Day 246: Mercy and the Mystery of Sin

The Gospel is the revelation in Jesus Christ of God's mercy to sinners. The angel announced to Joseph: "You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." The same is true of the Eucharist, the sacrament of redemption: "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." CCC 1846

Today's Catechism reading is on God's mercy and the mystery of sin. For the former, the quote above shows that at the heart of the Gospel is "God's mercy to sinners" through Jesus Christ. We see in parables like those found in Luke 15 that God yearns for us to turn from sin to Him, is merciful when we repent, and "will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn 1:8-9). I like how the Catechism says, "Like a physician who probes the wound before treating it, God, by his Word and Spirit, casts a living light on sin" (CCC 1848). Just as the world will be convicted of its sins, so will each one of us (Jn 16:8). God already knows our sins, and we cannot cover them up, no matter how we may wish to (Lk 12:2-3). Even with our worst sins, God's grace "abounded all the more" (Rom 5:20).

I do like how the Catechism starts this section with God's mercy before getting into what the definition of sin is and elaborating on it. The Catechism Compendium summarizes this teaching:

Sin is “a word, an act, or a desire contrary to the eternal Law” (Saint Augustine). It is an offense against God in disobedience to his love. It wounds human nature and injures human solidarity. Christ in his passion fully revealed the seriousness of sin and overcame it with his mercy. (#392)

The Catechism Companion, Vol III has some good commentary on this:

St. Augustine said, "God created us without us: but he did not will to save us without us" (CCC 1847). We must cooperate to be saved, so we need to acknowledge our sins and our need for God... The measure of a sin is not if someone gets hurt but if we violate God's law. All sins are saying, "God, I know what you want. I don't care. I want what I want." This is the opposite of what Jesus did. Through saying yes to his Father, Jesus conquers sin. We are called to do everything in our power to live by the Spirit in order to avoid sin and avoid hell and eternal death. (p. 8)