March 7, 2015 Saturday: 2nd Week of Lent B
A Lenten Pilgrimage
March 7, 2015 Saturday: 2nd Week of Lent
Even when the Prodigal Son returned he still missed the point. His motive was to have an easier life, for he thought, “How many of my Father’s workers have more than enough food, but here am I, dying from hunger.” Having decided to go back to his father, his focus was still on himself. He must have been asking how to appear good and what right words to say to his father: “I shall go to my father and I shall say to him…”
The point he missed: his father’s love. That since he turned his back, his father had been longing for his return.
Our Father’s love. We experience it especially in the Sacrament of Confession. Do we really? It would seem that for many of us confession is a matter of right mechanics and right number of sins reported. One penitent confessed: “Here are my sins: telling lies, 243 times; gossip, 527 times…” another penitent listed her sins on her cell phone, so she would not miss anything. Children are asked to list down their sins on a piece of paper which will be burned after confession.
A catechist tested her first communicants with a question: “What is the most important thing that happens in confession?” A child hesitantly stood up and proclaimed with her equally tiny voice: “The most important thing that happens when I go to confession is I experience the Father’s mercy and love.” (Fr. A. Corcuera, SVD Bible Diary 2002)
March 7, 2015 Saturday: 2nd Week of Lent
Even when the Prodigal Son returned he still missed the point. His motive was to have an easier life, for he thought, “How many of my Father’s workers have more than enough food, but here am I, dying from hunger.” Having decided to go back to his father, his focus was still on himself. He must have been asking how to appear good and what right words to say to his father: “I shall go to my father and I shall say to him…”
The point he missed: his father’s love. That since he turned his back, his father had been longing for his return.
Our Father’s love. We experience it especially in the Sacrament of Confession. Do we really? It would seem that for many of us confession is a matter of right mechanics and right number of sins reported. One penitent confessed: “Here are my sins: telling lies, 243 times; gossip, 527 times…” another penitent listed her sins on her cell phone, so she would not miss anything. Children are asked to list down their sins on a piece of paper which will be burned after confession.
A catechist tested her first communicants with a question: “What is the most important thing that happens in confession?” A child hesitantly stood up and proclaimed with her equally tiny voice: “The most important thing that happens when I go to confession is I experience the Father’s mercy and love.” (Fr. A. Corcuera, SVD Bible Diary 2002)
