Column: The Sacrament of Divine Mercy

This column appeared in the Sunday, April 7, issue of the bulletin.

This weekend we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. St. John Paul II instituted the Feast of Divine Mercy on the second Sunday of Easter in the year 2000, in response to the visions and writing of St. Faustina Kowalska, who was canonized that same day. The following year, St. John Paul II restated his devotion to the Divine Mercy message: “Divine Mercy! This is the Easter gift that the Church receives from the risen Christ and offers to humanity.”  

How do we avail ourselves of this mercy? How does the Church offer this gift most concretely? Through the sacrament of Reconciliation from a Catholic priest.

It is a common misconception among non-Catholics—and even some Catholics—that confessing to a priest is unnecessary: Jesus came to forgive sins, so we can just go directly to him. But in the Gospel of John, Jesus empowers his Apostles in a particular way to forgive sins in his stead:

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” 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; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” – John 20:21-23

This is big news! Recall that when Jesus heals the paralytic, the religious authorities hear him say the man’s sins are forgiven and accuse him of blasphemy, because only God can forgive sins. Now the resurrected Christ is giving that same godly authority to his Apostles.

How do we know that power is passed down to the priests of today? Because Jesus says, “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” God the Father sends Jesus to forgive sins and to empower his followers to do so, and Jesus empowers his Apostles to do the same. They forgive sins, and they empower their followers to do so by the sacrament of Holy Orders.

One final point: Why does a priest have to hear what the sins are in order to forgive them? This is also implied in the passage above. If Jesus has just said, “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven,” you could argue that simply knowing someone is a sinner is enough. But Jesus also empowers his Apostles to retain sins—an action that requires knowledge and discernment of the sin, the sinner, and the circumstance. This is why verbal Confessions are required and also why general absolution is not permitted except in dire emergencies.

Confession is sometimes difficult, especially for those who have been away from it for a while. On behalf of all our priests, I want to encourage you to take the plunge this Easter. If you haven’t already, return to the sacrament of Reconciliation and experience what St. Faustina calls the ocean of God’s mercy.

God bless you!

Father Brian Park
Pastor