Pope Pius XII stated, with respect to the understanding of sin, “The sin of the century is the loss of the sense of sin.” This statement took place close to 75 years ago, in a society which by and large had embraced Judeo-Christian values. Those were the days in which probably close to 75% of Catholics in the USA, Europe and Latin America practiced the faith, at least by attending Holy Mass every Sunday.

Today many so-called believers, due to mediocre to poor catechesis, have an extremely poorly formed conscience. How often have we experienced the following scenario! You have guests Saturday evening and in the early evening (about 4:30) you excuse yourself from the company. One of the guests politely asks where you are going; your response, “To Church!” “Why Church?” he asks? Your response, “I am going to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.” The interested guests blurts out: “Why, what have you done?” Of course you respond by saying that is private between you, the Confessor, and God. With courtesy and politeness, you invite him to come along with you to Confession! Often the response is the following: “I do not have any sins. I have not robbed a bank, or killed anyone!”

The above scenario is very telling to say the least! What surfaces in this conversation is the fact that many Catholics, those who have been brought up and raised in the past half-century or more, have not received a good catechetical formation. This includes the sad fact that their conscience has been poorly formed, inadequately formed, perhaps is deformed, or not even formed at all.

Keenly aware of this sad reality of a society in which the sin of the century is the loss of the sense of sin, Pope Saint John Paul II, elected Pope about 20 years after the death of now Ven. Pope Pius XII, went to work.

One of the first Synods that he convened was precisely on the topic of sin, the conscience, the loss of the sense of sin, and the call to return to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, also known as Confession, Penance, and the Sacrament of God’s Mercy.

After the Synod terminated its studies, interventions and collating of all the contributions, a Post Synod Document was published and promulgated. The official title of this Document was: “Reconciliatio Paenitentia”— in English: “Reconciliation and Penance” (December 2, 1984), an Apostolic Exhortation.

As an intellectual and theological tool to foster a knowledge of sin, the conscience, and a beckoning to return to the reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, this is a spiritual and literary masterpiece.

However, our purpose in this brief essay is to highlight and explain succinctly not simply the reality of sin and the loss of the sense of sin, but to accentuate the lethal effects that sin produces in the person, in the Church, in the society, and in the world at large.

In a society that either negates the reality of sin, or at least trivializes sin as basically insignificant, Pope Saint John Paul II does not mince words in elaborating on the lethal effects of sin.

Therefore, this essay will focus simply on one of the key aspects of sin—its deadly effects; not as seen in the eyes of the world, but as seen by God. The Holy Pontiff actually lists five effects of sin that we will explain succinctly and in any orderly fashion. Every sin has with it these five effects: 1) Theological, 2) Social, 3) Personal, 4) Ecclesial, and 5) Cosmic. We will proceed to explain these effects one at a time.

THE FIVE EFFECTS THAT EVERY SIN PRODUCES—FROM WITHIN TO WITHOUT.

1. THEOLOGICAL EFFECT.  The word actually refers to God Himself. “Theology is the study of God.” Now every time we make the decision to sin, be it in thought, or word, or deed, or even omission, there is an immediate offense against God. It must be emphasized: first and foremost, every sin that is committed is essentially an offense against God. He is the Primary and Principal Person who is offended. Two ideas to drive the point home! Every time we lift our gaze and contemplate Jesus hanging on the cross, shedding every drop of His Precious Blood, we see that Jesus really and truly suffered His Passion and death due to your sins and mine. The Baltimore Catechism portrays a boy nailing Jesus to the cross with the three letters SIN written on the back of his shirt—very graphic and easy to comprehend!

2. SOCIAL EFFECT.  After Cain killed his brother Able due to jealousy, envy, anger and hatred, the murderer blurted out the defiant question: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gn. 4:9) The response is an unequivocal YES!!! It is true, as Saint Paul reminds us, that we have to work out our salvation in fear and trembling. However, Jesus taught time and time again that we should be intent on caring for our brothers and sisters. Remember the Good Samaritan! (Lk. 10: 25-37) Remember the Corporal Works of Mercy: Feeding the hungry, slaking the thirst of the thirsty, helping a stranger, those in need of clothing, attending the sick and imprisoned. (Mt. 25: 31-45) The good we do or fail to do to our neighbor, we do to Jesus.

