Be Open to Receive - St Bede

Bede, the Venerable
Link on the above for a rich telling of Bede whose feast day is today, May 25th.

Bede was also an eminent teacher... Following the "realism" of the catecheses of Cyril, Ambrose and Augustine, Bede teaches that the sacraments of Christian initiation make every faithful person "not only a Christian but Christ". Indeed, every time that a faithful soul lovingly accepts and preserves the Word of God, in imitation of Mary, he conceives and generates Christ anew. And every time that a group of neophytes receives the Easter sacraments the Church "reproduces herself" or, to use a more daring term, the Church becomes "Mother of God", participating in the generation of her children through the action of the Holy Spirit.

When meditating on Church teaching and teachers of the faith I've come to know that the secular notion of individuality, at least the version I was raised on, is so empty of nourishment and sustenance, for one's self and in particular those who are to come after.  Life, that is True Life (is there any other?) is not about myself getting ahead or even falling into the sin of fretting over.  Life is about Being Christ and therefore building up the Body of Christ - the regeneration of Life, as Mary so beautifully exemplifies.  Sin then can be understood as our refusal of the Gift of the Word of God.