The Sacrament of Reconciliation

I often hear people say something like, "I don't go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  I just pray to Jesus personally and He forgives my sins.  I don't believe that I have to tell a priest my sins"

I understand this.  This way of thinking about God's mercy and how He forgives sin makes a lot of sense.  However, I think there is an unstated presumption.  I wonder if by having this idea [that I can have my sins forgiven in private] doesn't presume that God wants the forgiveness of sin to be a private matter.

I think I might be able to clarify this by drawing an analogy.

Consider our view of liberty in the United States of America.  I'm a huge fan of my country.  I love the USA and I cherish the freedoms that I've been blessed with.  

Here in the USA we, correctly, understand that liberty means that each one of us has the right to our own opinions on politics, politicians, platforms of political parties, and just about anything that we'd like.  Liberty means that I can decide whatever I want and no one has the right to tell me what to think, who to vote for, or what issues to support or oppose.  Essentially this means that my personal politics are very private!

In our culture the more important some value or idea is the more we hold it as being private.  When we vote we vote privately, when we form our opinions we are free to do so in private, and when we have opinions we are always free to hold onto them without any outside influence.  Essentially our politics are very important to us as a society and as a result of that we hold them to be extremely private.  The more important a value or idea is, in our society, the more we hold it as private.

It is true that a lot of people share their opinions publicly but their views were formed and are held as private and outside anyone else's influence.

In my humble opinions this is the very foundation of true political liberty.  But I don't think this is the same value that Jesus had in mind when He initiated the ministry of forgiveness of sins.  The values that are the foundation for our understanding of liberty, in the 21st century United States of America, are not the same values that Jesus was acting out of when He sent his apostles out into the world to forgives sins. (Jn 20:19-23)

When Jesus initiated the ministry of the forgiveness of sins He sent out the Apostles with the command to forgive sins.  Jesus did not tell them to instruct people to pray to God privately for their sins to be forgiven.  Rather Jesus gave the apostles authority to forgive sins.  The successors to the apostles where then called bishops and the bishops ordained presbyters (normally called priests today) to help them in their ministry of the forgiveness of sins.

So today we have bishops and presbyters (AKA: priests) who are charged with the ministry of the forgiveness of sins.  No one is given the ability, authority, or ministry to forgive their own sins.  Even the pope has to confess his sins to another bishop or priest.

The whole notion of confessing to God in private and then having Him forgive is not in line with the ministry that Jesus started.  I know that it is not easy to humble yourself and muster your courage and confess to another person.  Ever since I have been ordained it has actually become more difficult for me to go to confession.  I understand.  I'm not a big fan of going to confession myself but I do it.

I am frequently saddened by the stories that people tell me of the times that they have been hurt and humiliated by a priest in confession.  I am so sorry that this happens.  I know that moments like this are painful.  I've been treated like that myself when I've gone to confession.  Regardless of  these moments of pain I still believe that the ministry of the forgiveness of sins is still the work of the bishops and the priests.  If we seek certainty and assurance that we have fully received the mercy of God then I don't know any way to come to that knowledge apart from the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  If we want to be sure that we have been forgiven the only way is the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  

Think about it this way: if we pray to God in private and ask Him to forgive our sins then who's really doing the forgiving?  If we pray to God in private, on our terms, in a way that is comfortable for us are we really humbling ourselves before a God who is offering mercy?  Or are we dictating the time, manner, and way that we will allow God to forgive us?  If we ask for mercy in private aren't we really telling God when and how to forgive us?  If we tell God to forgive us in private aren't we really demanding that He forgive our sins on our terms?  

If this is the case then who's really the one who is forgiving sins?  If we are telling God to forgive us in private (on our terms) is God the one who is forgiving or are we absolving ourselves... because we will only accept absolution on our terms, when we want it, and how we want it?  Where's the humility in that?  Where's the ministry of the apostles in that?

In other words when we seek the forgiveness of our sins in private aren't really absolving ourselves and expecting that God will ratify our decision?  

Who's really doing the forgiving? Did Jesus ever give us the authority to forgive ourselves?

When we seek absolution in private aren't we really notifying God of our decision, that our sins are forgiven, and then expecting that He will go along with what we just decided?