3. PERSONAL EFFECT.  Not only does our sin hurt God, and wound and hurt our neighbor, but sin also hurts us. Serious sins, Pope Saint John Paul II stated, can be seen as moral suicide. Actually, every time we personally decide to commit a mortal sin, it indeed is a form of moral suicide. In a word, the effects are both toxic and lethal! By committing a mortal sin, the poison of sin contaminates that person in their individual nature. Reflect on the various effects: the temporary loss of God and the gift of sanctifying grace, the loss of His Friendship, the darkening of the mind and weakening of the will. There are still other effects on the person committing mortal sin: sadness permeates their whole being; peace disappears; deprivation of the ability to receive Holy Communion; and the sin can become a vice, that is to say, sin repeated. Worst of all, if one dies in the state of mortal sin, they lose their soul for all eternity. How important it is for us to meditate upon the effects of sin in our own personal lives; and consequently, to repent of mortal sin, have recourse to Confession as soon as possible, and thus return to God’s Friendship.

4. ECCLESIAL EFFECT.  Pope Saint John XXIII published an Encyclical Letter on the Church with the title—Mater Magistra—Mother and Teacher. Two of the primary functions of the Church is to be our Mother in the order and economy of grace, as well as Teacher of the Truth. Sad to say, our sin not only hurts God, our neighbor, and ourselves but also the Church, our Mother and our Teacher. There are countless examples of how members of the Church have done irreparable damage as a result of their sins. Perhaps two of the most evident and glaring examples would be in the persons and the actions of a King and an Augustinian priest: Henry VIII and Martin Luther. As a result of the actions and lives of these two individuals, who lived close to the same time frame, irreparable damage was done to the Church on a global scale. The Catholic Church of England almost overnight went from Catholic to Anglican—the Church of England governed by the King himself. Then in strong Catholic Germany, Luther was instrumental in cutting it in half—the Northern part became Protestant and the Southern, the majority, remained Catholic. This is the Ecclesial effect of sin, on how our sin can damage the Church, our Mother and Teacher.

5. COSMIC EFFECT OF SIN.  The final effect of sin, as explained by Pope Saint John Paul II, is called the COSMIC EFFECT OF SIN. Not only does sin damage our relationship with God, damage our relationship with others in society, damage our very self, as well as the Church, but sin also damages the world in which we live. This is the cosmic effect. Perhaps the best way to portray the Cosmic Effect of Sin is through contemplating the effects of war, and wars upon the world at large. Our Lady of Fatima stated that war comes as a result of sin. She warned the world, in the midst of World War I, that if people did not stop sinning and start praying more, than a worse World War would explode. Indeed, it happened—the Second World War. The Cosmic Effect of Sin results in the damage and devastation of nature. Due to wars how many disasters in nature occur: animals destroyed, rivers and water bodies polluted, trees, plants and forests devastated. Studies have even pointed out that as a result of the atomic bomb and nuclear chemical elements even the gene pool of those exposed has been damaged.

In conclusion, as a result of the Original Sin, the Sin of Adam and Eve (our first parents), there was unleashed a moral/spiritual tsunami that has repercussions in the world until the very end of time. All times, persons, and places have been profoundly affected by the Original Sin of Adam and Eve. Indeed, every sin committed since, even in the most remote regions, leaves its effect. Pope Saint John Paul the Great described it masterfully in his Apostolic Exhortation Reconciliation and Penance. Every sin has its theological, social, personal, ecclesial and cosmic effect.

May we all make a concerted effort to form our conscience in the light of the Word of God and the Magisterial Teachings, and live according to our conscience. May the holiness, light and wisdom of Pope Saint John Paul the II be a true light on our path leading to the Light of Eternal Beatitude in Heaven!

Jesus stated with great clarity that sin is actually slavery; He came to give us freedom, the freedom of the sons and daughters of God. Saint Augustine, who was actually a slave to his sexual passions until he was 31, later on in The Confessions stated: “O Lord, you have made our hearts for thee; our heart is not at peace until it rests in thee.” Augustine stated himself that he could not conquer his sexual addiction right away; such was the case that he was known to have said: “Lord, give me chastity, but not yet.”

