His Mercy is From Age to Age
“Eternal God, in Whom’s mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible. Look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your Holy Will which is love and mercy itself.”
Words of Jesus to St. Faustina
By John Christenson
Among all the mottos and popular clichés of American culture, which one stands out among all as most reassuring during times of instability, - the likes of war, terrorism, recession, civil unrest et al? The answer- “In God We Trust!” printed on all American currency I might add as a reminder to humanity of Who we ought really believe is in control of things.
It is “In God We Trust” that God calls us to be especially in moments of distress. This should not be just the American way; this ought to be a global endeavor. Some may argue that for those who do believe in the existence of a Supreme Being, to trust in God is indeed a global endeavor. And for the most part this may seem an accurate portrayal of world faith in general. However, to experience fear which in essence is ‘the inability to trust in God’ despite what definition most secular dictionaries may offer, fear seems the natural experience in the initial moments of any horrifying event we witness or experience as it unfolds in our personal lives. Does this not verify just how weak and powerless we truly are without God?
Our faith in God ought to reflect our desire to trust in the Power of God Almighty, Who holds all power over all things. Are we not children of God? What does a child do when they feel fear in their surroundings? The child turns to their parent. The child clings to their parent searching for comfort and refuge. Should our relationship with God be any different?
The early hours and days of conversion were often puzzling for me. I understood very little about what I was feeling and how my heart was changing. Yet indeed, change was occurring and rather quickly!
I began to recognize certain aspects of secularism and how humanity has slowly drifted away from the practice of true faith. At the same time as I lost interest in worldly things, material things, and I began to find interest in all things religious and spiritual especially as they pertained to obedient Catholic teachings.
I began to see many aspects about life in a different light. Perhaps in a clearer light. God was revealing many things about myself and needless to say it is often very uncomfortable. My sins I could no longer deny or justify. And they were right there in my face.
However, it was a tremendous benefit to begin to see many things once confusing to me become much clearer. I began to read Scripture more frequent. I began to pray not just often but continual. And as I would pray and read Scripture, Mass readings, the Gospel, and Homilies I never even understood before began to take on more profound meaning.
I began to thirst for knowledge of God’s will. I also began to understand things I had never gave a second thought to in the past. Things about Mass. The glorious and beautiful gift of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as the true presence of Christ. Things about the Catholic faith in general. The importance of obedience to the Majesterium of the Church. Things that pertained to my marriage, my family, my work, and my surroundings. Things about God’s will as pertaining to both humanity as a whole and to my own personal life.
Indeed, a deep and dense fog was being lifted from my eyes. For the first time in my life, I was not only feebly attempting to believe in a blind leap of faith but actually felt with great certainty that God truly exists.
Perhaps a harsh pill to swallow, our fear and anxiety is a response to our present inadequate condition or lack of ability to trust in Jesus. In other words, the less I trust Jesus, the more I experience fear of the worldly.
The amount of inadequacy we bare may be measured according to how short we have come in trusting the divine power of Jesus, Christ Our Lord. Thus, the more we beseech Him to grace us with the ability to trust, the more He responds in kindness, enabling us to trust in Him. The more we tap into the graces which are already there.
“I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in Me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
These are very important words to me today! Indeed, all the words Jesus spoke are very important to me, as they should be for all of us. However, these words have really become a mandate for me to live by. At least I try to live by this vital truth. The truth is I’m useless when it comes to producing good fruit without God’s grace.
One day early in conversion these words jumped out at me in a very profound way that left an impact on the way I would view both my abilities and my shortcomings.
All along life’s journey I thought I was capable of producing good fruit on my own accord. All along, I believed I was the creator of my own goodness, the sole bearer of my own fruit. After all, I was in the driver’s seat of my own life right? I should be the one who decides what I can do and what I cannot right? I have free will right? Boy was I in for a big surprise!
