Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
James Martin, S.J.February 26, 2018

Examen Logo

Subscribe to “The Examen” for free on Apple Podcasts
Subscribe to “The Examen” for free on Google Play

One of my theology professors in graduate school—Father James Keenan, a Jesuit priest—once told me something about sin that entirely changed my way of looking at it. In the New Testament, he said, Jesus rarely critiques people who are weak and trying. You know, people who are really struggling to be better. Instead, he critiques people who are strong but not bothering; people who could help, but just don’t. Think about the story of the rich man who simply steps over the poor man on his doorstep: He could help, but he doesn’t bother. So for Jesus, he told us, sin is a failure to bother to love. Maybe you could ask yourself that as you move through your examen: Where am I failing to bother to love?

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

Catholics across Texas and the world, including Pope Leo XIV, are offering their prayers and support after deadly flooding struck Texas on July 4.
Each year at this time, near the Fourth of July, we contemplate freedom. But maybe we are also being called to do an extended examination of our own fears.
George Drance, S.J.July 07, 2025
Is it possible to embrace the idea of a special, evenly divinely ordained mission for America without violating Christian ethical principles?
Thomas J. MassaroJuly 07, 2025
Pope Leo XIV arrived in the papal summer retreat of Castel Gandolfo on Sunday to start a six-week vacation, giving the hilltop town back its most illustrious resident after Pope Francis stayed away during his 12-year pontificate.