Confession

In some times people have the fortune to live at a moment of significant change. For whatever reason, history is being made. I suspect that the arrival of Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Rome is one such moment. He is Pope Francis and his ministry is touching many lives in a most profound way. He is a man who knows his own sinfulness and what it means to live in the loving forgiveness of God. He once said that the slate of the past is never wiped clean, but we bless the past by facing it with contrition, forgiveness and atonement. That means being sorry for what is past; learning to forgive what others have done to us, and also learning to forgive ourselves; and atonement is about making amends for what is past and learning to live at-one with yourself.

Confession is one of the sacraments of the church. Going to a priest and confessing your sins is very much part of the rhythm of life for many Christians, whilst others finding it a strange practice. Does it mean ‘do what you want’ and then God forgives you? Well not really. I think what Pope Francis meant is that you cannot just sweep the past under the carpet as if it no longer matters. Instead, we need to face our past and learn to bless it – that is to find healing from that past. We need to face up to the people we are, which is only possible because God already sees us as we are and loves us, despite what we are. It is then that we find healing, new life and release from what is broken in our lives.

As we go about our lives today, it is worth at least pausing to reflect on what shapes our lives and makes us the people we are. If what shapes our life today is a weight of pain from the past, then letting God in to deal with that pain is a step towards finding the liberation and freedom to live the lives that God always wanted for us. To let God bless what is past is to allow God in to heal that past, which in turn will transform our today , but also make us far more compassionate towards every wounded person we meet this day.