Fr. Ron Rolheiser, in his piercingly awakening article, “When Sinners Rationalize,” speaks to how we rationalize sin due to our failure to be honest with ourselves and an inability to admit our weaknesses. He says that much within and around us invites us to rationalize, make excuses, and demand that standards be changed or re-integrated because we cannot live up to them. Less and less, even in prayer and confession, do we find searing honesty and contrition. This propensity to rationalize and not admit weakness and sin is the most deadly temptation facing each of us. Failure to admit weaknesses and acknowledge our sin as sin is infinitely more damaging than weakness and sin themselves. Failure in self-honesty is the start of the sin against the Holy Spirit. The only sin that can never be forgiven is the sin of lying to oneself until one becomes so warped that one believes one’s own lie. Falsehood becomes truth. The reason this sin cannot be forgiven is not that God does not want to forgive it but rather that the person no longer sees the need for forgiveness. Living in darkness is seen by them as living in light; sin is seen as grace; perversion is seen as virtue. The person living in this state feels a certain disdain for what is genuinely virtuous, innocent, and happy. They would not accept forgiveness were it offered. This sin always begins with rationalization, with the failure to admit sinning. Much within our world and ourselves feeds this temptation to rationalize, take ourselves off the hook, and make ourselves look good by denying our weakness and sin. The rest of us must live and die in searing contrition, sinners asking God and others to forgive us for a life of weakness. In such honesty lies redemption. Anything less honest produces the seeds and, if allowed to grow, leads one to believe that sin isn’t sin.