While it may be true that we have freewill, it is also equally true that in freely choosing to abandon the will of God in lieu of serving self throughout our life’s journey we ultimately chose to live our life totally in vain. I mean in all honesty, what treasures could I possibly accumulate in heaven while alive if I freely chose to live selfishly my whole life.
“Whoever has ears ought to hear these words. Anyone destined for captivity goes into captivity. Anyone destined to be slain by the sword shall be slain by the sword. ” (Revelation 13: 9, 10)
The times in which we are presently living are indeed the times of great mercy. That is to say, that while God’s mercy is endless throughout the ages, there exists today a greater need for divine mercy then in past ages. In our unworthiness to receive Christ we must ultimately recognize this as a tremendous gift bestowed through the Infinite mercy of a loving God, who is love, and desires nothing more than for us to love and serve Him.
How many of us can honestly say we never experienced a sense of anxiety on the morning of September 11, 2001. Can it not be said however, that the level of anxiety each of us felt different from one another, would have been felt according to the amount of faith and trust each of us puts in God?
Of course, one would have to factor in how much the events of September 11 personally affected each of our lives. Obviously, a New Yorker caught up in the horrific events that morning would have experienced a much greater trauma than the Wisconsin housewife who had no ties to New York City watching the events unfold live on television. Yet, the Wisconsin housewife certainly shed tears in disbelief of what she was witnessing.
So how are we called by God to respond to such darkness as such traumatizing events unfold? God certainly does not desire us to hold fear and anxiety near to our hearts. He desires us to hold Him near to our hearts just as He desires to hold us in likewise near to His Heart.
The answer is very simple. Jesus tells us in Scripture to renounce this world that we may inherit eternal salvation. “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)
How do we begin to repent? We say ‘yes’ to Jesus! And we say yes both in sorrow and in joy. In saying yes we begin to grow spiritually towards His mercy and away from this worldly which leads us astray.
A dear friend often reminds me that every moment is a decision. And indeed, we certainly often make decisions without even being aware one moment at a time. Sometimes they are rather wise decisions that make life a little easier. Other times, we may make decisions in haste which often wreak havoc on our lives and eventually bring us to a loss of hope and leave us feeling a sense of despair and hopelessness.
Decision making is about freewill. And freewill comes from God. Freewill is the freedom God gives us to choose between His will and self will. God does not force us to believe in Him. Nor does He force us to obey Him. God does however command us to obey His will. Then He leaves it to us to decide.
The Suffering Pope
"We all feel like orphans this evening,"
Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, a top Vatican official
Like his predecessors of the 20th century, Pope John Paul II often spoke of a darkness that envelops the world today. Pope John Paul II was a well-beloved and pious Holy Father who, while optimistic and encouraging of our role as Catholics in the world to spread the Good News, also recognized a veil of evil that exists in this present age and our need for vigilance and prayer- and ultimately trust in God- to stay the course and overcome the obstacles that modern evils pose.
Even before his election in 1978, as a young Cardinal he tackled such obstacles, “We find ourselves in the presence of the greatest confrontation in history, the greatest mankind has ever had to confront. We are facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-church, between the Gospel and the anti-gospel.”
Cardinal Karol Wojtilya, June 24, 1977
Pope John Paul II was a special Pope with a special gift surrounded by spiritual mysticism and the divine light of God. This is not to say that other papacies lacked such grace. However perhaps in light of the present times it can be said that God’s mysticism shone more abundantly through the papacy of Pope John Paul II then at any moment in modern history.
He recognized a tremendous need to reach today’s youth and help them to draw closer to Christ by means of inviting the youth to be a great and intricate part of the Church’s direction. Thus, he began World Youth Day, "to consolidate the ordinary youth ministry by offering new encouragement for commitment, objectives which foster ever greater involvement and participation"
(Letter from Pope John Paul II - Seminar on WYD 1996).
Pope John Paul II presided over the canonization of more holy and pious Saints than any other Pope in the history of the Church giving us a tremendously powerful accumulation of heavenly friends we may humbly ask the prayerful intersession of at any given time. A total of 482 faithful were canonized and another 1320 were beatified during his papacy. These figures actually exceed the total number of souls the Church has canonized during all previous Popes of the past 500 years combined.
