Welcome Home to Healing

BISHOP KEVIN J. SWEENEY

“… Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us …”

In last week’s column, I shared my opinion that the Sacrament of Reconciliation (a.k.a. Confession) is the most misunderstood and underappreciated of all the (seven) Sacraments. I also believe that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is making a comeback, from seeming to have fallen out of practice in some places to a growing number of Catholics who are returning and gaining an appreciation for this beautiful “Sacrament of Healing.” As we enter the season of Lent, I am so happy to hear of and learn about the Welcome Home to Healing Penance Initiative here in our Diocese.

In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, as we confess our sins and ask for God’s forgiveness, we hear God, through the instrument of the priest, say those beautiful words, “I absolve you of your sins …” and “Go in peace, your sins are forgiven.” When we experience God’s mercy in this Sacrament, we can be inspired and motivated to be merciful to forgive one another. I believe that this is something that our society and culture desperately need at this time.

Celebrating this Sacrament or “going to confession” can make a difference in our lives, not only in our individual relationships with God and those closest to us, but in our relationships with all people. As Catholics, we know (and can learn) that the solutions to some of our most serious personal and societal problems are not found in finger pointing or demonstrating the faults of others, but in being reconciled to God and one another. God created all of us good, in his own image and likeness. Nevertheless, he created us free, which gave us the possibility to sin or to not choose the good. Sin does not take away our inherent goodness but seriously diminishes our relationship with God and with other human persons. As long as we are free, sin remains a reality that we are going to face. We face the reality of sin not in some watered down way, as a society often prefers, but as individual persons whose own personal sinfulness contributes to the decay of society.

God is the only means by which we can reconcile our own sin and the presence of sin in the world. A society without God is a society incapable of forgiveness. God came to save us from our sins in the second person of the Blessed Trinity, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for our salvation. By offering the perfect sacrifice of his life on the cross, Jesus made it possible for us to obtain the forgiveness of our sins through the ministry of the Church.

During these challenging times that we live through, we have a responsibility as Catholics to promote a culture of forgiveness and reconciliation, at the same time as we strive to witness to and teach the Truth with Love. To us who have come to know and experience the mercy and love of the Father, we have the obligation to not only live out what we have received, as we strive to become more like Jesus, but also to spread the good news that forgiveness and reconciliation are possible for all people.

One opportunity we have to do that as a Diocese is through the Welcome Home to Healing Penance Initiative. I am grateful to Bishop Serratelli for establishing this wonderful collaborative effort with our priests to make it easy for the faithful to avail themselves of the Sacrament of Reconciliation during the season of Lent, knowing that the sacrament is available on every Monday night in every church. Welcome Home to Healing also serves a greater purpose. Through the advertising and social media campaign, it is our effort as a community of faith to reach beyond the walls of our churches to those who have fallen away or never stepped foot inside of a church to let them know that forgiveness and reconciliation are possible with God. No matter our creed or religion, we all need conversion and reconciliation.

Have you seen the video? If you have not seen the video for this Initiative, please watch it now or just Google the words “Welcome Home to Healing.” I am convinced that you will want to share it with others, so please do!

Do you remember last Lent (2020)? By the Second Sunday of Lent, churches were closed, as were almost all “in person” activities, even Mass and Confession. Mass continues to look a little different (with masks and distancing). Confessions may look a little different as well. In some churches, it might not be possible to hear confessions in confessionals or reconciliation rooms due to social distancing. Instead, they will be heard in the nave of the church or in some other public place on the church grounds. I am grateful to our pastors who are working hard to make our reception of the sacraments safe, especially the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

One can say that this year our private confessions will be a little more public than in the past as confessions will be heard out in the open. Certainly, we will make every effort to protect everyone’s privacy. As St. Teresa of Calcutta once said, “Confession is Jesus and I, and nobody else.” But I think there is something very valuable to having our private confessions heard in the sight of others. It helps us to promote the culture of reconciliation and forgiveness that our world so desperately needs. If you have ever been to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, you have an idea of what the confessionals look like. The priest stays inside of the confessional box and the penitent comes up to a side window, visible to anyone watching. We should feel no shame in going to confession. We all sin and are in need of God’s mercy. Public witness is essential to the practice of our faith. Therefore, I encourage all of the faithful of the Diocese of Paterson to be reconciled to God this Lent through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Do not be afraid to tell others you have gone to Confession. Better yet, take them with you. This is how we build up God’s Church and sanctify our world.