Advent Evening of Reconciliation and Adoration

Several years back, I preached a homily in which I honestly admitted how difficult going to confession can be for me, even though I routinely celebrate the sacrament with my confessor every 2 to 3 weeks. I talked about how hard it can be to sit before a brother priest and humbly acknowledge, without justification or excuse, my own sins and failures. But I also spoke of the grace I experience in the sacrament and the many ways in which the encounter with God’s mercy strengthens me in hope. The following Saturday, someone who heard that homily entered my confessional. It had been more than a decade since that person celebrated the sacrament and my words had given that person the courage to come back. Sometimes that’s all we need – a little courage and a great deal of trust in the Christ’s merciful love to come back to Him and be healed.

So why go to confession? At the risk of sounding simplistic, because Christ asks it of us. The first fruit of His Death and Resurrection is reconciliation – the forgiveness of sin and the restoration of our friendship with God. On the evening of His Resurrection, the Risen Lord entrusts to His Church the authority to forgive sins in His Name. “Whosoever’s sins you forgive shall be forgiven. Whosoever’s sins you hold bound shall be held bound…” (Jn 21:22) So why would we deny ourselves something that Christ Himself gave us as a means by which He restores us to grace?

Sometimes it just takes a little courage and trust to enter the confessional. No matter how long it has been, how far we’ve strayed, or how broken we are, Christ waits for us with tender mercy and faithful love when we turn to Him in contrition.