April 27, 2025 - Pastor Message
April 26, 2025JUBILEE 2025
JUBILEE 2025
THE ACT OF CONTRITION (conclusion)
“O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you, and I detest all my sins because of your just punishments, but most of all because they offend you, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of your grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin. Amen” (The Order of Penance, 92).
Concluding our Lenten/Easter reflection on the Act of Contrition, we look this week at the resolution we make because of our sorrow for sins, completing our contrition with a firm purpose of amendment, the other necessary disposition to receive the grace of God’s mercy through the sacrament. “Resolve” as used here means more than making a commitment to something; it means dissolving my attachment to sin and forming a new, firmer bond with God that leaves no room for sin in my life. This includes avoiding even “the near occasions of sin”, those things, situations, even people that, while not necessarily sinful in themselves, weaken my resolve and lead me back into sin. For example, going to a tavern is not sinful in itself, but it can lead someone who struggles with alcoholism into the sin of abusing alcohol and all the sinful choices that come with it, making it an occasion of sin for that person.
Of course, our resolution against sin would be impossible without the constant help of God’s grace, making his grace the beginning, middle, and end of our contrition. God’s love and life in his Son, Jesus Christ, which we just celebrated in Holy Week, move us to contrition. His grace strengthens and sustains us in our resolve to make a complete break with sin and to be completely united with him. And his grace in the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation washes away our sins and restores us to the dignity of his sons and daughters, reborn in Christ, as we celebrate throughout this Easter season.
This sacramental rebirth is why the Church urges us to make a sacramental confession as often as we need it, at least once a year, preferably during the seasons of Lent and Easter, which is known as our “Easter duty”. I hope our shared reflection on the Act of Contrition has helped us all realize our need for this awesome gift by stirring in our hearts true contrition for our sins and a firm purpose of amendment. If you have not celebrated the sacrament during Lent, please be sure to do so during Easter. I have posted the schedule of confession times in our neighboring parishes on the parish bulletin board, if you would be more comfortable going to confession somewhere else. The important thing is that we go and receive God’s mercy, which is the same everywhere. And please know you can always schedule a personal appointment with me as well. Let us praise God together throughout the Easter season for the gift of new life in his risen Son, and may that life grow more and more in us through regular and fruitful celebration of the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation.
Fr. Marc Stockton
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