This is the sixth instalment of the Lent series examining the spiritual journey from the wilderness back home to God. In this video, presenter Fr Michael Tran looks at what happens when we fail in our Lenten promises. He reflects on St Peter’s denial and the gentle way Jesus met him by the water. He discusses the Sacrament of Penance not as a place of judgment, but as a place of encounter where our failures are washed away in the tide of mercy. As we go along this Lenten journey, we are called to grow ever closer to God. Stay a while and listen.
These videos can be used as an inspirational companion series for parish groups and people undertaking a Lenten prayer journey. Continue watching the series each week of Lent to follow Fr Michael as he travels across dusty roads, sea sides and lookouts sharing the wisdom of the Church.
Transcript
We have been walking this journey home for a few weeks now. And maybe like many of us, you have stumbled. Maybe those heavy rocks you try to leave behind in the wilderness have found their way back into your bag. When we fail, when we fall back into old habits or break our lantern promises, our first instinct is too high. We feel like that we have failed the journey. We are too ashamed to keep walking toward home. We think that the father is so disappointed. But look at St. Peter. On the night Jesus needed him most, when He was betrayed to the Romans by Judas. Peter didn’t just stumble. He denied ever knowing him. Not just once, not twice, but three times. So he fell completely. He was full of shame and wept bitterly. And where did Jesus find him? Right here by the water. Jesus didn’t approach Peter with a lecture or list of his sins. He did not seek vengeance or shut him out. He met him with just one simple question. Do you love me? This though is a sign of the sacrament of penance. Some people see confession as a place of judgment. I tell you it is not. It is a moment of encounter with Christ by the water. It’s a place where we meet Jesus after the storm. It is where he takes our failures and washes them away in the tie of his love and his mercy. So if you have failed, do not let that failure drag you down. Come to the water. This water is the reminder of your own baptism. It is reminder that you already belong to Jesus. You don’t have to be perfect to come home. You just have to be willing to take his outstretching hand. The tide of God’s mercy is always coming in.