February 28, 2015
by Fr. Chip Hines, Pastor
Reconciliation is important on many levels, from personal relationships to whole societies. I think back to the 1990s and South Africa to the Truth and Reconciliation forums that delved to the bottom of the horrible apartheid that had divided their nation and how Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu were instrumental in that movement. It led to healing and harmony when the situation so easily could have gone in the other direction as it has too often in other times and places.
How much more then do we need reconciliation with God? We humans hurt each other, we get irrationally angry and some do violence to others. All those things are not just an affront to the human being but also to our heavenly Father, who made us in his image and likeness. The whole of salvation history points us to seek forgiveness, but why do we need forgiveness?
People say to me all the time, “I’m a good person, I didn’t kill anyone,” leading me to believe that they have set the bar very low. While I think it’s great you didn’t kill anyone, are you telling me there are no other sins? I guess the problem really is that we have lost the sense of sin. We have lost the sense that even getting angry, impatient, envious, unkind, proud, revengeful, jealous, or hateful toward another is a sin against the 5th Commandment.
I point these out because this past week we began the Light Is On For You, an extra hour and half of time for the Sacrament of Confession on Wednesdays at 6:30pm, and as I sat in the confessional in Sharon at Our Lady of Sorrows, I was by myself the entire time, except for one soul who came toward the end. One person.
Now I do not know how many came to Blessed Sacrament and I’m not trying to compare places at all. My aim is not to shame or point fingers, but to encourage everyone to understand the need that we all have and the opportunity presented. We are offering The Light Is On For You for a very important reason: salvation of souls. Truly, this is what confession is, it’s about humbling ourselves before God, not the priest, but God. The priest acts in the person of Christ. He is himself, of course, but through the prayer of absolution that he recites, the sins are wiped away by the power of Christ. I want to encourage folks to take advantage of this opportunity for a moment of grace.
Being truly Catholic means we accept the teachings of the Church, and Confession surely is an important part of Catholic teaching. I challenge all of us to commit to making a good confession during Lent. Confession is absolutely essential to our lives as Catholics, including your priests, and so I look forward to long lines on Wednesday nights during Lent (except the night of the Collaborative Mission on March 25 when we will have Mass at Blessed Sacrament instead) and I know we will experience true grace as a collaborative if we can commit to this great practice of humility. Peace!
Fr. Chip
