Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
Today, we must confront that there will be times when we fail and sin. We fail to listen to God’s word, to act on that word, or to live in that word. What do we do? Do we give up, ignore it, or suppress it? No, we go to God and ask for forgiveness. Jesus proclaims in the Gospel that he has the authority to forgive sins. This is an amazing and powerful gift, that we can be released from the guilt in our lives.
Jesus Christ desires every bit of us, the good, the bad, and the ugly. He desires to heal EVERYTHING. We want to give him what is good, what is beautiful and true, great! We want to thank him when things are going great, wonderful. We ask for help when things get tough, good! But when it comes to sin, what do we do?
The challenging part of confession I think, is not that we don’t believe God can forgive us but that we don’t believe we cannot forgive ourselves or have the strength to confront ourselves. Like yesterday’s lesson, there is power in what we suffer, there is power in our weakness. Do you want to be free of this guilt? Are you tired of being afraid? Then take that first step of courage and talk to yourself and say, “let Jesus’ power reign in me! He can help me.” Say this often and with conviction. Then go find a priest you trust and ask him to hear your confession.
When we are willing to confront and embrace our suffering then we can be truly powerful in freedom. When we open ourselves up in vulnerability before God we can be healed. It’s hard. Very hard. But trust me, it’s worth it.
Reflection by Fr. Etienne Huard, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections