Wednesday night, in every parish church in the diocese of Cleveland, the sacrament of Confession was offered for three hours. I heard confessions for three hours straight and I know many priests who did the same. It was truly a night of grace. Many souls who had been away from the Church for, in many cases, decades, were reconciled. And therefore it was a night of great joy. For as the Lord himself teaches, “there is more joy in heaven over one repentant sinner, than over ninety-nine who do not repent.”Major television networks advertised the evening of confession, and kudos to any of you who personally invited anyone who’d been away from the sacrament to come and confess.
The diocese also advertised the evening of confession on the diocesan website and facebook page. Strangely, the Diocesan Facebook page became a sort of forum for people to express their opinions about the Sacrament. On one hand, there were people testifying to how they came back to the Church after falling away, and how glad they were to be home. On the other hand, there was comment after comment, condemning the Catholic Church for being…well, Catholic.
Claims like, “No priest can forgive sins, only God.” Or, “I don’t need to go to a priest, I go directly to Jesus.” Or “Jesus is the one mediator between God and man.” These are common critiques, many going back to the Protestant Reformation. How do we address them?
Well, it is certainly undisputed that Jesus Christ has the power to forgive sins. In the story of the paralytic, Our Lord asks, “Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But so that you might know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sin . . . .” Then he said to the paralytic, “Get up, take your mat and go home.”
Jesus came not simply to give us an ethical system by which to guide our lives, or suggestions for happy, healthy living. Jesus Christ came to forgive sins, without which the gates of heaven would be closed to sinful man.
Jesus is able to forgive sins because he is God. But last time I checked, I’m not God. So, how can priests forgive sins? In John, chapter 20, after the resurrection, Jesus appears to his apostles, breaths on them, and says, “receive the holy spirit, those whose sins you forgive are forgiven them.” Jesus passes on the authority to forgive sins to the Apostles, and that authority is passed on to the bishops and priests after them.
St. Paul testifies to this fact when he writes to the Corinthians, “For, what I have pardoned…I have done in the person of Christ.(2 Cor 2:10)” The priest, like Paul, pardons, forgives in the person of Christ. In the Sacrament of Confession, the priest stands in the person of Christ. It is Christ who pardons through the sacrament.
This sacrament of forgiveness was evident in the early Church. The Apostles James writes in chapter 5 of his New Testament letter, “confess your sins to one another.”
The Sacrament of Confession was instituted by Jesus so that we can know the forgiveness of sins. And there is nothing on earth that brings the joy and peace like making a good confession. I heard a Psychologist once say, that one good confession is worth more than many hours of psycho-therapy. And he was speaking simply from a psychological point of view.
From the spiritual point of view, because sin damages or even destroys the right relationship with God and the Church begun in baptism, confession restores and strengthens those bonds.
Our Lord understood human nature well, as the Gospel stated. And His human understanding can be seen in the Sacrament of Confession. It is one things to read about the forgiveness of Christ in the Gospel, and quite another thing to hear Him speaking through the lips of the priest, “your sins are forgiven”.
When do you have to go to confession? When one has committed a serious sin: violating the Lord’s Day, failing to fulfill the Sunday obligation, blasphemy, contraception, fornication, theft. Any serious violation of the 10 commandments, like those heard in the first reading, need to be confessed to restore the grace lost through sin and before we can worthily receive the sacrament of holy communion.
Prior to the Sacrament, we are to make a good examination of conscience. We have pamphlets outside the confessionals for this purpose. I had several people use their iphones the other night, which is fine, as long as it is not set to record the confession; anything to help you make a good confession.
I’m spending so much time talking about confession this third Sunday of Lent because this is the season of mercy and grace. This is the season to examine deeply if we are allowing the Word of God, the Truth and Teachings of Christ, to permeate and change our lives.
The word Lent comes from the Anglo-Saxon word Lencten, which is the lengthening of days as we approach springtime, the season of new Growth. And any good gardener knows that you need to clear away the clutter, the dead weeds before the spring planting season can begin. Or just as our houses need spring cleaning, so that we can live more peacefully, happily, and blessedly, this is the time to clean up our souls.
In the Gospel, we read of Jesus’ dramatic visit to the temple of Jerusalem during Holy Week. This event made a profound impact on the early Christians: it is reported in all four Gospels. From the Church’s first centuries, early Christian writers have made the comparison between Jesus cleansing the Temple in Jerusalem and Jesus cleansing the temple of our hearts and bodies.
Jesus cleanses the corruption from the Temple, to show that God’s Temple is to be a place wholly set aside for the worship of God. So, we examine this Lent, our souls, to identify any corrupt attitudes or behaviors that keep us from being in right relationship with God. What selfish or wordly attitudes, what vices, keep me from being the person God made me to be?
In addition to our normal weekly confessions, we still have a few more extra opportunities to make a good Lenten confession here at St. Clare and our cluster parish, St. Paschal. If it’s been more than a year since your last confession, don’t let fear, embarrassment or hardheartedness keep you from God’s grace. As Pope Francis said recently, Don’t be afraid to go to the Sacrament of Confession, where you will meet Jesus who forgives you.”
Even for those who’ve already made a good Lenten confession, continue to allow the Holy Spirit to help you identify the parts of your life that need to be cleaned up, healed, and transformed. Allow Jesus to cast out the corruption, the selfishness, the pride, lust, greed, and laziness, from the Temple of your souls, that he may dwell there with His Father and the Holy Spirit, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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