Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

What if God, in His great love and mercy, offered His people one of the most awesome gifts of all time: the chance to have your sins taken away forever? The Sacrament of Reconciliation is God’s great clean-up plan for our souls. And then, just imagine, what if all of us took that gift for granted so much that we didn’t even use it? Written on paper, it seems inconceivable that any of God’s creation would turn Him down in this great opportunity. But isn’t that exactly where so many of us find ourselves today in relation to the Sacrament of Reconciliation? It is unbelievable. God has made it possible. He has done all the work and paid the price. All we have to do is be sorry and be humble enough to come in and pray with a priest. And yet, we have lots of Catholics today who haven’t been to Reconciliation since they first went back in Second Grade in order to make their First Communion. What’s the problem here? Are we nuts? Do we really know what we’re missing? I think we need to talk a little bit about this, this week.

It’s time that all of us started using this important Sacrament more often. For the good of our souls we’ve got to start getting rid of our sins. We can’t just keep racking them up for ever. At some point, we’ve got to realize that it is easier to get rid of them and have God take them away than it is to keep carrying them around. Our souls, our lives, don’t work correctly when we’re over-burdened with sin. That’s why God gave us Reconciliation! In an on-going way, we are to constantly be availing ourselves of God’s love and mercy. This is not something for everybody else. This is for you and for me. It is an opportunity that Jesus wanted each one of us to have. When are we going to stop being afraid of this Sacrament?

Here, at St. Maria Goretti, right now the Sacrament of Reconciliation is offered in two different sessions on Saturdays. First, it is offered from 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM in our Sacristy. And then it is offered again on Saturday afternoon from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM, again, in our Sacristy. In our new church, there will be two chapels in both the back corners of our new building, specifically designed for Reconciliation. Let us pray that this will not be wasted space, but that all of us will come and receive God’s great forgiveness. We don’t need to wait until December when we move into the new church. You can start coming to Reconciliation right now!

And what a special responsibility parents have to teach their children how to use this Sacrament! The truth is that many of us were not taught properly by our parents when it came to Reconciliation. In many cases, nobody had ever told our parents how important it was. But at some point, we’ve all got to know what we’re missing, before it is too late. Families should be going to Reconciliation together. Kids need to see their parents going to Reconciliation. Parents have an obligation to see that their children are going to Reconciliation. It is a great thing to do together as a family. Like the Nike ads say, all we really have to do is “Just Do It!”

Saturday mornings and Saturday afternoons don’t work out? Then call and make an appointment for Reconciliation. The days are coming and may already be here, when it is not going to be convenient to receive this Sacrament. Until God sends us some additional priests, you may very well have to work to take advantage of this opportunity. Most of all, when we have the opportunity to go to Reconciliation, we need to take advantage of it. It’s way too easy to just think that “I’ll go next time” or “These other people sure need to go much more than I do”, and put it off. We keep putting it off and pretty soon it has been years since we last went to Confession. AND THEN WHAT? What if we died? Wouldn’t God want to know why we didn’t take advantage of His gift to us? As Catholics, I think God is going to have some real serious questions for all of us one day. Now is the time to think about our answers.

The summer sure has gone quickly. Is it really going to be August next week? Have a great week this week. Let us keep one another in our prayers!

In Christ,

Fr. Kevin

Don’t argue with an idiot.
People watching may not be able to tell the difference.