The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
As a young Catholic, I grew up afraid of Confession. As a priest myself, I still get nervous every time. I still have to take a deep breath before saying the words, “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.” But throughout my whole life, I have persevered in returning to the sacrament because nothing beats that moment of forgiveness, the fresh slate won for us by Christ alone.
Now I have a different perspective. Each month, at least twice, I still begin that ritual full of nerves. But hundreds of other times, I begin it full of absolute peace. That is the joy of the priesthood. I get to stand in for Jesus.
In today’s Gospel, the leper meets Christ. And he doesn’t presume. He says, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” And Jesus is not repulsed. In fact, moved with pity, he stretches out his hand to touch the leper. Because Jesus is invincible to his leprosy, just as he is invincible to our sin. It killed him already, and he rose again.
Some of the absolute best moments of my life have been in Confession when a penitent comes seeking the grace of Christ, and they say their sins, and I can almost sense a doubt that they can be forgiven, that they will be forgiven. Sometimes it has been ten, twenty, fifty years. The contrition is palpable. The hatred of sin. The renunciation of this slavery previously disguised as choice. Maybe they are nervous, but I’m sure not. It is the most powerful feeling, and the power is God’s alone. To see this kind of leprosy, this sin, and know it will be gone when I finish the words of absolution… I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. That He is reaching out to that soul, obliterating the sin.
In today’s Gospel, because Jesus has more ministry ahead and can’t get arrested just yet, He asks the leper to tell no one. But He does not make the same request for us. We can break through those nerves and get to Confession, and tell the whole world of His healing power.
Fr. Christopher Meyer is the parochial vicar at St. Faustina in Fulshear, TX. Born in Houston, raised in Sugar Land, and a graduate of Strake Jesuit and Texas A&M, he was ordained to the priesthood in 2022. In addition to celebrating Mass and absolving sins, Fr. Christopher loves spending time with friends, the Rosary, sports, and reading (the best book: Island of the World by Michael O'Brien).