56 lines
3.8 KiB
HTML
56 lines
3.8 KiB
HTML
<p>Some folks have mentioned to me before that they are amazed at my love for
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the Mass. Indeed, like for any Catholic, the Mass is a central element of my
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faith. For me, the Mass can truly be a bedrock of my daily life, holding
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everything together (if done well). And the Eucharist especially I hold quite
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dear. What could be greater than to receive our Lord truly and in such an
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intimate manner in Communion? What's more, I hold a personal belief, based on
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the Eucharistic Miracles, that we specifically receive His Sacred Heart in the
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Eucharist. In the Mass, at the communion rail, Christ gives us, through the
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priest, His Sacred Heart so that It may go down our esophagus and pass right
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next to our very own heart. I like to hold my hand to my chest, imagining that
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His Heart is beating next to mine, and that I am hearing His Heart beating as
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John would in the Last Supper. However, despite my love for the Mass, the
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Sacrament I hold most dearly is the Sacrament of Confession.</p>
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<p>To begin with, this is the very first Sacrament I was able to receive in my
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conversion to the Faith, and that I could continue to receive on a regular
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basis. And its healing powers on my soul were noticeable to me since my very
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first confession, which took place under very irregular circumstances. I am
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still extremely grateful for the priest who put so much care into ensuring that
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I would not spend the confinement of 2020 without receiving this Sacrament.
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After the confinement was over, lasting something like a few months, the very
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first thing I did was to call my local parish and ask when the priest would be
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available for confession. And so I continued to go to confession, receiving its
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grace, until the day I was admitted into Christ's Church on July 3<sup>rd</sup>
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2020, the day of St. Thomas, the Apostle who doubted.</p>
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<p>In this sense I am grateful that I was able to receive this Sacrament much
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before being able to receive Communion. The reason being that, often times its
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easy for us to see the Sacrament of Penance as a gateway to Communion, and in
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some regards it is. But it is also a Sacrament in its own right, and has a real
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purpose in the plan of our salvation. It gives us graces, not simply disposing
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us to receive the Eucharist, absolving us of our sins, but truly ordering our
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hearts to Jesus Christ, configuring us to Him. And perhaps more than anything
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else, at least for me, this Sacrament has helped to humble me and to truly more
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than anything else help me to understand the power of God's mercy.</p>
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<p>Perhaps it is these two facets of this Sacrament that I find are so
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desperately needed in this world today: accountability and forgiveness. The
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Sacrament of Confession first invites us to humble ourselves, to humble
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<em>myself</em>, and recognize that I am a sinner. Not only am I a sinner, but I
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am very much broken, and I need help, I need God. Too often the modern culture
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tries to hide this from us, so that it demands nothing from us. God, on the
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other hand, is very demanding of us. This is something we need. But it is
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accompanied necessarily and immediately by mercy: when we truly repent and
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humbly confess our sins, God's abundant mercy is shown and made more clear. As I
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confess my sins, realizing all the wrongs that I have done, I expect the
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(metaphorical) lashings, but instead I am met with love and forgiveness. I am
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once again the prodigal son who has returned to his father. And every time you
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go to confession, so are you. You are that prodigal son, who has betrayed your
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father, betrayed his trust, wasted your life on meaningless distractions, but
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all your father cares about now is that you have returned to him.</p>
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<p>I truly encourage all Catholics to go to confession frequently. Not so
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frequent as to stimulate scrupulosity, but enough to humble oneself and also to
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be reminded of God's infinite mercy.</p>
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