Mar. 12, 2013 Tuesday: Week 6, Divine Mercy Novena
On this Sixth week of our pilgrimage of the Divine Mercy Novena, we travel to St. Peter’s Basilica. Millions each year who travel through Rome stop by St. Peter’s, so inside the church is always bustling with thousands of people. It is quite difficult to pray there with all those people, but I’ll let you in on a secret. There is one spot where you will get quiet time without all those tourists trying to take photos. It’s an area that is roped off, and an usher will allow you in only when you say the right words: “I want to go to confession.”
Let me ask you, is it easier to go to confession to a priest that you know or to a priest you don’t know? When I asked someone when he goes to confession, the person replied, “When I go out of town.” I’ve heard people say, “I can tell God directly what I need to tell him; I don’t need to tell a priest.” Yes, we certainly can, but we are not angels who are totally spiritual beings who can communicate with God directly; we are bodily creatures made up of soul and body. Our spiritual needs are expressed through our body, and we receive our spiritual nourishment and healing through our body. Mother Teresa recounted the following experience:
A sister called to tell me that one of the young men was dying but, strange to say, he couldn’t die. So she asked him, “What is wrong?” And he said, “Sister, I cannot die until I ask my father to forgive me,” So the sister found out where the father was, and she called him. And something extraordinary happened, like a living page from the gospel: The father embraced his son and cried, “My son! My beloved son!” And the son begged the father, “Forgive me! Forgive me!” And the two of them clung to each other tenderly. Hours later, the young man died.
We need to hear that word, see the gesture, and feel the touch that we are forgiven. That’s how we are made. You may think it strange, but one of the most common penance that I give to a husband or wife is, “When you go home, when the time is right, hold your spouse’s hand and tell them how much you appreciate and love them.” Sounds simple to some; but it is difficult for others. Why is it that we forgive and ask to be forgiven? So that we can love and be loved more fully. The holding of hands, reconnects not only the warmth of the hands, but rebuilds bridges that have been damaged because of hurts. In some ways, when you approach confession, our Heavenly Father is extending his hand to draw us to Him. We who have put our hands in our pockets because of our shame are invited to pull them out and hold the Father’s hand. We have the opportunity today after the singing of the Chaplet to experience the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Let me ask you, is it easier to go to confession to a priest that you know or to a priest you don’t know? When I asked someone when he goes to confession, the person replied, “When I go out of town.” I’ve heard people say, “I can tell God directly what I need to tell him; I don’t need to tell a priest.” Yes, we certainly can, but we are not angels who are totally spiritual beings who can communicate with God directly; we are bodily creatures made up of soul and body. Our spiritual needs are expressed through our body, and we receive our spiritual nourishment and healing through our body. Mother Teresa recounted the following experience:
A sister called to tell me that one of the young men was dying but, strange to say, he couldn’t die. So she asked him, “What is wrong?” And he said, “Sister, I cannot die until I ask my father to forgive me,” So the sister found out where the father was, and she called him. And something extraordinary happened, like a living page from the gospel: The father embraced his son and cried, “My son! My beloved son!” And the son begged the father, “Forgive me! Forgive me!” And the two of them clung to each other tenderly. Hours later, the young man died.
We need to hear that word, see the gesture, and feel the touch that we are forgiven. That’s how we are made. You may think it strange, but one of the most common penance that I give to a husband or wife is, “When you go home, when the time is right, hold your spouse’s hand and tell them how much you appreciate and love them.” Sounds simple to some; but it is difficult for others. Why is it that we forgive and ask to be forgiven? So that we can love and be loved more fully. The holding of hands, reconnects not only the warmth of the hands, but rebuilds bridges that have been damaged because of hurts. In some ways, when you approach confession, our Heavenly Father is extending his hand to draw us to Him. We who have put our hands in our pockets because of our shame are invited to pull them out and hold the Father’s hand. We have the opportunity today after the singing of the Chaplet to experience the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
