Archbishop of Sydney

His Eminence,
Cardinal George Pell
Cardinal Priest of the Title of S. Maria Domenica Mazzarello

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Home > Our Archbishop > Homilies 2003 > Article	Printable Version

Fourth Sunday of Lent

St Mary's Cathedral
Chr 36:14-16, 19-23; Eph 2:4-10; Jn 3:14-21

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
30 March 2003

Any time during the Christian year is a good time for repentance, for us to repent of our sins, rather than concentrating on the sins of others and becoming clearer in our own minds that they, other people, should repent. Following Christ is a personal affair, which begins and is carried out in our own heart and mind - or it is a mistake, a charade. And Lent is a particular season for repentance, a time to hear God's call to purify our hearts so that we can celebrate Easter well.

Therefore it is no surprise that both Old Testament and New Testament readings today wrestle with the age old realities of sin, repentance, God's love and what the Church calls grace; a reality not much talked out today even in the Church community.

The first reading from the Old Testament book of Chronicles is disconcertingly blunt." All the heads of the priesthood, and the people too added infidelity to infidelity, copying all the shameful practices of the nations and defiling the Temple". This means that we all have to take a good look at ourselves.

The Jews were pretty much like serious Christians today, as they were a minority surrounded by pagans. Our situation in fact is better and easier, because we are surrounded by Christians and people still influenced by Christian values in many areas - but not all areas. Some Christian teachings are counter-cultural, explicitly rejected by the majority.

Therefore the first point to be made is that "everyone is doing it" won't be an adequate defence before our good God, although it is some defence. We sometimes don't realise the harm we can do by our faults and sins. Our Lord himself asked that those who killed him be forgiven by the Father because they did not know what they were doing.

Certainly it is no sufficient argument that some action is right because many people are doing it with an easy conscience. For thousands of years slavery flourished, as it still does in some parts of the world.

It is also true that sin sometimes brings its own punishment; from the action itself or from the reactions of others. It is a difficult question to ascertain the guilt of drug addicts or alcoholics, because some are genetically more inclined to such a weakness, can be severely damaged in their self-esteem, especially by bad experiences early in life and then become chained by their addictions. But drug taking and excess consumption of alcohol are wrong and bring with them a terrible burden of suffering, usually also on the loved ones and families of the victims as well as the victim. However we all know that a great deal of human suffering is not immediately caused by a person's sins, nor by the sins of their parents or grandparents. The Jews were tempted to believe that misfortune came from sins in that way and Our Lord explicitly denied this was the case.

St. Augustine, the famous North African convert of the fourth - fifth centuries who became the greatest theologian in the first Christian millennium made an interesting point, which parallels a point I want to take from St. John's Gospel today. St. Augustine wrote that God "does not permit anyone except the pure (in heart) to know the truth." This is not completely true, especially for those of us born into good Christian families, but sin darkens our understanding and hardens our heart. Sin, repeated sin, often makes it harder for us to realize that we are sinning.

St. John has Jesus saying to Nicodemus, that although light has come into the world people have shown they prefer darkness to light. Jesus went on to add that "everybody who does wrong hates the light and avoids it for fear his actions should be exposed".

Therefore in moral matters as well as faith we should aim to be children of the light; we should pray that we might see clearly.

It is not strange, although remarkable, that no good Christian has ever said to me that he was no sinner, but a few non-religious people have claimed that distinction vigorously.

All this talk of sin should not mislead anyone into thinking that the Son of Man was lifted up on the cross to die for us, so that people might be condemned for their sins. No; Jesus came so that people might be saved through faith and repentance. God loves us and His Son redeemed us.

Through Jesus' death and resurrection in particular we have access to grace, if we open our hearts. Grace is spiritual energy, coming from Christ's divinity, like the electricity making the lights and microphones work in this cathedral today; like the sap that runs through a tree or bush to produce fruit and leaves.

So it is a useful and illuminating metaphor to speak of the hard, dry heart of a sinner.

This grace is basically undeserved, given us through Christ's conquest of death and sin. Only God can forgive some sins. We can increase our spiritual energy by good works, but we cannot claim the basic credit.

Let us pray then that we realise that "we are God's work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life as from the beginning he had meant us to live lt."

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.