Searching for Sacred

Lent began today. I went to the Ash Wednesday Mass this morning and the homily focused on the words, ‘grievous sins.’ The priest asked if anyone knew what the word ‘grievous’ meant and a young student raised his hand ready to answer (this was also an all-school Mass.) The student said, “Like General Grievous?” Yes, Star Wars made it into Mass this morning, and the priest ran with it. He said, "Yes, like that because he was a bad guy". A light-hearted laughter filled the church, and then it shifted to a serious tone – a grievous sin is a serious sin. It is something that causes severe grief, pain, or suffering. A few months ago, I began to notice how uncomfortable I was with the word “sin.” Upon further reflection, became aware that I had basically removed it from my vocabulary over the past several years. I had much nicer words to use – infraction, slip-up, fault, wrongdoing, a mistake. These words are applicable in many cases. If I forgot to pour my child milk for break...