The Sacrament of Reconciliation

Life’s lesson teaches us that when we get dirty, we should take a bath or have a shower, as the case may be. Oh yes! Recall returning from a heavy day’s work in the office or from the farm, how you could not wait to clean yourself up? Or returning from a workout or from the field of soccer, tennis, baseball or basketball, or any sport of your choice! You were sweaty and smelly; your sporting gear or work clothes all wet with sweat; you could not wait to get home and into the bathtub for a thorough clean up. Now reflect on how you felt after your shower or after some minutes in the tub. You felt clean and fresh. Then you put on your lotion, some powder and colon or perfume. You really smelt good, looked beautiful and now you are ready to go for dinner. Your day is complete and you want to go to bed, fulfilled and contented. These are simple instructions from life. If we do not pay heed to these lessons, we remain dirty, unkempt, unclean and undesirable and soon enough, you begin to lose friends. Who wants to befriend a dirty, smelly and untidy person?

Now what lesson can we learn from the Church? Many you chimed in! And you are right. The Church has taught us many lessons. But in this blog post, my concern is the sacrament of reconciliation. As our bodies are dirty due to work, workout or sporting activities, so too are our souls. As we go about our daily duties and are concerned with life, we gather some dirt called sin and they cling to our souls. If these go unchecked, they begin to rob us of our peace, our joy and gradually our relationship with God and our brothers and sisters are affected. The sacrament is one of the channels of Grace that Christ gave to the Church after his resurrection. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Through the sacraments of Christian initiation, man receives the new life of Christ. Now we carry this life “in earthen vessels,” and it remains “hidden with Christ in God.” We are still in our “earthly tent,” subject to suffering, illness, and death. This new life as a child of God can be weakened and even lost by sin.” The Catechism goes on to remind us: “The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health, has willed that his Church continue, in the power of the Holy Spirit, his work of healing and salvation, even among her own members. This is the purpose of the two sacraments of healing: the sacrament of Penance and the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.”

Isn’t it sad that very few members of the Church use this sacrament? Many see it as old fashion, outdated or obsolete. Really? It baffles me that many of us would readily spend money to go for counseling but are slow to approach the throne of Grace freely given in the sacrament of reconciliation. Yet the Catechism teaches us that “Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from God’s mercy for the offense committed against him, and are at the same time, reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, by example, and by prayer labors for their conversion.”

One of the best ways to celebrate the resurrection of Christ from the death is to purify ourselves of sins through the sacrament of reconciliation, so called, as the Catechism teaches “because it imparts to the sinner the love of God.” He who lives by God’s merciful love is ready to respond to the Lord’s call: “Go, first be reconciled to your brother.” Pope Benedict XVI links the sacrament of reconciliation to the work of evangelization. In his address to1300 priests and deacons who were participating in an annual course regarding confession and matters of conscience on March 9, 2012 in Vatican City, the Holy Father exhort:

“Thus sacramental confession is an important aspect of new evangelization. “True conversion of hearts, which means opening ourselves to the transforming and regenerative actions of God, is the ‘motor’ of all reform and turns into an authentic force for evangelization. During Confession, the repentant sinner, thanks to the gratuitous action of divine Mercy, is justified, forgiven and sanctified… Only those who allow themselves to be profoundly renewed by divine Grace can internalize and therefore announce the novelty of the Gospel”. All saints in history bear witness to this close relationship between sanctity and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. New evangelization itself “draws life blood from the sanctity of the sons and daughters of the Church, from the daily process of individual and community conversion, conforming itself ever more profoundly to Christ.”

The sacrament of reconciliation offers us the chance to humble ourselves before God our father, acknowledge our short comings, as the prodigal son in Luke’s Gospel 15, and hence receive forgiveness of our sins. It is the washing or the shower that we need for our souls. The penance that we receive will make us feel clean and refresh so that we may have the courage to face a new day with strength.

So if you have not yet done so, I exhort you to make use of this sacrament. Approach it with love and humility, fear not the priest, he is only a mediator between you and God, and he will bring down blessing and forgiveness from God to you. Listen again to the words of Christ in John’s Gospel 20:22-23: “Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” The Church truly has the power to forgive sins and Christ gave that power in the sacrament of reconciliation.

