How to react to sin and evil

Sin and evil are all around us. They are also in us, of course. They come in different ways, sizes, shapes, degrees. Some are big, conspicuous and scandalous. Others may be small, hidden, but in a certain sense also very dangerous. All sins are personal, but some have evolved to become structures in society and in our culture.

We have to learn to cope with this reality that is unavoidable, given our weakened and wounded human condition. Our attitude should be that in spite of the ugliness of sin and evil, we should still remain calm and happy, convinced that everything has meaning and purpose.

The basis for this attitude is Christ who took on all our sinfulness by dying on the cross and resurrecting on the third day. It's this passion, death and resurrection of his that has removed the sting of sin and evil and has converted them into our very own way of purification and salvation.

In other words, not everything is lost in sin and evil. There's always hope, a way of deriving some good from them. And the secret is precisely in our effort to identify ourselves more and more with Christ, especially under the aspect of his attitude toward sin and evil.

And what is that attitude of his? It's an attitude of continuing love, a love that conquers all, willing to forgive, and even to assume the sinfulness of men and its consequences without, of course, committing sin, suffering them to death and rising from that state in all divine glory.

Christ is the second person of the Blessed Trinity, the Son of the God, God himself who became man to be with us, to re-create and refashion us into his image and likeness, offering us a way of how we can recover our true dignity as children of God whenever we happen to lose or harm it because of our sin.

It's in this sense that Christ identifies himself with all of us as sinners. On our part, we have to learn how to discern the face of Christ in everyone of us as a sinner. Yes, we have to hate sin but continue to love the sinner. We have to love the sinner the way Christ loves each one of us as a sinner.

This distinction is crucial because very often we put the sin and the sinner together and condemn them jointly. It's like throwing the baby out with the bath water. While in life, there is always hope, and we have to do everything to help the sinner get rid of his sin.

In this concern, we have to learn to go all the way, as in, all the way to die on the cross like Christ. Remember him saying, "If you want to follow me, you have to deny yourself, carry the cross and follow me." We have to engrave these words in our consciousness. There's no other effective formula for this purpose.

We have to convince ourselves that it is on the cross of Christ where the sinner can finally get rid of his sin. Christ's cross is where sin is killed and converted into a way for a new life with God. And so, we have to learn to love the cross, to long for it the way Christ himself longed, embraced and loved it.

This loving the cross can start by thinking always of the others, praying for them, offering generous sacrifices for them, and figuring out how we can help them directly. We can find ways of how to give them advice, reminders, suggestions, even corrections.

We have to give good example, since the consistent testimony of our life convinces others far better than our words. And so, we have to wage a continuing, life-long ascetical struggle to grow in the virtues, to fight against our weaknesses and temptations, to avoid sin, and generally to increase our love for God and others in a practical way.

If we succeed to acquire the skill and master the art of discerning the face of Christ in every sinner, ourselves included, what peace and confidence we can continue to have even as we struggle to fight against sin and evil in the world!

That skill and art will broaden our mind and heart, enabling us to fathom the richness of God's mercy toward us, and to foster our hope and charity amid the woes that sin and evil generate, or amid the false glitter they also produce.

That skill and art will make our mind and heart universal, able to accommodate, understand and help everyone!