Do we really expect that being forgiven of our sins and forming our own personal political opinions can happen the same way... in private?  Are those two things [absolution and opinions] alike in any way?!?

In fact, when we expect that we can find forgiveness of our sins in private we are just absolving ourselves.  I have no doubt that God's grace can even show up in moments like that.  But I don't think it is a good idea to dictated to God how, when, and under what circumstances He can forgive us.

The only way that I know of where we can find certain mercy is through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Jesus sent out the apostles to forgives sins.  His intention was that this ministry would be a moment of humility and grace where a sinner was shown mercy through the ministry and work of the apostles.  Jesus did not intent that the powerful experience of absolution to be a matter of personal opinion.  Forgiveness of our sins is not something that happens in private.

Pope Francis' new car

Fr. Tim showed me this cartoon of Pope Francis today.

I really did laugh out loud so I thought I'd share it with you.

He regularly reads political cartoons from GoComics.com and this one was drawn by Joe Heller and published on the website on Sept. 20th.

Enjoy!

He makes it look easy and fun

Hello all, as a woodworker I love this type of video.

So I wanted to share it with you.

Chris uses only hand tools which is the way that I got started woodworking a few years ago.

I've always wanted to make a rocking chair so maybe someday I'll this this.

Enjoy!

Happy Feast of St. Francis

Happy Feast of St. Francis!

I hope everyone has a wonderful feast day!

The saying of St. Francis that has been a strong theme in my prayer lately has been his words while he was on his death bed.

The friars came to him worried that they would not know what to do after he was gone.  They had looked to him to guide them in what they should be doing.

His response was, "I have done what is mine to do, may Christ teach you what is yours."

This isn't easy.  At times I've wished Christ had different lessons that He needed me to learn and different tasks that He wanted me to do.  This has been a reoccurring theme during this first year of my ordained ministry.

Humility, meekness, and service seem to be things that I need to learn how to do more and a better job of.  These seems to be what is mine to learn about and do, above all.

So, if you can, say a prayer for me this wonderful feast day and I'll be sure to say one for you.

God bless and happy Feast of St. Francis.

A language event: My thoughts on Pope Francis

In his book What really Happened at Vatican II John W. O'Malley summarized the Second Vatican Council as a "language event"

O'Malley makes the point that what is said by the Church, and it's leaders, is as important as how it is said.  "The 'what' of speech and the 'how' of speech are inseparable."  The idea is that the attitude that the Church brings to its conversation with the world communicates a huge message.

At points in the history of the Catholic Church we have been hostile, withdrawn from, uncomfortable with, and excessively critical of the world that we live in.  The words and proclamations of the Church have, in the past, been filled with condemnations, criticisms, and condescension.

Again, O'Malley makes the point that the tone of the message at Vatican II was profoundly different.  For the first time in a very long time the Church changed Her way of speaking to the world.

Beautifully the documents of the Second Vatican Council were filled with words like, "brothers/sisters, friendship, cooperation, collaboration, partnership, freedom, dialogue,... servant, evolution,... dignity, holiness, conscience, collegiality,... liberty, equality, fraternity."

The bottom line is that the style of language that is used is, "really the ultimate expression of meaning.  The "what" of speech and the "how" of speech are inseparable."

One of the main points of his book is that there are

"Almost two different versions of Catholicism: from commands to invitations, from laws to ideas, from definition to mystery, from threats to persuasion, from coercion to conscience, from monologue to dialogue, from ruling to serving, from withdrawn to integrated, from vertical to horizontal, from exclusion to inclusion, from hostility to friendship, from rivalry to partnership, from suspicion to trust, from static to ongoing, from passive acceptance to active engagement, from fault-finding to appreciation, from prescription to principled, from behavior modification to inner appropriation."

Throughout much of our history we have been a Church of commands, laws, definitions, threats, coercion, rules, withdrawn, exclusion, hostility, suspicion, static, and fault-finding.  At the Second Vatican Council there was this shift to invitation, ideas, mystery, persuasion, conscience, dialogue, serving, inclusion, friendship, partnership, trust, active engagement, principles, and inner conversion.

