R E S O U R C E S
R E S O U R C E S
Pope Benedict XVI announced a special Year for Priests from June 19, 2009 to June 19, 2010. At the start of the yearlong celebration, the pope invited priests worldwide to take St. John Mary Vianney, the Cure of Ars, as their model in leading their people back to the sacrament of reconciliation.
St. John Vianney was a priest in France during the troubled years following the French Revolution, when the practice of religion – and particularly of the Catholic faith – was inhibited. Great cathedrals stood near-empty, and confessionals were rarely used. Yet as a result of his preaching and personal example, people started journeying to Ars from all over the country and, later, from all over the world. His parish became known as the “hospital of souls.”
Pope Benedict noted that those who came to St. John Vianney’s confessional were drawn by a deep and troubled longing for God’s forgiveness and that Father Vianney enabled them to experience the untold beauty of living in union with God and dwelling in His presence.
Many confessionals are similarly empty today, perhaps from some mistaken notion that it is not really necessary to confess or that the sacrament of reconciliation (we used to call it the sacrament of penance) isn’t necessary or attainable any more because of the magnitude of our sins. The bottom line is that many carry their sins with them wherever they go and, because of them, shoulder a great sense of unworthiness. Some just rationalize their sins away.
Recently a penitent began his confession with, “Father, I’ve just committed the usual sins ...”
“And what are those?” I asked.
“Oh, you know, the ones everybody commits.”
Sadly, hiding behind “I’m no worse than anyone else” doesn’t allow for reconciliation, and hiding in a crowd is far less than asking for God’s mercy. It puts off what Pope Benedict calls the “dialogue of salvation,” which reconciliation entails.
So, make this Year for Priests the year of your reconciliation – not as some Easter or Christmas “duty” or something to put off until some day in the future – but now and whenever you really want to experience the love and goodness for which your life desperately yearns.
I love that suggestion that parishes should be “hospitals of souls.” It reminds me that our job as priests is not only to celebrate Mass, baptize children, manage schools and all the rest, but also to actively seek out, as Christ did, the lost sheep and to bring those fallen away safely home. And what a great joy that is!
The Southern Cross
This commentary first appeared in the July 2009 issue of The Southern Cross.