Addictions and slavery are many. In a real sense, we are all born with a void or hole, an empty vacuum in our souls. It must be filled! Either it will be filled with God Himself or a false god, an idol, a fake, a reflection but not the reality. Once again Saint Augustine taught: “The human heart is called to love. However, we must choose the object of our love and then love with all our heart.” If the object of our heart, which is actually a Person—Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ—is not discovered, then there is a real danger!!! The danger is that we can easily fall in love with a false-god, and there are many, and we can be both addicted and enslaved.  

What then are some of the idols, the false-gods that enslave us and lead to binding addictions? Actually, they come in many different shapes and sizes, but there indeed are many. The following is a concrete list of addictions: drinking (alcoholism), drug abuse, sexual addictions including that of pornography, the Casino and gambling, compulsive buying (“shop until you drop”), overuse of the cell-phone, overeating (gluttony), gossiping, video-games, vacationing and over-sleeping. All of these can become addictions and there are still many more.

BLINDNESS TO THE PROBLEM. One of the worst enemies to conquering any problem, false-idol, or deep-rooted addiction is the blindness, or better yet, the unwillingness to humbly admit that there exists this problem. There is a Spanish proverb that expresses this clearly: “No hay peor ciego que aquel que no quiere ver; no hay peor sordo que aquel que no quiere oir.” Translation: “No worse blind person than the one who does not want to see; no worse deaf person than the one who does not want to hear.”

Therefore, one of the first steps in overcoming any vice, sin or addiction is to humbly admit that we have that problem. In other words, we cannot enter into denial, or rationalize, or let’s be blunt, we cannot lie to ourselves. 

Once we can come to terms with the reality that we have a problem and that we cannot resolve it by our own meager efforts, then we have already entered onto the Highway of healing, happiness, wholeness and holiness!!!

As a result of Original Sin, all of humanity, with the exception of Jesus who is the Son of God and Mary who is the Immaculate Conception and the sinless one, are wounded. The wounds are deep in our minds, our emotions, our hearts, our souls, and even our bodies. We are all in a real sense a walking, gaping wound.

This is the dynamic! Jesus is THE WOUNDED HEALER. Either we will be wounded-wounders or we will be wounded-healers. How will this play out? Quite simply as such, if we live with our wounds and make no effort whatsoever to heal these gaping wounds, then the wounds will grow bigger and bigger.  However, if we seek healing, then we indeed can be healed. 

Our healing can come about only by approaching with great confidence Jesus, THE WOUNDED HEALER. He can definitely and efficaciously heal our wounds. Peruse and meditate upon the Gospels, most specifically on the encounters between Jesus and the many sick, infirm, suffering, dejected and rejected gaping-wounded of His time.

NEVER REJECTION: YES, HEALING! The interesting fact of the Life of Jesus is that He rejected nobody who came to Him with faith, humility, and confidence. Quite the contrary, Jesus the WOUNDED-HEALER, would heal, and almost always the healing would be both immediate and total, and without cost!

WHO WERE THESE? Many of those who had these gaping wounds were drawn to Jesus as if He were a Human Magnet, from all times and places. Just to mention a few: the paralytic carried by the four, the lepers, the blind, the deaf and the mute, the woman with the blood-flow, the man with the withered hand. All of these wounded persons were loved by Jesus and He healed them immediately, totally, and unreservedly. These were the wounded of the society who sought their healing from Jesus, the Divine Physician.

THE WOUNDED LAMB. The Prophet Isaiah made this prophecy of the Suffering Servant and his wounds—all pointing to Jesus who would become this wounded lamb. “He was like a lamb that was led to the slaughter-house. He opened not his mouth. He was wounded and bruised for our sake. And by His wounds we are healed.” (Is. 53: 5, 7)

Let us all humbly admit with the utmost sincerity that we are wounded, that we make up part of the enormous multitude of gaping-wounded persons of the world. However, the great news is that there is a Healer, there is a Doctor in the House, there is a Divine Physician and His Name is Jesus Christ.

If we can expose our gaping wounds to His own wounds, then He can heal us totally and efficaciously. Just as Jesus healed the paralytic, the ten lepers, the blind, the deaf, the mute, and even raised the dead, giving them new life, so He can heal us.

Therefore, let us take off the bandages; let us expose the wounds, the puss and infection, to Our Lord Jesus Christ. His Divine touch will never wound deeper, but rather it will heal securely. As a result of our encounter, our contact, and touching of Jesus, we will become indeed WOUNDED-HEALERS in a wounded and broken world.

