Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent
(Daniel 3:25.34-43; Matthew 18:21-35)
Protestants often criticize the Catholic practice of confessing to
a priest. They ask, “Why do you have to tell your sins to a man? It
is God who forgives sins.” Yes, certainly sins offend God, and He alone
can forgive them, but Jesus has given his apostles authority to function as God’s
regular agents (Matthew 18:18). There is a further reason. When a
Christian sins, she or he does harm to the Church which is entrusted with the
mission of announcing God’s love to the world. Gossiping, viewing
pornography, cheating on taxes or whatever sin obstructs the deliverance of
this message. The readings today present examples of a sincere confession
and what proves to be a faulty one.
The first reading pictures Azariah, one of the three Jewish youths
chosen to serve the king of Persia, expressing contrition for the sins of his
people. As the prophets tell, God desires such a contrite heart more than
sacrifices. The servant in the gospel parable sounds like he has
undergone a change of heart as he pleads with his master for an extension of
his debt, but actually he has not. If he were sincere, he would show the
same understanding to a fellow servant who is indebted to him.
It is recommendable that all Catholics go to Confession during
Lent whether or not they are in mortal sin. The Sacrament of
Reconciliation humbles us to admit that we make mistakes -- sometimes grave
ones -- that divert us from the path of holiness. Also significant,
Reconciliation reminds us that religion is not just a personal affair between
God and me but a communal enterprise in which all of us have a role to carry
out.
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