He was the first Pope to visit a Jewish Synagogue-first to visit the Western Wall where he left a prayer request written on paper. No other living soul has ever read it. He was the first to visit a Mosque in Syria and spoke to the Muslim youth for the first time in Morocco in August, 1985. He also took time in his travels during a trip to America to visit suffering A.I.D.S. patients in a San Francisco hospital on September 17, 1987 during a moment in history when most of the world was still weary of having direct physical contact with A.I.D.S. Patients.
The list continues- Pope John Paul II named 75% of the worlds present Bishops and 96% of the Cardinals. In fact, Pope Benedict XVI is only one of three appointed Cardinal prior to the papacy of Pope John Paul II.
He was a spiritually motivated servant of God deeply devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and ever-entrusting of the Holy Spirit for divine wisdom and guidance. He trusted God. And he expelled a degree of trust much greater than the human intellect can probably truly fathom.
Our beloved Holy Father took secure refuge in the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as Mother of God and Mother of all peoples, Co-Advocate, Protector of the faithful, Defender of truth and of faith, and spiritual friend in the love of her Most Divine Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
The world came together in fervent prayer on May 13, 1981; the Feast of the 1st Fatima apparition, as Pope John Paul made his way through St. Peter’s Square among a growing crowd of faithful wanting to receive a Papal blessing, Mehmet Ali Ağca, a Turkish assassin shot the Holy Father as he leaned forward to bless an icon of Our Lady of Fatima.
Pope John Paul II initially spent 22 consecutive days in hospital after this assassination attempt. During his hospital stay he requested all documents in the Church’s possession that pertained to the Fatima apparitions. This included the yet to be revealed 3rd secret of Fatima.
In the initial moments after being shot, those close to him claim he repeatedly called out continuously for Our Lady to come. The Holy Father was quoted as saying, "One hand fired," the pope later said, "and another hand guided the bullet."
Pope John Paul II was her Pope. Her beloved and holy priest of personal choosing to defend truth. He taught us many means to strengthen our faith in the spiritual battle we are presently engaged in. On May 13, 1991, ten years to the day after the attempt on the life of our beloved Holy Father, Our Blessed Mother seemed to validate for us the mission given this well-beloved Holy Father when she said, “Today I confirm for you that this is the ‘pope of my secret’, the Pope about whom I spoke to the children during the apparitions, the Pope of my love and of my sorrows."
Message of Our Blessed Mother to Fr. Gobbi, May 13, 1991
Whether or not as a Catholic you accept that the proclaimed inner locutions received by Fr. Stefano Gobbi is the voice of Our Blessed Mother or not, which has neither been approved nor discouraged by the Church as authentic, there should be no doubt in any Catholic aware of the Fatima cause that indeed, Pope John Paul is the Bishop in white Our Lady showed the three shepherd children in a vision- the third secret, who suffered tremendously as he struggled to climb a rugged hill to reach the top where stood a Cross made of rough hewn oak.
It is interesting to note that the above mentioned inner locution Fr. Gobbi received came nine years before the third secret of Fatima which reveals to us for the first time the Bishop in white was made known to the world. Until then, it was a secret that only a few chosen faithful were aware of. And Fr. Gobbi certainly would not have been one of them.
“When this Pope will have completed the task which Jesus has entrusted to him and I will come down from heaven to receive his sacrifice, all of you will be cloaked in a dense darkness of apostasy, which will then become general.
There will remain faithful only that little remnant which, in these years, by accepting my motherly invitation, has let itself be enfolded in the secure refuge of my Immaculate Heart, and it will be this little faithful remnant, prepared and formed by me, that will have the task of receiving Christ, who will return to you in Glory, bringing about in this way the beginning of the new era which awaits you.”