THE GOOD NEWS: FREEDOM OF THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD. The Great News is the following: we are no longer slaves bound to addictions. We no longer have to live in slavery and sin bound to addictions. Jesus, who is truly the Divine Physician, is indeed THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE!!! The Lord Jesus desires, even more than we do ourselves, to stretch out His hand and heal us; if only we will allow Him to touch us!

One of the most fascinating stories in the History of the Church and the History of civilization is the person, the life, and the radical transformation of Augustine of Hippo. The transformation would be nothing less than his conversion, sanctification and life of extraordinary holiness.

Every non-believer is potentially a believer; every pagan one day can be a Christian; also, every hardened sinner can be transformed into a radiant saint. How true the maxim: “All things are possible for God.” With His grace, God can transform the worst morally speaking into the best reflection of sanctity.

Every person’s past does not determine their future. Even the most dastardly of sinners, living the worst lives, can end in total victory. How ironic it really is that the first canonized saint, the first saint who was declared that his place would be in heaven, was none other than one of the thieves who hung on a cross beside Jesus on Mount Calvary that first Good Friday afternoon. 

At the very end of his life, the thief turned to Jesus and begged Him: “Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” The response of Jesus: “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Lk. 23: 42-43) And  Venerable Fulton J. Sheen replied: “And the good thief died a thief because he stole heaven.”

Returning to Augustine, the first half of his life was far from perfect. Quite the contrary, his early years were splotched with a multitude of sins. When a child, as a result of peer pressure, he stole. His friends entered an orchard and stole pears. Even though Augustine’s conscience warned him not to steal the pears, he did anyway. He did not want to be different from the crowd.

However, what is most pertinent to our reflection is the family of Augustine and his fatal flaw, his predominant weakness, his overpowering Capital Sin. Using modern terminology, Augustine was brought up and raised in a dysfunctional family.

His father, Patricius, did not give Augustine a splendid model of holiness. Quite the opposite! Augustine’s father had three glaring moral weaknesses: violence, intemperance, and lust.

Augustine’s father would fly off the handle and explode at the drop of a hat. His carousing, drinking and getting drunk was part and parcel of Augustine’s upbringing. As if that were not enough of a bad influence, Patricius was a real womanizer. He fell far from the mark in being faithful to his wife Monica.

Consequently, as a result of this catastrophically immoral father image, Augustine followed in his father’s footsteps, most specifically with respect to lust, the disordered desires of the flesh.

When his passions were ripe, the young Augustine gave free rein to the desires of the flesh. He eventually lived with a woman. Giving thus into his passions resulted in Augustine and his concubine having a child together, whose name was Adeodatus—meaning, “Gift of God”.

Time went on and as one year gave way to another year, Augustine practiced his career in rhetoric—the art of public speaking. From Africa he moved to Rome, and from Rome to Milan in northern Italy.

Gifted with a keen intellect and an ability to teach the art of public speaking, Augustine experienced in the depths of his heart a loneliness, a sadness, a depression, and a real uneasiness.

He understood that his major drawback was the simple fact that he was a slave to his passions, to his lusts. We can even say in modern jargon that Augustine was a sex addict. That’s right, Saint Augustine really was a sex addict. He knew in the depths of his heart that he had to give up his lusts; he had to break the chain of his sexual addiction; he had to smash this slavery that was fiercely binding him. The battle was so fierce that he cried out: “Lord, give me chastity, but not yet.”

Saint Paul expressed it in more or less the same words, saying that he knew the good that he should do, but he was powerless to carry out the good that he knew was best for him. Jesus expressed the battle as such: “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mt. 26: 41)

However, victory was about to triumph in this slave of addiction to his sexual passions. Augustine was in a garden in Milan when it seemed as if the voice of a child was chiming a poem that resounded in his ears: “Tolle legge, tolle legge, tolle legge—take and read!”

Nearby was a book and it was actually the New Testament opened to one of the Letters of Saint Paul to the Romans. Augustine picked up the text and read it:  “Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provisions for the desires of the flesh.” (Romans 13: 12-13)

In this moment, these words of an angel, this text from Romans, and the mind and heart of Augustine now receptive to grace, resulted in his desire for conversion.

Augustine, who had been addicted to disordered sexual desires into his early thirties, made the decision to cut the chain of his slavery in that moment in the garden in Milan.

