The season of Lent is a time that is especially dedicated to repentance for our sins and for the seeking of God’s forgiveness. 

 

This is not some sort of negative self-flagellation. Instead it is a healthy inspection of self that is intended to open our hearts and souls to God’s love and reconciling grace.

 

Of course as Catholics, our thoughts of forgiveness and the freedom from sin immediately direct our minds to the sacrament of confession. In that spiritual moment we have the tremendous privilege of hearing spoken to us the words of Jesus that we so often read with astonishment in the Gospels, “Your sins are forgiven.”

 

We hear them from the priest at the end of our confession. But they truly are the words not only spoken once but being spoken now by Christ who works in and through the priest in confession. Having heard for ourselves the words of Jesus, we, like the sinful woman in the house of the Pharisee (Lk 7:48) or the paralytic man who then picked up his mat (Mt. 9:2) leave our confession with the gift of sins forgiven for all eternity.

 

This coming Wednesday, March 24, we will once again celebrate in the Diocese of Rockford what we have come to call Be Reconciled Day. On that day, the priests in our parishes will hear confessions all day, continuously from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. (As always check with your local parish for more specific times and details).

 

Be Reconciled Day is an effort to help people overcome some of the obstacles that keep them from confessing their sins. The all-day availability is of course an added convenience for people with varying schedules. But it also helps us overcome the inertia that comes from thinking, “I just don’t have the time.”

 

For some, they find confession to be a challenging effort that takes some resolve and even courage to recall past sins. That is natural enough. But in that case, the widespread popularity that we have seen with Be Reconciled Day creates an experience of being with others in church and so of being part of a movement toward forgiveness. Sharing that common experience has been a help for many.

 

Of course just as penitents prepare by prayer and reflection for their confession, so too do our priests. For many of them this will be an exhausting but exhilarating day, and I am grateful for their priestly efforts. But at the same time, priests prepare by recognizing that on a day like this, many people will come who are nervous or who have been away from confession for a long time. They are aware of the special need to be helpful and healing to people in that circumstance.

 

Let me offer a special word to any who have been away from confession for years or who have been thinking about the need to come back to confession but just haven’t found that special moment. I invite you personally to come to confession on Be Reconciled Day.

 

Just as for the prodigal son in the Gospel, the Father stands waiting and watching the horizon as it were for your return. Please don’t worry if you don’t remember all the prayers and forms for confession. Simply tell the priest right at the beginning that it’s been a long time and ask him to help you through the process. Just take some time to think about what past sins you would wish to mention so that you have your own heart set in the right direction.

 

Jesus entrusted the power to forgive to His Church and to the priest in the confessional. He did so as an act of love. He wants us with Him in His Father’s house. Be Reconciled Day can be an important step on the way to heaven. Let’s take advantage of it this Lent.