In Baptism, we were washed of our sins and became children of the Father. And from that adoption flows our life of discipleship. This is our true identity.
Tag: reconciliation
Let’s receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation during Lent
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A college student wrote in her school newspaper that sometimes she wished that she were a Catholic. She explained that if she were a Catholic, when she sinned, she could go to confession like her Catholic classmates and say, “Father, I sinned. I am sorry!”
The priest would then give her a penance. She would do the penance and feel forgiven.
She added, “But I’m not a Catholic. When I sin, I don’t confess to a priest. I confess directly to God.”
Advent communal penance services in the Diocese of Madison
• Holy Angels […]
A season to receive Sacrament of Reconciliation
An unemployed man unsuccessfully tried to find work. His wife nagged him for his failure. He explained that he was trying his best and he needed the understanding and support she promised to give him in their marriage vows.
A Catholic approach to forgiveness
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| Msgr. John Hebl |
Editor’s Note: During Lent, a series of articles on Forgiveness will be presented by Msgr. John Hebl, pastor emeritus and charter member of the International Forgiveness Institute (IFI), and Robert Enright, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor, author, and founder of the IFI. This will help introduce the first ever International Conference on Forgiveness in July 2017 which IFI is sponsoring in the Holy City of Jerusalem. This is the fourth in the series of seven articles.
A number of years ago, an elderly priest in one of our neighboring dioceses began his Lenten homily by telling the people, “I hope I don’t die in the confessional.”
After pausing to get the parishioners’ attention, he added, “because they probably wouldn’t find my body for three days!”
What he meant, of course, is that many Catholics are not making use of the sacrament of God’s forgiveness commonly known as Confession. So the priest sits there all alone.
‘Your sins are forgiven you . . .’
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| Msgr. John Hebl |
Editor’s Note: During Lent, a series of articles on Forgiveness will be presented by Msgr. John Hebl, pastor emeritus and charter member of the International Forgiveness Institute (IFI), and Robert Enright, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor, author, and founder of the IFI. This will help introduce the first ever International Conference on Forgiveness in July 2017 which IFI is sponsoring in the Holy City of Jerusalem.
A number of years ago, a priest friend, now deceased, shared a personal conversation he once had with a parishioner.
She stated she liked him as a confessor. Somewhat taken aback, he asked whether it was because of his education (he held two Master’s and a Doctorate degree), or his empathy, compassion, and understanding, or maybe even because he was elderly.
She said, “no it was none of these,” and then added, “It’s because you’re hard of hearing!”
On the Year of Mercy
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Bishop’s Letter
“I desire that the year to come will be steeped in mercy, so that we can go out to every man and woman, bringing the goodness and tenderness of God! May the balm of mercy reach everyone, both believers and those far away, as a sign that the Kingdom of God is already present in our midst!” — Pope Francis, Misericordiae Vultus, 5
“We serve to ensure that all individuals throughout the 11-county diocese are graciously invited every day to meet the person of Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, face to face and be changed by Him.” – Mission Statement of the Diocese of Madison
To the faithful of the Diocese of Madison,
In calling for an Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has issued a call meant not only to urge a return to the Almighty, but also to reinvigorate and inspire those of us who try to live lives as followers of Jesus Christ. In fact, the Holy Father has also unintentionally, but not surprisingly, endorsed our own diocesan “mission.”
The Holy Father begins his Bull of Indiction, Misericordiae Vultus, with the following words: “Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s mercy. These words might well sum up the mystery of the Christian faith.” In carrying out our diocesan mission of “inviting others to meet the person of Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, face to face, and be changed by Him,” we are inviting them to meet the face of the Father’s mercy — to meet mercy incarnate. This invitation is one which is tied up in a challenging realization with regard to who God is and who “I” am, and it should be a profound and even startling invitation for each woman and man who lives in, and grapples with, a world that is nearly completely lacking in mercy.
Our world and our culture offer a great deal of lip-service to certain notions of tolerance and license, but these notions are grounded in a premise that truth is what you make it, and is subject to change, if public opinion is swayed to agree on the matter. Absent a grounding in the Truth and a foundation in humanity’s authentic encounter with mercy itself, all attempts at justice and mercy are mere shadows, structures built on sand. To experience mercy and to grant mercy, individuals and cultures must be anchored in the Truth and in a recognition of sin and repentance.
Diocese of Madison to observe Year of Mercy
Pope Francis has declared a Year of Mercy — December 8, 2015 to November 20, 2016 — throughout the worldwide Church.
Using the gifts of knowledge, reverence, fortitude
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| This column is the bishop’s communication with the faithful of the Diocese of Madison. Any wider circulation reaches beyond the intention of the bishop. |
Dear Friends,
Please allow me to return to one of my familiar themes at this beginning of Lent. I mention often at Mass and in other contexts that all of us, especially we adults, should be mindful of the graces and gifts received at our Confirmation.
I think forgetfulness that we have been confirmed is one of the true enemies of our growth in holiness.
So many times in life we need courage, we need consolation, we need joy, we need to be freed from confusion, we need to make prudent judgments –and we forget that in the Holy Sacrament of Confirmation, we have been strengthened by the Holy Spirit, in precisely the gifts which we need to face the difficult moments in life.
How often do we fail to pray, “Lord, you gave me the gifts to face this problem, with prudence, patience, and strength when I was confirmed. Now Father, stir up these gifts. Make them real for me, so that by these gifts and by your grace you will bring me through whatever difficulties I might face.”?
Reconciliation helps us to live Lent with renewed faith
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In Matthew 9:10-13, the Scribes and Pharisees complain that Christ dines with sinners and tax collectors. They are right. He does. Jesus responds by saying that he has come not to call the righteous, but sinners.
R. Charles Miller wrote that a sinner, as used here, is someone who admits they have sinned and needs God’s forgiveness to help them change. Conversely, the self-righteous think they don’t need forgiveness.
Sharing God’s mercy
Christ became flesh and took on a human nature to share the Father’s mercy with us. Chapter 15 of Luke’s Gospel features three parables of God’s mercy.