Wednesday 3 August 2011

God is Glorified in the Sacrament of Penance

God is full of tender mercy and compassion
Like Shadowlands, I've been thinking a bit about Confession lately and it struck me that while the remission of our sins through the Sacrament of Penance gives us great spiritual joy (and dare I say it, relief) - for our guilt is removed as far 'as the East is from the West', so too God is given great joy by our humbly confessing our faults.

Our Lord talks about it at length - that there is more joy, real joy, in Heaven over one sinner that repents than over a multitude of the righteous.

St Paul tell us that Love rejoices not in evil, but in the truth and it is the truth about ourselves that we acknowledge in the Sacrament of Penance. Our sins give God no joy at all, but that we present ourselves to Him in Confession makes God happy - rejoicing - for the work of saving work of the Son has gained for the Father a soul to His Bosom.

As Our Lord says in the parable of the prodigal son, the Father runs out to meet us and embraces us, for He was looking for us, scanning the horizon, worried and concerned about us. The Son is glorified by our Confession. The Father is glorified by our Confession. The Holy Spirit is glorified by our examination of our conscience and our uttering of our sins before the Priest, who is ordained with the power to forgive sin in the name of Jesus Christ. The Triune God is given great glory and for our humility, we too, are exalted.

In Confession we have performed a work which brings God more joy than any work of mercy we may do others. We have glorified the saving work of His Son, 'in whom the Father is well pleased', the One Who never displeased His Eternal Father, yet too rejoices over us in the Sacrament, for His bitter Passion and His Cross was not in vain for we who present ourselves to Him.

So let us never fear the Sacrament of Penance, no matter what our sin. For our Confession makes God rejoice over us, for the son or daughter who returns to Him is not lost, but found and He Who is full of tender mercy and compassion, has been glorified.

Posted by That The Bones You Have Crushed May Thrill

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