by Fr. Tommy Lane
In Vienna there is a church in which the former ruling family in Austria, the Hapsburgs, are buried. When royal funerals arrived outside the church, the mourners knocked on the door of the church requesting to be allowed in. A priest inside would ask, “Who is it that desires admission here?” A guard would call out, “His apostolic majesty, the emperor.” The priest would answer, “I don’t know him.” They would knock a second time, and again the priest would ask who it was. The funeral guard outside would announce, “The highest emperor.” A second time the priest would say, “I don’t know him.” A third time they would knock on the door and the priest would ask, “Who is it?” The third time the answer would be, “A poor sinner, your brother.”
That reminds us that we are all sinners no matter what our rank in society or Church. Perhaps we don’t think of ourselves very often as sinners in need of God’s mercy. Archbishop Fulton Sheen said that in the past Catholics believed Our Lady was immaculately conceived but now we believe we are all immaculately conceived! Could I ask you to reflect on your attitude to the Sacrament of Reconciliation? Unfortunately, sometimes now that sacrament is treated as a joke and joked about. Why would people treat the Sacrament of Reconciliation so flippantly or make it the subject of jokes? Is it because we have forgotten the value of that sacrament? And if we have forgotten the value of the Sacrament of Reconciliation is that because we have forgotten that we are all sinners even if we pretend otherwise? Is what Archbishop Fulton Sheen said true, that in the past Catholics believed Our Lady was immaculately conceived but now we believe we are all immaculately conceived? Another way of asking that question is “Are we blind to our sinfulness and our need of God’s mercy?”
I am firmly convinced that we have no idea of the enormous graces God gives us when we receive the sacrament. One way I like to think about it is that as we confess our sins, the blood of Jesus flows over us from Calvary and cleanses us. We believe that during Mass Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary is extended through time to us, and in the same way when we receive Jesus’ forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation that forgiveness is flowing to us from Calvary. I believe that in the sacrament we receive not only forgiveness but strength for living the Christian life. This is what Jesus said to St. Faustina about the Sacrament of Reconciliation:
There the greatest miracles take place and are incessantly repeated . . . it suffices to come with faith to the feet of my representative and to reveal to him one’s misery and the miracle of Divine Mercy will be fully demonstrated. Were a soul like a decaying corpse so that from a human standpoint there would be no hope of restoration and everything would already be lost, it is not so with God. The miracle of Divine Mercy restores that soul in full. (Diary of St. Faustina §1448)
When you go to confession, know this, that I myself am waiting for you in the confessional; I am only hidden by the priest, but I myself act in the soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of Mercy. Tell souls that from this fount of mercy souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great there is no limit to my generosity. (Diary of St. Faustina §1602)
Jesus also said to St. Faustina the greater the sinner the greater the mercy.
[Urge] all souls to trust in the unfathomable abyss of My mercy, because I want to save them all. On the cross, the fountain of My mercy was opened wide by the lance for all souls — no one have I excluded! (Diary of St. Faustina §1182)
Jesus said,
Tell ailing mankind to draw close to my merciful heart and I will fill them with peace. (Diary of St. Faustina §1074)
Jesus also said,
I desire the confidence of my people. . . Let not even the weak and very sinful fear to approach me, even if their sins be as numerous as all the sand of the earth all will be forgiven in the fathomless pit of my mercy. (Diary of St. Faustina §1059)
When we receive the sacrament what we heard in our second reading is true of us:
You were darkness once, but now you are light in the Lord; be like children of light, for the effects of the light are seen in complete goodness and right living and truth. Try to discern what the Lord wants of you, having nothing to do with the futile works of darkness. (Eph 5:8-11)
When the funeral of the ruling family in Austria arrived at the church at the third knock the priest would call out again, ‘Who is it?’ The third time the answer would be, ‘A poor sinner, your brother.’ Have we a blind spot with regard to the Sacrament of Reconciliation? If we have, we are missing out on huge, huge graces.
Copyright © Fr. Tommy Lane 2002
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies on the Sacrament of Reconciliation
Saints have a past, sinners have a future
As an examination of conscience, see the central part of Pope Francis' address to Personnel of the Holy See and their families on December 22, 2014.
Related Homilies: Begin again 2022
St. Thérèse of Lisieux on the love and mercy of Jesus 2024
Let Jesus dispose of the garbage caused by sin
Jesus forgives Peter and restores him
The Passion of Jesus moves us to Repentance
If you love me you will keep my Commandments
Ridding ourselves of sin like Isaiah, Paul and Peter to follow the Lord in peace
God’s Mercy looks not at our past but to our future and potential 2007
The Prodigal and his brother did not know their father. Do we know God? 2010
By admitting our sin to God like the tax collector, we receive God’s Peace 2010
Joy of the Gospel 2021
stories about God’s Mercy
stories about confession of sin
stories about sin