Augustine went quickly to his mother, Saint Monica, and told her that he was ready now to be baptized. He was ready to abandon his past and start a new life. He truly was ready and willing to start this new life. He would abandon the past to God’s infinite mercy, leave the future to God’s providential care, and live fully the Sacrament of the present moment.

In fact, Jesus had been knocking at the door of his heart for many years now and Augustine was finally ready to open the door fully so that Jesus could sit at the table and dine with him and initiate a new, dynamic and profound friendship.

To make a long story short, Augustine would be baptized with his son, and with his good friend Alypius, by the great Saint Ambrose in the Duomo of Milan, amidst the tears of joy of his mother Saint Monica.

Augustine was embraced by Jesus when he embraced the virtue of chastity in his new lifestyle. He experienced an interior freedom that he had never before experienced. The chains had fallen; the slavery was vanquished; the addiction immersed, submerged and drowned in the love of the Heart of Jesus.

Augustine went on to receive Holy Orders of the priesthood. He would be proclaimed a Bishop in Africa. Eventually he would found an Order—the Augustinians. The rest of his life as Bishop, he would fight against the many heretics of the day—the Arians, Manicheans, Vandals, and more.

Augustine, who would become the great Saint Augustine, would be inspired by the Holy Spirit to become one of the greatest teachers, preachers, but most important, writers in the history of the Church, in the history of the world.

Any well-learned scholar, whether he be a believer or even non-believer, cannot help but admire the literary genius of the great Saint Augustine. Indeed, if you have the chance, spend time reading, meditating, and reflecting upon his masterpiece Confessions.

Now whatever slavery, addiction or binding chain that we may be battling with, we must realize that we are not alone. In fact, the Word of God teaches us that if we decide to follow the Lord, we should be prepared for battle.

BATTLEGROUND.  Our battle must be waged on three fronts: 1) The devil who is the Father of lies; 2) The flesh, or concupiscence, that does not want to submit to the spirit; 3) The world that strives to convince us that true happiness can be found in this world.

AUGUSTINE AS A MODEL.  In our struggle to attain the true liberty of the sons and daughters of God, let us take Augustine, who became the great Saint Augustine, as our model.  Many of us, in fact most of us, can easily identify with Augustine and in many ways.

• PAGANISM.  Augustine lived in a truly pagan-world; recently, we all must admit that our society is permeated by a militant neo-paganism.
• DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY.  Many today come from, and perhaps still live in, a dysfunctional family.
• FATHER-WOUND.  Many suffer from addictions and slaveries in one form or another due to the lack of the presence, love and attention of a father. Most obviously, Augustine had a gaping father’s wound.
• ADDICTION/SEXUAL ADDICTION.  Augustine was a slave of a sexual addiction. In a pornographic society many have addictions, and many are related to sexual addictions.
• CONVERSION. Augustine was able to undergo a radical conversion of life. There were many factors, especially the prayers of his mother, Saint Monica, as well as openness to grace. If Augustine could break the chain of his sexual addiction, so can we break the many chains that bind us.

In sum, let us pray and meditate over the life, the conversion, and the transformation of Augustine to Saint Augustine. In fact, God has great plans for all of us once we can listen to the voice of the Lord Jesus who calls us, as He called Augustine, Matthew, and the Good Thief. The worst lives of the past can be transformed into the best of lives in the future. That life can be yours!!!

Jesus stated with great clarity that sin is actually slavery; He came to give us freedom, the freedom of the sons and daughters of God. Saint Augustine, who was actually a slave to his sexual passions until he was 31, later on in The Confessions stated: “O Lord, you have made our hearts for thee; our heart is not at peace until it rests in thee.” Augustine stated himself that he could not conquer his sexual addiction right away; such was the case that he was known to have said: “Lord, give me chastity, but not yet.”

Addictions and slavery are many. In a real sense, we are all born with a void or hole, an empty vacuum in our souls. It must be filled! Either it will be filled with God Himself or a false god, an idol, a fake, a reflection but not the reality. Once again Saint Augustine taught: “The human heart is called to love. However, we must choose the object of our love and then love with all our heart.” If the object of our heart, which is actually a Person—Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ—is not discovered, then there is a real danger!!! The danger is that we can easily fall in love with a false-god, and there are many, and we can be both addicted and enslaved.  

