Repent, and seek forgiveness in confession

By Fr. Vincent Hawkswell

Second Sunday of Advent, Year B
December 4, 2005
1st Reading: Is. 40:1-5, 9-11
2nd Reading: 2 Pet. 3:8-15
Gospel Reading: Mk. 1:1-8

“My first confession is going to be pretty long,” said one of my RCIA group after a talk on sin. “There are so many sins!”

“Yes,” somebody else chimed in, “the Catholic Church sure knows how to make you feel guilty!”

“You’d better believe it!” a third person responded.

Psychologists have rightly identified some guilt feelings as mentally unhealthy, like those which prompt us to shoulder the blame for others’ faults, or make us avoid doing things for fear of doing something wrong, or are out of all proportion to the wrong that has been done.

However, many people think that all feelings of guilt are unhealthy, and that is not true.

For example, I once overheard someone say, “I had guilt feelings for a long time after I left my wife and moved in with Joan. It took me years to work it through.” I didn’t know the man, but I couldn’t help thinking, “So you should feel guilty.”

The Modern Catholic Dictionary of Father John Hardon, SJ, defines guilt as “The condition of a person who has done moral wrong, who is therefore more or less estranged from the one he has offended, and who is liable for punishment before he has been pardoned and has made atonement.”

Objectively, guilt is the condition of a person who has done wrong. Subjectively, guilt depends on how serious the offence is, how completely the offender knew what he was doing, and how willingly he consented. In a guilty person, feelings of guilt are appropriate, for they can lead to sorrow, atonement, and change.

Face our guilt

Does the Church harp on sin and guilt too much? Think of how Christ interpreted the commandments; for example, the one against adultery: “Anyone who looks lustfully at a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Think of how He summed up: “In a word, you must be made perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Then you will realize how sinful we all are.

We must face our guilt before we can even begin to talk to God about anything else. That is why we start Mass by admitting that we have sinned, through our own fault, in thought, in word, in what we have done, and in what we have left undone.

We must face our guilt before we can see this Sunday’s Readings as the good news they claim to be. God tells Isaiah to “speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid.” God comes to pardon, not to punish, feeding His flock like a shepherd, gathering the lambs in His arms, and gently leading the ewes.

This is the good news we celebrate at Christmas and look forward to during Advent. However, God comes to raise us up, not to reassure us that our sinful state is acceptable, so we should prepare for Christmas as John the Baptist urged when he preached “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

During these four weeks, I urge you to make a full, honest examination of your life, repent your sins, and go to confession.

Examine your life

First, consider sins against the first great command: to love God.

Is your heart set on clothes, amusement, pleasure, vanity, or money? Do you neglect God? Are you lazy about prayer? Do you let Christ down in public? Have you been frivolous in church? Have you been late for Mass through carelessness? Have you neglected to fast one hour before Communion?

Next, consider sins against the second great commandment: to love your neighbour.

Do you manipulate other people for your own ends or advantage? Do you neglect your family duties? Have you treated other people rudely or discourteously? Have you insulted them or quarrelled, fought, or lost your temper with them? Have you made it difficult for them to love you by your irritability or bad temper?

Have you neglected work you should have done, whether through idleness or by substituting more pleasant work? Have you told lies, explicitly or implicitly? Have you spoken critically about others, truthfully or untruthfully? Have you harboured resentment or refused to forgive an injury? Do you hate anybody?

Have you consented to impure thoughts or conversation? Have you abused your body for sexual pleasure? Have you read or looked at impure books, magazines, films, etc.? Have you helped to lead others into sin by impure looks, words, or suggestions? Have you coveted someone else’s wife or husband? Have your thoughts been lustful? Have you dressed immodestly, so as to lead yourself or others into sin?

Have you stolen anything from individuals, companies, or governments? Have you cheated in exams, games, income tax, etc.? Have you wasted your money or someone else’s by gambling? Have you wasted time, yours or your employer’s? Have you procrastinated? Have you been late through carelessness?

Have you put yourself or others at risk by running red lights, speeding, jay-walking, etc.? Have you been rude to other drivers or pedestrians? Have you eaten too much? Have you drunk too much alcohol? Have you used legal drugs too much? Have you used illegal drugs? Have you coveted others’ possessions? Have you given bad example, especially to children?

During Advent, the Church wants us to face our guilt, but she does not want us to go on feeling guilty: she wants us to repent and be forgiven. Then, and only then, we can wait for the Lord’s coming in peace, as St. Paul urges.