Sacrament of Reconciliation

Confession.  The thought brings up chills in so many people’s minds and hearts.  Whether because of a negative incident as a child or by feeling inadequate to seek out the sacrament because of unworthiness.  In any of these cases, it doesn’t matter.  Consider the following…

Isaac had his first reconciliation this past weekend. I participated with him for several reasons; 1. because I wanted to put forth a positive image of the sacrament for him; 2. Believe it or not, I wanted to go. I never get a chance because I’m always playing music during our penance services. Although I firmly believe in form C, general absolution, it still felt good to go. One of the songs we sang was called “Loving and Forgiving” by Scott Soper (OCP Breaking Bread #672). I have prayed this psalm perhaps 50 times and it hit me just at the right moment. Verse three says: “Good and gracious is the Lord, slow to anger, rich in love. God remembers not our sins; forgiving and loving is God.” God remembers not our sins. Very powerful stuff! Just think about it: if we are forgiven, God’s mercy is so great that our sin isn’t even remembered. It is us that get in the way of true forgiveness because we have minds that remember our past hurts. God is the only one who can forgive and forget. Truly. Anyway, I felt much better afterwards, which is the point of the sacrament.