From the Pastor’s Desk:

This Wednesday we will celebrate Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten Season. We will be marked with ashes, and the words of the blessing, “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.” Turning away from sin and seeking repentance is the theme of the Lenten Season. Turning away from sin many times means a change of mind, a change of heart and a change of behavior. This is true conversion and conversion cannot be limited to a dramatic, once-in-a lifetime, so called “born again” experience. Lent gives us 40 days of working on that conversion, so we can walk faithfully in the footsteps of Christ through His Passion, Death and the celebration of His Resurrection.

One of the important aspects of conversion is the acknowledgement of one’s sins and seeking absolution of those sins from God and the community in which we live. Sin is, before all else, an offense against God and at the same time it damages our relationship with others and the community. For this reason we need to confess our sinfulness seeking absolution from God and reconciliation with the Church (people of God). Within the tradition of the Catholic Church for the past 2000 years, this reconciliation has been expressed and accomplished liturgically by the Sacrament of Penance.

Christ instituted the Sacrament of Penance for all sinful members of His Church. The Sacrament of Penance offers a new possibility to conversion and to recover the grace which began in our lives at Baptism. Many changes in the sacrament have occurred over the centuries, but there are two equally essential elements that have always been present: Contrition, confession and satisfaction on the part of the penitent; and God’s action through the intervention of the Church through the sacramental life of the Church.

The confession of sins, even from a simply human point of view, frees us and facilitates our reconciliation with others. Through such an admission the individual looks at the sins one is guilty of and takes responsibility for them, and thereby opens themselves again to God and to the communion of the Church. Confession of sins of even a lesser nature helps us to form our conscience and fight against evil tendencies and let’s ourselves be healed by Christ.

Our Lenten Penance Service here at St. Agnes Cathedral is on February 26th. Celebrate the sacrament and experience reconciliation with God and through the Church and receive God’s grace, peace and serenity of conscience.