Poison

In the Act of Contrition, we ask God for help avoiding the near occasion of sin. And lately, I’ve been reflecting on what that actually means.

Picture a cup of poison sitting on your kitchen table. One drop could kill you.

The near occasion of sin isn’t actually drinking it.

It’s walking over. Sitting down. Taking a closer look at the glass—admiring the color, the way the light catches it. It’s thinking, I wonder what this smells like, and leaning in. It’s picking up the glass, holding it up to the light, getting a better view.

It’s deadly poison. What are we doing?!

Now of course, nobody’s tempted to drink actual poison. But sin? Sin is always packaged as something attractive. Something we want. That’s what makes it dangerous.

So when we pray the Act of Contrition and ask God to help us avoid the near occasion of sin, we’re asking for something specific: the wisdom to walk away from the table altogether. The strength to not even sit down. The clarity to see sin for what it really is—poison that kills.