The call of Matthew and his following of Christ confirms that God offers his grace to sinners,
and the biggest sinners can become the best saints.
If sin is the breaking off of one’s filial relationship to God, a sign of obedience to him, then to sin
is merely to deny God. To sin is also to live as if he did not exist, to eliminate him from one’s
daily life. A model of society which is mutilated or distorted in one sense or another, as is often
encouraged by the media, greatly favors the gradual loss of the sense of sin.
Sin is an integral part of the truth about the human person. To recognize oneself as a sinner is
the first and essential step in returning to the healing love of God. Given this reality, the
Christian’s duty to indicate the sad and destructive presence of sin, both in individuals and in
communities, is in fact a service of hope. Far from being something negative, it strengthens
believers to abandon evil and embrace the perfection of love and the fullness of Christian life.
Let us boldly state that we are not the product of our weaknesses and failures! We are the
results of the Father’s love for us, and capable of becoming the image of his Son.