OUR SUNDAY’S IN MARCH 2010

Here we are in the middle of Lent. A good look at ourselves has been suggested – introspection – a review of our life and sins – and then comes Confession – the sacrament of Reconciliation. The Diocese of Bridgeport (Bishop Lori), has placed large bill boards near the interstate inviting people to come back to Church and confess your sins.

Here are some definitions of “reconciliation”: (a) the reestablishment of cordial relations; (b) getting two things to correspond such as a checkbook and a bank statement; (c) changing for the better a relationship between two people; (d) married people who have fallen out getting back together. The root of the word “reconciliation” is the Latin word cilia. It is like fine hair. It is like an eyelash – reconciliation could literally mean “eyelash to eyelash”. Therefore in the Sacrament we look into the eyes of God.

Luke presents to us the story of the Forgiving Father. Luke’s story is one of reconciliation. Yes, those who had strayed, and even those who had strayed badly, should be welcomed back. The Forgiving Father left the house and went to meet the Prodigal to welcome him and restore him. The Prodigal Son became lonely, isolated and hungry. A return home reversed that.

The second son, who stayed, was just as distant from his father as the first. He had made himself distant through anger and resentment. Again, the father left the house to invite his other lonely son back home. The Father wanted his two sons to be reconciled so that both of their lives might be restored. Being under one roof again they would be in community and thus would once again look like the God who made them.

Our Sacrament of Reconciliation is God’s gift to us. It is given not so that God could be reconciled to us, but that we might be reconciled with God. Sin can make us very lonely. It can even destroy us. We have been reconciled to God through Christ so that we will never be apart from God. Reconciliation leads to better relationships, and ultimately it leads us back into the Father’s house.

God is never alone, and we don’t have to be. When we go eyelash to eyelash with God, what we will see are eyes of love inviting us in.

The Most Rev. John P. Walzer, D.D. Archbishop