Like the Disciples on the road to Emmaus, we must recognize the Lord little by little, realizing our limitations, weaknesses and sins.
Newsroom (06/05/2022 21:06, Gaudium Press) If in Adam our communication-communion with God the Creator was corrupted – when he was found naked he was ashamed of God (Gen. 3:10), that is, what was pure was stained with the stain of sin – the God-Man, the new Adam, Jesus Christ brought us purification and the possibility of communication and communion with God. And his mark is the Holy Cross.
“Behold why, as through one man sin entered the world, and through sin death, so death passed upon all men, because all sinned. If by the lack of one the multitude died, how much greater profusion did the grace of God and the free gift of one man, Jesus Christ, pour out upon the multitude.” (Rom. 5, 12 and 15).
As Ruthes points out, paraphrasing Ladaria, “sin consists in the refusal of God’s gift and the haughty attempt to want to be like Him.” (RUTHES, 2018, p. 113). He adds by stating that in the communal, social, and cosmic existential realm, we are constantly sinning. But, didn’t Jesus redeem us? By His Victory over death, did He not make new life possible for us through His grace? Yes! Above all through the Sacrament of Baptism we are redeemed to new life. “The CCC (2000) highlights, more concretely, five effects of the sacrament of baptism:
1) the remission of sins;
2) transformation into a new creature
3) incorporation into the Church, the body of Christ
4) the foundation of communion among all Christians
5) an indelible spiritual mark on the soul of the one who receives it.” (SIQUEIRA, 2018, p. 33).
Everything is grace
As Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus said, reviewing all the circumstances of her life and thus renewing her faith and exalting the Most Holy Providence: “everything is grace“. We too can have the same experience as the Saint. Let us look at grace in its sacramental context.
In his second letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul elucidates God’s direction for his life: “My grace is sufficient for you, for it is in weakness that strength manifests all its power.” (II Cor. 12:9). If grace is sufficient, it is because it is sufficient, with it no other help is required. But what is grace? It is the source of the sinner’s transformation; and the Sacraments are the channels through which this grace comes to us.
“The sacraments are God’s gestures in the life of the faithful expressed in a symbolic form. Therefore, we can say that they are sacred signs, because they express a sacred and spiritual reality. They are efficacious signs because, besides symbolizing a certain effect, they actually produce it. We also know that they are signs of grace, because they transmit the gifts of divine grace; they nourish, strengthen and express the faith of the faithful, which makes them signs of faith. Moreover, they are signs of the Church, because they have been entrusted to the Church, celebrated in the Church and in the name of the Church.” (ANDRADE, 2018)
Sacrament of Reconciliation
Let us reflect on the grace that comes to us from the Sacrament of Reconciliation. “Reconciliation is healing, it is coming out of what brings weakness to life, it is having peace again, communicating freely, being recognized as a worthy person, overcoming restlessness and isolation.” (LOPES, SBARDELLA, 2018, p.152).
Reconciliation is in the recognition that the penitent makes as a sinner and repents, exposing himself. In fact, every effective confession involves a sincere exposition of the sins committed and repented of; not a “confession on the spur of the moment”, as if counting on the intuition of the priest to conclude what is confessed.
In this way, by opening up to the priest, one receives forgiveness from God through him, one’s interior is healed (II Cor. 5:18), grace overcomes the disgrace that sin has generated (Rom. 5:20).
In the face of this immense manifestation of divine love, by grace, in the face of such a miracle of resurrection, we are left with the conflict of the following questions: Why do people not value the grace that comes from this sacrament? It is true that many Christians effusively seek cures, miracles, and prodigies, but they are unaware or do not realize that the Sacrament of Confession brings such a powerful grace, coming from God’s forgiveness, able to heal, to free, to restore immediately.
We suppose that many who have found grace through Baptism have not walked the path with Christ in the course of their lives. Like the Disciples at Emmaus, we must recognize the Lord little by little, realizing our limitations, weaknesses, and sins.
Some do not see themselves as sinners, and this is another reason to depreciate Confession. Others, recognizing themselves as sinners, stop in shame, in error, and are unable to take the steps to the source of Reconciliation. Do they not see in the priest the Face of God’s Mercy? This would make it very difficult to approach Confession.
Spiritual combat
Among the many problematic impediments to seeking Confession, let us take a look at what St. Paul exhorts us: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the spirits of evil who dwell in the heavenly places.” (Eph. 6, 12).
Don Bosco helps us understand better since he had the extraordinary gift of the Holy Spirit of prophetic dreams. Once, he dreamed about his young men in the oratory. He was in the confessional, hearing them in Confession. And when he looked at the line of young people going to Confession, he saw behind each of them a shadow. In the dream, he got up from the confessional, went to the young men and saw behind them the devil presenting them with ribbons: to one he tied his mouth, to another his heart, to another his eyes. So he cast out those demons, so that the young men were able to go to confession well.
We see, therefore, that the search for reconciliation with God through Confession is also associated with a spiritual struggle, between good and evil; like Adam and Eve in their decision whether or not to eat the fruit. However, free will puts us in the condition of choosing and walking towards the good, towards reconciliation with God, with ourselves and with others.
God chose us, “exchanged kingdoms for us” (Isaiah 43:3-4), redeemed us through His Son Jesus Christ. Through the Sacrament of Baptism the stain of original sin is erased. But due to human nature, in the course of life, in everyday life, in relationships, decisions and various behaviors, we do not choose the good and we sin.
However, there is reconciliation! The Cross was not the last word because Christ was resurrected. Falling into sin whether venial or mortal should not be the last word. Seeking the Sacrament of Reconciliation, of healing, is the precious way to regain our relationship and our full Communion with God. Confession is the door to new life!
Isadora Maria Oliveira Souza
Secular Consecrated – Secular Institute Servants of Jesus the Priest
Masters student in Biblical Theology at PUCPR
Bibliographical references:
SACRED BIBLE. Bible of Jerusalem. São Paulo: Paulus, 2002.
RUTHES, Vanessa Roberta Massambani. Introduction to Theological Anthropology. Curitiba – PR. Intersaberes, 2018.
SIQUEIRA, Thácio Lincon Soares de. sacraments of Christian initiation. Curitiba – PR. Intersaberes, 2018.
ANDRADE, Joachim. Theology of the Sacraments. Curitiba – PR. Intersaberes, 2018.
LOPES, Luís Fernando and SARDELLA, Ellton Luis. Introduction to the theology of sacraments. Curitiba – PR. Intersaberes, 2018.
