The Rev. Paul van de Crommert of Holy Rosary Catholic Church in North Mankanto recently posited a change in the Church’s attitude toward living from an effort to avoid sin to a focus on living a loving lifestyle.

Currently, the church is studying the Gospel of Matthew. St. Matthew includes a personal mark in his book when he emphasizes Christ’s teachings that sinners, like prostitutes and tax collectors, will enter heaven ahead of outwardly pious people.

“St. Mathew’s belief that he was saved even though he had been a notorious tax collector and still believed he was sinful, would certainly prompt this apostle to pass on to us the line that Jesus gives in relationship to hope for those who felt hopeless when it came to heaven from the harlots to the hard-core collectors of taxes,” van de Crommert said in his weekly letter to parishioners published in the church's Sept. 27 bulletin. 

The Gospel of Matthew’s emphasis on sinners being forgiven and gaining a relationship with God through the person of Jesus throws into sharp relief the absence of sin from the modern Church’s message, van de Crommert said. The post Vatican II church focused on the loving nature of God but forgot to include the second part of the equation, humans’ sin, which separates them from God’s love and is the reason Christ lived, died and was resurrected.

Without an awareness of sin, people cannot see their need for Christ or appreciate God’s love fully. Van de Crommert noted that the previous generation was well-versed in this, but in his lifetime he has seen a waning in people’s enthusiasm for participating in church— from confession to charity— which he attributes to a lack of conviction.

In a world where everyone from popes to presidents is concerned with their legacy to the next generation, van de Crommert suggested that Catholics in the pews need to think about what spiritual legacy they will leave.

“Today we hear a lot about global warming, as many people fear we are passing on to the next generation a planet that is riddled with many physical problems, including all of the recent fires out west, to the endless use of  fossil fuels that are rapidly disappearing,” van de Crommert said. “Spiritually, as Catholics and Christians we should perhaps be even more concerned about a kind of God cooling. For as the years pass, the upcoming generation has dramatically cooled itself toward Christianity, Catholicism, coming to church, the clergy, contributing, etc.”

People should consider passing on the good news of the gospel— that because all are sinners Christ came— around the dinner table, at work or wherever they are, van de Crommert said.