Message of Our Blessed Mother to Fr. Gobbi, May 13, 1991
This was not the first time that mystical prophesy would surround our beloved Holy Father. When Pope John Paul II was about the age of eighteen, a young religious nun in a convent in Poland by the name of Sister Maria Faustina Kowalska unbeknownst to the young Karol Wojtilya, quietly praying before the Blessed Sacrament in her quiet convent cell received this message from Our Lord Jesus Christ; “I bear a special love for Poland and if she will be obedient to My will, I will exalt her in might and holiness. From her will come forth the spark that will prepare the world for My final coming.” Words of Jesus to St. Faustina
One of the greatest examples in this age of someone saying ‘yes’ to our Lord is St. Faustina. Helena Kowalska (St. Faustina) was born on August 25, 1905 in the tiny village of Glogowiec Poland, the third of ten children born to Stanislaw and Marianna Kowalska. From early childhood she revealed a certain special sensitivity towards the poor, a vibrant love for prayer and a great desire to always remain obedient to the will of God.
Helena would barely make it through the first three years of primary school. At the age of 16 with very little education this young Saint would leave home to work as a domestic servant in neighboring Aleksandrow Poland so that she could support herself and assist her parents financially back home.
This holy nun of the congregation of sisters of Our Lady of Mercy is known to us today as Saint Faustina of Cracow, Poland, who Our Lord Jesus gave to us through her a powerful prayer known as the Divine Mercy Chaplet, becoming increasingly known as a merciful instrument to reach the Heart of Jesus in this present era which is in great need of divine mercy.
St. Maria Faustina Kowalska was born to a poor peasant family in Glogowiec Poland in 1905. In baptism, she was given the name Helena.
In the Introduction to St. Faustina’s Diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul, Sr. M. Elizabeth Siepak, ZMBM says this of the young Saintly and pious woman who gave herself completely to Jesus;
“From early childhood she distinguished herself by her piety, love of prayer, industriousness and obedience as well as by her great sensitivity to human misery.
“When she was only seven (two years before her First Holy Communion), Helen already sensed in her soul the call to embrace the religious life. When later she made her desire known to her parents, they categorically did not acquiesce in her entering a convent. Because of this situation Helena strove to stifle this divine call within her. Pressed on, however, by a vision of the suffering Christ and by the words of His reproach: “How long shall I put up with you and how long will you keep putting Me off?” (Diary, 9), she began to search for a convent to join. She knocked on many a convent door, but nowhere was she accepted. Finally on August 1, 1925, Helen crossed the threshold of the cloister in the convent of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy.Upon her entrance to the Congregation Helen received the name Sr. Mary Faustina."
In the words Jesus spoke to St. Faustina, “Eternal God, in Whom’s mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible” Jesus reminds us that not only is God merciful but that His mercy flows continuously and is never-ending.
We also discover in the Canticle of Mary who prays in humble gratitude to God having just learned that God has found favor in her to be the Mother of God that “His mercy is from age to age for those who fear Him.”
(Luke 1:50)
The latter part of these words Jesus reveals to us that there is a treasure of inexhaustible compassion to be dispensed upon us if we so choose to acquire such grace. One day while attending a social youth dance, the young Helena saw a vision of the Suffering Christ before her very eyes. In this vision Jesus asked her, “How long My child before you will say ‘yes’ to Me?” Helena soon understood in her heart just what Jesus desired of her. And it was then that Helena Kowalska entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Krakow Poland on August 1, 1925.
Now not everyone is called to the religious life. However, each of us are called to be religious. We are all called to be saints. Each of us has a specific call to duty as this pertains to each of our lives according to God’s will. For St. Faustina, her ‘yes’ to Jesus did not simply include taking vows and becoming a nun, but more importantly centered around obeying the will of God. This is the key to saying yes to Jesus.
In saying ‘yes’ we make a commitment, a moral decision, a surrender of our own self-will to seek God’s will as it pertains to each of our lives and foremost to obey His Commandments.
