The Priest as Custodian of the Divine Mercy

2^ND SUNDAY OF EASTER B (DIVINE MERCY)

YEAR OF THE CLERGY AND CONSECRATED PERSONS

APRIL 8, 2018

Jesus, I trust in you!

The Lord Jesus said to St. Faustina: “No soul will be justified until it turns with confidence to My mercy, and this is why the first Sunday after Easter is to be the Feast of Mercy. On that day, priests are to tell everyone about My great and unfathomable mercy.” (Diary, 570) The Feast of Mercy that we celebrate today in the Year of the Clergy and Consecrated persons, gives us the opportunity to speak about priests as proclaimers of the mercy of God.

On the evening of Easter Sunday, the Lord appeared to his disciples and said to them: “As the Father sent me, so I send you.” Then he breathed on them and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whatever sins you forgive, they are forgiven.” Having offered himself upon the Cross as a sacrifice of atonement for our sins, the Lord Jesus, at his resurrection, gave priests the power to absolve sins. The Lord’s death on the cross made this possible. Having risen from the dead, he sends his disciples on a mission of mercy: In my name, repentance shall be preached from Jerusalem until the ends of the earth. The Lord sends his priests to preach repentance. This mandate comes from the Lord’s desire to forgive and to bestow mercy: “I am Love and Mercy itself. There is no misery that could be a match for my mercy, neither will misery exhaust it, because as it is granted – it increases. The soul that trusts in my mercy is most fortunate because I myself will take care of it.” (Diary 1273) If the Lord is not willing to forgive, then he would not send his disciples to preach repentance. He desires to forgive. All we have to do is to trust his mercy and never underestimate his goodness. “Oh, how much I am hurt by a soul’s distrust! Such a soul professes that I am holy and just, but does not believe that I am mercy and does not trust in my goodness. Even the devils glorify my justice but do not believe in my goodness. My heart rejoices in this title of Mercy.” (Diary, 300)

Together with the mandate to proclaim his mercy, the Lord gave his priests the power to absolve sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This sacrament makes the Lord’s mercy accessible to us. No sin is too grave that it could not be forgiven at confession. We should trust that the Lord has given priests this great power to absolve sins. “Tell souls where they are to look for solace; that is, in the Tribunal of Mercy. There the greatest miracles take place and are incessantly repeated. To avail oneself of this miracle, it is not necessary to go on a great pilgrimage or to carry out some external ceremony; it suffices to come with faith to the feet of my representative (the priest) and to reveal to him one’s misery, and the miracle of Divine Mercy will be fully demonstrated. Were a soul like a decaying corpse so that from a human standpoint, there would be no (hope of) restoration and everything would already be lost, it is not so with God. The miracle of Divine Mercy restores that soul in full. Oh, how miserable are those who do not take advantage of the miracle of God’s mercy! You will call out in vain, but it will be too late.” (Diary, 1448)

Therefore, the priest proclaims the Mercy of God by preaching about it and even more so, by absolving sins in the sacrament of Confession. As the Father sent his Son to the world so that all who believe in him might be saved, so the Risen Christ sends his priests to declare forgiveness in his name. Let us avail of Christ’s Easter gift. Let us confess our sins and trust in his mercy!

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

True Conversion (2nd Sunday of Advent A)

Jesus, I trust in you!

St. John the Baptist

Jerusalem, all Judea, and the entire region around the Jordan were going out to John the Baptist and were being baptized by him…as they acknowledge their sins. John was so popular that it seemed the fashionable thing at that time for people to have themselves baptized by him at the Jordan. Thus, the Pharisees and Sadducees jumped into the bandwagon by coming for John’s baptism. But John was not impressed by this religious charade. He called them “brood of vipers!” Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? This became the occasion for him to speak of the Messiah as the one who is mightier than him for he shall baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. John did not have an image of the coming Messiah as a lovely little child sleeping on a manger. Rather, this Messiah is one whose “ax lies at the root of the tree”, one who will cut down every tree that does not bear fruit. The Messiah of whom John spoke carries a winnowing fan in his hand to separate chaff from wheat, the empty ones from the fruitful ones. The wheat shall be stored into his barn but the chaff shall be burned with unquenchable fire. Sounds harsh, isn’t it? And yet this theme of judgment continues last Sunday’s theme of the coming of the Son of Man who will judge the living and the dead. And mind you, the Lord will judge rightly: “Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, but he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips, he slay the wicked.”

