Our Lady of Aokpe on Sin and Temptation
Let us listen to our Lady who asks us to pray, pray and pray. She asks us to come with our sins. At Lent this antiphon wakes us up from sleep, Jesus was tempted and suffered for us, come let us adore Him. To think that He was tempted like us is unthinkable but that's the fact. He never sinned though. When we are tempted, here we resemble Him, sharing in our humanity, but, we sinned, unlike Him, without sin. When tempted, at times we like the temptation or provoke the temptation or tempt others and we sinned. We like temptations most times, no wonder we would not want to fly to the refuge of Jesus and Mary to report ourselves and seek protection and healing. Our Lady asks us to come to prayer with our sins and be converted.
At this point, we pause and take a look at penitential pathway at Aokpe pilgrimage Centre. Why this? The emphatic way our Lady is teaching us to come with our sins. There, we kneel with the burden of our sins, walking with our knees to meet the crucified Jesus with our sins, there and then Jesus takes the burden and the guilt of our sins and we are renewed and comforted and start off on a new slate. A new life! Come with your sin! Don't like it! Don't cherish it! Don't cover it! David reminds us that our sins are always before us. Let us do Jesus and Mary a favour by coming to prayer with our sins so that they may convert us and wash us clean. Don't forget, our Lady says to us, come with your sin. Thanks!