What does the Resurrection mean to you?

I have a feeling that in future years, looking back, we will be able to say that a great heresy has existed here. Greater than Arianism or Jansenism. For the question we need ask is what do you believe about the resurrection of Jesus Christ? What we say about this fact defines our entire faith, our entire perception of other Christians and other people in the world. When we believe in the physical resurrection, we begin to see other Christians as more than their sin. When we believe in the physical resurrection of Christ, past sin is not condemning. Past sin does not haunt us. This is because when we were baptized, every sin committed prior to the Sacrament, is erased from the soul of this person.

“Baptism has six primary effects, which are all supernatural graces:

1. The removal of the guilt of both Original Sin (the sin imparted to all mankind by the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden) and personal sin (the sins that we have committed ourselves).
2. The remission of all punishment that we owe because of sin, both temporal (in this world and in Purgatory) and eternal (the punishment that we would suffer in hell).
3. The infusion of grace in the form of sanctifying grace (the life of God within us); the Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit; and the Three Theological Virtues.
4. Becoming a part of Christ.
5. Becoming a part of the Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ on earth.
6. Enabling participation in the sacraments, the priesthood of all believers, and the growth in grace.”

Source 1

Just because someone cannot or refuses to see the fact that you are forgiven, does not mean that you are forgiven any less. Your forgiveness and justification is between you and God. Nobody, not even the Church has the grace to challenge the fact that at your baptism, at your confirmation, you were forgiven and bought with the precious blood of Jesus. Our faith in the physical resurrection has become weakened. We as Christians have allowed ourselves to believe that the blood of Christ did not cover the sins of the faithful, sending them as far as the east is to the west. We are like the pagans of old who believe that the grace of God were something we could work for. We have doubted the transformation of faithful. This is next to the fact that there are reasons for our sins, which make them more or less culpable.

For is it even possible to make the claim, with knowledge of what Christ’s mission was – of what He accomplished on the cross – that because someone has sins in their past, they do not merit the full forgiveness of Christ? Is it possible, with this knowledge, to make the claim that because of the sins of their past, God cannot make use of them now? Is a perfect life, a perfect, sinless past prerequisite for holiness? I wonder what you would have said to the Apostle Paul when He claimed Jesus spoke to him? The fact is, even if we were baptized at birth, we still have sins. Actually, especially if we were baptized at birth, we still have sins. My friends, I am not trying to scare you. But wait for the secret sins. Moses commit murder. David commit adultery. Not one of us has lived a perfect life. Only Jesus. Even with confession. Again, wait for the secret sins. What could be a greater heresy than denying faithful, righteous and repentant people access to a future in the faith because of their past sins? To do so, we should soon expect that none of us will have a future in the Church. This need for spiritual perfection and innocence is as futile as it is impossible. For what purpose is the Sacrament of Reconciliation, after all? God uses the weak, the sinful. It is precisely in this weakness and sinfulness that the transformation occurs. For to Christianity (maybe it’s not the case with worldly temporality) the transformation of heart is all that really is important. Conversions are not always evident to the eye. And there will always be people to disagree with you. But, what does one’s conversion look like? Does he dress exactly alike to you? Does he speak exactly alike to you? Here’s a pertinent, rhetorical question: Does he think exactly alike to you? Rather, does he have the same political beliefs and convictions as to you? I implore you to consider and reassess the true reasons for why these thoughts are coming. Are they rooted in envy? How about bitterness and anger? Maybe a sense of repressed justice even? One thing it is not rooted in is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Besides, if one were a sinner, surely the best way to draw him back to Christ would not be to humiliate him every time he went to confession, by broadcasting universally his confession sin matter. This is not going to help him come and find Christ. Rather, it may push one away. Surely, the best way to draw this ‘sinner’ back to Christ would not be to install hidden cameras in his bedroom. If it were for the good of the world or for the good of this one, you would not have to do all of this creepy stuff.

Jesus loves you and has given you enormous grace. Let us not deprive other faithful of their graces they have earned because of the sins of their past. Lest you forget that you too, are a sinner and frequent the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Wait for the secret sins.

 

Sources:

https://www.learnreligions.com/the-sacrament-of-baptism-542130