Jesus, I
trust in you!
“Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven
them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”
Risen from the dead, the Lord Jesus stood before his
disciples on that Easter evening. These were the very disciples who denied him
and abandoned him 2 nights before. The resurrection has vindicated him against
his enemies and so the Lord had every right to reproach the apostles for their
cowardice. But he did not do this. Instead, he greeted them with peace and then
bestowed upon them power which no human being ever had – the power to forgive
sins. No human being ever had this power for only God can forgive sins. And
yet, on that evening, the Lord breathed on them and gave them the Holy Spirit
who empowered them to forgive sins. This power to forgive sins is honored by
heaven itself.
At the resurrection, the Lord Jesus, who was humiliated by
suffering and death, was glorified: “I am the first and the last, the one who
lives. Once I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to
death and the netherworld.” He is the Glorious One who holds the keys to death
and the netherworld – the keys to death that entered the world as a consequence
of sin. He now unlocks the fetters that
bound us to death – the fetters of sin. He does this by bestowing upon his
apostles the power to break the chains of sin – that power is the forgiveness
of sins. The glorious face of Jesus is God’s face which “is the face of a
merciful Father who is always patient,” so said Pope Francis, “the patience he
has for us…is his mercy. He always has patience, patience with us. He
understands us, he waits for us, he does not tire of forgiving us if we are
able to return to him with a contrite heart…God never tires of forgiving
us!...The problem is that we ourselves tire, we grow weary of asking for
forgiveness.” (Francis, 1st Angelus Message, 17 March 2013.)
Those who are weary of asking for forgiveness are “those who
trust in themselves and in their own merits…blinded by their ego and their
hearts are hardened in sin.” (Benedict XVI, I Believe in God, 139.) On the
other hand, “those who recognize that they are weak and sinful entrust themselves
to God and obtain from him grace and forgiveness…In the Sacrament of
Reconciliation, whatever the sin committed, if it is humbly recognized and the
person involved turns with trust to the priest-confessor, he or she never fails
to experience the soothing joy of God’s forgiveness. (In the Sacrament of
Reconciliation), what is central (is) the personal encounter with God, the
Father of goodness and mercy. It is not sin which is at the heart of the
sacramental celebration but rather God’s mercy, which is infinitely greater
than any guilt of ours.” (Ibid., 139-140.)
O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse
to thee!
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