We are now on the verge of the beginning of Lent.

March 5 is Ash Wednesday. It is not a holy day of obligation, but typically, churches are full. People come to start Lent by receiving ashes on their foreheads.

Yes, of course there is the attraction of ritual. But deep down, many people feel drawn to that action which proclaims, “I recognize that I have sinned.” It is a statement of truth about ourselves that is the first step to receiving forgiveness.

One of the great themes of Lent is conversion. We prepare for Holy Week and Easter with an honest-to-goodness examination of our consciences, looking especially at the hidden dark corners of our hearts that need to be cleansed. In short, like so many in the Gospels, we need God’s pardon.

A week ago, at his weekly public audience Pope Francis spoke about the sacrament of confession. He reminded all of us that we need that personal encounter with the priest acting in the person of Christ.

In his typically loving way, the Holy Father reviewed many of the reasons and excuses that we make to ourselves for putting off our next confession. We have all heard them: I can confess directly to God; I am afraid of that conversation; it makes me feel ashamed.

But the pope reminded us that sin is not committed only against God but also against the Church and against our brothers and sisters in this life. All of them are brought together in the person of the priest.

And, as the Holy Father noted, many people truly need a private conversation to unburden themselves from past guilt or shame.

This Lent, the Diocese of Rockford is placing a special emphasis on the sacrament of confession. Of course our priests and our parishes will continue to have their usual weekly and Lenten offering of reconciliation.

But I have asked all of our priests and our parishes to make a special focus on April 9, the last Wednesday before Holy Week. On that day, after helping people to prepare throughout Lent, priests will hear confessions throughout the diocese from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. You will have to check with individual parishes for the precise local schedule. But I have asked all of our priests to put in as many hours as possible on that day hearing confessions.

The goal is to make it possible for anyone in need of confession to be able to find a time during that day to come and receive God’s mercy. Retired people, working men and women, a mom at home with young kids, high school or college students, all can find a convenient time and place on April 9.

But this opportunity is especially for any who have not confessed their sins in a long time. There can be many reasons that the habit of going to confession slips away from us. But the solution is always the same: make that decision and come to meet Christ in the confessional.

During his talk, Pope Francis invited those who have been away to make that decision. These are his words, “I would like to ask you … when was the last time you made your confession? ... Two days, two weeks, two years, 20 years, 40 years? And if much time has passed, do not lose another day. Go, the priest will be good. Jesus is there, and Jesus is more benevolent than priests, Jesus receives you, he receives you with so much love. Be courageous and go to confession!”

The Holy Father was speaking those words directly to you and to me. They are based in the goodness and the emphasis on mercy for which he is already known. Make this Lent to be a time of reconciliation. Especially if you have been away from confession or from the Church for a long time, come and join us on April 9.

How good it will be to hear the words of Jesus through the priest, “I absolve you of your sins.”