“I
think that if God forgives us we must forgive ourselves. Otherwise, it is
almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than Him.” - C.S. Lewis
(Gospel text: Lk 5:12-16)
It
happened that there was a man full of leprosy
in
one of the towns where Jesus was;
and
when he saw Jesus,
he
fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said,
“Lord,
if you wish, you can make me clean.”
Jesus
stretched out his hand, touched him, and said,
“I
do will it. Be made clean.”
And
the leprosy left him immediately.
Then
he ordered him not to tell anyone, but
“Go,
show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing
what
Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.”
The
report about him spread all the more,
and
great crowds assembled to listen to him
and
to be cured of their ailments,
but
he would withdraw to deserted places to pray.
What
should we do to be cleaned?
Sometimes
we want something much bigger, something immediate
and powerful that heals us in
an instant.
It’s
easy to hear again and again in church about repentance and the Sacrament of
Reconciliation, and to sigh, “Yes, I’ve heard that before!” It’s pretty
mundane. It’s not that impressive. And because it’s so familiar, we
can think it’s not going to make any difference.
But challenge yourself! - Living life
without forgiveness is like drinking poison.
St.
Jerome expressed the same idea centuries ago when he asked, “How can a sick
person expect to be healed if he is too ashamed to show his wound to the doctor?”
Some
years back, a Jewish psychologist remarked, “Over the last few decades, as
the line of Catholics waiting at the confessional has decreased, the number
of my clients has exponentially increased.”
When was the last time we went to
confession?
Six
months ago? Six years? Not since our first Holy Communion? Don’t we realize
that God loves us—not so much because we’ve been good, but because we need
Him?
“There is more rejoicing in heaven over one
sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of
repentance.”(LK 15:7)
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