are blessed because the damaging moral build or even the feelings of guild (emotional guilt, formerly called a :guilt complex”) no longer harass us.

Sincere repentance is the “delete button” on the keyboard of the soul. Once sin is deleted, nothing can revive that particular sin – although any future mistake (sin) will require another stroke of the “delete key” to again assure the soul’s cleanliness. It is like the action of a car’s windshield wiper, which cleanses repeatedly whether set to wipe frequently or with delays between strokes.

At the time of sincere repentance, the soul should allow nothing to eclipse the conviction of its restored innocence through Jesus’ redeeming death. Consider Paul’s forceful contention:

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril or sword?...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors…For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35-39, bold emphasis mine)

This excerpt is from the book The Awesome Mercy of God, by John H. Hampsch,C.M.F., originally published by Servant Books. It and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/visual materials can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408.