Three-four shut the Door; The Fear of Evil that seeks our soul

Three-four shut the Door; the Fear of Evil that seeks our soul

 Have you ever considered the dilemma we may encounter when waiting for our next turn in the confessional and a thought enters that you are too far gone through sin to even approach the priest?  Of course not if the catechesis you learned growing up had you understanding the very reason that Christ came to you alone and promised eternal salvation by simply asking for his mercy.  We are told that if you were the only human left on earth and sinned, Christ would have come just for you.  

Sin is present in human history; any attempt to ignore it or to give this dark reality other names would be futile.  To try to understand what sin is, one must first recognize the profound relation of man to God, for only in this relationship is the evil of sin unmasked in its true identity as humanity’s rejection of God and opposition to him, even as it continues to weigh on human life and history.  (CCC 386).  

Only the light of divine Revelation clarifies the reality of sin and particularly of the sin committed at mankind’s origins.  Without the knowledge Revelation gives of God we cannot recognize sin clearly and are tempted to explain it as merely a developmental flaw, a psychological weakness, a mistake, or the necessary consequence of an inadequate social structure, etc.  Only in the knowledge of God’s plan for man can we grasp that sin is an abuse of the freedom that God gives to created persons so that they are capable of loving him and loving one another.  (CCC 387).

Preparing for the next 40 days which will open the door to the passion of Christ who came to release our soul’s captive reflection of eternal death unless each one believes in the reason God sent his Son to give us forgiveness through becoming one just like us except for sin.  

Reconciliation:  Called the sacrament of conversion because it makes sacramentally present Jesus’ call to conversion, the first step in returning to the Father from whom one has strayed by sin.  (CCC 1423).

It is called the sacrament of Penance, since it consecrates the Christian sinner’s personal and ecclesial steps of conversion, penance, and satisfaction.  

It is called the sacrament of confession, since the disclosure or confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament.  In a profound sense it is also a “confession” - acknowledgment and praise - of the holiness of God and of his mercy toward sinful man.  (CCC 1424).

It is called the sacrament of forgiveness, since by the priest’s sacramental absolution God grants “pardon and peace.”

It is called the sacrament of Reconciliation, because it imparts to the sinner the love of God who reconciles” “Be reconciled to God.”  He who lives by God’s merciful love is ready to respond to the Lord’s call:  “Go, first be reconciled to your brother.”

This is the preparation one may need as he/she prepares for the Vigil where Baptism becomes the very essence of Christ’s Resurrection by which we were born in the likeness of Christ who is our Savior and is the Resurrection we received through our own Baptism. 

Ralph B. Hathaway