As I spoke about in last Sunday’s homily, Lent can get a bit of a bad rap among the seasons of the year, because we allow it to be colored by all the things we cannot do. Even us practicing Catholics can fall into the trap and believe the lie we hear spouted by so many (including Catholics) that Catholicism is just a list of things we have to do and things we aren’t allowed to do. In some sense, that’s true: the Church teaches us that we have to do things that will lead us to Heaven, and we aren’t allowed to do things that will lead us to Hell (Heaven = living eternally with God; Hell = living eternally without Him). We are free to do what we want, but if we want to go to Heaven, the Church teaches us that there are certain things we must do and certain things we must not do. In His mercy Jesus gave the Church the charism of showing us what those things are. We should be grateful He thought of everything, and He left us His Church to ensure we’d never be at risk of floundering, since the Church speaks with His own voice, because the Church is alive with His own Holy Spirit.
The Church teaches that Lent is the season when we take stock of our lives, and more specifically, our relationship with God; we identify those areas, tendencies, habits, or desires that have led us further from Him in order to turn away from them towards Him; it’s a season of conversion: conversion away from the things that lead me far from Him, so that I can more readily journey nearer to Him. If we consider Lent in terms of our relationship with God, we understand that it's really all about growing closer to Him. To aid us in our conversion, Jesus gave to His Church the sacraments, and in a special way one particular sacrament stands out this season: the Sacrament of Penance, Confession, Reconciliation. This sacrament is a vital part of our conversion, of our growing in relationship with the Lord. Every sin is an offense against God and His Church, which is why reconciliation must be made with God and with His Church. The Sacrament of Confession is the place where this reconciliation happens. Fr. Kenneth Baker gives a good rationale for this sacrament. He says: “to be reconciled with God, to return to his love and friendship after having been separated from him by mortal sin is the effect of the Sacrament of Penance when it is received devoutly and with true sorrow for sin... and what is sin? An offense against God, a violation of his divine will, an insult to God” (Fundamentals of Catholicism, vol. 3, 274). Fr. Baker reminds us that Catholic wisdom holds two fundamental truths together: 1) Man is good; 2) Man is weak and can fall into the most sordid sins. Because of these two truths, “Christ our Lord instituted penance, so that those who, through weakness, fall into mortal sin, might have a way to escape from their sin and return home to the grace and love of God. It is the sacrament instituted by Christ by which sins committed after baptism are forgiven through the absolution of the priest” (Ibid, 276). That’s a marvelous thing. Nowhere else in this life can we go to confess our sins to God and hear Him (through His priest) express His forgiveness and extend His healing mercy.
The only thing that can stand between us and God is unrepentant sin – the only sin He cannot forgive is the one for which we won’t ask forgiveness. Every sin is a wound in our relationship with God, and mortal sin is a deadly wound; it kills the life of God in the soul. A good Confession – made worthily, humbly, and contritely – is God’s divinely-made remedy for the brokenness and wounds of sin in our lives; it is a Sacrament of Healing and a Sacrament of Peace. Lent is a good time for all of us to go to confession, and if it has been a long time, or especially if you are aware of any mortal sins in your life, I encourage you to consider returning to the Sacrament of Penance. Take this invitation to prayer and ask God for the grace to make a good confession this Lent and enter more deeply into your relationship with Him, which is the most important relationship in any of our lives. Click here for information on how to make a good, valid confession, as well as a thorough examination of conscience. Don’t be scared. Sometimes we are afraid to look deep into our hearts for fear of what we might find that is dark and dirty. But if we go with Christ, His light and His strength rob the darkness of all fearsomeness. He loves all of us very much, and He wants us to be able to receive that love and to return that love. Sin inhibits our hearts in their capacity for love, but confession liberates our hearts for love. Even if conversion requires sacrifice, even if turning from our sins is challenging, we must have faith to know that it is worth it, because what Jesus has in store for those who love Him is beyond anything we could ever ask or imagine. May God bless you in the week ahead and throughout this Lenten season, and may Mother Mary lead you more deeply into the Sacred and Merciful Heart of Jesus. I remain,
Affectionately Yours in Christ,
Fr. Hess