What then are some of the idols, the false-gods that enslave us and lead to binding addictions? Actually, they come in many different shapes and sizes, but there indeed are many. The following is a concrete list of addictions: drinking (alcoholism), drug abuse, sexual addictions including that of pornography, the Casino and gambling, compulsive buying (“shop until you drop”), overuse of the cell-phone, overeating (gluttony), gossiping, video-games, vacationing and over-sleeping. All of these can become addictions and there are still many more.

BLINDNESS TO THE PROBLEM. One of the worst enemies to conquering any problem, false-idol, or deep-rooted addiction is the blindness, or better yet, the unwillingness to humbly admit that there exists this problem. There is a Spanish proverb that expresses this clearly: “No hay peor ciego que aquel que no quiere ver; no hay peor sordo que aquel que no quiere oir.” Translation: “No worse blind person than the one who does not want to see; no worse deaf person than the one who does not want to hear.”

Therefore, one of the first steps in overcoming any vice, sin, or addiction is to humbly admit that we have that problem. In other words, we cannot enter into denial, or rationalize, or let’s be blunt, we cannot lie to ourselves. 

Once we can come to terms with the reality that we have a problem and that we cannot resolve it by our own meager efforts, then we have already entered onto the Highway of healing, happiness, wholeness and holiness!!!

As a result of Original Sin, all of humanity, with the exception of Jesus who is the Son of God and Mary who is the Immaculate Conception and the sinless one, are wounded. The wounds are deep in our minds, our emotions, our hearts, our souls, and even our bodies.  We are all in a real sense a walking, gaping wound.

This is the dynamic! Jesus is THE WOUNDED HEALER.  Either we will be wounded-wounders or we will be wounded-healers. How will this play out? Quite simply as such. If we live with our wounds and make no effort whatsoever to heal these gaping wounds, then the wounds will grow bigger and bigger.  However, if we seek healing, then we indeed can be healed. 

Our healing can come about only by approaching with great confidence Jesus, THE WOUNDED HEALER. He can definitely and efficaciously heal our wounds. Peruse and meditate upon the Gospels, most specifically on the encounters between Jesus and the many sick, infirm, suffering, dejected and rejected gaping-wounded of His time.

NEVER REJECTION: YES, HEALING!  The interesting fact of the Life of Jesus is that He rejected nobody who came to Him with faith, humility, and confidence. Quite the contrary, Jesus the WOUNDED-HEALER, would heal, and almost always the healing would be both immediate and total, and without cost!

WHO WERE THESE?  Many of those who had these gaping wounds were drawn to Jesus as if He was a Human Magnet, from all times and places.  Just to mention a few: the paralytic carried by the four, the lepers, the blind, the deaf and the mute, the woman with the blood-flow, the man with the withered hand. All of these wounded persons were loved by Jesus and He healed them immediately, totally, and unreservedly.  These were the wounded of the society who sought their healing from Jesus, the Divine Physician.

THE WOUNDED LAMB. The Prophet Isaiah made this prophecy of the Suffering Servant and his wounds—all pointing to Jesus who would become this wounded lamb. “He was like a lamb that was led to the slaughter-house. He opened not his mouth. He was wounded and bruised for our sake. And by His wounds we are healed.” (Is. 53: 5, 7)

Let us all humbly admit with the utmost sincerity that we are wounded, that we make up part of the enormous multitude of gaping-wounded persons of the world. However, the great news is that there is a Healer, there is a Doctor in the House, there is a Divine Physician and His Name is Jesus Christ.

If we can expose our gaping wounds to His own wounds, then He can heal us totally and efficaciously. Just as Jesus healed the paralytic, the ten lepers, the blind, the deaf, the mute, and even raised the dead, giving them new life, so He can heal us.

Therefore, let us take off the bandages; let us expose the wounds, the puss and infection, to Our Lord Jesus Christ. His Divine touch will never wound deeper, but rather it will heal securely. As a result of our encounter, our contact and touching of Jesus, we will become indeed WOUNDED-HEALERS in a wounded and broken world.

THE GOOD NEWS: FREEDOM OF THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD. The Great News is the following: we are no longer slaves bound to addictions. We no longer have to live in slavery and sin bound to addictions. Jesus, who is truly the Divine Physician, is indeed THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE!!! The Lord Jesus desires, more than we do ourselves, that He stretch out His hand and heal us; if only we will allow Him to touch us!

