Happy Easter everyone! Well we made it, we survived another Lent. This was a tough Lent for me, not gonna lie, I didn’t do great with keeping my promises, had a lot of challenges along the way, but I’m here on the other side and that is the main thing.
As I was going through these challenges, I was doing a bit of self-reflection, like what is it that I enjoy about being a priest? What is it that brings me peace and joy in this life? Where do I really feel like I am making a difference and helping people to grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ?
Priests are involved in people's lives in many ways. We are with people in the good times, like baptisms and confirmations and weddings, and in the bad times, like sickness and death, and everything in between. And somewhat surprisingly, just in the last few weeks of Lent, what I noticed, where I felt like I was having the biggest impact and really was bringing me peace and joy was hearing confessions. Lent is the prime Confession season.
In the confessional is where I really feel like I connect with people. All of the walls come down, masks come off. They let me enter into challenging areas of their life, I get to remind them of God’s great love and mercy, I give them some advice (that sometimes people come back and tell me actually helped), and then I get to speak those beautiful words of forgiveness over them, “I absolve you of your sins…” It is really pretty great.
As I reflected on it all, I realized that this process of going to confession and being reconciled to God is kind of like the dying and rising of Jesus. First, in order to go to confession, people have to really die to themselves, I mean, it is difficult to tell anyone how you have failed, but maybe especially your parish priest who you will see again. To admit failures is a certain type of death. (Dying to our own pride.)
I suspect many people avoid the confessional due to concerns that the priest will judge them and never look at them the same again, but honestly I can't remember people's sins, heck I can barely remember what I did yesterday let alone what you did!
In fact, quick story, about four years ago, I was new at Wahlert and I was helping lead a Kairos retreat as I do twice a year. For Kairos we go to a different diocese so I reach out to priests to help hearing confessions, some I know, some I don’t. On the way home, 18 hours after we had confessions, I asked the Junior student who was riding shotgun how his overall experience was and he said, “Oh confession was probably my favorite part, it was really good!” And I said, “Oh really, who heard your confession?” because I wanted to make sure I got that priest to help next time. And he looked at me with a really funny look and said, “You did, Father.”
I literally didn’t remember him, I wasn’t playing dumb either, and I know for a fact that it was a face to face confession because of where I was sitting, I did remember that. Some people are worried I recognize voices and will remember them, well often I don’t even remember faces! So I hope that helps to ease some fears, but I know personally that just to enter the confessional requires a death to ourselves and our pride.
But what that really takes is the ability to Surrender oneself to the mercy of God, recognizing that we can’t save ourselves and we need His forgiveness in our lives. Jesus Christ is our Savior. As we heard in the readings on Friday, Jesus surrendered Himself to death for love of us. Surrendering is not easy, but it is necessary, and it is extremely beneficial and powerful if we can get over our pride and our desire to be independent.
But after that surrender and death, we are resurrected, we are lifted up out of our sin and shame, our guilt and pain, and we are set free. I love to say "Go in peace, your sins are forgiven" - it is like seeing someone rise from the grave.
In fact, in morning prayer today/yesterday, which about 45 of us prayed here, but every priest and deacon throughout the world prayed the same this exact prayer, we said, “Christ, the new Adam, you entered the kingdom of death to release all the just since the beginning of the world, may all who lie dead in sin hear your voice and rise to life.”
So the Church also sees Confession as a Resurrection Story and I am grateful that I get to participate in every one, almost daily, and as I approach my five-year anniversary I believe it is the most life-giving part of my ministry, seeing people rise to life from their sins gives me life and hope too. Even though I have never thought about it like this before, it totally makes sense, because this is what our Catholic Faith is all about. This is why Jesus came to earth in the first place, was to suffer and die for the forgiveness of our sin.
God wanted to save us, and this was the best way He thought to be possible. This is why we get baptized and confirmed, this why we go to Mass, this is why we do all of this “stuff” is to receive forgiveness, to resemble Jesus more and more, and to give thanks to our God who loves us and saves us time and time again.
The last couple days at our Triduum Mass I've been quoting from a Stations of the Cross book: “St. Faustina’s Way of the Cross” - St. Faustina is the one who received the message of Divine Mercy from Jesus.
On both Thursday and Friday I quoted how we must resemble Jesus, and the more we resemble Him on earth, the more we will resemble Him in glory, and maybe a primary way we can resemble Jesus is through our own death and resurrection, right?
Well, on Thursday, I only shared a partial quote with you from what Jesus said to Sr. Faustina, He said, and I quoted, “My child, know that the greatest obstacles to holiness are discouragement and an exaggerated anxiety.” I feel like that right now, so I quoted it, but He goes on, “These will deprive you of the ability to practice virtue. Do not lose heart in coming for pardon, for I am always ready to forgive you. As often as you beg for it, you glorify My mercy.”
God wants to forgive us! He wants to see us rise from our sins. Personally, I try to go to reconciliation every week, it is such a weight lifted, but the Church just asks us to go once a year, right before Easter preferably.