The Light Is On For You
by Fr. Roger J. Landry - February 16, 2007
On Wednesdays, Catholics throughout our diocese will form lengthy lines to receive ashes on their foreheads along with an instruction. The instruction can take one of two forms, each of which helps to orient us about the point of the season of Lent.
The first is "Remember that you are dust and unto dust you shall return!" This recalls man's creation from the dust of the earth, when "God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; thus man became a living being" (Gen 2:7). Man is dust, but at the same time more than dust; he also has a soul breathed into him by God. Lent is a privileged occasion for us to ask ourselves and ask God how our soul is doing. Ashes, too, are a stark reminder that each of us will die and our body will for a time return to the dust from which we came. Lent is the time we ask if we are ready to die and to meet the Lord.
The second form of the instruction teaches us how to get our souls ready for that encounter: "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel." This is a paraphrase of Jesus' first homily, when in Galilee he proclaimed, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the good news" (Mk 1:15). Through his ministers, Jesus says the same thing to each of us when we come to receive ashes. He reminds us that the time of waiting is over and the doors to his kingdom are wide open; therefore, we need to turn away from everything that keeps us from that kingdom and follow him with faith into it.
To turn away from sin, from infidelity to the Gospel, is the first step. We cannot serve two masters. As we proclaim every time someone is about to cross the threshold of the kingdom through baptism, entrance requires that we reject sin and all Satan's counterfeit promises and evil works. To remain in the kingdom, we must continue that rejection and live as God's children.
Sometimes, however, we do not. Like the prodigal son in Jesus' famous parable, we can turn our back on our Father, wander far from the kingdom and squander the inheritance of grace. Lent is the privileged occasion in which we, like the prodigal son, "come to our senses" (Lk 15:17) and make the journey home — and God, overflowing with merciful love, runs out to meet us.
The place of our dramatic embrace, the new portal of the kingdom, is the sacrament of reconciliation. Through it we, like the prodigal son, are restored to our status as beloved children in our Father's kingdom. Like the son in the parable, we come to confess that we have sinned against God and others. Our Father not only forgives us, but starts a celebration, declaring that heaven rejoices more over our return than over 99 who, like the Blessed Virgin, never left.
If we wish to live a good Lent, the most important means is a good confession, because it is through this sacrament that we come to experience personally the joy and the fruits of Easter. Jesus implied in the parable that absolution is tantamount to resurrection. "This son of mine was dead," the Father declares, "but has been brought to life again."
Jesus made this connection between the sacramental forgiveness of sins and Easter joy obvious by establishing the sacrament on the day he rose from the dead. After passing through the closed doors of the upper room that Sunday evening, he wished the apostles peace and then gave them the power to establish peace between sinners and God. "Just as the Father sent me," he declared, "so I send you." The Father had sent Jesus to save us from our sins and make eternal life possible, and Jesus was sending the apostles with the same mission. Because no one can forgive sins but God alone (Mk 2:7), Jesus breathed on the apostles and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." Then he established the essential structure of the sacrament: "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (Jn 20:19-23). Since Jesus did not give them the ability to read minds and hearts, the only way they would know which sins to forgive and which sins to retain is if penitent men and women confessed their sins to them.
For decades in some segments of the Church, this great gift of God has been underappreciated and underutilized. Thankfully that seems to be changing. In recent years, several dioceses have begun to call attention to the sacrament with "Reconciliation Weekends," during which confessions are heard all weekend long in every parish. On one such weekend a few years ago in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, 1,100 priests heard the confessions of over 100,000 penitents. This year, the Archbishop and priests of Washington, DC, have announced a different approach that has likewise garnered a lot of attention and enthusiasm: throughout Lent, in addition to other regularly-scheduled times, confessions will be heard every Wednesday night from 7-8:30 p.m. in every parish of the Archdiocese. They have called this outreach, "The light is on for you."
Like the priests in Philadelphia and the nation's capital, the priests within the Diocese of Fall River will also turn on the light of their confessionals, churches and shrines in extended hours this Lent — in missions, in penance services, and additional nights and days. It is the light of Christ, calling us all to the place where he takes away our sins, envelopes us in the salvation of the Gospel, breathes new life into our souls, and helps us experience first-hand the joy of the resurrection. The light is on for you.
Father Roger J. Landry is pastor of St. Anthony of Padua in New Bedford, MA and Executive Editor of The Anchor, the weekly newspaper of the Diocese of Fall River.
