One of the most remarkable reflections in the writings of St. Paul is to be found in his Letter to the Romans. There, in Chapter 7, St. Paul deals with the struggle with sin that he and all of us find within ourselves. He famously comments, “For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want” (Rm 7:19).

 

By this comment, St. Paul helps us to think about the tendency, even on the part of people who truly seek to do God’s will, to still fall into sin. 

 

Every one of us at some point in life looks back in shame on something that we have done, even though in our conscience we knew we should not have. Retrospect tells us we should have held our tongue. We should have avoided that situation. We knew the right thing to do and for some reason we didn’t do it.

 

What St. Paul is telling us is that often our sinfulness is not simply a question of calculating what God wants against what is sinful. We can often evaluate that correctly and as a matter of faith. But still something goes wrong.

 

Even after saying prayers, going to Mass, resolving to sin no more, when confronted with the moment of truth, we can still fail. Perhaps we do so out of fear. Fear of being ridiculed or derided as out of step with the crowd or the accepted thought of the moment. Temptation can come also from the wounds of sin in our nature that lead us to experience hatred, greed, lust, racist tendencies or narcissism and self-centeredness.

 

There is a flip side to this mystery as well. That is, after falling into sin, we can recognize the way back to God. But like the prodigal son who starved while he herded swine, we cannot summon the will to turn back, to return to Mass, to make that necessary confession.

 

All of this is a mystery with which we are familiar. Evil has a strong attraction to us, even against our better judgement. It is for this reason that we need to enter into the practices of Lent each year.

 

During Lent, we are to turn more intensely to God and ask His help to be done with our sins and with that deadly attraction to evil. Our prayer, our fasting, our Lenten confession, are all our arms against evil.

 

In some ways, our Lenten observances are like the vaccines now being administered against the coronavirus. Like sin, the virus is invisible, but we feel its consequences, from light discomfort to even death itself. Our Lenten penances and the sacraments are like the injections that work within us to ward off the effects of sin and return us to the path of spiritual health.

 

Once again, don’t forget that confession during Lent is one of our greatest needs and best defense against sin. Our Be Reconciled Day will take place on Wednesday, March 24. Confessions will be held in parishes of the Diocese of Rockford from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Check for local details.

 

Of course, God is more powerful than sin. His grace gives us the help we need to be done with evil. But first we must turn to God and seek that help. Lent is the time and confession is the way to do that.