Men's Rosary

We seem to have a handle on what it means to sin, the difference between venial and serious sin. But do we really? What about, in my opinion, the most dangerous type of sin…the sin of omission? We are warned in scripture about this. “Whoever knows what is right to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” (James 4:17)

Christ warns us about this in Matthew 25:31-46. Here we are taught about the corporal works of mercy. This is a way to look at our response to the world around us so as not to be like the rich man in the parable in Luke 16: 19-26.

But there are other ways we omit doing good. When our spouse is backed up on work around the house and out of our laziness and selfishness we do not step in and do things, we missed it. When our kids want to play and we blow them off to do what we want to do, we missed it. When we see someone struggling with loading things at a store and we don’t offer to help, we missed it. When we walk past someone and fail to acknowledge them and give a smile, we missed it. When we have time, but we choose to veg out in front of the television and not read scripture, we missed it. If a day goes by that we failed to pray, we missed it. If we “go” to Mass rather than enter into it, we missed it.

The list of these missed opportunities is practically endless. So, the questions are: Are we consciously thinking about our thoughts and actions? Are we striving to do good? Are we seeking the opportunities? St. Thomas Aquinas says that we are to go after doing good. “Good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided.” (Summa Theolagiae, I-II:94:2)

As men of faith, leaders in our families and Church, let us be more aware of things around us and give more time to God. The only way to improve is to always be looking inward and taking account of our actions. Most of the time, we will be found wanting. But this is perfectly acceptable as long as we are looking in to go out as a better version of ourselves and a more perfect model of Christ’s love.