The effects of unrepentance

And as I reflect on the Gospel for today (Mark 6:14-29), I can’t help but relate it to certain individuals in our government who seem to be unable or unwilling to identify the root cause of their animosity and mistrust of each other.  The animosity and mistrust are only symptoms of the cause.  The root cause is sin. 

One of the individuals I’m speaking of said in a recent interview, “I’ve never done anything wrong in my entire life!”  I call BS.  There is only one human being ever created that can make that claim, and this person isn’t Him.  The other individual claims to be a practicing Catholic, yet not only supports, but vociferously promotes and defends positions in defiance of clear Church teachings.  Again, I call BS.  Both of them profess both verbally and by their actions a real hatred for one another, despite their denial of these feelings.  Unfortunately, hate and fear are highly contagious, and it has become an epidemic in our country largely because of the example of these two people and those who blindly follow one or the other; whether knowingly or unknowingly.  Please understand that I am not judging these people’s souls—only the actions I am observing that I know to be sins because of the Commandments God has handed down through the millennia through Scripture and Tradition.

The refusal to acknowledge and to repent of our sins often causes many other problems in our lives.  Unrepented sin can cause paranoid thinking, anger, self-justification and many other emotional and psychological issues.  Sin, though spiritual in nature, has an effect upon our whole person which is what we have a glimpse of in the person of Herod in today’s Gospel.  This is a good lesson for all of us.

Have you experienced any similar tendencies in your life?  I have.  Do you find yourself getting paranoid about what others say or do?  I have.  Do you enter into a self-justification of your actions?  I have.  Do you get angry and project that anger on others who do not deserve it?  I have.  We should all reflect upon any of these tendencies we see and then look deeper at the source of them.  If we see that the root cause of these unhealthy tendencies is some unrepented sin in our own life, then we should repent of it honestly and completely so that our Lord can free us of the effects of sin.  I have, and I have to keep doing so.  I can only hope that I get a little stronger in my faith each time, and the courage to avoid the near occasions of sin going forward.