It is truly sad when a person gives into despair. It especially sad when a person approaches their deathbed and is concerned if their sins have been forgiven or not. We should not despair concerning the infinite mercy of God. We must come to trust in the Sacrament of Confession and the reality that through the words of absolution that one’s sins have been forgiven.
After all our Blessed Lord came to state in today’s Gospel: “Thy sins are forgiven thee.” He then goes onto to say: “that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins.” If our Lord instructs us as such and goes on to leave us the Sacrament of Confession who are we to doubt these words?
The important thing for us to do is to place our trust in these words. We must not only trust in these words, but we must also come to embrace the infinite mercy of God. This is why partaking in the Sacrament of Confession is so important for us. If we have been stained by the reality of mortal sin we do not have to live in despair, but return to God’s mercy. Even under venial sin we should embrace God’s mercy for the smallest of sins is an offense against God.
From Sacred Scripture we are told: “Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.” What is this sin against the Holy Spirit which is so serious for our Gospel speaks about the mercy of God and Christ’s ability to forgive sin. Dominum et Vivifanctem, the Lord and Giver of Life, answers this question in clear words: “it consists rather in the refusal to accept the salvation which God offers to man through the Holy Spirit, working through the power of the cross.”
In other words, there is nothing that Christ cannot forgive except that which we do not want him to forgive. We have to desire the forgiveness of sins. We have to not avoid the Sacrament of Confession, but flock towards it with the realization that all of our sins can be and are forgiven through a good confession.
Elsewhere in Sacred Scripture we are told: “there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Truly, there is nothing that cannot be forgiven if we allow Christ to forgive it. Not only that, but all of Heaven rejoices at the moment that we make a good confession. We can say that with a good confession God remembers nothing concerning our sin.
Therefore, I invite each of us to make frequent use of the Sacrament of Confession. In the words of Pope Francis we must remember: “God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy.”
Let us continue to seek out mercy and then we too can hear the words extended in our Gospel: “They sins are forgiven thee.”