The Lenten Prayer

I was at a phone conference two weeks ago at Mercy Medical Center; before the conference one of the organizers gave a powerful reflection that I thought was a wonderful way to start the Lenten season. After the conference some of us expressed that we would like to have a copy of the reflection. My director Ms. Kathy reported that she had a copy and that she would be glad to email it to us. Well then I am more than willing to share this prayer with you. This is what I would like to call ‘The Lenten Prayer’. I only hope that we take a long loving look at this prayer and pray that we may have the courage to put it into practice.  

Lent: A Call to Fast and Feast:

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Fast from judging others; feast on Christ dwelling in them.


Fast from emphasis on differences; feast on the oneness of all.


Fast from the darkness around us; feast on the light of JESUS within us.

Fast from thoughts of illness; feast on the healing power of GOD.

Fast from actions that pollute, feast on deeds that purify.

Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude.

Fast from pessimism; feast on hope.

Fast from worry; feast on trust.


Fast from guilt; feast on freedom.


Fast from complaining; feast on complementing.


Fast from stress; feast on self-care.


Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness.


Fast from selfishness; feast on compassion for others.


Fast from apathy; feast on enthusiasm.


Fast from idle gossiping; feast on spreading the Good News.


Fast from being so busy; feast on peaceful silence.


Fast from being in control; feast on letting go.”

If am to dissect this prayer and take it apart line by line, I dare say, it would make a book. Fasting from negativity, pessimism, apathy, bitterness and gossiping would pave a bright future for many of us who like to pursue a life of holiness. We cannot live a life of holiness with bitterness in our hearts. We have to consciously follow the teaching of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel chapters 5, 6, 7 and 18 if we have any hope of going to heaven.

Life’s lesson has taught us that vices, anger and hording our hurts only succeed in doing one thing, rob us of our peace, serenity and happiness. We have long ago learnt, though we have not always put it into practice; that we cannot keep someone down without being down with that person. Hence we have to free ourselves of poisonous thoughts, behaviors and habits and begin to see the bright side of life. We have a choice to make. Do you choose to be sad and negative or won’t you rather choose to be happy in life? The choice is yours. You have nothing to lose if you choose to be happy. The most important thing is that we always have a choice. Look at the prayer above once again, spend sometime with the Lord in prayer, in the silence of your heart and allow God to speak to you. Do not be afraid of silence for it has so much to teach you about yourself. Sad to note though, many would rather spend eternity in the cacophony of noise in our everyday life than to spend just an hour with the Lord in silence prayer. The Lord would teach us the true meaning of Lent and fasting. So why not try it out, after all what have you to lose?

He also serves who stands and waits

Many times we find people in Church wondering what they should do for God. There are also those who do not care that they do nothing or anything for God. Their only concern is to go to Church, nothing more, nothing less and nothing else. What does going to Church really mean? Going to Church means being an active participant in the life of the Church. Being an active participant at Mass for instance, means doing what everyone else is doing - standing up, sitting down, kneeling down, praying, singing and responding to the priest at the appropriate times. But you do not have to stand when you are unable to do so. You can sit down and still participate. Sitting down does not mean you should also shut your mouth. If you cannot sing, you can at least pray. If you cannot serve Mass as an altar server, you can at least read as a lector. If you cannot read, you can be an usher. If you cannot be an usher, you can be a greeter, or you can at least be friendly, cordial, helpful and willing to give direction to those who need help. What I am saying in a sense is that there is something that everyone can do in Church for God at one time or the other. We must, each of us, look in our hearts and pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to instruct us on how best we can serve the Lord. Tithing of course is a must for everyone.

There is a story about Harry the usher, by William J. Bausch in his book ‘A World of stories”, that I will like to share with you in this post. This story demonstrates how we should be the best we can possibly be in whatever we have chosen to do in Church; knowing that we are in it to serve our God and help bring about His kingdom here on earth. Here is the story:

“The pastor received a letter marked, “Please give to Harry the Usher.” It was handed over to Harry, and this is what it said: “Dear Harry. I’m sorry I don’t know your last name, but then, you don’t know mine. I’m Gert, Gert at the ten o’clock Mass every Sunday. I’m writing to ask a favor. I don’t know the priests too well, but somehow feel close to you. I don’t know how you got to know my first name, but every Sunday morning you smile and greet me by name, and we exchange a few words: how bad the weather is, how much you like my hat, and how I am late on a particular Sunday. I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to remember an old woman, for the smiles, for your consideration, for your thoughtfulness. “Now for the favor. I am dying, Harry. My husband has been dead for sixteen years, and the kids are scattered. It is very important to me that when they bring me to church for the last time, you will be there to say, ‘Hello, Gert. Good to see you.’ If you are there Harry, I will feel assured that your warm hospitality will be duplicated in my new home in heaven. With love and gratitude, Gert.”

