The Sacraments of the Catholic Church, which is the “medicine” for humanities “sin problem” have helped billions upon billions of people for 2000 years…Still don’t believe me?…Still want to address your “sin problem” without God’s medicine?…..Good luck!

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the first reading from the Book of Genesis about how the two offsprings of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel have a dispute….Both give an offering to God…God approves of Abel’s offering but disapproves of Cains….This made Cain very angry and as a result God addresses Cain….”So the LORD said to Cain: “Why are you so resentful and crestfallen. If you do well, you can hold up your head; but if not, sin is a demon lurking at the door: his urge is toward you, yet you can be his master”….This is an interesting statement, one we need to explore deeply…What it shows very clearly to us is, all human beings have a propensity to sin….In Catholic terms, we call this concupiscence….While our original sin was wipe away when we were baptized, we still have a “pull” to sin…This is apart of human nature…This is very important to acknowledge…But this is the part that many do not acknowledge…God gave us the “tools” to overcome this “pull towards sin”….These tools are the Sacraments of the Catholic Church…..Notice what God says to Cain……..”sin is a demon lurking at the door: his urge is toward you, yet you can be his master”…..We can “master” the sin that “lurks at our door” through living a Sacramental life…..We can also overcome sin by fasting and daily prayer…..Ask yourself…How does a priest live a celibate life?…I can hear it now - Priests don’t live celibate lives….Such a claim is sad and mistaken…Many priests keep their vows of celibacy, just as many married men remain faithful to their wives…To overcome sin, that “lurks at our door”, we need God’s grace…Many people of good will try to do this with the best of intentions and fail…Why?…Because concupiscence is apart of the human condition…This is why God established a Church…This is why Jesus is called the “Divine Physician”…And this is why the Catholic Church is the only place on earth were we can get the “medicine” to help our condition…That “medicine” is the Sacraments

“I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord; no one comes to the Father except through me”

In Scripture there is a story were a man is possessed by a demon and the disciples try unsuccessfully to drive the demon out…When the disciples bring the man with the demon to Jesus this is what he said…..”This kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting”……What Jesus is teaching us here is….Some “problems” are bigger then we are…Just as some sinful tendencies are bigger then we are…We need grace to overcome these “issues”…And in some cases, we need to fast and pray too, which also brings grace and self discipline into our life…..Years ago a well known Protestant Pastor in America wrote a New York Times best selling book entitled: The Purpose Driven Life…I read this book and as a Catholic to be very honest with you, there was nothing in that book that the Catholic Church has not taught for centuries…The “missing piece” that Rick Warren did not communicate is: OK Rick - You note all these virtues in your book - How are we to live them out? - That part was left out…And I am going to give you the answer to the part Rick Warren left out…We need Sacramental grace, daily prayer and fasting…To say or think you will live out all the virtues that Rick Warren notes in his book without the aide of God’s grace is as impossible as a man flapping his arms and flying to the moon…..Yet, mankind rejects the “helping hand” of God…Mankind rejects the Sacramental gifts given to him by the one Church that Jesus Christ founded…This my friends is a BIG mistake…Why?…Because the sinful condition that plagues all men and women is BIGGER than you are!…Allow me to illustrate another example…..When a person is an alcoholic, they basically cannot control themselves when it comes to drinking…..The problem is bigger then they are….A Catholic Priest (I bet you did not know this) developed the Twelve Step Program to help alcoholics…..Let’s look at the first few steps of this very successful treatment for alcohol abuse…The first step - Admitted you are powerless over alcohol……Let’s look at the second step - Come to believe that a “Higher Power” greater than ourselves could restore the person to sanity…..And lastly the third step - Make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of that Higher Power as we understood Him……..What is demonstrated in these first three steps is - The alcoholic has a problem he can not control…The problem is bigger than himself….So what does this program call him to do?…First, admit you have a problem and that you are powerless against it…Then, the person surrenders that problem to a Higher Power for assistance….For those who question this model…It has been infinitely successful all over the world in helping people with alcoholism…..This model can be applied to all of us too…How? - Allow me to explain…...Because we all have been born with concupiscence.....And if you think for a minute you are going to conquer your “sin problem” without God’s grace…I got a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn!….God who is our loving Father knows this…This is why he gave us the “medicine” for our sin problem…That medicine is the Sacraments of the Catholic Church

“Why do you recite my statutes, and profess my covenant with your mouth Though you hate discipline and cast my words behind you?”

Today in the first reading from the Book of Genesis, God brings to our attention how we all have a tendency to sin…However, God who is our Father and does not leave us as orphans…He tells us point blank… “Sin is a demon lurking at the door: his urge is toward you, yet you can be his master”….If we cooperate with God’s grace we can overcome the “demon that lurks at our door”…But get this through your head right now….Mankind’s “sin problem” is bigger then him / her…Don’t believe me?…Ask an alcoholic if he or she can control themselves if they have just one single drink….Their problem is bigger then they are…So what do they do…First they admit their problem…Second they turn over their will to God for assistance…And guess that?…That Twelve Step Program has helped millions of alcoholics around the world…Do you know something else?…The Sacraments of the Catholic Church, which is the “medicine” for humanities “sin problem” have helped billions upon billions of people for 2000 years…Still don’t believe me?…Still want to address your “sin problem” without God’s medicine?…..Good luck!