For myself, at thirty seven years old I would soon discover that responding to this call to conversion was extremely urgent. Why the urgency? Why was it so essential for me to respond to God’s invitation now? The simple reality was that I was dying!
No, I was not dying physically with an ailment or incurable disease but spiritually dying with a decaying morality and a rotting sense of self-righteousness. My soul was severely stained with sin. Many sins! And my soul was in great peril. Had I died during this time I can not fathom perhaps where I may have wound up. In all honesty I really do not know that answer to this. However, what I do know is that I was in danger of losing a spiritual battle which I wasn't necessarily even aware existed.
I remember the first time I read the whole of chapter thirteen of the Apocalypse- the Book of Revelations, which spoke of a beast who would deceive all the inhabitants of the earth with many signs and wonders, forcing all people free and slave to be given a stamped image on their right hands or foreheads. As I sat back in my chair contemplating my too often uncontrollable sinfulness I couldn’t help but feel as though I was already marked with this ‘number of the beast’ spoken of in Revelations.
Suddenly, it was as if I wanted this mark removed from me and at all costs!
It occurred to me one day early in conversion that these many signs and wonders prophesized some two thousand years ago are truly abundant in this present age. All my life I have been easily captivated by the influences of modern thought, via literature, television, radio, and the cinema. Modern technology itself is extremely alluring. We all want life to go rather smooth. Cell phones, DVD players, voice message, text messages, and the internet all make it easier to organize and communicate and thus, get things done easier and more efficient.
We live in a rapidly growing and fast moving society. Everything seems to be in high speed. Have you ever watched a clip on television of the daily motions of people moving in fast forward? Does that not just about sum up how society often seems to move today? Yet perhaps the real question is where are we headed?
If we truly look deep into our personal problems; issues at home, strained relationships, social dilemmas etc. we will most certainly discover that it is a lack of faith and trust in God on our part at the very root of the problem.
Then again, what are problems? Problems are simply ‘consequences of sin.’ Whether it is our own sins or the sins of others, look at any dilemma that arises, any issue in society that we need to address, and we will certainly find man’s failure to abide by God’s will at the very root of the problem.
Hence, the philosophy that a perfect world is a sinless world. While this philosophy is certainly open to debate, it can still be said that an ideal world to live in is a sinless world for it is a world totally abiding by God’s will. Since God is Love, one can only try to image but will most probably fail to fully fathom the intense amount of love the world would receive in such a perfect and sinless world.
This is why we look forward to eternal paradise. While we realize and accept that we do not live in a perfect and thus, sinless world, for to think that we do would certainly be unrealistic, indeed in faith, we do believe and accept in our hearts by the generous grace God gives us that heaven is the perfect sinless world, the Utopia that is very real and tangible we look towards in our continuous journey in faith.
St. Francis was known to share in Christ’s agony through a mystical phenomenon known as the Stigmata. This holy and pious Saint was the first of well over three hundred documented Stigmatics in Church history. St. Padre Pio and St. Catherine of Siena also bore the wounds of Christ. And there are souls presently living in our age who have the Stigmata such as; Fr. James Bruse of Kilmarnock, Virginia, one of only three priests who have bore the wounds of Christ, Christina Gallagher, who has received messages from Our Blessed Mother through many apparitions, and a humble man only known to the public as Francis, who resides in a town in Northern Michigan, just to name a few.
The Stigmata by definition according to the Catholic Encyclopedia- “History tells us that many ecstatics bear on hands, feet, side, or brow the marks of the Passion of Christ with corresponding and intense sufferings. These are called visible stigmata. Others only have the sufferings, without any outward marks, and these phenomena are called invisible stigmata. Their existence is so well established historically that, as a general rule, they are no longer disputed by unbelievers, who now seek only to explain them naturally.”
Yet in bearing the physical pain of the Stigmata, such holy men and women teach us by their humble example not to be ‘complainers in heart’ of the pain we bear but to hand our pain over to God, to offer pain up to God for the benefit of all sinners. Just as St. Francis taught us by his humble example expressed in the prayer that reveals his journey towards Christ-
The Prayer of St. Francis;
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.
