What's In A Name?

I tread lightly but convicted in this following blog, because I can assume some eyebrows will be raised, and rightly so.

I begin by saying this, I'm not a sinner, I'm Catholic.

There is a common saying that we as Catholics have in which we somewhat wallow in self-pity and prematurely and incorrectly judge ourselves. We love to say of ourselves, "I'm a great sinner." People who say this, are in my opinion, blinded by their sin.

To say that we are great sinners, in all grammatical sense, is to make a statement about one's nature, one's character. Is it really in our nature to be sinners? Some will say yes, and I will say no. We are prone to sinfulness, but we are not sinners. Just as a child is prone to falling when learning to walk, he is still learning to walk. It is our nature as homo sapiens to walk upright, not to crawl. We may stumble and fall as we learn, but crawling is not our nature, walking is. So why would we say of ourselves, "yes, I can walk, but it's not what I really feel is proper,"?

You see, the Catholic Church, in her immeasurable knowledge defines sin basically as that which turns us away from God, that which destroys our relationship with Him. To be a sinner then, would mean that our nature is to always turn from God, to always walk away from Him, and sometimes we stray from that path and head towards a path of grace, towards Him. And if we are true to our nature, well then we must sin.

Do we truly want to be known as a person whose nature it is to be in contrast to God and not to be in communion with Him? I dare say that we all answer, "no". But yet, we have no problem calling ourselves "great sinners". Heck, even the great saints of the Church have taken this title of "great sinners", and I say that they may have gotten it wrong on this one.

As the Catechism tells us in her opening paragraph, we are called to seek God. If this then is our nature, written upon our hearts by our Creator, to love and know Him, who are we to say that we are "sinners"? Was not, and is not, pride, at the heart of every sin committed? Are we not being prideful in saying we know which title best describes our nature rather than our very Creator? If anything, that makes us bold. Like Satanesque bold.

So, let's cut that name shall we? Get over yourself and claim what you really are, Catholic. We are a people striving to live for His greater glory and we sometimes fall from Him. Christ didn't have time for self-pity nor did He condemn Himself, on the contrary, He boldly proclaimed what He is. Let us live out our Christian calling and do the same. We are Catholic. If you want to call yourself a "great sinner", then God will grant to you that which you seek, your sinful nature and all that accompanies it.

In God We Trust