Change of Heart

(Sin No More)

In the message of the gospel we know that God understands our human weakness, but He wants us to change to a new life. He understands, but He is not a permissive or a “consentidor” God. God wants us to change for the better.

St. Peter betrayed Jesus three times but he changed and was appointed first Pope by Jesus Christ (Lk. 22:32). St. Paul was a Pharisee persecuting the Church but he changed and became the Apostle to all the non-Jewish peoples (see 1 Cor. 15:9-11).

Jesus cured a man sick for 38 years. After curing him Jesus told him: “Now you are well again, be sure not to sin any more, or something worse may happen to you” (Jn. 5:9-14). When Jesus saved and forgave the adulterous woman who was about to be stoned by the Jewish scribes and Pharisees in accord with the Mosaic law, He told the woman after the Jewish elders left one by one in response to His challenge that the one without sin should be first in throwing the stone at her: “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one sir,” she replied. “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more” (Jn. 8:3-11).

With all the false propaganda on sex, love, sexual permissiveness, and indecent apparel in movies, television, and billboards, no wonder the rise of unwanted pregnancies and abortion (which is murder) cases that reach the staggering number of millions yearly in the world today. Since it’s a sin calling for God’s immediate punishment and vengeance, we must implore God’s mercy, but remember too, He is not a permissive and “consentidor” God. He wants our concrete repentance telling us, “Go, but sin no more or something worse may happen to you” (Jn. 5:14-15). This too calls for our social consciousness as Jesus told Peter, the first Pope, who in his weakness had denied Jesus three times: “Simon, Simon! Satan, you must know, has got his wish to sift you all like wheat; but I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail, and once you have recovered, you in turn must strengthen your brothers” (Lk. 22:32). Let us help one another for a change of heart and “sin no more.”