Forgiveness is available in the sacrament of reconciliation
Published Feb 28, 2008Commenting on the parable of the prodigal son, Father Carroll Stuhlmueller once wrote, “The most difficult of reconciliations is always between relatives who have been split apart by money, scandal and wasteful living. Civil wars are always the bloodiest with the deepest scars.”
When public television aired Ken Burns’ celebrated series on the U.S. Civil War, we were reminded that our own American past was marred by such pain not that long ago. The wounds were deep and long-lasting. And most of us can quickly scan our family history and discover uncomfortable, unhealed hurts.
The head of the family—mother, father, matriarch, patriarch—is often the one who feels most acutely the pain of family division; but all family members, even if not involved directly in the conflict, are affected by it in some way. We tiptoe around certain topics, feel ill at ease in someone’s presence, try to find ways of avoiding awkward situations.
Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son is appealing because family conflicts are both familiar and always aching to be healed. At different times in our lives, we have probably acted all the parts in the parable. Perhaps we were once the wayward child who pouted and whined and squandered family resources; or again we were the faithful child who resented the lenient treatment our wayward sibling received; or we were the forgiving parent, who did not care who did what, or how much it cost, but simply rejoiced that we were a family again.
The way Jesus tells it, the central character in the parable is actually the forgiving father—“prodigal” himself because he is recklessly wasteful and extravagant with forgiveness. God loves both the faithful and the wayward, and he never takes his eyes off those who have run away. Even as the prodigal son is wasting his inheritance on evil, his Father is awaiting his return; after all, he knows what his son is missing by being separated from the family. And when the elder son protests that the Father’s mercy is undeserved and unfair, the Father responds with a wonderful word of love that embraced them both:
“My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found” (see Luke 15:11-23).
Paul wrote that “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19). We are often still the prodigal children who waste our moments on evil—but God will always be the prodigal Father ready to lavish his mercy on us. He knows that sin hurts and divides us, and he wants us to be healed and free.
The sacrament of penance is available throughout the year, but during Lent we highlight its crucial place in the life of the church. God is still reconciling the world to himself through Christ! He knows well our divided hearts and divided families; he knows our need and yearning for forgiveness; he knows that we suffer when we have sinned.
Haven’t all parents wanted to embrace their children when they have painfully come to the realization that they sinned—or wanted to embrace them even before they came to that realization, hoping that the embrace itself would have an effect? And haven’t they wanted to hug them all the more when they backed away?
God has watched us tiptoe around him and around others—those we have hurt or those who have hurt us. He has watched us wastefully slip into sin. He has watched us cause division, and he has seen how we have been injured by someone else’s war.
He has watched us fall unquestioningly in line with the ways of the world. He knows that those ways will never satisfy us but that his ways will. He knows that his mercy will bring us peace and heal our fractured lives, and thus he offers the sacrament of Penance as a means of returning to his loving embrace.
We offer many reasons for not going to confession: It’s been so long, I wouldn’t know where to begin. Why ask forgiveness if I think I might sin again because of a habit I find hard to break? Why confess to a priest? I would rather just tell my sins privately to God. I don’t know what sin is any more. I’m too embarrassed to tell anyone what I have done, and I am afraid God will not forgive me. The confession schedule is not convenient for me.
Hearing our hesitations and excuses, our Heavenly Father still awaits us. He aches to forgive us because he knows what we miss when estranged—and he knows that perhaps we have forgotten what it feels like to be forgiven and freed.
Has it been a while since you went to confession? Your prodigal Father is waiting to lavish his mercy on you through his Son.
Do you have a petition for Bishop Sartain’s prayer list? You may send it to him at:
Bishop Sartain’s Prayer List
Diocese of Joliet
425 Summit St.
Joliet, IL 60435-7193
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