Sin and The Sacrament of Confession

04-11-2021The Pastor's PenFr. Matthew R. Paratore, S.T.L., J.C.L.

Dear friend,

Sin demands to have a person be alone. It withdraws the individual from the community. The more isolated a person is, the more destructive will be the power of sin over him or her, and the more deeply the person becomes involved in it, the more disastrous is the isolation.

Sin wants to remain unknown. It shuns the light. In the darkness of the unexpressed, it poisons the whole being of a person.

In the Sacrament of Confession the light of the gospel breaks into the darkness and seclusion of the heart. Sin must be brought into the light. The unexpressed must be openly spoken and acknowledged. All that is secret and hidden is made manifest. It is a struggle until the sin is openly admitted, but God breaks gates of brass and bars of iron (Ps 107:16).

Since the confession of sin is made in the presence of a priest, the last stronghold of self-justification is abandoned. The sinner surrenders; he or she gives up all evil. The person gives their heart to God, and finds the forgiveness of sin in the fellowship of Jesus Christ.

The expressed, acknowledged sin has lost all its power. It has been revealed and judged as sin. It can no longer tear us asunder. The individual is no longer alone with evil for he or she has cast off their sin in Confession and handed it over to God. It has been taken away from the person. Now he or she stands in the fellowship of sinners who live by the grace of God and the cross of Jesus Christ.

Our sins once confessed and absolution given, open wide the doors to Christ and the Church.

As absolved persons we pray always and never lose heart.