Reconciliation

The Sacrament of Reconciliation

Penance is the sacrament by which we receive God's healing forgiveness for sins committed after baptism.  The rite is called reconciliation because it reconciles us not only with God but with the Church community.  CCC 1468

From and article entitled "Clearing Conscience of Lies Large and Small Purifies What We Wear in Eternity."

Whatever you lie about owns you.  To own is to control, or to possess.  You are controlled by the untruths you tell because they create a false reality in which you must now live. Once told, a lie has us stuck; a web we weave, is the famous way of putting it. What is a lie? There are various kinds. Some think there are “white” lies – harmless little untruths. There is no such thing. There is no white or black or gray lie. There is either telling the truth or not telling it and to God we are totally transparent. There are lies of embarrassment: we can’t stand a little truth about us. There are lies of materialism: we pretend to be what we are not. There are lies of omission. This is simply not telling something that is relevant, and especially if asked. There are lies of taking something out of context, or distorting it, or using “spin.” These seem “minor,” but are still lies because they deceive. There you have the definition: a lie is any form of deception. When we are asked something and evade a truthful answer we’re lying by implication. Our silence can lie. So can a smile. So can tears (when they’re not real). A lie is a lie is a lie and when told enough, it is believed.

Some people think they are being clever when they get away with a deception. They have gotten away with nothing. God sees and hears all and has everything recorded- even our thoughts. “There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind close doors will be proclaimed on the housetops” Lk.12.

We lie when we are intentionally inaccurate, when we convey a false impression, when we pretend. Do you fib? Do you exaggerate? Worst of all: have you spread false rumors about a person?  Remember a gigantic lesson from the Bible: the truth sets you free (John 8:32).

These are matters to take to the Confessional, until each one is cleared and the whiteness of purity replaces the little blots that sully the “robe” we wear into eternity.”

 

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