As a Deacon in 1985, in the city of Rome, I had the privilege of visiting and serving the sick in the Hospital of Saint John of God in Rome. In this huge hospital overlooking the Trastevere, the Religious Order of Saint John of God served the sick and elderly, seeing in them the Person of Jesus.

Several decades have passed since I visited and served the sick in that Hospital. What I remember most from this short visit that I made as a Deacon in Holy Week is not the Hospital, nor its geographical location, nor even the sick patients. What I do remember, and it left an indelible impression on me, is the exquisite manners of the Brothers who served in that Hospital.

A most warm welcome, winning smiles, kind and encouraging words, an exquisite repast, all of this and more flowed almost spontaneously from the Brothers of the Community in the Hospital of Saint John of God. Indeed, I felt treated as if I were a Prince, better yet, a King.

Remarking on their most delicate and exquisite manners and sincere hospitality, I complimented one of the Brothers of Saint John of God as I made my departure returning to the Seminary. My words: “In all honesty, you brothers are truly superb in your hospitality.” Spontaneously, and with the utmost humility, the Brother of Saint John of God responded: “Well, we better have been hospitable because that is actually our fourth vow: Poverty, Chastity, Obedience, and the vow of Hospitality!” Up to that point in my formation, even though I am a Religious priest, it never dawned on me that there could be four vows, much less one of Hospitality.

In all honesty, of all of the human and natural virtues, what Saint Thomas calls the social virtues, that of Hospitality has a special rank in my hierarchy of values. In fact, what condiments and seasoning are to food, so is hospitality to social dealings and encounters. Quite the contrary is the rude, discourteous, and selfish individual.

In the Old Testament, the Jewish people put a high premium value on the virtue of Hospitality. So much so that Abraham welcomed three strangers with so much courtesy that these three guests were actually angels sent from God to announce the good news that Abraham and Sarah, despite their old age, would have a child. All of this took place in the context of an exquisite manifestation of Hospitality.

Jesus Himself willingly accepted gestures of Hospitality and several times in the course of His three years of Public life. After Jesus called Matthew to follow Him, Matthew generously prepared a banquet for Jesus, and invited his friends whom he knew would also befriend Jesus.

Of all of the manifestations of hospitality perhaps Martha and Mary in Bethany was the most noteworthy. (Luke 10: 38-42) Mary sat at the feet of Jesus and engaged in a loving conversation. Preoccupied with all the details of hospitality, Martha wrapped herself in a nervous frenzy. Jesus gently rebuked Martha about being worried about many things. Mary chose the better part and she would not be deprived of it. Both Mary and Martha practiced hospitality. Mary entertained Jesus; Martha, for her part, served Jesus.

Now let us enter into another dimension or specific manner in which we should cultivate an authentic attitude of Hospitality. Let’s call it EUCHARISTIC HOSPITALITY. On a human and natural level, as expressed above, we should all strive to cultivate the virtue of hospitality. Perhaps not by taking a vow like the Brothers of Saint John of God, but at least living out hospitality in our dealings with others.

In a parallel, but very real sense, let us apply the attitude of Hospitality in the way that we treat Jesus in His Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist, Mass and Holy Communion.

What then are concrete ways that all of us can ameliorate our manners of hospitality in the way that we receive Jesus in the Mass, in the Eucharist, in our reception of Holy Communion? It is our hope that some concrete suggestions can upgrade the efficacy of our Holy Communions. In fact, there is no greater action in the world than the reception of Jesus in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.  

In fact, our eternal salvation might depend in a large measure on exactly how we do receive the Eucharistic Lord. He promised that He is the Bread of Life and that those who receive His Body and Blood worthily will have eternal life. (Jn 6)

TEN STEPS TO LIVE OUT EUCHARISTIC HOSPITALITY IN OUR LIVES

1. CLEAN THE HOUSE.  Spring cleaning is part of the yearly routine for most households. How about soul-cleaning?  With a bottle of Windex and a dry newspaper, the dirtiest of windows can shine as bright as the sun. So it is with the soul that is cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world in the Sacrament of Confession. In a word, the efficacy of the fruits of Holy Communion depends on the purity of soul affected by a Sacramental Confession.

