Jesus Made Sin for Us to Save Us from Sin

In today's responsorial psalm, Psalm 51, we pray:  Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my  guilt and of my sin cleanse me.... A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me.....Give me back the joy of your salvation...O Lord, open my lips, and my  mouth shall proclaim your praise."

God did that for you and me on Calvary. St. Paul tells us in today's second reading, 2 Cor 5: 20-6: 2, that God, for "our sake made [Jesus] to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him."  Think of the most heinous of crimes. Those were put on Jesus. He became sin itself in all its ugliness, repulsion and heinousness: the sins of hatred and murder, the sins of deceitfulness, cheating, and corruption; the sins of lust and gluttony, of envy and jealousy, of sloth and avarice, of pride and covetousness, of indifference, disobedience, and disdain and any other sinful act of which you and I are unaware.   As sin, Jesus was crucified, proclaimed a sinner and put to death as a criminal.  He took upon himself the sins of the entire world and everyone in this world and set us free.  "[I]n the greatness of [God's] compassion, [God wiped] out our offenses, [t]horoughly [washed us] from [our] guilt and of [our sins cleansed us]. A clean heart [God created] for [us. He gave us] back the joy of [His] salvation!"  And for that reason, our "lips and [our mouths] shall proclaim [God's] praises."  We Catholics do so especially in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass when, in memory of Jesus and with all of the angels and saints in heaven, we offer Jesus' body and blood--the consecrated bread and wine--to God in atonement for our sins and the sins of the entire world.

In our prayers and fasting, this Lent, O Lord, we bring our sins and the sins of the entire world to you and beg your forgiveness, your mercy and compassion.  Be merciful to us sinners and restore us to your friendship this day and every day of our lives. And may we, in turn, be merciful, compassionate and understanding of one another, taking time to reconcile with each other, as You reconciled us to the Father.