“But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.” // Mark 3:29
Jesus comes out swinging in today’s Gospel reading, which happens to fall on the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children,* the day upon which American Catholics pray, fast, and make sacrifices for the intention of an end to abortion.
He refers to what is known as “the Unforgivable sin” or “the Sin unto Death” which is mentioned in other parts of the New Testament as well (see Matthew 12:30-32, Mark 3:28–30, Luke 12:8–10, Hebrews 6:4–6, Hebrews 10:26–31, and 1 John 5:16). Jesus says unequivocally that there are sins that are so great as to be unpardonable and that, if committed, will necessarily result in damnation and eternal separation from God.
It’s a heavy thing to think about, especially on this day.
Is there forgiveness for women and men complicit in abortions? For us in any of our great sins? Do they even have to be great sins? Could a careless comment about the Holy Spirit be unforgivable? Is there hope for any of us?
The answer is yes: there is hope. There is forgiveness. Any sin can be pardoned, no matter how great, as long as we repent and believe in God’s ability and willingness to forgive us. It is only our own refusal to allow God to forgive us that is, in the end, unforgivable.
Pope Saint John Paul II wrote, "If Jesus says that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven either in this life or in the next, it is because this ‘non-forgiveness’ is linked, as to its cause, to ‘non-repentance,’ in other words to the radical refusal to be converted. This means the refusal to come to the sources of Redemption, which nevertheless remain ‘always’ open in the economy of salvation in which the mission of the Holy Spirit is accomplished" (Dominum et vivificantem, 1986).
What sins in our lives are we using as an excuse to refuse conversion? Reconciliation with God and the Church is available to all of us in the Sacrament of Confession. Will we trust God enough to ask for it?
*Note: This Gospel reading is from the daily Mass for Monday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time. There is an optional different set of readings specifically for the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children.
Kendra Tierney Norton is grateful to be a wife, mother, and stepmother. She lives in the wilds of unincorporated Los Angeles County in a big old fixer-upper house with her husband and a varying number of their combined fourteen children, plus one fish, two cats, and twenty chickens. She likes to say that her goal is keeping Catholicism weird. To that end, she is the author of books including the Catholic All Year Compendium: Liturgical Living for Real Life with Ignatius Press and O Come, Emmanuel: Advent Reflections on the Jesse Tree for Families with Emmaus Road Publishing, the creator of the TV series Catholic All Year At Home on FORMED, and the CEO of Catholic All Year, an apostolate dedicated to helping parents live out their Catholic faith and pass it along to their children.
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