How many of you have a past connection to Catholicism? I remember when I was a young boy in Catholic school, just coming to grips with how often I would sin. The nuns were good at pointing out what a sin was, and the more I learned, the more I realized I had a big problem. Of course, being good nuns, they also taught me how to deal with those sins so I could be cleansed. Hail Mary's, the rosary, confessional, mass, penance, tons of good tools for cleansing at my disposal! You combine a person with OCD tendencies, good old fashioned Catholic guilt, and repeatable religious tools for cleansing, you got yourself a good catholic! I was good at being the rosary man with the prayers… I can talk fast! I was constantly looking for that religious “Smart Bomb” that would wipe out all my sins so I could start over fresh. The problem? It was all a waste of time, because my problem wasn’t how good I could be at Catholicism, the problem was a heart that was a fountain of sinful thoughts, desires and temptations that yielded sinful actions. I could never attend enough masses, say enough Hail Mary’s, go to enough confessions, or do enough penance. Why? Because my heart, left to its own devices and absent supernatural, sovereign intervention, is a hopeless dark hole.