From this story, it is obvious that Harry was a very good usher. He made everyone comfortable as they came in for Mass. He called everyone by name, spent some time chit chatting as they move into the Church for Mass. Harry was not a priest; he did not need to be one. But Harry was a good Christian who understood his work in the Church. Harry may not have known that what he did amounted to anything, but he was noticed and appreciated.

Come to think of it, we are all equal in the eyes of God. Whatever calling we have and whatever profession we choose in life, it does matter how we chose to function and how we affect people. It is all about relating to one another as we relate to our God. The priest is not bigger or greater than a young child just baptized. So you don’t have to be a priest or bishop or pope in order to serve God and his Church. To the Question ‘who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven’ directed to him by his disciples in Matthew’s Gospel chapter 18, Jesus answered with a demonstration: “He called a child over, place it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven”.

God may not ask us to do extraordinary things, but like Harry the usher, He wants us to do the ordinary things in life extraordinarily well. Let me conclude with a verse from a song you all know well, “If you cannot sing like angels, if you cannot preach like Paul, you can tell the love of Jesus, you can say he died for all.” So pray and ask God what it is he wants you to do for him in your church. Once you have found your niche, hold firm to it and do it with all you heart. Pray and pray as if everything depends on God, and work, and work as if everything depends on you, and you would have assisted God in establishing his kingdom here on earth. Never you say ‘there is nothing I can do’. There is always something for someone somewhere in God’s own house. 

Fix it, it’s broken!

Life’s lesson says “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” But Lent’s lesson is “it’s broken, now is the time to fix it.” So the Bible reminds us to go into the desert so as to fix our broken lives. Jesus went into the desert immediately after his baptism by John the Baptist at the river Jordan. Patriarch Fouad Twal of Jerusalem tells us that the fast of Jesus “took place in the desert region four kilometers northwest of Jericho, on a mountain named “Quarantena” (or Quruntul in Arabic)”.

Prophets, like Moses and Elijah, went into the desert to fast and pray either for themselves or for the sins of others in preparation for an encounter with God. In the book of Prophet Hosea 2:16, God says, “I will allure her, I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart.” In the book of prophet Ezekiel 20:35-36 we read “then I will lead you to the desert of the peoples, where I will enter into judgment with you face to face. Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you, says the Lord God”. You will recall that after the children of Israel left Egypt, they wandered for forty years in the desert en route the Promised Land. It was while in the desert, as we read in Exodus 16, that the children of Israel started complaining to God that they had no water to drink, no food to eat and that they would have preferred to die in Egypt under force labor and slavery rather than in desert.

So what do we find in the desert? Life’s lesson informs us that in the desert we find a sea of sand, wild animals, hostile and unfriendly weather conditions. The one thing that is not common in the desert is water. There is heat in abundance and life can indeed be difficult. Here was where Jesus chose to go to after his baptism. Mark the evangelist reminds us in the first chapter of his Gospel, in the 12^th verse that: “The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remind in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him.”

Since the conveniences of life are lacking in the desert one can only be confronted by ones mind. Here all illusions of riches and wealth give way to a stag realization that we need a being bigger and greater than ourselves. Here we rely on God for everything. Here we experience our nothingness, our helplessness and our dependence on God. In the desert we have to make do with the barest necessities of life. In the desert God becomes our all and all. Oh yes, it is easy for God to speak to our hearts directly and we will listen to him. In the absence of material things around us, we become easily attached to God. In the desert it becomes easy to begin to fix our broken lives after we have stripped ourselves of the glories of life, our self-importance and our authority and the feeling that we are better than everyone else.