Nothing can be hidden from him for he is the Truth. He reads the hidden secrets of the human heart. Therefore, our repentance must be sincere. Pretending to repent is useless. The Lord knows if our contrition is genuine. He expects us to “produce good fruits as evidence of repentance.” A “token repentance” does not impress him. Conversion must be complete. 

There are 3 elements of conversion: Contrition, confession, and satisfaction or penance. “Contrition is sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again.” (CCC 1451) Perhaps we should ask ourselves: do I feel sorrow for my sins? Do I detest my sins? Am I resolved not to commit these again? 

If we are sorry for our sins, we must confess them. Through “confession (or disclosure) of sins…(we) look squarely at the sins we are guilty of, we take responsibility for them, and thereby open ourselves to God and to the communion of the Church in order to make a new future possible.” (CCC 1455) It is important that we take full responsibility for what we have done. If we keep passing the blame on others, we are not truly repentant. 

Together with contrition and confession, we must do “something more to make amends for the sin: we must make satisfaction for or expiate our sins. This satisfaction is called ‘penance.’” (CCC, 1459) There should be a firm resolution not to sin. This is done by a firm will to avoid the occasions that bring about that sin. There can be no repentance without reparation. There can be no repentance without a firm resolution to change our lifestyle.

It is by real conversion that we shall escape the wrath to come. And because the Kingdom of God is at hand, we must repent now and not later. Only by sincerely repenting of our sins shall we glorify God for his mercy.

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!   

Joy at being found

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

When the tax collectors and sinners were drawing near to listen to Jesus, the Pharisees and scribes began to complain: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” The response of Jesus to this complaints are three parables that end with the same refrain: “Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep;” “Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost;“ and “We must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come back to life again; he was lost and has been found.” Through these parables, the Lord reveals to us that the reaction of the truly righteous to the return of sinners to the Lord should not be complaint but rejoicing. The Pharisees and scribes who enjoyed the reputation of righteousness amongst the Jewish circles complained upon seeing that sinners were drawing near to Jesus to listen to him. But the angels in heaven rejoice over the repentance of one sinner.

In fact, the repentance of a sinner should be cause for joy because it is the evidence of God’s search for us who were lost. Oftentimes we think that repentance is the result of a person’s search for God. The parables of the Lord tell us otherwise. Repentance is the result of God’s search for us. The sheep, once it discovers that it has gone astray, lays down helplessly and waits for its doom. The coin that rolls beneath furniture stays put and gathers dust. The wayward son sits in the pig sty and waits to be offered the pods on which the pigs are fed. Sinners return to God not because they found the Lord but because they were found by Him. Repentance is a sheer act of grace. And so, the repentance of sinners should be for us a cause for rejoicing because none of us would be here if the Lord had not searched for us.

St. Paul had nothing but gratitude towards the Lord Jesus because in spite of what his wayward life, the Lord called him into divine service: “I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and arrogant, but I have been mercifully treated because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief.” Isn’t this our common experience? Are we not all here because each of us has been mercifully treated by the Lord? If we have been found righteous, it is not because we have never gone astray for “all men have sinned and have been deprived of the glory of God.” If we are found trustworthy, it is because God searched for us and found us. And this is why we are all here. We are grateful that the Lord did not annihilate us on account of our sins. We are grateful that we have been mercifully treated by the Lord. “Therefore, as we celebrate the memorial of his Death and Resurrection, we offer you, Lord, the Bread of life and the Chalice of salvation, giving thanks that you have held us worthy to be in your presence and minister to you.” (Kami’y nagpapasalamat dahil kami’y iyong minarapat na tumayo sa harap mo para maglingkod sa iyo.) We do not gather here to flaunt our holiness. We gather here to show our gratitude: “I am grateful to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me trustworthy in appointing me to the ministry.” This Eucharist is our thanksgiving for once we were lost but now are found. We were blind but now we see.

