By Tom Thomas –
“Master, let me see again,” is what Bartimaeus, the blind beggar told Jesus. In Mark 10:46-52, we can see how this fervent plea of Bartimaeus transformed his life as the touch of the Lord Jesus made him see again.
The blindness referred to could also be interpreted as spiritual blindness and not just the physical blindness. This Spiritual Blindness is what caused Saul to persecute the Christians and the early Church before being finally being led by God out of this spiritual blindness. In our own journey from childhood to adulthood, we overcome so many blandness’s and slowly discover the truth of God or seek to discover the truth of God. Spiritual blindness is detrimental for one’s soul as it can prevent one from seeing what is good and bad correctly. It is the blindness that affects our conscience regarding what is right and what is wrong.
“We are at liberty to be real, or to be unreal. We may be true or false, the choice is ours. We may wear now one mask and now another, and never, if we so desire, appear with our own true face. But we cannot make these choices with impunity (freedom). Causes have effects, and if we lie to ourselves and to others, then we cannot expect to find truth and reality whenever we happen to want them. If we have chosen the way of falsity we must not be surprised that truth eludes us when we finally come to need it.” (Thomas Merton)
As we are almost on the last two weeks of lent, the practises of prayer, fasting and almsgiving are leading us to the one sacrament that can remove our spiritual blindness through the Sacrament of Penance, namely, Confession. This is the one-time in the year that the Catechism of the Catholic Church recommends a Catholic to go for Confession. Of course, the more times that one can go, the better.
The other day, a Catholic of good standing mentioned to me that he followed all the principles of the Church except Confession as he did not find it mentioned anywhere in the Bible that Confession to a Priest was required. What Jesus has achieved needs to be made available to all generations who come after him:
Before taking leave of his disciples he said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Mt 28: 18-20.
In Mark’s Gospel (Mk 16:14-18) almost the same words as in Matthew and concludes, “And they (the disciples) went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.”
Luke concluding his Gospel verses says, “Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to these things. And behold, I am sending the promised of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with the power from on high” (Lk 24:46-49).
In John 20:21 “Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending.” And when he had said this he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
What Jesus has achieved needs to be made available to all generations who come after Him. God does this by means of his Body, the Church. The Church is Christ, through the Holy Spirit, continuing his work of rescue among us who come after his time here on earth. The Church is to teach God’s truth and minister the redeeming work of Jesus. It is this faith in Jesus that strengthens us in all the sacraments, especially in the Sacrament of Confession.
This question is answered in scriptural references like 2 Cor 2:10. “ ‘..Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ,” In our Catholic faith, the Priest dons the persona of Christ during Confession and is able to forgive our sins. Confessing our sins to anyone other than a Priest will not absolve us of them. Let us be clear about this.
Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners”(Mk2:17).The good news of the Gospel consists precisely in this offering God’s grace to the sinner. Indeed mercy is the central nucleus of the Gospel message; it is the very name of God, the Face with which he revealed himself in the Old Covenant and fully in Jesus Christ. The New Testament speaks on every page of God’s love and mercy, which are made visible in Christ Jesus, in fact, who “receives sinners and eats with them”(Lk 15:2) and with authority affirms, ”Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
In the lives of great Priests like St John Vianney, St Philip Neri and St Padre Pio hearing Confessions were the highlight of their Ministry. As Pope Francis said in his Lenten sermon in 2016: “May every man and woman who comes to confession find a father who welcomes them and the Father who forgives them.”
Let us make use of this great gift of Confession and remove the spiritual blindness from our lives. Last year with Churches closed during Pandemic it was not possible, but now that we can afford to have our Confession heard by a Priest let us make the best use of this opportunity.
Jeremiah 5:21 says:
“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people,
who have eyes, but see not,
who have ears, but hear not.”
Let us open our eyes through Confession and see again!
PS: I have consulted a Priest for Scriptural Details in the writing of this article.
Tom is an Indian entrepreneur with interests in technology, manufacturing, reading, scribbling, running, faith and family (not necessarily in that order).