Page 28 - Nurturing the Nurturer 2018 Program PDF2

The temporal consequence of sin, on the other hand, refers to the way in which our sins
wound us and others.

God wants not only to forgive
our sins, but to heal and
transform us. If we were to
imagine our sins as nails
driven into a piece of wood,
and forgiveness as the
removal of those nails, we
would still be left with holes
in the wood where the nails
previously were. In other
words, the work of God is not
complete upon mere
forgiveness, but seeks to go
further through healing and
transformation accomplished
by our cooperation with
supernatural grace (i.e., filling in the holes of the wood). In this light, the Catechism of
the Catholic Church explains: “These two punishments [eternal and temporal] must not
be conceived of as a kind of vengeance inflicted by God from without, but as following
from the very nature of sin” (CCC, 1472).

We see the consequences of sin everywhere. Even after we have repented of our sins
and received forgiveness it is still obvious that further healing is necessary, not only for
ourselves but also for the people we have hurt by our sins.

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