by Fr. Tommy Lane
If John the Baptist were
here today, what would he say? I think he would say the same as he
said before Jesus began his public ministry, “repent of sins,” but
now he would say to repent of sins to prepare to celebrate Jesus’
birth at Christmas. Luke tells us in today’s Gospel that these words
from Isaiah (40:3-5) were fulfilled in the preaching of John the
Baptist:
Prepare the way of the
Lord,
make straight his paths.
Every valley shall be filled
and every mountain and hill shall be made low.
The winding roads
shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth,
and
all flesh shall see the salvation of God. (Luke 3:4-6)
John the Baptist
would say that the winding roads to be made straight are the winding
roads of our hearts and the rough ways to be made smooth are the
rough ways of our hearts. Quite simply, I think John the Baptist
would say to go to confession to prepare for Christmas. That is the
more important than all the Christmas shopping, more important than
all the food preparation, more important than all the lights. The
Christmas shopping, the food preparation, and the lights are far less important than what really matters which is having our heart ready to receive the
Lord.
Confession is a sacrament
of healing. It brings us healing. If we do not view confession as a
sacrament of healing, it affects the way we prepare for the
sacrament and how often we receive the sacrament. If we view the
sacrament as a sacrament of healing, we prepare as well as possible
for it so that we can receive the most healing from it and we will
want to receive it regularly. If we have not yet arrived at the
understanding that tconfession is a sacrament of healing, we may
not prepare properly to receive the sacrament nor receive it
regularly. So, I encourage you to view confession as a sacrament of
healing.
It is a sacrament of
healing because we meet Jesus in it. Instead of worrying about
telling sins to a priest who can’t see you, remember that you are
telling your sins to Jesus, and you receive the mercy and
forgiveness of Jesus because confession is a sacrament of healing.
You might ask why you
should confess to a priest when you can ask Jesus for forgiveness at
home. It was Jesus himself who gave us the sacrament of confession
on Easter Sunday evening when he gave priests the authority to
forgive sins in his name. On Easter Sunday evening, we read in
John’s Gospel, Jesus appeared to the apostles gathered together and
said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are
forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” (John
20:22-23) It requires humility on our part to tell sins to Jesus
through a priest who is human just like us and also a sinner himself
but when at the words of a priest during the consecration of Mass,
the bread becomes the body of Jesus and the wine becomes the blood
of Jesus, it helps us to accept that God really has chosen priests
as his instruments to impart his forgiveness to us in confession. A
barman said to me once that he had heard many confessions. I am sure
he did but since he was not a priest, he did not give absolution.
Only a priest can absolve sins. Sometimes people joke and say to me
they could say Mass. They could say the words, but the bread would
still be bread, and the wine would still be wine but when a priest
says Mass the bread becomes the body of Jesus and the wine becomes
the blood of Jesus. We need priests for the Eucharist and
confession, and for the priest to give us sacraments, the priest
needs to be able to trace his priesthood all the way back to the
apostles and Jesus. The priest had to have been ordained by a
bishop, who was ordained by a bishop, who was ordained by a bishop,
and so on going all the way back to the apostles and Jesus. In the
creed, we say, “I believe in one, holy, Catholic and apostolic
Church,” apostolic indicating that our priesthood and Church is
going all the way back to the apostles and Church founded by Jesus
himself. Our sacraments are effective because our priesthood is
going all the way back to Jesus. That is key because the sacraments
come to us through the priesthood.
If you want healing from
Jesus, tell Jesus the truth about your situation. When you go to
your doctor for healing, you prepare by deciding what to tell your
doctor. If you want healing in one area, the more you tell your
doctor about that area, the better your doctor can bring you the
healing you need. It is the same with confession. Advice an Indian
priest (Fr. Joseph Bill) gave in a retreat I attended some years ago was: Don’t be
like someone who said, “Father, I stole a rope” but neglected to say
that there was a cow at the end of the rope! Instead of thinking you
are telling your sins to a priest, remember you are telling your
sins to Jesus—you are meeting Jesus—and you are receiving the mercy,
forgiveness, and healing of Jesus. Confession is a sacrament of
healing.
If John the Baptist were
here today, I think he would say the same as he said before Jesus
began his public ministry, “repent of sins,” and say to repent of
sins to prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birth at Christmas. The
winding roads to be made straight are the winding roads of our
hearts and the rough ways to be made smooth are the rough ways of
our hearts. Quite simply, I think John the Baptist would say to go
to confession to prepare for Christmas.
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2024
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Second Sunday of Advent Year B
Longing for God and God Searching for Us 2018
Making Room for Jesus in our Hearts during Advent 2015
Related Homilies: God is Offering You a Grace this Advent