Homily for September 11, 2022
Twenty-Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Confession: The Road to Healing
St. John
Climacus was a seventh-century Egyptian Catholic monk whose famous book “The
Ladder of Divine Ascent” tells many edifying stories of his life in the
monastery. He recounts that on one occasion, a notorious thief presented
himself to the abbot, hoping to join the monastery. The abbot warned him that,
because of his former sinful way of life, he would have to confess his sins
publicly if he wished to enter the monastery. The thief, truly desiring
repentance, declared that he’d be willing to confess his sins in the marketplace
of Alexandria if that meant God would forgive him.
So, the
thief was admitted to the monastery on a trial basis. When Sunday came, the
abbot gathered the entire monastery in the church for Sunday Mass, but he
interrupted the Mass in the middle of it and called the thief to the center of
the church. Strong monks grabbed this former sinner and threw him on the ground
before the altar. The abbot struck fear in the heart of all when he cried out,
“You are not worthy to enter here! What evil have you done?” Through tears of
sorrow the man confessed the most horrible sins – lust, greed, even poisoning
others. This public confession went on for some time, with loud wails and
tears. When he had finished his public confession, the abbot instructed the
monks to raise him up and clothe him with the religious habit (garment).
Afterward,
St. John Climacus asked the wise abbot why he made him make such a public show
of his repentance. The abbot replied, “It was for two reasons. First, now that
he has suffered the shame of confessing, he will never again suffer future
shame for his sins. And second, because some of the brothers in the monastery
also have hidden sins, and this will encourage them to confess them openly and
honestly, thereby leading to freedom.” St. John replied, “Ah yes, I see your
wisdom. And as the penitent man confessed the sins, I beheld an angel holding a
scroll of the man’s sins. When each one was confessed, the angel crossed out
the sin, until the scroll was completely clean.”
Thus is
the power of Confession! We should be grateful that our Confessions can be
private – many confessions in the early church were public confessions,
especially if the sin was known in public. It wasn’t until the seventh or
eighth century that all Confessions became private – in large part because of
the Irish people. When missionaries brought Christianity to Ireland, they found
that the Irish were rather unruly people, and they would refuse to confess if
it had to be done in public. So the missionaries made all confessions
private from that time on, and it became the custom of the Church – for which
we are immensely grateful!
It was
Jesus’ will to pour out His mercy and to reconcile sinners to Himself through
the Sacrament of Confession. These beautiful parables of the Lord’s mercy show
how lavish this mercy seeks sinners – of which we all are. But that Sacrament
has fallen out of favor in recent decades – so here are six awesome reasons to
go to Confession!
First,
because we need to hear those words “I absolve you.” Imagine that we have hurt
a friend. We may feel really bad about it, and regret it, but we’re not
reconciled until we hear the friend say, “I forgive you.” In the same way, we
may feel bad about our sins and regret them, but we are truly reconciled when
we hear those words, “I absolve you” – it is Jesus, through the priest,
welcoming us back into His arms!
Second,
because we gain free advice! A Jewish psychologist was once chatting with
Cardinal Dolan from New York, and the psychologist said, “If your confession
thing really catches on, I’ll be out of a job!” He went on to explain, “I
listen to people’s troubles all day long, most of which are caused by bad
choices. I give them advice, but charge $200 an hour, and can’t even forgive
them at the end of the day!” If I really want to grow in virtue, it is critical
to have a spiritual guide to give advice on how to overcome our sins – hence,
the role of the priest in Confession, as a spiritual doctor giving advice to
the soul!
Third,
to help us grow in humility. The root of all sin is pride, so the antidote is
humility. And there is nothing that humbles us like having to confess our
failings to another fallen human being. Humility is knowing who we are before
God, and who we are is sinners redeemed by the lavish, freeing mercy of God.
Fourth, we
confess so that we become honest with ourselves. We all have a tendency to rationalize
away our sins. We say, “I’m sorry I cut that person off in traffic…but they
deserved it!” Or we say, “Oh, it’s not a big deal if I miss Mass on Sunday.”
But when we honestly confess our sins, we can’t rationalize it away – we have
to honestly confront that what we did really mattered – and that we are
sorry, and God can forgive it. There is a joke in the church that every
Hispanic woman’s confession starts the same way: “Oh Padre, tengo problemas con
me esposo!” (Oh, Father, I have many problems with my husband!) And then the
wife blames all her sins on her bad husband! But confessions helps us to stop
doing that – the problem isn’t with this person or that person, it is with me –
and this is the first step toward true freedom.
Fifth,
so that we are reconciled back to the Church. Sin doesn’t just hurt the sinner
– it wounds the entire Body of Christ. Certainly many sins directly harm others
– perhaps insulting a person, or stealing…but even sins that seem to be
harmless, like thinking an uncharitable or impure thought, bring down others
because it makes us not as holy as we should be, which makes the
Church not as holy as it should be! Taking a bucket of water out of a lake
may not seem to make much of a difference, but if a thousand people took a
bucket, the water level would drop significantly. Likewise, if we are all
saints, the holiness level of the whole church will rise and shine forth…but if
we are all sinners, we taint the Church’s holiness. Hence, we need to be
reconciled, not just to Jesus, but to the whole Church…which is why we confess
to the Church’s minister in the priest!
Sixth,
because Jesus said so! On the night He rose from the dead – Easter Sunday
evening – He appeared to His Apostles, and what did He give them? Words of
wisdom? A miracle? No, He gave them the power to forgive sins. He said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven.” He gave the
Sacrament of Confession to the Apostles, who were the first bishops, who then
passed it down through the Church until now.
Some of
us say, “Oh, well, I’m a good person, I don’t need to go to Confession.” But
have you ever had a window that you thought was clean, but once the sun started
shining directly on it we notice smudges and streaks? In the same way, when we
approach the Light of Christ, He reveals the ways that we have fallen short –
not to condemn us, but to cleanse us deeper!
As we
begin this new school year, Confession is a great way to make a new start.
Before and after every Mass this weekend, Confessions are being offered. If
it’s been a while, come to Confession. If you missed Sunday Mass this summer,
come to Confession (even before coming to Communion). If you want to grow in
holiness, come to Confession. It’s a Sacrament for everyone – because we are
all the lost sheep, the lost coin, the Prodigal Son – we are all the one that
Christ is seeking.
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