2. DO NOT TAKE THE MASS AND COMMUNION FOR GRANTED.  It is easy to take others for granted, especially our family members. The same can be said of the Mass and Holy Communion, especially in places where daily Mass is plentiful and access to Mass and Communion is easy. On Sacristy walls often can be seen a plaque with the poignant words: “Priest, man of God, say this Mass as if it were your first Mass, last Mass, and only Mass.” Likewise, we should receive Holy Communion every time as if it were our first, our last, and our only Holy Communion. It should not be the cynical saying: “Proximity breeds animosity.” Rather, the more we receive the Lord in Holy Communion, the more we should thank and love the Lord Jesus!

3. COME EARLY; AVOID BEING TARDY!  Before starting any sporting event, an athlete always arrives early for warm-up exercises; if not, it is easy to pull a muscle or a hamstring and then be out of the lineup for weeks. So it is in the spiritual life, we should arrive early for Mass so that we can warm-up. The transition from the active life to the contemplative takes time and energy; allow this so as to enter into the mood, the spiritual milieu of Holy Mass. Remember, you are entering onto Holy ground, more holy than the ground that Moses tread upon!

4. GUARDIAN ANGEL’S HELP.  All too unfortunate is the reality of how little we pay attention to the person and purpose of our Guardian angel. Each and every one of us, from the moment of our conception, is given a Guardian angel to watch over us, to guide and to help us get to heaven.  Few are aware of the fact that our Guardian Angel can help us to pray, to focus and pay attention, in the greatest of all prayers—the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Ask your Guardian Angel to pray with you and for you at Mass!

5. OFFER YOUR OWN INTENTIONS.  In Parish settings usually every Mass has a specific intention that somebody has offered, often months before. This person and intention is commonly mentioned by the priest at the start of Holy Mass. Nonetheless, this does not exclude our personal intentions that can be offered.

6. WHAT INTENTIONS TO OFFER?  Actually, there are no limits. I will offer at times so many intentions that I fear the altar might collapse. In all honesty, there are no limits to our intentions, but I would suggest three:

a) PURGATORY. Always offer your Mass and Holy Communion for the souls in Purgatory and at least for one person who has passed from this life to the next.

b) CONVERSION OF SINNERS. Never fail to offer your Communion for the conversion of poor sinners, most especially death-bed sinners who are about to die and are not in God’s grace.

c) PERSONAL CONVERSION. In every Holy Communion beg the Eucharistic Lord to give you a personal Heart-transplant. May the Heart of Jesus transform your sinful heart into His Heart!

7. PARTICIPATE IN HOLY MASS.  The Dogmatic Constitution on the Liturgy and Mass, Sacrosanctum Concilium, asserts that we should strive to participate fully, actively, and consciously in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. There are Masses that I have witnessed where it seemed as if the congregation’s participation was partial at best, passive, almost as if those present were in a coma!!!

8. NEVER FORGET THE “BIG 3” CONDITIONS TO RECEIVE THE EUCHARIST WORTHILY. The Catechism teaches with utmost clarity that to receive the Eucharist worthily there are three basic and indispensable conditions.

a) BELIEF IN THE REAL PRESENCE. Nobody should ever approach the Eucharistic without first having a firm belief that Holy Communion is truly the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus, the Son of God.

b) FASTING. An Hour of fasting is required before receiving Jesus in Holy Communion.

c) STATE OF GRACE. Nobody should approach the Eucharistic Lord being aware of having committed a Mortal sin. Sacramental Confession and Absolution must be received before receiving Jesus the Bread of Life.

9. EUCHARISTIC MANNERS UPON RECEPTION.  Before receiving the Lord Jesus in Holy Communion, we should approach with great reverence. Hands should be folded, an act of reverence should be made, and the reception should be done with great humility, modesty, confidence, and burning love.

10. THANKSGIVING.  After receiving Jesus in Holy Communion, we should spend some quiet time in which we talk to the Lord Jesus. This is the height of Eucharistic hospitality. Like Mary in Bethany, we should receive Jesus with love; we should listen to Him; we should gaze at Him within our heart, and most important, we should tell Him that we love Him!

My friends in the Lord Jesus, let us humbly beg the Blessed Virgin Mary, who always welcomed Jesus into her life from the moment of her Virginal Conception until Jesus ascended into Heaven, that we would truly practice hospitality. But most especially, let us warmly receive Jesus into our hearts in Holy Communion. If done, then He will receive us one day into Heaven. Amen