Holy Week Is Near: Go To Confession

Thursday of the Second Week of Lent

The collect from today's Mass in the new translation of the Roman Missal is:

O God, who delight in innocence and restore it,

direct the hearts of your servants to yourself,

that, caught up in the fire of your Spirit,

we may be found steadfast in faith

and effective in works.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

In a world where a lack of innocence is praised we hear in in the Liturgy that God delights in innocence. In other words, contrary to what we hear from the world, innocence is a virtue to be cultivated and not a vice to be quickly discarded. It seems rather obvious to me, and surely to you as well, that innocence is a virtue that is greatly lacking in our world. Even in schools, where innocence should be protected, children are being taught about things that are not so innocent at a very young age. Instead of cultivating innocence for as long as possible, it is widely believed that the sooner we teach them about "real life" the better. Now surely, sometimes discussions that might impinge upon a child's innocence will be necessary, but lets not overdo it.

But what about us, who have already lost our innocence? Well, there is hope. Today's collect points out the God restores our innocence. But how? Well, I think he restores our innocence first and foremost through the Sacraments, particularly the Sacrament of Penance/Confession and the Holy Eucharist. In confession the Blood of the Innocent Victim is applied to our souls so cleanse us of our sins, and in the Holy Eucharist we receive the innocent Lamb of God Himself. What could be a greater restorer of innocence than that? For our part, we can help the process of purification along through prayer, self-denial, purification of the senses, and being vigilant about what we put into our minds via sight and hearing.

Regaining innocence is a hard but necessary task. Jesus made it clear that unless we become like children we cannot enter the Kingdom. Let us seek to become innocent of heart, so that like children, we will be pure and ready to enter the Kingdom of God.

You Fool!

Well folks, I have FINALLY got around to posting another homily. This one is from all the way back in August. Sorry for the delay, but enjoy it nevertheless.

Powered by Podbean.com

Indulgence Alert

From the famous Fr. Z (emphasis added by me):

St. Francis, as you know, repaired three chapels. The third was popularly called the Portiuncula or the Little Portion, dedicated to St. Mary of the Angels. It is now enclosed in a sanctuary at Assisi.

The friars came to live at the Little Portion in early 1211. It became the “motherhouse” of the Franciscans. This is where St. Clare came to the friars to make her vows during the night following Palm Sunday in 1212 and where Sister Death came to Francis on 3 October 1226.

Because of the favors from God obtained at the Portiuncula, St. Francis requested the Pope to grant remission of sins to all who came there. The privilege extends beyond the Portiuncula to others churches, especially held by Franciscans, throughout the world.

A plenary indulgence is a mighty tool for works of mercy and weapon in our ongoing spiritual warfare. A plenary indulgence is the remission, through the merits of Christ and the saints, through the Church, of all temporal punishment due to sin already forgiven.

To obtain the Portiuncula plenary indulgence, a person must visit the Chapel of Our Lady of the Angels at Assisi, or a Franciscan sanctuary, or one’s parish church, with the intention of honoring Our Lady of the Angels. Then perform the work of reciting the Creed and Our Father and pray for the Pope’s designated intentions. You should be free, at least intentionally, of attachment to venial and mortal sin, and truly repentant. Make your sacramental confession 8 days before or after. Participate at assist at Mass and receive Holy Communion 8 days before or after.

Sermon: 15th Sunday of the Year

Powered by Podbean.com

Remember, you can subscribe to this podcast on itunes by clicking here.

Passiontide

Today, the Fifth Sunday of Lent, begins Passiontide. In many parishes the crucifixes and statues will be veiled until the Easter Vigil to remind us that sin separates us from God and from Heaven, and that sin leaves us isolated and alone. These last two weeks of Lent are a time to enter in even more fully into the spirit of the season. If we have not been so faithful to our lenten penances and good works, it's a time to regroup. If we have yet to get to confession during this season, well, it's time to go. If you already have went to confession this Lent, it's time to go again. We can never confess to much or too many times.

Just the other day I was reading a few things about the value of frequent confession in an excellent book entitled Lukwarmness: The Devil in Disguise, by Francis Carvajal. Here is what he said regarding making a good confession:

Classical spiritual authors have handed down to us sixteen characteristics of a good Confession: simple, humble, pure, faithful, frequent, clear, discrete, voluntary, without boasting, integral, secret, sorrowful, prompt, firm, self accusatory, dispoing on to obedience. Normally, our confessions should be concise. We should say what has to be said without becoming unduly wordy. More than anything else, our confessions have to be done with a supernatural spirit. We are asking Christ Himself to forgive our sins. This attitude will help us to put aside that temptation concering what the priest will think of me...

[...]

Confession should make us happy. Our Father God is awaiting us with open arms just like in the parable about the prodigal son. He is ready to run right up to us to prove his infinite paternal love.

My friends, get thee to confession.

Get Thee To Confession!

I read this on Archbishop Timothy Doland's blog today and thought it was worth sharing, so here you go:

A good friend of mine is pastor of a bustling, prestigious parish in a large city. He loves it, and they, him. A couple of years ago he shocked them one Sunday when, in his sermon he announced that, as much as he enjoyed being their pastor, he had asked the archbishop for a transfer. When the congregation gasped, he explained:

‘Well, I don’t think you need me. See, you must all be saints. I was sent to serve sinners. But, apparently there are none here in this parish, because I sit in the confessional with no customers!”

We’re called to be saints, but we’re sure not there yet. And a great help to get there is the sacrament of penance.

And Lent is a grand time to return to it!

SoulWow

The ShamWow might be a ripoff, but this surely is not:

Confession: Letting the Lord Draw Us Close

. . . Like the 72 disciples sent out by the Lord, he [the Bishop] must be one who brings healing, who helps to heal man's inner wound, a person's distance from God. The first and essential good which man needs is closeness to God himself. The Kingdom of God of which the Gospel passage speaks today is not something "next to" God, not some worldly condition: it is simply the presence of God himself, which is the truly healing force.

Here the Holy Father, in his homily for the Ordination of Bishops, reminds us of something that is essential to every person’s spiritual health – our closeness to God. Pope Benedict says that it is closeness to God that is our first and essential good. In other words, it’s what’s best for us. To be near God, in fact to be taken up into the great mystery of the Holy Trinity in heaven is the goal of our lives. Yet we are wounded with the wound of sin which distances us from God. It is the Bishop, and the priests who are extensions of his ministry, who bring healing to this wound and restore closeness with God.

This is why the Sacrament of Penance is so important. In that Sacrament the wounds of sin are healed and we once again, like the prodigal son, find ourselves in the house of our loving Father. How long has it been since your last confession? A month? A year? Five years? However long it has been, the Lord is calling to you…He desires to heal your wounds, He desires to draw you close.