One of the realities of the time after the Council is that this shift hadn't fully sank in.  The world continued to change and often we, as a Church, reverted to the pre-Vatican II model of relating to the world.  I don't think that many in the Church would see it this way but I know that many on the fringes of the Church or outside of the Church certainly see it this way.

There is an old latin phrase, "Lex Orandi Lex Credendi Lex Vivendi."  Translated loosely it means, how we pray effects how we believe and how we live.  Please notice, that in recent memory there has been a resurgence of the old latin mass, in the Church.  This was that mass that the Second Vatican Council revised because with a new attitude toward the world we needed a new way to pray.  Much of the symbolism and rites of the old latin mass did express the old attitudes of the pre-Vatican II Church.  The Novus Ordo (the mass after Vatican II) expresses the shift in attitude that the Council had toward the world.  As we have gotten away from the inclusive and open attitude of the Council it makes sense that many have gravitated back toward the mass that predates it.  In this case how we lived and believed began to be express in the old latin mass.  I don't think that this is a good thing at all.

How we pray really does effect what we believe and how we live.  So to see a growing affection for an old form of the mass (that was all-but the opposite of inclusion, participation, active engagement, and inner conversion) seems to show that the shift in attitude of Vatican II has begun to slip back toward the old attitude of hostility, exclusion, and suspicion.  The Church was slowly forgetting the attitude of openness, welcoming, service, inclusion, and friendship that Vatican II had offered the world.

Now we can fast forward to Pope Francis and his recent interviews.  I've listened to a number of commentators speak about what they think the Pope is saying.

I'm of the opinion that his message is profoundly orthodox and Gospel based.  In a fresh way he is getting to the heart of the Gospel and readopting the attitude of the Second Vatican Council.

Jesus was often criticized by those who thought that they were holy and righteous.

The Pharisees saw this and said to [Jesus'] disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
He heard this and said, "Those who are well do not need a physical, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words 'I desire mercy, not sacrifices.  I did not come to call the righteous but sinners"(Mt 9:11-13)

It seems to me that Pope Francis has learned the meaning of those words, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice."  Mercy and compassion to sinners, non-believer, homosexuals, the poor as well as others is what he is offering.

This is exactly what Jesus called for.  During Jesus' time "sacrifice" was an obligation of the law.  It was a functional, legal, and  non-personal payment for sin that was allowed only to those who were pure, mainstream, or "holy" people.  The outcast, aliens, and sinners were not allowed because they were ritually impure.  Sacrifice, at Jesus' time, had become an act of self-righteousness for many.

For Jesus to eat and relate to sinners was unacceptable to those who considered themselves to be righteous.  For Pope Francis to speak with and relate to atheists, homosexuals, sinners, the poor, and the outcasts of society is also looked down upon as unacceptable, by some.  It seems, to me, that Pope Francis has learned the meaning of Jesus' words, "It is mercy that I desire, not sacrifice"

All of this is most profoundly expressed in his tone, language, and audience.  Pope Francis has become, in his own way, a new "language event" just as the Second Vatican Council was.

Pope Francis hasn't said anything new nor groundbreaking but how he speaks and to whom he speaks is the ultimate expression of meaning.  Pope Francis has adopted the merciful attitude of Jesus, the faith of a true son of the Church, and the inviting language of the Second Vatican Council and created a refreshing phenomena in the Church today.  And people are paying attention!

Tough Mudder 2014

Hello all,

I'd like to see if any of my readers are interested in joining our Tough Mudder team "Bad Habits"

"Bad Habits" from L to R: Bill, Chris, Brooke, Me, Beth, Sal

Myself and five other brave people participated in this event this past August at Mt. Snow Vermont.  It was the most brutal thing that I have ever done.  

It was so wonderful that me and the team want to do it again.  This time we are opening up the invitation to others who might be crazy enough to join us.

The "Bad Habits" team from L to R: Sal, Chris, Bill, Me, Beth, Brooke

Bad Habits (our team) will be participating at the May 31st event at Mount Snow Vermont.  Email if you are interested in joining us.  Remember that the proceeds all go to support the Wounded Warrior Project.

Consider joining us for the May 2014 Tough Mudder.  It will be very difficult but also promises to be a lot of fun (if you like pain and mud).

If you are interested email me.