Reflections from the Heart – February 11, 2024

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
by Fr. Ivan Olmo

I said, “I confess my faults to the LORD,” and you took away the guilt of my sin.  Can God cover your guilt and forgive all your sins?  Take a moment to consider the question and the possibility of its grace.  Can God forgive you, take away your guilt, and remove all that shame? Think and pray for a moment. Oh, I’m sorry, did you think the question was whether God could forgive all your sins and cover all your guilt; meaning whether our Lord has the power, authority and ability to forgive the effects of your harsh words, impure thoughts and selfish acts and whether God can renew you to the gracious state of Holy Baptism? We know God can, will and does forgive all our sins and covers all our guilt as experienced in the Gospel story of the prodigal son. The question can God cover your guilt and forgive your sins really means; will you let God forgive you and will you let God cover all your guilt and shame with his divine grace? It is a loving invitation to permit God, the Divine Physician, to heal the effects of your lack of concern for others, your unfaithfulness to his covenant and your disobedience to his commandments.  Can our loving Savior save you through the gift of his infinite love and with the help of his divine mercy? Will you let God forgive you, wrap you in his loving, tender embrace and cover you with his kisses? We know our Almighty God can and does forgive all our sins for he washed away all our sins in and through the sacred waters of baptism and that God heals the effects of our personal sins in and through the life-giving and life-saving sacrament in the celebration of a good and holy confession.  Jesus clearly and audibly can be heard from the Cross saying, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”  Can you hear that?  Once again, not can you physically or interiorly hear what Jesus said or is saying, but rather can you spend some time to consider what he said, what it means and how it relates to you? Can you spare some of your precious busy time to consider how you respond to the gracious words when the voice of the priest in the person of Christ says “go in peace your sins have been forgiven?” Jesus said it.  He really meant it and means it.  Your sins are forgiven and your guilt taken away. Can you believe it?