Transcript
Brothers and sisters, Lent is a season of confessing our sins. In my view, it is a good time to make use of the Sacrament of Penance. I put to you that Penance renews our friendship with Christ. A name used for the Sacrament of Penance is Reconciliation. The word suggests that sin has a distancing effect. It makes me a stranger to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. By sin, I put myself on distant terms with God, the author of life. Penance, by contrast, has a reconciling effect. In the Gospel, Christ raised Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus had two sisters, Martha and Mary of Bethany. The siblings Martha, Mary and Lazarus were not strangers to Jesus but friends. Therefore, let the friends of Christ confess their sins and renew their friendship with Him. So that, like Martha, Mary and Lazarus, they may receive divine favours, even resurrection. Brothers and sisters, let us confess our sins this Lent. Reconciliation renews our friendship with Christ, to whom be glory and honour for ever and ever. Amen.