The Joy of God’s Mercy and the Sacrament of Confession

HOMILY FOR TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY (YEAR C), SEPTEMBER 11, 2016

By Rev. Fr. Thomas Oyode

The readings of today’s liturgy direct our minds to the truth of God’s boundless mercy even for the most hardened of sinners. They leave us with the assurance of forgiveness and the invitation to go out as true disciples, seeking the lost through our own actions of forgiveness. Above all, the gift of forgiveness has been given to the Church as a Sacrament to be celebrated and to foster communion.

In the first reading (Ex. 32:7-11. 13-14), the people of Israel abandon God to create for themselves a molten calf for worship. Consequently, God’s anger is provoked but He forgives them. This is one of the many instances in Scriptures that portray God as forever faithful to us, his unfaithful creatures. This is what St. Paul attests to in his own personal life by acknowledging that we are saved and sustained only by the mercy of God, not by merit (1 Tim. 1:12-17). It is important for us to reflect deeply on these two readings and see how impatience, rebellion, self-will, pride and stubborness play out in the characters of the Israelites and even of St. Paul himself yet they were saved by God’s cheer mercy. Do we not find elements of these in our relationship with God and our fellowmen? Do these not summarise what we could refer to as Sin?

Our gospel reading of today (Lk. 15:1-32) gives us insight into what sin is, the overriding effects of sin and the means and joy of gaining forgiveness, healing.

What sin is: the life of the prodigal son shows that the gifts of God can be used for sinful ends; he asked for what is good and is his due but he put it to wrong use and mere self-satisfaction. Sin can be seen as the abuse or misuse of that which God’s mercy has freely given us or the misuse of something good. For instance, the eye is good but when it is used for covetousness, envy and lust it becomes a sin. Sexuality is an objective good but not when it becomes an instrument to be used to satisfy our subjective urge for pleasure outside marriage. Sleep/rest is good but a person would not sleep/rest as to neglect his duties.

On the effects of sin, all three parables show that when we sin we lose something. The coin is a stamp of identity. We can lose our baptismal stamp(the mark of God’s Spirit in us) to sin. We can stray away due to ignorance of the power of God’s mercy and forgiveness like foolish sheep or like the prodigal son, we can become alienated from communion with God our Father or with our fellowmen including the Church community. We tend to hide from God and from others. In all three parables there is a sense of being lost, being stranded, being forgotten.

Providentially, the world today remembers a historic loss of fifteen years ago. The bombing of the US Twin Tower and the World Trade Centre took place on this. In Nigeria, the Bring Back Our Girls movement is still trending because the kidnapped Chibok girls are still missing. Many of us have lost our dear ones to death. We know what it means to lose our possessions, our identity/reputation, our family members and dear friends; the physical and psychological trauma these leave us with.

If we have really experienced loss, then we can know the joy of gaining healing, the joy of finding what is lost, the celebration that reunion with missiing loved ones brings.

The means by which we may gain reconciliation with God and our fellowmen is the Sacrament of confession/reconciliation. We must never allow our sins to take us so far away from God as to believe that we are out of the reach of his mercy. We must not so condemn ourselves by our sins as to think that God’s mercy is not powerful enough to restore us to grace. When we do this, we lose sight of the value of’ confession and see it as a punishment instead of a celebration. The ultimate sign is that we hardly remember the last time we went to confession. Like the prodigal son, each time we remain far away from God for fear that our sins are grave, we tend to become slaves. We must seek to experience the joy and dignity of God’s children through reconciliation.

The effect of God’s forgivenes and reconciliation is the joy of reunion and reconciliation. It should strike a cord that these three parables are set in the context of a meal, a celebration. A setting in which sinners were actively present. Jesus would not comment on the sinners’ behaviour as to become judgemental yet he would correct them with his teachings (cf. Lk. 7:36-50). The Church also does not condemn or judge the sinner at the confessional; the priest only counsels and guides the penitent along the path of renewal and firm resolve to avoid occasions of sin in future. The joy and clebration of forgiveness culminates in the Christians life of holy communion, the Eucharistic celebration and the inner assurance of God’s peace. We all know the weight and burden of a guilty conscience.

Finally, the message for today: God is steadfast in his mercy, always reaching out for us. We have the mark of Christ which He is not ready to allow to be lost. Even the foolish/ignorant (sheep) who have strayed are dear to God so we must be open to their return and reach out to them. Lastly, confession and reconciliation restore us to the dignity of God’s children and a share in the joy of God’s mercy.

BE ASSURED OF GOD’S MERCY THIS WEEK AND BEYOND.