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HE IS WAITING FOR YOU A whole lot of people have a slew of supposedly great reasons for not going to confession. One of the more popular ones is that God knows their sins and there is no reason to tell anyone else about them. These people imagine that the Church mistakenly has the idea that confession is to fill God in on what He doesn’t know already. The real truth of course is that the telling of sins is an act of humility by which the sinner admits his sinfulness and lets the spiritual doctor, the priest, see the wounds of the soul. St Augustine says that as soon as the penitent begins admitting his sins, he is working with God to restore his soul to the beauty of grace. We are all saved by Christ, but it is necessary for us to open ourselves to Christ and cooperate with Him. He will not save us against our will! The number one reason, in my opinion, that confession has been abandoned has very little to do with theology and everything to do with fear and shame. Those who no longer go to confession or only go at the longest intervals are almost paralyzed by fear and apprehension. They would rather go for an MRI than spend two or three minutes in a confessional. Some of them are embarrassed be-cause they have forgotten the way to go and the prayers. Others live with the delusion that their particular sins are totally outstanding and would be a shock for even the most veteran confessor. These fears are very un-derstandable if you know anything about human nature. At the same time, all such apprehensions have to be placed in hands of God and His merciful love. This column is addressed to all, but in a special way it is an appeal to those who have been away from confession for some time to come back. It is a call to the teen who has not been in several years and to the older adult who has accepted a new form of Catholicism-being Catholic without approaching the sacrament of Penance. More than anything else, I am hoping that the person who believes his indeed is a hopeless case would accept this invitation to come to the Good Shepherd and receive the Christ-mas gift of pardon and peace and a new beginning. Oh yes, if you’ve forgotten the prayers and how to go to confession, the priest will give you all the help you’ll ever need. And when it’s all over you’ll wonder why you ever waited so long. Christmas is a time of mercy and forgiveness. Please give Our Lord the best gift of all: a new heart for His birthday. Jesus assured us: " I tell you there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner repenting than over ninety-nine just people who have no need of repentance." (Lk 15:7) I’m hoping that those angels will have plenty to be happy about this year. And I want all of you to have the best Christmas season yet! In Jesus and Mary,
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