Be Not Afraid!
When I was a young child I needed a teddy bear in order for me to go to sleep. If the teddy bear went missing I could not sleep. Not until my eyes would finally give in. The teddy bear gave me sense of security. So did the prayers I said before bed. So did having mom and dad tuck me in at night and kiss me on the forehead.
As adults are we really any different? Do we not look for certain teddy bears in life to give us security that everything will be okay? At the very least we look to have a steady job, good health, a good relationship and closeness with family and friends, and a specific direction in life to journey towards that will ultimately bring us happiness in the end.
Jesus is the biggest teddy bear we could ever cling onto! Jesus is hope! Jesus is love! Jesus is salvation! He knows our pain and our suffering! He knows what it is like to feel abandoned by those He loves. Yet, in every moment we ever look elsewhere for comfort and security, He is always there and will never abandon us!
Always seeking a sense of balance in our lives, we must endeavor to seek peace and turn towards the good that God reveals to us all the while keeping vigilant of the darkness surrounding us. In essence, such issues should be a wake-up call for many faithful who now realize that humanity in many respects is drifting away from truth and from God who is truth, and has been drifting away for quite sometime. Yet, in this we know that God indeed has a plan!
“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but the sinner.” (Mark 2: 17)
What do we do when we feel ill and there is something not right about us physically or even mentally and emotionally? Do we not take the proper steps such as going to see a doctor, taking our medicine, following up with routine check ups and even in some cases therapy? As much as this good advice may apply to our physical health, it only stands to reason that our spiritual health truly deserves the same obedience and attention.
The Word of God is our spiritual vitamins you might say. The Word of God is truth. And without truth in our lives we are certainly lost. Our lives become chaotic and unmanageable. Ultimately we begin to live a complete lie!
Though, it must be said that Pope John Paul II was certainly not much for ‘doom and gloom.’ As most optimistic as he truly was he saw however a necessary call to address the darkness that exists today in its attempts to shroud the world from truth, that we may overcome this dark era and head towards the dawn of a new illuminated era of peace.
“Beside the many bright spots, shadows are not lacking. A certain loss of Christian memories is accompanied by a sort of fear in facing the future: a widespread fragmentation of life often goes hand in hand with the spread of individualism and a growing weakness in interpersonal solidarity. We are witnessing, as it were, a loss of hope; at its root is the attempt to make a Godless, Christless anthropology prevail. Paradoxically, the cradle of human rights thus risks losing its foundation, eroded by relativism and utilitarianism.” Pope John Paul II, Sunday Angelus, July 13, 2003
We all look to be consoled when we are in pain. So who do we turn to when we hurt? As Catholics, I would hope the first thought that comes to mind is not a therapist! Mind you, I say this realizing there are probably a small handful of therapists within secular society who try to bring Christ to their ‘clients.’
However, should we not turn first to the source of all love- found only in a personal relationship with God? And what better way than to turn to Christ represented in human form through the spiritual direction of a priest.
In turning first to God via a priest who represents Christ, we may discover that there is no need for recourse to any other alternative source. “God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.”
(1 John 4:16)
Why would I turn to a priest for help in my daily struggles when he knows little or nothing about raising children, who knows not how it is to fail to make ends meet financially, who knows not what it is like working in a negative environment, and furthermore knows not the pressures of secular society?
Well, for one, you may be surprised just how much a priest does know by means of experience about our daily lives as laypeople. After all, was he himself not a layperson before taking vows? As a child growing up, did he not live at home with mom and dad and experience the same things as other children?
First of all, we are not merely ‘clients’ to the priest as we are to the therapist or psychologist. To a priest, we are children of God who yearn for righteousness in God’s sights. And as sinners who yearn for such righteousness we desire first to reconcile with God continuously for our weakness that brings us to sin. “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12: 8)
So immediately the priest recognizes our need to feel whole and complete again. At the center of our visit with a priest is Christ’s love, not love for the world. So we do this by means of those who most represent Christ, not the world.
