Approaching the Throne of Grace

“No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.” (Hebrews 4:13-16)

The Lord gives us so many gifts and the more we open our eyes and our heart to these gifts the easier it is to walk in His light. One of the most amazing gifts is the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It allows us to “approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.” The more we receive this sacrament the more grace is bestowed on us that will help us the next time we face temptation. We will be able to stand against the pressure to sin because “everyone is doing it.” I’ve been watching the interview of Lance Armstrong and one of the things he mentioned was the culture that he was a part of. Doping was so common that it was another thing you did before competing; you made sure there was air in your tires, water in your bottle and your body was at its optimum because of the epo or blood or testosterone that you were taking. Those men who refused to participate were countercultural and were up against some powerful forces. In the interview you also saw how one lie leads to another and then another. You become trapped in your lies and your natural reaction is to fight, to attack those that question your actions. When you are that deep in darkness and sin no one is safe, you will attack anyone and everyone. You destroy every relationship, every ounce of trust.

But with our Lord, redemption is always possible. There is no sin too great for the redemptive power of Christ’s blood. The first step, no matter how great or “little” our sin may be is to acknowledge the sin. Until we are willing to humble ourselves and admit the wrong we have done without trying to water it down or put some of the blame on others, we can’t begin to heal. In today’s gospel, Jesus tells the Pharisees, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” (Mark 2:17) We are all sinners. We are all in need of the divine Physician but it is up to us to humbly go before Him and acknowledge that we are sinners. Jesus came for the Pharisees, too, but they were blind to the fact that they were in need of Christ. They were too preoccupied looking down on others that they never took the time to look at themselves. They were never willing to look in their own heart before passing judgment on others. If we spent more time being honest with ourselves and look at the areas in our lives where we have sinned against God and our neighbor then we would let go of the stones we hold in our hands, just waiting to cast at others when they stumble. Our society loves to build others up and watch them fall, but how often are we there to help them up?