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Good confessions lead to good vocations |
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By Father William Baer
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Wednesday, 25 August 2010 |
The following first appeared as a blog post Aug. 13 by Father William Baer, parochial administrator of Transfiguration in Oakdale. It is reprinted with permission. You can read Father Baer’s blog at http://transfigurationmntoday.blogspot.com.
 Commentary
Father William Baer
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Each Friday this summer, I am devoting my homily at our parish’s daily Mass to some aspect of the sacrament of penance.
Today, I wish to offer a simple point: Good confessions lead to good vocations.
There are many good reasons to spend a few minutes before our
eucharistic Lord in church immediately after making one’s confession.
This, of course, is the time when many pray their penance. It is a time
to quiet our souls in a state of grace and ask, “Lord, is there anything
that you wish to show me, to teach me, to change in me?”
The Holy Spirit will often bring us light about how to avoid the near
occasion of sin the next time, how to take practical steps toward
virtuous habits, how to “amend my life.”
“Lord, in your light, we see light” (Psalm 36:9).
In light of Christ’s teaching in today’s Gospel concerning those who
“have renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven,” I wish
to note a vocational component of the sacrament of penance that often
goes unrecognized. That is, a person who has been absolved of sin is now
brought to a place where sin and its effects are not clouding his
spiritual vision as they had previously.
If I am steeped in unchastity or self-concern or irreverence, then it is
difficult, even laughable, for me to fathom the possibility of a
vocation to the priesthood or religious life. But moral freedom leads
me to hear Christ’s call more freely.
Specifically, a good confession is the source of a good vocation in at least three ways:
1. God has forgiven me! I recognize his divine, generous, merciful love
in this confession, and now my heart wishes to offer generous love
toward him in return.
2. God has forgiven me! Now I wish for others to taste and see this same
mercy, perhaps by means of a priestly vocation, through which I might
be a channel of God’s ministry of reconciliation to countless others.
3. God has forgiven me! Even though my sins cling to me so closely, and I
consider myself far from ready to enter a vocation of celibacy, of
religious poverty, chastity and obedience . . . nevertheless, I have
witnessed Christ Jesus beginning a good work in me in the sacrament of
reconciliation, a work that might one day be brought to perfection!
If your parish is attempting to promote vocations among your young
people, don’t waste your time on slick and silly programs. Get the youth
back into God’s good graces. Get them back within earshot of the Holy
Spirit.
Get them back into the confessional.
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