Peter knelt before Jesus and said 'Depart from me for I am a sinful man.' Mary Magdalen wept at the feet of Jesus and dried her tears with her hair. The first step in our relationship with God is that we understand and acknowledge that we are sinful creatures.It opens the door to freedom. The virtue of humility permits us to live before God as we truly are. 'But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, 'O God, be merciful to me a sinner'' (Luke 18: 12-13). Man calls it a weakness God calls it willfulness. Man calls it a mistake God calls it madness. Man calls it a trifle God calls it a tragedy. Man calls it a liberty God calls it lawlessness. Man calls it an error God calls it an enmity. Man calls it a defect God calls it a disease. What is sin? Man calls it an accident God calls it an abomination.

The Lord redeems the lives of his servants no one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him' (Psalm 34: 18, 22).

'The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and those who are crushed in spirit He saves. What may seem insignificant to us and passes with hardly any notice taken, creates a much more dramatic display from God's panoramic viewpoint. Where we see only isolated or individual acts, God sees the overall web of our sinning. In such a way, our sin presents itself before the eyes of God. The time-lapse technique created a fascinating, spaghetti-like web out of the individual bolts. Taken from a Rocky Mountain peak during a heavy thunderstorm, the picture captured the brilliant lightning display that had taken place throughout the storm's duration. Such a photo appeared in an issue of National Geographic. Keywords: sin, grace, mercy, pharisee, publican, mea culpa, confession, reconciliationĬORPUS CHRISTI, TX (Catholic Online) - Time-lapse photography compresses a series of events into one picture.

Priest sinner saint series