Secondly, while many secular therapists and psychologists boast today about their resume, their worldly achievements, their accolades, how often we see their degrees and awards hanging behind them on the wall, the priest has studied extensively in many of the same fields while further completing their university studies with a Master of Divinity. And even further some hold a Doctorate in theology. Yet, how would we know this? They generally do not boast about their resume.
The bottom line is that indeed the priest does have the credentials needed direct society. And they have a tremendous gift through the authority of Jesus Christ to mold Christian lives and direct us spiritually in the right direction. And when I say spiritually, that covers both emotional and mental struggles just the same.
So why do I need to confess my sins before a priest if God already knows my sins? Well, there is a process in which God desires us to endure for our own spiritual growth that involves confessing our sins openly, honestly, and verbally to another human being.
But why the priest? Why not just a friend or even alone in quiet prayer? It is by means of the priest that we seek absolute forgiveness for the same reason that only a priest can consecrate bread and wine truly becoming the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
A priest has a special gift and thus, plays a vital role in bringing Christ to us and leading us before Christ in a special way that others cannot fully complete. True, we do bring Christ to others and lead others to Christ by humble example and even by the power to forgive; a power given us by Christ’s authority, but not by means of the sanctity of Holy Sacraments which in essence, exudes the greatest use of power and is the highest means to receive forgiveness; a gift bestowed only upon a priest again through Christ’s authority.
During Pentecost Christ said to His disciples, who evidently were the Churches first priests; “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so I send you.” And when He said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” (John 20:21-23)
A priest represents Christ. And though every Christian has said ‘yes’ to Christ, the priest has said ‘yes’ to Christ in a special way. Through Christ’s promise to send the Holy Spirit upon us, the Priest through holy vows and ordinance does not only play a special role in bringing Christ to us but also has the authority- Christ’s stamp of approval if you will to ‘absolve’ us of or bind us to our sins. However, as a human soul it is not the priest who forgive us, he simply absolves us. It is Christ Himself Who forgives us. There is a difference. And it is in this difference that when we make a good confession we accept that Christ is truly present just as we accept that Christ is truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
So, as a lay person we do have this power by means of Christ’s authority but not to the same level of power given a priest. We can be a friend who shows compassion and assists those in need along their journey of faith, but we can not announce to them at any moment and under any circumstance that their sins are totally absolved and they need not go to confession. Such error would be very grave on our part. To steer another soul away from the confessional under every circumstance is to be the devil’s advocate.
So often we unknowingly make this mistake especially in this present age when many Catholics practice our faith but once a week, once a month or once a year and find ourselves uneducated in the protocol we must follow concerning Church Doctrine.
For example; our friend comes to us feeling absolute pain and remorse, especially for a mortal sin they have committed and in seeking to feel released of the heavy chains of burden they have brought on choose to confide in us and us alone. And after a long hearty talk and a good cry, as we both rise to our feet we say to our friend, “Don’t worry, God forgives you my friend.”
Do we leave it at that? In saying so we may mean well and have good intent in our hearts. We do not mean to steer away our friend from the tremendous graces available through the Sacrament of forgiveness. However, in blindness, that is exactly what we have done.
While our friend will discover a most merciful God and truly receive absolution and forgiveness at a much greater level than we can possibly bring them when he or she finally kneels down before God in the confessional, in truth, it is more proper as a Catholic to steer our friend towards the confessional than to simply take it upon ourselves to reassure others in mortal sin that God has forgiven.
Thus, while it is always compassionate to assure others of God’s mercy and love, a more generous and compassionate response to our friend at the end of our hearty talk would be, “Don’t worry my dear friend, indeed God does forgive you and He anxiously awaits you right there behind that curtain.” And if I may, I could add the encouraging words, “Be not afraid!”
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When the Convent of Santa Monica was searched, in 1934, it revealed an amazing secret. It was... Read Full Story »
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