Fr. Jose Poch

Friday, May 20, 2011

SIN AND THE LACK OF INTIMACY

At the recently held annual Anglican Men’s Weekend, men from all the congregations in the  Diocese of Western Anglicans, their sons and friends who were invited came together for a time of teaching, fellowship and renewal. This year the key-note speaker was the Most Reverend Greg Venables, Bishop of Argentina and previously the Archbishop of the Southern Cone of South America. His teaching was truly inspiring; you may view them at www.anglicantv.org. I had the blessing of being invited to speak to the men in preparation for the Fire Ring, where the men were invited to write the sins they are struggling with on a piece of paper and throw them into the fire, they also received prayers, counseling by clergy and other leaders.

This year I brought to the men the idea that the root cause of many of our sins and sinful behavior is truly our lack of intimacy with God, ourselves, our spouses and our friends. Someone has said that “Modern mankind has removed the fig leaves from our genital areas and placed them on our faces.” We are so open with our sexuality today and yet we cover our eyes which are the windows to our souls and to our hearts.

In this trade off we lose. We lose the intimacy of looking into our Heavenly Father’s eyes and seeing His unconditional love for us, the ability to see His tears and His sorrow for us, we lose the intimacy derived from looking at ourselves and seeing our own brokenness, the causes for our pain, loneliness, emptiness and for our disordered lives. We lose  intimacy with our spouses and we lose intimacy with other men/women to whom we may be accountable and who can help us in our journey of life. Consequently we try to fill our emotional gaps with other alternatives. 

Do you agree with my thoughts on the root cause of our struggles with sin? I invite you to share with us your opinions and thoughts.

Let’s Blog.

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