No Sin is Personal

by Fred Vilbig

World events are disturbing. Russia is encroaching on its European neighbors. It is also encroaching on Japanese territory. China is encroaching on Vietnamese territorial waters, and the Vietnamese are responding with water cannons – for now. Syria is descending into hell, and neither side really looks to be morally justified. In Africa, many nations are experiencing either Civil War or national war with their neighbors. And it just seems to me that a single spark could ignite a worldwide fire.

Here in America, we continue in our self-absorption. We are obsessed with our entertainment. We are obsessed with our pleasure seeking. Our supreme good seems to be self-satisfaction, our self-realization. One of the big news stories now is that a self-proclaimed gay man has been drafted into the NFL. Although it seems as if the younger generation is becoming more pro-life, there are still about 3500 abortions a day. In addition, a majority of Catholics, to say nothing of others, or practicing contraception.

I am reading about St. Pio of Pietralcina, who during his lifetime was known as Padre Pio. Padre Pio was a Capuchin friar (a Franciscan of sorts) who received the stigmata. He had the bodily wounds of Jesus. He bled constantly (more during Mass), but his wounds never healed. He died in 1968, so there are many photographs of him showing the wounds on his hands. Padre Pio was a man of deep prayer. He often had conversations (literally) with Jesus and Mary. He regularly talk to his guardian angel, his “little friend.”

In the summer of 1914, Padre Pio urged everyone to pray to avoid what was coming. He not only urged people to pray; he also urged repentance. He felt that the world had abandoned God. Since God is all balance, order, in beauty, when we move away from Him, we move into chaos and disorder. As you may know, the June 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was the trigger that started the World War I, and the first shots were fired towards the end of July of that year. After that, Europe descended into a truly catastrophic war.

God is a community – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are made in the image and likeness of God. If we are made in the image and likeness of God, we too are a community. Somehow we are all connected.

Sin is a real thing that inflicts injury on our souls. It may be like a sprained ankle or a pulled tendon, but it can also be like cancer or heart disease – a fatal disease. If you are on a relay team even a pulled tendon or sprained ankle affects the entire team.

Sin is like that. There is no such thing as personal sin. Even our “private” sins have a collective consequence. And that consequence can happen in the real world.

So we read the papers, we watch the news, and we lament. We feel helpless. The problems are so complex; the people and places are so far away. What can you and I possibly do to help?

We can repent of our sins, go to confession, reform our lives, pray, receive the Sacraments, and offer our little sacrifices, our daily sufferings for the salvation of souls. Peace is possible, but not the peace the world gives. The only true peace is the Peace of Christ.