Friends, all Lent is divided into two parts. The message running throughout the first three-and one-half weeks is a call to Gospel conversion, through prayer, fasting and almsgiving, through mutual forgiveness, love of enemies, a call to lead holy lives. The emphasis is on the ethical and moral. The failure of the workers in the vineyard, the call to treat others as we would like to be treated, are central. The Gospel readings are from Matthew, Mark, and Luke. By the midpoint of Lent, we all realize that we can not do this alone.
The word compunction is helpful here. It calls us to puncture the inflated bubble of the ego, of the self, and finally realize the need for something more.
From the fourth Sunday on, the focus shifts from the moral and ethical to the person of Christ and the Easter Mysteries. The business of the second half of Lent is to embrace the mystery of Christ, the true Light, the healer and life-giver, and to come to gather the scattered children into the beloved community.
Repeatedly, John’s Gospel asks, could this be the Son of God? Could this be the long-awaited one? Could the authorities have realized that He is the Christ?
Mother Teresa is helpful here: while she is known for the charity with which she poured herself out in love for Christ in the distressing disguise of lepers, AIDS victims, the dying, and the 'untouchables,' she was likewise a great "Missionary of Mercy" in calling everyone to receive Jesus’ forgiving love in the Sacrament of Confession, a Sacrament she received at least once a week.
She would counsel others on the importance of the Sacrament.
One thing is necessary for us: Confession. Confession is nothing but humility in action. We call it Penance, but really it is a Sacrament of Love, a Sacrament of forgiveness. It is a place where I allow Jesus to take away from me everything that divides, that destroys. Confession is a beautiful act of great love. Only in confession can we go in as sinners with sin and come out as sinners without sin. … There’s no need for us to despair, no need for us to commit suicide, no need for us to be discouraged, if we have understood the tenderness of God’s love.
She said elsewhere, very simply, "Confession is Jesus and I, and nobody else." And then she told us, "Remember this for life."
Do you want to encounter Jesus? Go to confession! Invite your entire family to this Sacrament of encounter with our Lord, and let him into your heart and your home.
Amen.
