A broken world.

That is the basic idea that will guide us in Mark’s Gospel, from the first chapter. The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. Our libraries are full of real knowledge. We offer comfort and luxury. We can fill our homes with beauty and music. Furthermore, we have remedies for almost every disease. Yet we do not seem to have become wiser, happier, and healthier. We have connections to all continents, and yet we are more divided than ever and understand each other less and less. The question arises, why do we meditate on sin? We have to say to ourselves. Sin is not the center of the Christian message. Sometimes it may have seemed so. There was a time when some preachers saw it as their main task to warn Christians about sin and its malignant consequences. And there was an atmosphere of fear. But this is certainly not the Spirit of Jesus. Yet He devoted His whole life to the good news of God’s kingdom, of God’s love, of God’s care for us. Constantly talking about sin and evil cannot be the gospel. Jesus’ sermons are different from those of John the Baptist, who rebuked people for their reliance on being children of Abraham and whom he warned of future judgment. Jesus speaks differently. His main words are love and joy, As Christians, we look at sin through God’s eyes. God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish. but have eternal life. Our messed-up world is constantly in the embrace of His love and power. Even though, we are sometimes overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness amid a world full of destruction and division. We must remember that God wants to heal us of our sins. But it would be just as dangerous to minimize the importance of sin. Some people are prone to reduce sin to some flaw in the social order, or a psychological handicap. Our encounters, our relationships, have a profound dimension. This dimension determines our relationship with our neighbor and society. He causes our lives to be constructive or destructive. But there is another problem. Many have a kind of admiration for sin. All we have to do is read the newspapers. Let’s compare the space that is devoted to crime with the space that is devoted to the good.. Crime is condemned, but sometimes people associate crime with boldness and courage. Many associate virtues with boredom. Sometimes the media unknowingly praises the bad guys. Sometimes there are such funny allusions that society in hell will be more interesting than the one in heaven. However, such a notion is very dangerous, especially for young people. We stopped being afraid of the devil. We know him from fairy tales as this goofy little guy who has one hoof, is hairy has horns and a tail, and wiggles up and down, harmless. But the devil is a living intelligence who wants us to be separated from God, who wants us to go the way of sin. It is very important to show what sin is. You can’t keep making excuses for sin. On the other hand, we must point out the attractiveness and beauty of goodness. If we look in the Gospels we find that Jesus was accused of many sins, but no one called him boring. So what is sin? Sin was once defined as the transgression of God’s commandments. That is true, but it sounds too legalistic and does not convey the reality of sin. Sin is the rejection of God’s love. It is good to remind ourselves before the Holy Confession what gifts God has given us. How He has loved us. Even though he knew what we were like. Then we see our sins not in a legalistic way, but as a rejection of God’s love. God guides us with his love, to which we should respond rightly. Sin is a destructive force that permeates our lives. Sin never remains hidden in the heart. It first works on the sinner, concentrating on his inner self. In his blindness, the sinner begins to justify himself. I don’t believe that I am to blame, others are to blame. They are to blame that I have done something but never me. And then it seems that we confess the sins of others. It’s hard to admit our mistakes and turn away from them. Sin manifests itself in our relationships and becomes a social event. Sin is growing. It is a tragedy when a church leader justifies war by sin or distorts the facts, such as the Russian Orthodox Church leader Cyril. God wants us to recognize our sins and not justify them. What is sin? We break our connection with God and are left alone. We devote ourselves to many things, but they cannot satisfy us. St. Augustine confirms this for us when he wrote. You created us for yourself, O God, Our heart is unsatisfied until it rests in you. This is the fundamental truth of our life. Whatever else we put into our life, love of property love of children, love of wife, all these can satisfy us only temporarily. After a while, we feel another hunger. Why, because our heart is so set that only God can fill it. You can see it very beautifully in little children. They want a toy very much, but in a short time, they stop enjoying it and long for a new one. We often behave like children- It is time for us to wise up. Let us not destroy ourselves by sin. If we want to follow Christ, we need to fight against our sins.