As we enter into this season of grace, let us create our own desert and take a long loving walk in and around it. Let us spend some time in prayer and constantly feel our need for God and our dependence on one another. Lent will only be meaningful after we have spent some time in our wilderness, our desert. So let us heed the lesson of Lent and begin to fix our brokenness in the desert created just to be with God and God with us.

Why do we fast?

In the book of the prophet Isaiah 58:3 we read these words: “Why do we fast, and you do not see it? Afflict ourselves, and you take no notice of it?” This was God’s way of replying to the children of Israel who wondered why God was paying a deaf ear to their supplication. Don’t we feel like this most of the time? We sometimes wonder why we go to Church at all if our prayers seem to go unanswered. So as we begin this season of Lent it would be good to look at the pillars of Lent: Prayer, fasting and almsgiving. We are told by Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that we should pray more, fast a lot and give to those in need more than we have ever done before during Lent. But note: he said that all these should be done in secret since the one to reward us is God himself. Please read for yourself these sacred words that come out of the mouth of the teacher himself as recorded by the Gospel of Matthew 6:1-8,16-18. Notice that Christ started by sounding a note of warning: “…Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father."

God, in the passage from Isaiah quoted above, went on to state why the fasting and the prayer of the children of Israel do not go up to Him. “Lo on your fast day you carry out your own pursuits, and drive all your laborers. Yes, your fast ends in quarreling and fighting, striking with wicked claw. Would that today you might fast so as to make your voice heard on high! Is this the manner of fasting I wish, of keeping a day of penance: that a man bow his head like a reed, and lie in sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? This rather, is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke; Sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own” Is. 58:3-8.

From the aforementioned, there is a strong correlation between fasting and justice. God links the fasting that pleases him to doing justice. The reason why this is so emphasized during Lent, I think, is that Lent should bring out the best in all of us. Since during Lent, we must necessarily think of the welfare of our brothers and sisters as well as doing all that we can to avoid sins and all that lead to sins. In his message for Lent this year, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict calls “us to be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works. He stated that, “Christians can also express their membership in the one body which is the Church through concrete concern for the poorest of the poor. Concern for one another likewise means acknowledging the good that the Lord is doing in others and giving thanks for the wonders of grace that Almighty God in his goodness continuously accomplishes in his children.”

In his Lenten letter the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal reminds us that we fast during Lent so that we may “adapt our lives with determination to the will of God, freeing ourselves from any egoism, lust for power, or avarice, by opening our hearts to the love of Christ and neighbor, especially the poor and indigent. Lent, as the Holy Father reminds us, is a providential time for us to recognize our frailty and welcome reconciliation, in order to orient ourselves to Christ.” So we fast for various reasons, but most of all we fast so as to imitate Christ, according to Patriarch Twal, “to be conscious of those who hunger and thirst. As proclaimed by the fourth Preface for Lent: “For through bodily fasting you restrain our faults, raise up our minds, and bestow both virtue and its rewards, through Christ our Lord.”

This then is the type of fasting that pleases God. Listen to Him, “If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday; then the Lord will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails” Is. 58:10-12. What else can I tell you?   

It’s Lent again

Every year the Church gives us a second chance. A time to sit back and reflect on life; to get our perspective aright and take stock of our relationship both with God and one another. This second chance is called Lent. This is the springtime of life. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday when we receive ashes on our forehead to show that we are ready to humble ourselves and repent of our sins, to do penance, to pray some more and to think of others more than we think of ourselves. There are 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. So what will you do differently this year?

Last year, in this blog, I gave you some practical suggestions on how to observe Lent. I talked about sin reduction rather than giving up food and things. I wrote about kicking some bad habits, like smoking and avoiding gossiping. I did not write much about assisting others, though I suggested that you should give the savings from giving up a bad habit like smoking to assist the poor. This year I want to stress the importance of thinking of others before self (avoiding ‘I before others’ syndrome and replacing it with ‘others before me’ mentality). Let us talk about giving alms instead of giving arms. In giving alms, we see ourselves as God’s stewards who have been entrusted with many blessings by the creator and the author of life. We are to see how we can share these many blessings with others. In giving alms, we see ourselves in relationship with one another as well as with God. I am sure you know that being a Christian means being in a relationship with a living person - Jesus Christ, the second person of the blessed Trinity. Do you have to be rich before you share your blessings with others? By no means! Our gifts are meaningful when the giving hurts us. That is what is called sacrificial giving. And that too is how God loves us. He sent his only Son into the world to redeem us and he did this by giving his life as expiation for our sins. So instead of giving arms, let us give alms. Giving arms only brings misunderstanding and conflicts. It robs us of our peace of mind and instills disunity and disharmony in our lives. A good and practical observance of Lent should help us to experience the peace that only Christ can give us.