Jesus, I trust in you. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit vs. Demonic Possession

As we are in the Octave of Pentecost, it is good to continue meditating on the Indwelling of the Holy

Spirit. We said that God could not have made another way to be closer to us than what he does in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He does not come to stand above or below us. Nor does he stand before nor behind us nor beside us. he dwells in us.

As we talk about the Holy Spirit, we have to clarify what we mean by "spirit". Ordinarily, people associate "spirit" with ghosts. And we can partly agree with this for in former times, we used to refer to the 3rd Person of the Trinity as "Holy Ghost." But on account of the fact that English is a living language, the nuance of "ghost" has changed for the frightening. And so we now say "Holy Spirit".

But what do we mean by "spirit"?  A spirit is a disembodied being that knows and wills. Angels and demons are spirits. The Holy Spirit is obviously a spirit. The difference between them is that angels and demons are created spirits (they are creatures) while the Holy Spirit is uncreated (He is God). The difference between angels and demons is that the angelic mind is oriented towards the Truth while the demonic mind is oriented towards a Lie. The angelic will is inclined towards the Good while the demonic will is inclined towards evil. Of course, the Holy Spirit's mind is the Truth (He is the Spirit of Truth) and His will is the Good (He is Holy). 

The Holy Spirit dwells in our souls. We received him on the day of our Baptism. He dwells in our souls to transform our minds and orient them to the Truth (who is God). He dwells in our souls to transform our will and orient it to the Good (who is God). 

On the other hand, in a demonic possession, the demon takes over (dwells) in the human body and not in the soul. His objective is very simple...he wants to kill and destroy. The father of the possessed boy said to Jesus: "It has often thrown him into fire and water to kill him." (Mk. 9 - Monday 7th Wk in Ord Time). But of course, while the devil can make the body of the possessed his plaything, he cannot enter the soul where the Holy Spirit dwells unless...the person opens the door of the soul and lets the devil enter. The devil is like a roaring lion in search for someone to devour. But he stays outside the heart until the door is opened from within and he is invited to enter. This happens in the person's willful cooperation with the devil in mortal sin. And when the door of the soul is opened to let the devil in, the person closes his heart to the Holy Spirit and rejects Him. Jesus himself said, "No one can serve two masters. He will love one and despise the other..." In mortal sin, the person loses the indwelling of the Holy Spirit whom he rejects and drives away. Losing the Holy Spirit who is the Giver of Life, the soul dies. Thus, the plan of the devil is accomplished because he came to kill and destroy. This is the reason why mortal sin is called "mortal" - it kills the soul.

The only way to revive the dead soul is by the sacrament of Confession. In the Sacrament of Confession, the Holy Spirit returns to his dwelling in response to the contrition of the penitent. the Holy Spirit brings about the forgiveness of sins and also he infuses the Divine Life into the soul. Thus, He restores what sin has taken away and once again He transform the person's mind and heart unto the mind and heart of Christ.

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is God's most precious gift to us. Let us take care of this gift. Let us preserve the Divine Life in us through regular confession and frequent communion.

Confession and the Divine Mercy

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, 1^st 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!

On Confession

Jesus said to St. Fautina: "Daughter, when you go to confession, to this fountain of My mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My Heart always flows down upon your soul and ennobles it. Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself entirely in My mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional, know this, that I Myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but I Myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy. Tell souls that from this fount of mercy souls draw graces solely with the with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great, there is no limit to My generosity. The torrents of grace inundate humble souls. The proud remain always in poverty and misery, because My grace turns away from them to humble souls."

Diary, 1602.

On Lent and Confession

"Behold, now is the appointed time, in which you must confess your sins to God, and to the priest, and by prayer and by fasting, by tears and almsgiving, wipe them away. Why should a sinner be ashamed to make known his sins, since they are already known and manifest to God, and to His angels, and even to the blessed in heaven? Confession delivers the soul from death. Confession opens the door to heaven. Confession brings us hope of salvation. Because of this the Scripture says: First tell thy iniquities, that you may be justified (Is. xliii, 26). Here we are shown that the man will not be saved who, during his life, does not confess his sins. Neither will that confession deliver you which is made without true repentance. For true repentance is grief of heart and sorrow of soul because of the evils a man has committed. True repentance causes us to grieve over our offenses, and to grieve over them with the firm intention of never committing them again."

St. Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor