In the Aug. 24 issue of The Observer, I wrote to suggest that it is not too late to make a summer confession. There are so many activities that we engage in during the summer, but keeping up with our need to examine our souls can’t be left behind. Every moment of life is an opportunity to draw closer to Christ (and away from sin) or to lose time and energy in our struggle for holiness.

As we reflect on the beauty and the eternal value of receiving God’s forgiveness in the sacrament of reconciliation, we should ponder some of the foundational elements of that sacrament.

Many of us recall the classical definition of a sacrament: an outward sign, instituted by Christ to give grace. What is key in that definition is the conclusion, “to give grace.” Sanctifying grace is God’s own divine life given to us in many ways, but especially through the sacraments. In each sacrament, we meet Christ in a very personal and special way that is specific to the spiritual sign and moment of the sacrament.

For example, when we receive Christ in the Eucharist, we meet him once again in his body and blood offered at the Last Supper and on the cross on Good Friday. Similarly, in illness and the proximity of death, we meet Christ in the anointing of the sick.

In the sacrament of reconciliation, we meet Christ in the moment and context of our weakness and sinfulness. We place ourselves with those about whom we read in the Gospels when they heard directly from Christ, “Your sins are forgiven.”

Like those who are forgiven in the Gospels, we bear the guilt of our sins. Those sins may be great and destined to separate us eternally from God’s love in hell (mortal sins) or they may be the lesser sins of daily life that damage but do not destroy our friendship with God (venial sins). In either case, sin deforms us leaving us marked with the guilt of our own choices made against God’s love and against the very nature that God has planted within us. Because our sins are an offense against the infinite love of God, our finite human nature cannot undo that evil. We cannot forgive ourselves. As the Jews rightly said, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mk 2:7).

One of the great errors of our time is to think that there is another power of forgiveness; time. Because the frequency of the sacrament of reconciliation has diminished, there is the temptation to believe that because a sin was committed long ago, if it has not been confessed its deadly poison is somehow diminished or has disappeared.

But time is of our world, not of eternity. Only the forgiveness of God who has been offended by our sins removes our guilt.

In the forgiveness of guilt there is a spiritual beauty. With the removal of sin by God’s mercy, our hearts are unchained. Regular confession renders our souls open to the presence of Christ and the movements of the Holy Spirit drawing us closer to union with our Father in heaven. A conscience burdened with sin is simply not as attentive or receptive to the callings and promptings of God to receive and live His love for us.

There is a reason why so many people feel so good and so free after confessing their sins. They have opened themselves, even in their weakness, to the deepest meaning of Christ’s coming among us: the forgiveness of sins.

In the end, we confess not out of fear or despair. Quite the contrary! We do so out of love for Christ who gave his life willingly to his Father for the forgiveness of our sins.