This Lent, therefore, let us learn to be all things to all people. Be available to the people around you. Ask a simple question like, how may I be of help to you? Share your blessings with the people around you. Go out of your way to assist someone in need. Pay attention to simple things, like sharing a smile or laughter with people around you. Let your parting words be ‘May God bless you’. And wish everyone the best of the day. Forget not simple pleasures of life and remind your friends to do the same.

You can now see that being a saint is not that difficult after all. This indeed is how God wants us to live, and Lent will all the more be meaningful because we care! 

What are you driving or what is driving you?

Life’s lesson has it that as all lizards lie with their stomach on the ground it does not make it easy to know which of them has stomachache. In our everyday life we meet people. They are tall while others are short. They are beautiful while others are not so beautiful. They are white and others are black. They are well endowed in shapes and seizes while others are of moderate shapes and seizes. Some are rich while others are not so rich. Many are healthy while others are sick. No matter how much we try, it is not easy to determine who; among those that we meet, are really happy and who are not. How right was William Shakespeare when he noted in Macbeth Act 1, scene 4 that “there’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.”

Many of those that we meet are either driving a big truck or are being driven by it. Driven by something that will make our jaw drop if we were to know the forces behind them. Unless we are invited to navigate in their world and are allowed to share their problems we will never know the terrain of their world and the load that they carry. Few days ago we were shocked with the sudden death of Whitney Houston, the lady of Songs with a magnificent voice that would want us to keep listening to her. She was rich and famous, had enough money to have guaranteed her happiness, but she was either driving a heavy truck or was being driven in the wrong direction. She was found dead in her bathtub, in a hotel room. Last year Michael Jackson, another musical icon, the king of Pop bowed down and out under a powerful drug called propofol. Our dear brother was unable to sleep in spite of his popularity and fame. He was either driving a heavy truck or was being driven by something greater than himself. So we wonder why such a rich man found it so difficult to sleep at night. We have read of many sport stars who have crumbled under the powerful influence of drugs or who adopted a life style that is difficult to understand.

As I watched the funeral of Whitney Houston I realized that all those who are driving a heavy truck or who are being driven by it have one thing in common: they are looking for something. They want to be happy. To have peace of mind! To be loved, not just because of their money or because of how they make us feel when they sing or dance, but just to be loved for who they are. They want to go to bed and sleep as every other person without paparazzi following then around, waiting for them to make a mistake so that they would report it to the whole world. Oh the burden of stardom! Life’s lesson comes handy here: nothing and no one can make us happy. We are either happy or we are not. Money, things, and even human beings cannot make us happy. St. Augustine was on the money when he noted: “God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in you.”

Another life’s lesson, this time from the Book of Psalm #49 is at rem at this point. Please read and learn: Hear this all you peoples, give heed, all who dwell in the world, men both high and low, rich and poor alike! My lips will speak words of wisdom. My heart is full of insight. I will turn my mind to a parable, with the harp I will solve my problem. Why should I fear in evil days the malice of the foes who surround me, men who trust in their wealth, and boast of the vastness of their riches? For no man buy his own ransom, or pay a price to God for his life. The ransom of his soul is beyond him. He cannot buy life without end, nor avoid coming to the grave. He knows that wise men and fools must both perish and must leave their wealth to others. Their graves are their homes for ever, their dwelling place from age to age, though their names spread wide through the land. In his riches, man lacks wisdom; he is like the beasts that are destroyed.

So the only thing that should drive us is our desire to be at one with God, to see things from God’s perspective. God meant for us to be happy, to love him and be loved by him, to be in touch with our inner-self, to know that we brought nothing into this world and we will take nothing out of it. We are meant to live simple lives, not to accumulate too much for ourselves but to share what we have with others. By so doing we will only be driven by one thing, and one thing only and that is love.