Homilies on Sacraments [series 9]
Reconciliation [Confession]
Advent begins instructing us to stay awake, be prepared, put your house in order and
do not let anything break your resolve to follow Christ, anything unloving grow in you!
The sacrament of reconciliation is about helping us to put our house in order and live
each day with hope of living the commandments of love. Jesus began his ministry
saying ‘repent and believe in the gospel’. The Greek word metanoia is used for
repentance which literally means ‘go beyond the mind’. It is to let go the mind that
stuck in negative thinking, grudge, unhealthy habits and embrace the joy of the good
news of Christ. The Catechism of the Catholic church calls confession, ‘sacrament of
conversion’ calling us to be transformed in Christ each day; It is as in the parable of the
prodigal son to restore right relationship with God and others. The prodigal son made
his return journey with determination to reconcile.
Confession is to encounter Christ with our sins and need for change. Zacchaeus made
such an encounter with Christ and confessed, ‘I have extorted, deceived, offended; I
was cruel and unkind’. I will give up wealth unjustly grabbed. He received forgiveness
from Jesus and Jesus says: peace has come to this house! Zacchaeus accepted the
good news of the kingdom and the way of Christ to shape his attitudes from within. We
have put on Christ in baptism and promised to live the kingdom of love, yet we often
fail and choose selfish, cruel and violent behavior. 1Jn 1:18: ‘if we say, we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and truth is not in us’. Sacrament of reconciliation reminds us of
the truth that we have sinned. Jesus is the truth and his presence reminds us our need
for spiritual growth. We do damage to the kingdom within us and we want to repair it!
In confession we desire a state of readiness on our spiritual journey.
Why confess to priests? Reconciliation is both a private and public act, personally
accepting mercy/forgiveness from God and reconciling with the church community. In
the gospels Jesus forgives sins in a public setting. Mark 2: Jesus says to the paralytic
in front of the crowd ‘your sins are forgiven’. In John 8 Jesus forgives the woman
caught in adultery; the crowd wanted to reject her and stone her to death. Jesus says: I
do not condemn you, go sin no more! Jesus welcomed her back into the community.
Zacchaeus’ encounter with Jesus was both public confession and personal
conversion. In John 20, Jesus gave the church the power to reconcile: ‘if you forgive
the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’. James
5: if you confess sins to another, you receive healing. All healings involve other people,
doctors and nurses for physical healing, counselors and psychiatrists for mental
wellness and priests in confession for spiritual healing. Church exists in the world as
power of Christ to reconcile and heal. As members of the body of Christ our sins have
personal and communitarian dimensions, an obstacle to give witness to Christ. Priest,
chosen from among the people of God, represents Christ and the community.
As humans we perform many rituals every day to show our love appreciation [shake
hands, hugs, kisses, meals together etc.]. Confession is a ritual expression of
conversion. Mass begins with a public act of contrition and absolution; in the Lords
prayer, we again confess our willingness to reconcile with a public ritual of exchange of
peace. Sacrament of confession takes this our willingness to reconcile to a deeper
level, makes it a conscious act of change in us! In fact, in confession, it is the church
community that celebrates God’s gift of forgiveness and peace!
Reconciliation is a movement from sin to reform, to love, life of fairness; love of God
always demands love of neighbor/reconciliation. Reconciliation is an on going process
in us, so Jesus taught in the Our Father prayer: ‘forgive us our sins, as we forgive those
who trespass against us’. Confession is renewal of commitment made in baptism, to
follow, imitate Christ and proclaim the good news. Going to confession is our
conscious act to change, to break the power that dominates us and be open to grace
that wants to create a new self in us. Confession reminds us of our responsibility as
Christians, to move from disharmony to harmony and become aware of our goodness
as created in the image of God. After sinning Adam and Eve hid themselves from God.
Confession helps uncover the self that wants to hide or in denial! Sin is disorientation
and repentance is a turning about to come home to God.
Sacrament of confession is to renew our friendship with Christ. Jesus kept company of
tax-collectors, people of bad reputation, in order to help them discover their true inner
core that is loved by God. Through the parables of the lost sheep, lost coin, prodigal
son, Jesus says that his only concern is our well-being. The focus of confession is not
on punishment [God doesn’t punish anyone; we punish ourselves by our choices] or
investigate guilty behavior; confession expresses our deepest desire to experience the
kingdom of love in a more radical and challenging way! In confession, we celebrate
God’s mercy and let God’s grace do its miracle in us!