Our Lady and Her sinful children

De Maria, numquam satis.

When I commit sins, many things come to my mind.
First thing that kicks in is "Is this a mortal sin?"
Now, I know it is an archaic thing; after all, we are all called to God's Love and Mercy and there is no such thing as a sin that kills the life of God in you, right? L.O.L.

Mortal sin does kill the life of God in you.
It drags you down from the state of Grace that we have been restored to in our Baptism.
You cannot take part in the Salvific mission of the Church, you cannot take part in the Sacramental life of the Church. Your prayers cannot earn merits derived from the Death and Resurrection of Our Lord. It is truly a terrible state and one must always pray that one never falls into such a state of spiritual destitute. It is a destitute far surpassing in agony and distress over and above any physical pain or poverty.
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM

Of course, there are venial sins as well. Those sins that are not quite mortal in that they kill the life of God in you but nevertheless harmful to one's Spiritual health and offends the infinitely good Saviour. Petty they may seem but pennies make pounds. It is indeed a spiritual negligence when one examines one's conscience and do not bother to reflect on venial sins that he has committed. Whilst they are not spiritually lethal per se, they do gradually grab one's soul away from the Sacramental life of the Church and darken his conscience.

What would Our Lady say about us committing sins?
She offers herself to us as a refuge when we must turn to God from our sinful selves.
She is the advocate of sinners. We must remember to be in good terms with Her as She will be our Prime Advocate in our private judgement. Imagine a murderer and his lawyer. Does the lawyer also commit a murder just so that he can "fully" understand what his client has done? Is a lawyer completely inadequate as a lawyer if he has not committed the crimes of his client? The adequacy and efficacy of a lawyer in his job is not calibrated by his "personal participatory experience" of his client's wrongdoings but by his merits (well, at least ideally). Now, can anybody lay claim to be more spiritually excellent and meritorious as Our Lady?

She does indeed hate sins. There are many sacred images of Her feet garlanded with roses trampling on the snakes. She may have the most beautiful, exquisite and prayerful countenance but her feet are crushing the head of the serpent. As I keep saying, you do not mess with Mater Dei! But her hatred does not extend to us; even for those who do not accept Her as their mother. One admirable thing I observed from my monarchist friends (and they are some pretty fearsome ones) is that they do not seek to serve the Queen because She takes interest in charitable things. It is nothing else but that She IS their Queen. Not for Her merits (and they very humbly confess it is above their plane to speak of Her merits) but for Her Queenship. And I am pretty sure that She considers Her subjects not by their merits and demerits but solely by the fact that they are Her subjects. And such unconditional mutual allegiance is what binds us to Our Heavenly Queen; except in much higher degree in nobility, strength and Love.

When I commit sins, many things come to my mind.
I am angry about myself; that I am so pathetic a human being to fall into the same old stuff yet again. I am sad in that I have lost the state of Grace and my prayers will not be able to be used for the Salvific Mission of the Church. I feel guilty and ashamed. I am even angry to God sometimes; that I was born such a wretch. Then my eyes land on Our Lady's images and statues. Initially I would ask Her "What would you know about my sins? How would you understand me?" But She always brings me back to senses. She reminds me that it is my spiritual pride telling myself all these things and that in Truth I love Her dearly. She tells me not to despair in God's mercy and to be truly sorry for my sins to be forgiven. I am not going mad; She relates Herself with us all that intimately. She gladly offered Her Son as the One and Last Lamb to God and submitted Her will to God's so that Her Son may suffer and die for us. No greater love can a man have than to lay down his life for his friends. No motherly love can be greater than to give one's Son for His friends.

And you see, we all have that mother for each of us.

 If your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow: and if they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool. (Isiah 1:18)

A parting gift for today is, for a change, a short video clip. You will see why I posted it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPyjGkZqwUc