Reconciliation Time

Archbishop Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, presented a pastoral letter on the Sacrament of Reconciliation, entitled The Altar and the Confessional: Pastoral Letter on the Sacrament of Penance. Archbishop Dolan begins his letter with the very beautiful words from the formula of absolution. While Dolan offers a humorous missive of a priest dying in a confessional, and not being found for days, my own experience is that this sacrament is rather healthy - at least in my parish. Archbishop Dolan quotes scripture scholar Msgr. Roland Knox who makes the analogy between the Word of God bringing all creation into being, and the words of absolution bringing new life into the penitent. To be sure there have been times when helping an individual make a confession, speaking to them about sin and sinfulness, and assuring them of God's love and mercy, there is a life-giving feeling in the reconciliation room at that moment. Zillions a years ago there was an attempt to move people away from a litany of sins, and to confess just one sin, or the most troubling of their sins. The idea here was to get people to look carefully at their sins, and also those things that led to sin. This really did not work out well. Transformation and conversion are very important parts of this sacrament. "Why can't I just tell Jesus my sins?" One of the most common questions especially from high school freshmen. Sin are never really private. St. Paul speaks quite well about the connection we have within the body of Christ. One one member hurts we all hurt. Anger, jealousy, pride, envy, and countless other sins, affect the household, the community, and the relationship in some way. The Priest is the 'Father' of the house. It is he, through the sacramental graces provided, who reconciles us to God and the community. Dolan creates this triad relationship of cross, altar, and reconciliation. The priest as the minister of the Word of God, speaks words of absolution. This sacrament is really a sacrament of joy as it unfolds the salvation and peace we have from God in Jesus Christ. May God who knows our minds and our hearts help you to know your sins and to trust in his love and mercy.