“Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners.” With this simple declaration, St. Paul reminds us of a central truth of our faith that should present a significant challenge to each of us.
            In the Christian tradition, we think of St. Paul as the great evangelist – the person who was primarily responsible for the spread of the Christian Gospel. We celebrate the extraordinary work that he did in collaboration with other disciples of Jesus Christ. We honor him as one of the greatest saints of our tradition. Yet, the true greatness of St. Paul was his profound awareness of his own sinfulness and the singular privilege that he was given, as a sinner, to proclaim the Gospel of Christ. Remember what St. Paul said, “Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost.” Paul’s awareness of his own sinfulness kept him rooted in Christ. He never forgot that his accomplishments were only possible because of the grace, mercy and strength of Christ. It was not he, Paul, who accomplished what he did, but rather it was Christ working through him, a sinner.
            Do we share Paul’s profound sense of our own sinfulness? This does not mean that we are bad persons, but simply that we do not live in complete conformity all the time to what God expects of us. But even though we are sinners, Jesus wants to do good things in and through us, just as Jesus did good things in and through St. Paul. Jesus can only do good things in and through us if we are profoundly aware, like St. Paul, of our need for his grace, his mercy and his strength in our lives. We only recognize that need if, we like St. Paul, are aware of our sinfulness – our failure to live in faithfulness to what God expects of us. When we confess our sin, recognize our sinfulness, we are aware of our need for the mercy, grace and strength of Jesus in our lives. As we open our hearts to that mercy, grace and strength, Jesus is able to do good things in and through us as we conform ourselves more faithfully to his life and his teaching.
            Let us rejoice today in our sinfulness for it can be the vehicle of Christ’s grace for us!                            
                       Fr. Mark Hallinan, S.J.