As
a new priest sitting inside the reconciliation room, listening and
pasturing a penitent can be intimidating yet satisfying. Seeing them
leave, healed and pardoned brings happiness and relief. But each
penitent is different. It is hard to know their situation beforehand.
What to say and how to say the appropriate things involve great
difficulty. The idea that a soul is at stake makes me shiver. But
knowing that it is not me who forgives makes me confident. I know that
God is there and He leads and guides me to let the penitent experience
His loving forgiveness. Always, I feel God’s wisdom flowing through me
to the penitent. And many times, I am surprised at the
things I have said and done that fulfill the penitent.
Jesus
tells the Christian not to prepare or worry about what to say. He asks
for our complete and absolute dependence on Him. He will give us the
wisdom that nobody could resist or refute. Through all those challenges
and trials, God will always be present.
Being
a Christian is about recognizing and serving our Master. Our baptism
and ordination do not free us from Him, but rather enslave us to Him.
God is enough. Asked which is the first commandment, Jesus responded by
saying that we must love God with all our strength, all our heart, all
our mind, and all our soul. There should be nothing in us that does not
worship God. As the song goes, “All that I am, all that I do, all that I
ever have, I offer them to you!”
Faced
with suffering and death, we can be at peace if we know that God is
with us and will never leave us. He is Emmanuel, remember? This we must
be able to appreciate and live. The daily awareness and experience of
the Lord will help us very much to know Him more, love him more, and
serve Him more. And when we do, it would be easy to say what He wants us
to say and do what He wants us to do.
REFLECTION QUESTION: Do you believe that God is in the midst of your fears?
Father,
there are many people and things that I am afraid of. Let Your light
shine through the darkness of my fears and give me courage to face them.
