Chapter 3: The Penitential Act

How often have we thrown the phrase "Catholic guilt" around in mocking tones? I know I do so with some regularity, but what is the real truth behind that? Prayer is about our relationship with God and all relationships are difficult. Relationships become more difficult anytime one party has done something to strain that relationship.

I think that is what is truly at the heart of "Catholic guilt". We hate being reminded that we have damaged our relationship with Christ through sin. There are plenty of feel-good churches where we can jump around and proclaim our love for God. That's all fine and good, but what's wonderful about the Penitential Act, Reconciliation, and prayers like the Act of Contrition is that afterwards we are (hopefully) feeling restored. Christ is always there, waiting to receive our forgiveness. Usually, it's our own stubbornness that's the barrier to getting back on track.

We are a sinful people. God gave us the loving gift of free will and we regularly screw it up by using it to sin against others, ourselves, and the very God who gave us this gift. For most, this would be enough to make us want to crawl into a cave and never come out. But we are also blessed with the gift of a loving, merciful, forgiving God who wants nothing more than to be in good relationship with us.

At our baptisms, we were set free from the bonds of original sin and given a chance to start anew. Unfortunately, from the time we were old enough to start learning right from wrong, we started choosing wrong on some occasions. Each week, we humble ourselves before this merciful God during the Penitential Act. We seek God's forgiveness, reminding ourselves and our loved ones that  we have not  been perfect this week. We may not seem worthy to be in God's presence, but God makes us worthy.

From the moment we bless ourselves with the waters of baptism when we enter the church, to praying the Penitential Act, to saying "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you..." we make ourselves more holy and more worthy.

This is also a great time to remind everyone about the Advent Reconciliation Service. Monday, Dec. 16th at 7 pm in the church. Haven't been in awhile? Having anxiety about going? My pastor at my home parish in Fort Wayne gave a great homily about Reconciliation last weekend. Give it a listen- maybe it will inspire you as it did me.

Unrelated note: I LOVE the idea of having audio recordings of the homilies online. The last parish where I worked did it as well. It helps me to listen to different "takes" on the same readings and, in this case, feel connected to my friends and family when I don't go to Mass with them. Maybe someone will feel called to push for doing this at Ascension. Hmmm....