Sunday, April 15, 2012

Saints and Sinners

"Saints and Sinners"

Divine Mercy Sunday, April 15, 2012

by Deshi Ramadhani, SJ

There is a saying from St. Augustine, "There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future." How true it is. A person has become saint because he or she has let God to touch their past. With God's grace, everything in the past makes more sense. Even every single sin we committed in the past can bring wonderful meanings. Our shadows are no longer pitch dark, but a comfortable shade under which we can have happy nap.

Divine Mercy Sunday reminds us that true mercy is always divine. When someone forgives me, I know deep in my heart that this person brings me back to my divine identity, because this person has also been rendered divine by God. If this has happened in Peter, Paul, Mary Magdalene, St. Augustine, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and a great number of saints, this can and will happen to each of us.

The question is: Are we ready to take off that "sinner" tag on ourselves, and put on that "saint" tag? For some reasons, we wish to linger longer with the worse tag...

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Hallo Romo Deshi,

the thing about "sin tag" is interessting. Well a human with sins I become a person, who tolarate sins. I have it in mind, because what in the"Our Father" Prayer, that we must forgive others. In return, I hope others will do the same too. In the end, I still have this "tag" hanging around. Besides, I must admit, that the life of a saint sounds pretty boring to me. It doesn't mean that I don't pray or go to church or read bible. I feel that that devine/ holy life like yours, Romo is just not mine. In other sides, I find my life boring, if, only if I compare my life with my friend's. (It happen often, if I'm down, in my current situation)

What should I do then, Romo? I'm afraid to leave my "sin tag". Because somehow I want to have a peaceful life, but I can still try new "bad"things. Thank you, Romo.

Widyatmoko said...

nice regards from me, a fellow sinner in this old world..

Widyatmoko said...

Nice regards from me, a fellow sinner in this old world.