Being Reconciled with God

This year has been declared by Pope Francis as the Year of Mercy, and Lent is an occasion to experience the mercy of God. Men and women take revenge, but God is merciful. Jesus said: ‘I have come for the sick.’ The story of the woman caught in adultery (Jn 8:1-11) shows that she was condemned by men, but Jesus forgave her and said to her: ‘I do not condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.’ We may enter this season of Lent realizing that we are full of sins. Even if that is the case, do not be discouraged. Jesus came for you. Even if you are like one dead, Jesus can raise you to life through the sacrament of reconciliation.

This sacrament bears different names: confession, penance, reconciliation. Confession, because it is the sincere admission of the sins committed; penance, in that it denotes a change; reconciliation, because through the sacrament a penitent is reconciled with God, his Church, and all humanity. The Sacrament of reconciliation is therefore a gift from God that must be neither neglected nor refused.

Yet some Christians refuse to go to confession, saying to themselves: ‘I am too great a sinner. Even if God were to forgive me, he could no longer grant me the graces I would have had if I had not sinned so much in my life.’ Do not forget that Jesus came down to you to save you. He came for sinners. Do not say: ‘my sin is too great; he cannot forgive me.’ Confession sanctifies.

Others claim to have nothing to say to the priest because they believe they have no sins. That would be to behave like the Pharisee. Jesus did not come for the righteous who have no need of repentance. Still others complain of always repeating the same sins to the priest, and wonder, moreover, why they should reveal their sins to a priest when he himself is a sinner.

It is Jesus himself who gave them this power: ‘Those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven’ (Jn 20:23).  Others are afraid to tell their faults to the priest, who might reveal them to others. They forget that the priest is bound by the seal of confession. Finally, others say they are dependent, and so they are sure to relapse despite their resolutions. Yet it is the sick who need a physician. Each confession destroys at least a part of my heart of stone, and one day I will be completely converted. Even if I relapse, I must keep going to confession.

When we are absolved, after the penance we are as though blameless before God. The Curé of Ars said: ‘At the moment of absolution, the good God casts our sins behind his shoulders; like a candle that burns away completely, they have vanished, they will appear no more.’ Confession gives us new strength to resist temptations. It breaks all our chains even if we do not realize it. It sets us free and makes us beautiful. The sacrament of reconciliation is a sacrament of healing. In confession one receives a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Hence the need to do everything to go to confession regularly in this year of grace, especially during this Lent.

Henri Bayemi