Seeing
the Gospel in everyday life is easy when befriend men who live Godly lives. One
truly holy and learned friend put this
on social media on the Memorial for St. Augustine of Hippo.
“Let
no one say I repent before God; I perform it in the sight of God, and He who is
to pardon me knows that in my heart I repent.” Whereupon St. Augustine asks: “Was it then
said to no purpose, ‘What you shall loose upon earth shall be loosed in
heaven?’ Was it for nothing that the keys were given to the Church?”
“You
hold the Gospel of no account. You despise the words of Christ, and you promise
yourself what he refuses you. “ – St Augustine of Hippo.
And
the comments began arguing the need to confess to a priest. Being raised a Southern Baptist; this was the
hardest sacrament for me to embrace. It may have also been because of the
absence of a good priestly confessor.
The
idea of confessing to a priest is not only Jesus instructions it is also an
issue of humility. St. Augustine says “You
despise the words of Christ, you promise yourself what he refuses you.”
Sirach
says - conduct your affairs with humility…; seek not, things beyond your
strength.
I
think refusing to partake in the sacramental gift of reconciliation and penance
one becomes like the wedding guest that sits at the head of the table.
If
Jesus rebukes the pride of those racing for the best seat at the table imagine
how he feels about those whose pride and ego keep them from the sacrament of reconciliation
and penance.
You
see the worse kind of pride is the pride of the Pharisee. Standing before the
temple the Pharisee prays to God and thanks him for not being like other
people, sinners. But behind him the tax
collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven.
Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’ The
pride of the Pharisee is that he had God’s gift and forgiveness and the sinner
did not. (Luke 18)
Jesus
asks who was forgiven.
And
he repeats this phrase from today’s Gospel. “For
all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves
will be exalted."
Most
will say that this is why we can confess directly to God. It was one of the arguments against the quote
of St. Augustine of Hippo on that Facebook post.
We
can confess directly to God, the sinner did and Jesus said that he was the one forgiven.
One messages in this
parable is to confess with a contrite heart. But, this parable
was under the precepts of the old covenant.
It
was before Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sins.
It
was before He gave the Keys of Heaven to the Church.
It
was before he told his apostles, ‘What you shall loose upon earth shall be
loosed in heaven?’ What you retain will be retained.”
Friends,
God judges us all; and, Jesus is the new covenant.
It
is Jesus who gave the sacrament of reconciliation and penance to prepare us
for the wedding feast. He gave us this
sacrament so we would take our place at the Eucharistic table. It is what we need to
recline at the heavenly banquet.
Remember, conduct
your affairs with humility…; seek not, things beyond your strength. That
is why I caution - Let no one say I repent secretly before God….
In
many cases we are just confessing our sins to ourselves and granting ourselves
absolution. It is in those things that we hold the Gospel, the words of Christ to no
account and make promise to our self an what he refuses us.
All
this is can be cause by a lack of humility. “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who
humble themselves will be exalted."
It
is through the humble act of seeking forgiveness of our sins through the
sacrament of reconciliation that Christ Jesus gave to us that we are invited: 'My
friend, move up to a higher position."
Be
good, be holy and preach the gospel by the way you live your lives and love one
another. Amen.
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